Separated At Birth: College Football Mascots?

This probably isn't what Paul Rudd had in mind when, as Brian Fantana in "Anchorman," he introduced America to Sex Panther, but is it possible that the mascots for instate neighbors Pittsburgh and Penn State were separated at birth? The Panther is on the left, the Nittany Lion is on the right.

(Fun fact: These pictures were both taken during games in which teams from Ohio were beating the Pennsylvania powers on their home fields.)

No. 13: USC Trojans

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Wednesday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 13 is USC.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

In a hectic college football offseason packed with coaching changes, recruiting investigations and suspensions, USC's was perhaps the most dramatic.

A two-year bowl ban and scholarship reductions, among other penalties, have left the Trojans vowing to achieve one simple goal in 2010: to win all 13 of their games.

And while a perfect regular season is unlikely, USC remains one of the few programs that can intimidate with just its name, colors and presence.

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No. 14: Wisconsin Badgers

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Tuesday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 14 is Wisconsin.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Not normally known as an offensive juggernaut, Wisconsin returns 10 starters from a unit that scored 32 points a game last year.

The Badgers also rolled up 417 yards a game, thanks in large part to tailback and Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year John Clay. He'll again be the workhorse for this stacked Badgers' offense. But quarterback Scott Tolzien returns, as does potential star wideout Nick Toon. Three offensive linemen -- Gabe Carimi, Josh Oglesby and John Moffitt -- will be among the league's best.

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No. 15: Pittsburgh Panthers

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Monday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 15 is Pittsburgh.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

When your top returners are an 1,800-yard sophomore running back and the Co-Big East's Defensive Player of the Year, it's safe to expect big things in the season ahead. And that's what's up at the University of Pittsburgh.

After two close misses in 2008 and 2009, Coach Dave Wannstedt's Panthers appear poised to snatch Big East supremacy away from Cincinnati.

They'll do so with running back Dion Lewis and defensive end Greg Romeus leading the way. Lewis is a Heisman Trophy candidate who could become the fourth straight sophomore to win college football's highest honor.

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No. 16: LSU Tigers

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Friday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 16 is LSU.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

In a year when the SEC West appears to belong to Alabama once again, LSU, Auburn and Arkansas will slug it out for second place. Two things give LSU the slightest of edges in this race:

Jordan Jefferson and a defense full of hungry new starters ready to continue the LSU tradition on that side of the ball.

Jefferson this preseason is hardly being hyped as a game-changing quarterback, but one thing to remember is that his 2009 stats (2,166 passing yards, 17 TDs, 7 INTs) were just fine. It was his mental game that tripped him up. Tentative, indecisive, throwing the ball away early -- Jefferson looked inexperienced. There's a simple reason for that -- he was.

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No. 17: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Thursday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 17 is Georgia Tech.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Coach Paul Johnson is back for his third season at Georgia Tech, as is his triple-option quarterback Josh Nesbitt.

So two key parts return for a Tech team that hopes to at least match last year's first 11-win season since its national championship of 1990. But there are definitely holes to fill.

Running back Anthony Allen also returns, and he'll handle the bulk of the rushing load, as 1,400-yard back Jonathan Dwyer did last year. But like Dwyer, wideout Demaryius Thomas is gone, leaving the Jackets with RB Embry Peeples as the team's most prolific returning pass-catcher. He had only eight receptions in 2009.

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No. 18: Cincinnati Bearcats

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Wednesday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 18 is Cincinnati.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

The sad thing about Cincinnati's 2009 season is that it will be remembered far more for how it ended than how it started.

In the December flurries in Pittsburgh, the Bearcats finished off their first-ever 12-0 regular season and claimed their second straight Big East championship in the most exciting game of the 2009 college football season.

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No. 19: Penn State Nittany Lions

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Tuesday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 19 is Penn State.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Though Penn State's resurgence the last five years has been nice and all, the Nittany Lions have suffered from a little Ohio State Syndrome in that span.

Like the Big Ten-rival Buckeyes, PSU has beaten just about everyone it's supposed to beat, but most of its 13 losses the last five seasons have come against elite foes. Perhaps that's better than losing to scrubs, but at some point you have to beat elite teams to be considered elite. And Penn State couldn't get a better chance to prove itself than the one it gets on Sept. 11.

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No. 20: Arkansas Razorbacks

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Monday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 20 is Arkansas.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Bobby Petrino's third year at Louisville saw the Cardinals rack up more than 60 points in three of their first four wins in 2005. Quarterback Brian Brohm led one of the nation's most explosive offenses en route to a 9-3 record in the Derby City.

Petrino now begins his third season in Fayetteville, and he'll have another stud signalcaller in Ryan Mallett, back for his junior season, as well as a friendlier schedule than last year's ledger that included road games at Florida, Alabama and LSU.

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Blame Nutt, Not Masoli, Then Give It A Rest

Embattled QB Fully Entitled
To New Chance At Ole Miss

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

If you had limited options after a pair of legal incidents led to your dismissal from a major college football team with national championship aspirations, wouldn't you seize the opportunity to study in Oxford if it was presented to you?

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EXTRA: OGS Preseason Top 25 Countdown

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OK, maybe it's not that Oxford, and maybe even a graduate-level Parks and Recreation program might not require much studying, but don't blame Jeremiah Masoli for accepting an invitation to play football at Ole Miss.

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No. 21: North Carolina Tar Heels

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Friday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 21 is North Carolina.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Continuity. Consistency. Experience. Whatever you want to call it, North Carolina's got it in 2010.

At least on defense.

That's where six NFL-ready players return from a stellar unit that was among the nation's best in 2009. A total of nine defensive starters return and are expected to dominate the ACC and again be one of the finest in the country.

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No. 22: Georgia Bulldogs

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Thursday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 22 is Georgia.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

For a guy whose nine seasons as Georgia's coach have ended six times in double-digit wins, Mark Richt is inexplicably on the hot seat. Such is life in the ultra-competitive Southeastern Conference.

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EXTRA: Images From 2009 Georgia-Oklahoma State Game

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Richt's squad went into last year trying to recover from the departures of offensive stars Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno. And this year, the Dawgs will start a new quarterback for the second straight season, but their rushing attack could prove to be one of the SEC's finest.

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College Football Schedules: Please Stop Whining

Argument Is Tiresome,
Sometimes Inaccurate

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

It's late July, so it must mean it's time to bash the schedules of teams in conferences other than the one you follow. It's such a tiresome conversation, and the funny thing is, it's downright inaccurate in the case of SEC fans who don't recognize that very few teams seek out the big September matchups the way Ohio State does.

Under Jim Tressel, the Buckeyes have put home-and-home series on the schedule with Texas and USC, and this year's made-for-TV game is against preseason top 10 or 12 Miami, led by its Heisman Trophy candidate in quarterback Jacory Harris. Next year, the teams meet again in South Florida.

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No. 23: Auburn Tigers

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Wednesday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 23 is Auburn.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Remember when Gene Chizik's Tigers were the cute storyline a month into last season?

Another 5-0 start is possible this year, but just like in 2009, the second half of the season brings a load of heavyweight SEC bouts. Auburn loses its quarterback and running back as well as its top pass rusher from last season, but the cupboard is hardly bare heading into 2010.

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No. 24: Oregon State Beavers

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Tuesday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 24 is Oregon State.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

I remember during preseason last year hearing an ESPN analyst emphasize two things when evaluating a team's chances for a successful college football season: your schedule and the experience level of your quarterback.

If those are indeed two significant factors, then Oregon State could have some trouble matching its 8-4 regular season from a year ago.

One of the nation's most difficult non-conference schedules has OSU opening September against Top 10s TCU and Boise State in two of its first three games. And Oregon State will be doing so with first-year quarterback Ryan Katz.

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