from 40 to 1...this post will contain the worst half.


40. Michigan State

Western Michigan
Florida Atlantic
Notre Dame
Northern Colorado
Wisconsin
At Michigan
Illinois
At Northwestern
At Iowa
Minnesota
Purdue
At Penn State

Michigan State begins the first four games of the season with a very favorable schedule, as do most teams ranked in the top 40. The first two games for the Spartans at home against Western Michigan and Florida Atlantic should amount to their preseason, starting these guys at 2-0. Their first test comes at home, under the lights, in a Nationally televised game against a Notre Dame team trying to find an identity and going through some major changes in nearly every aspect of the program. The setting is right for an upset here for Michigan State, and I'll put them winning a close one and moving to 3-0. Next up is Northern Colorado and the Spartans should run through this team to welcome in Wisconsin with a 4-0 record. Playing in East Lansing isn't going to help the Spartans here. The Badgers are simply too big and too strong and will likely run over these guys, handing them their first loss at 4-1. The next stop is a road game to Ann Arbor in what has to be a must win game for Dickrod, which may not bode well for a Spartan team reeling from that last loss to Wisconsin. They drop this game falling to 4-2 on the year. Illinois and Northwestern are very winnable games, so the Spartans should get back on track and could be 6-2 heading to Iowa. This could be a very entertaining game, but beating a very talented Iowa team on the road is probably not going to happen, so the Spartans are likely 6-3 here. The Spartans come back home for a pair against Minnesota and Purdue, both of which are likely wins putting them at 8-3, before traveling to Penn State for their final dose of medicine before the bowl season, and that Penn State team probably has too much for them, so the Spartans are looking at an 8-4 record on the year.

39.Oklahoma State

Washington State
Troy
Tulsa
Texas A&M
At Louisiana Lafayette
At Texas Tech
Nebraska
At Kansas State
Baylor
At Texas
At Kansas
Oklahoma

Oklahoma State has put together a fairly easy non-Conference schedule for 2010 and with three consecutive home games against lesser teams, they should get off to an early 3-0 start with wins over Washington State, Troy, and Tulsa. They're first real test will come at home under the lights against a solid Texas A&M football team, which I think Oklahoma State wins, and they move to 4-0 on the year. They likely take down Louisiana Lafayette after that, climbing to 5-0, before taking their first loss on the year on the road against Texas Tech, which puts the Cowboys at 5-1. They have to follow that up with a home game against Nebraska, which is probably a loss (5-2) before a couple of get right games against Kansas State on the road and Baylor at home, or are they? I think the Cowboys split these games and could fall to an improved K-State team on the road, leaving them at 6-3 on the season with the toughest stretch coming up. Oklahoma State could drop their last three games to Texas and Kansas on the road and then Oklahoma at home, setting them up for a possible 6-6 finish. I can't believe they would be this bad, but their schedule is atrocious. 7-5 is perhaps more likely, but I'm going to leave them at 6-6.

38. Navy

Maryland
Georgia Southern
At Louisiana Tech
At Air Force
At Wake Forest
Southern Methodist
Notre Dame
Duke
At East Carolina
Central Michigan
Arkansas State
Army

Navy's schedule is a traditional hodge podge of Conferences and varied levels of opposition. The Midshipmen start out with an early test at home against Maryland, which I think they win. After that, they get Georgia Southern at home, followed by Louisiana Tech and Air Force on the road, all of which should be wins. Navy should head to wake with a 4-0 record. I think their first stumble comes against a Wake team in need a quality win, dropping Navy to 4-1 before heading into what should be a win at home against Southern Methodist. The following week, Notre Dame comes to town and with Brian Kelly at the helm, I think the Golden Domers win this game handily. Navy falls to 5-2. From here, there isn't much left to really talk about with this schedule. They should win most of the remainder of games consisting of home games against Duke, Central Michigan, and Arkansas State, and a road matchup with East Carolina. They probably win at least 3 of 4 before welcoming Army in the final test of the season with an 8-3 record. I think Navy takes down Army at home and finishes up 2010 at 8-4.

37. Missouri

Illinois
McNeese State
San Diego State
Miami (OH)
Colorado
At Texas A&M
Oklahoma
At Nebraska
At Texas Tech
Kansas State
At Iowa State
Kansas

Well, the schedule looks favorable early on. That's a positive. With five home games to open the season, the Tigers should roll to easy wins over Illinois, McNeese State, San Diego State, and Miami (OH), putting them at an early 4-0. Their first Conference game is against Colorado, and wraps up this half schedule long home stand. With Missouri rolling, another win against the Buffaloes should see Missouri entering into the meat of their Conference schedule with a 5-0 record. Then it gets ugly. Missouri is on the road to take on the Aggies of A&M in what is likely their first loss of the season, dropping them to 5-1. Then they get back to back games against Oklahoma at home and Nebraska on the road, both losses, and all of a sudden they just went from 5-0 to 5-3 real quick. A road game against Texas Tech likely gives them their fourth consecutive loss, before coming back home to take on Kansas State. After a very harsh welcoming to reality that left this former 5-0 team with a 5-4 record, the Tigers, assuming they can regroup, wrap up the season with three very winnable games. There are two home games against Kansas State and Kansas (which ends the season) and a single road game against Iowa State left. If the Tigers can win all three, then 8-4 sounds about right.

36. Washington

At Brigham Young
Syracuse
Nebraska
At USC
Arizona State
Oregon State
At Arizona
Stanford
At Oregon
UCLA
At California
At Washington State

Washington's opens with a road game against BYU under the lights. This will be a very tough test early on and to be honest, I'm not sure they will win this one. I think the Huskies get upset early on and start out the season 0-1. Next up is Syracuse, who shouldn't be much of a problem after traveling the breadth of the US to a very hostile Washington environment. 1-1 before the real action starts. A home game against a very tough Nebraska team probably doesn't end well for Washington, dropping them to 1-2 before heading to USC to take on a demoralized, but not beaten USC team. Probably another loss, depending the spirit the Trojans can muster, all things being considered. Washington is looking at 1-3 to kick start the season, from my vantage point. From there, the Huskies will set up a pair of key home games, against Arizona State and Oregon State. These are both winnable games and Washington takes them both, moving to 3-3. Next up is a road trip to Arizona and this could prove to be a very tough matchup for Washington, which they lose. They follow that up with a home game against Stanford and Andrew Luck, in a game that will pit two of the nation's top QB prospects, which Washington will win, putting them now at 4-4. The rest of the season is a basic mess. They hit the road against a very tough Oregon team and a very tough Cal team, both will result in losses. They get UCLA at home under the lights and travel to Washington State, both resulting in wins. Overall, this is an extremely difficult schedule for Washington and this team finishes the year at 6-6.

35. South Carolina

Southern Miss
Georgia
Furman
At Auburn
Alabama
At Kentucky
At Vanderbilt
Tennessee
Arkansas
At Florida
Troy
Clemson

South Carolina enters the season at basically the same point in the same situation they do every season. They are a fringe top 25 team in a very tough Conference and that doesn't bode well. They'll probably never even crack the top 25 this season if they lose, as I'm predicting, to Georgia in Week 2. Let's take a closer look. The schedule opens with three home games, one of which is against Georgia, which could really help set the pace for the season. They likely win against Southern Miss to open the season at night, but welcoming a tough Georgia team could prove to much the following week and the Gamecocks are staring at 1-1 two weeks into the season. Furman is an easy win to get back in the picture, putting the Cocks at 2-1 as they travel to Auburn. The next two games are not pretty, as the State of Alabama is poised to basically put an end to South Carolina's season before it even got started. The trip to Auburn isn't going to go too well, and welcoming Alabama to your place the following week isn't going to go any better. By week 5, the Cocks are 2-3 and 0-3 in Conference play. Done. The following week will give them their first two wins in Conference play, much needed, and both on the road against Kentucky and Vanderbilt, moving the team to 4-3 on the year. Tennessee comes to town the following week and off of a two game winning streak, I think they'll keep it going and move to 5-3. Don't get too cocky, because the second nearly impossible wave is about to wash over the Cocks as Arkansas and Ryan Mallett arrive, giving South Carolina their fourth loss. Then they travel to Florida and likely get decimated and demoralized for loss number five. Now we're 5-5 with a pair of home games against Troy and Clemson. I think they take down Clemson at home and finish out this season with a pair of wins and a 7-5 record.

34. Notre Dame

Purdue
Michigan
At Michigan State
Stanford
At Boston College
Pittsburgh
Western Michigan
Navy
Tulsa
Utah
Army
At USC

I don't think you need a crystal ball to see what I'm going to tell you looking at his schedule, save for a surprise here or there. Purdue and Michigan come to town to start off a three game Big Ten season starter, as Notre Dame appears to have front loaded their schedule, other than USC, of course. Both of these should be wins as both Purdue and Michigan are likely teams ranked among the bottom half of the Big Ten. Notre Dame starts 2-0. Start the National Championship discussion and the cries of a likely 7-5 Michigan ball club counting as Brian Kelly's first quality win already. Yes!!! But the wheels fall off the next week at Michigan State. Notre Dame should win this game, but national TV, in East Lansing, under the lights, an insane crowd...it's just too much and the Golden Domers drop a close one, falling to 2-1. They rebound nicely with a key win at home against Stanford, get a big win on the road against Boston College in a tough matchup for them, and follow that up with another big win over Pittsburgh. The Golden Domers are 5-1 and the joke of the schedule is about to take hold. Notre Dame extends their three game winning streak into an eight game winning streak with a five game home stand against juggernauts such as Western Michigan, Navy, Tulsa, Utah, and Army. Before you know it, Notre Dame is 10-1, people have begun referring to Brian Kelly with a new nickname..."Knute", and all is well. Notre Dame will be sitting pretty with a likely top 10 ranking, as they head to take on USC, only this one is at the Coliseum. If Notre Dame gets the demoralized USC, they win, but I'm guessing they won't. This is USC's bowl game. They can't win the Conference and can't advance beyond this game, so getting a shot at what I'm seeing as a possible 10-1 Notre Dame football team that has feasted on scrubs (the only top 15 team on the schedule at this point is Pitt and they are #15) will be enough to get this team ready to end the season in front of their home crowd. A mini-Rose Bowl. I think USC blows the doors off of Notre Dame to end the season and the Irish end the year at 10-2 (although 9-3 is very possible). They will go to a quality Bowl, Charlie Weis will forever be in the rearview mirror, and if they finish with 10 wins, a backdoor At Large into a BCS is possible provided the USC knockout doesn't send them careening too far in the rankings. Don't worry, they'll probably get mopped in another BCS game, but hey, at least they got there, right?

33. UCONN

At Michigan
Texas Southern
At Temple
Buffalo
Vanderbilt
At Rutgers
At Louisville
West Virginia
Pitt
At Syracuse
Cincinnati
At South Florida

UCONN is a decent team, but their schedule isn't kind. They likely open the season with a loss at Michigan's new renovated field, in what is likely to be the largest crowd ever assembled for a College Football game. The crowd could push 115,000. Not good. Adios in week one and UCONN is 0-1. The next two weeks are get right weeks, as Texas Southern and a road game against Temple are good medicine. They follow that up with a home game against Buffalo and another easy win. UCONN is now 3-1 heading into a home affair with SEC superpower Vanderbilt. Another win for the Huskies and a 4-1 record. Looks good on paper, I guess. A pair of road games with Rutgers and Louisville are up next and they split these moving to 5-2 before heading back home to take on West Virginia and Pitt, both in nationally televised Thursday/Friday night matchups, both resulting in losses. UCONN is now 5-4 when they travel to Syracuse. A big win there puts them at 6-4. Next up is a home game with Cincinnati and a loss, followed by South Florida in Tampa for another loss. UCONN's season ends at 6-6.

32. Stanford

Sacramento State
At UCLA
Wake Forest
At Notre Dame
At Oregon
USC
Washington State
At Washington
Arizona
At Arizona State
At California
Oregon State

Stanford is everyone's darling this season and opening the season with a blowout win over Sacramento State with Andrew Luck throwing for 100 TD's will just continue to drive that talk. But in week 2, a trip downstate to UCLA could seriously upset the apple cart, when Stanford loses to UCLA, falling back to 1-1. A win over Wake in the following week moves them back to 2-1, but the following three game stretch will send them home licking their wounds as Notre Dame and Oregon likely take them out on the road, followed by a big nationally televised loss to USC at home. Stanford is all of a sudden 2-4, Luck is probably out of the Heisman race, and this season is being looked at in any salvageable way possible. The next two games, a home and then away with Washington State and Washington, respectively, result in a win/loss split and a 3-5 Stanford record. The same split is seen with the Arizona schools over the next two weeks. Stanford travels to California with a 4-6 record just trying to eek out a bowl bid, but it's not to be as Cal knocks them off and hands them their seventh loss of the season. The Cardinals end the season with a win, but after going 5-7 and likely losing Luck to the NFL Draft, there isn't much to cheer about this year.

31. Clemson

North Texas
Presbyterian
At Auburn
Miami (FL)
At North Carolina
Maryland
Georgia Tech
At Boston College
North Carolina State
At Florida State
At Wake Forest
South Carolina

Clemson is out of the gates in their preseason matchups with North Texas and Presbyterian and off to a 2-0 start heading down to Alabama to take on Auburn in their primary non-conference matchup. But Auburn isn't a push over this season and they provide the Tigers with a rude awakening that this is going to be a long season. Clemson heads home for a tough matchup with the Hurricanes from Miami with a 2-1 record. The Tigers rebound and are able to knock off the Hurricanes at home with a big win that energizes the team and the fan base. They head to North Carolina to visit Butch Davis, caught in the middle of a huge scandal. Davis' Defense is tremendous this season and it shuts down the Clemson Offense, giving the Tarheels the win and the Tigers a 3-2 record. The Tigers head home to regroup and rattle off a four game winning streak, taking out the likes of Maryland, Georgia Tech, and North Carolina State at home, as well as winning on the road against Boston College. With a 7-2 record, Clemson travels to Florida State for a matchup with major ACC implications. The Seminoles and Christian Ponder prove too much for the Tigers, but Clemons is able to take out Wake Forest on the road and South Carolina at home to end the season 9-3.

30. Mississippi

Jacksonville State
At Tulane
Vanderbilt
Fresno State
Kentucky
At Alabama
At Arkansas
Auburn
Louisiana-Lafayette
At Tennessee
At LSU
Mississippi State

How big of an impact will Jeremiah Masoli make on the Runnin' Rebels? A decent one, I'm willing to bet. He'll likely be their starting QB long before they get into the meat of their schedule when they travel to take on Alabama on the road. But before that happens, Ole Miss has some other matchups on the docket. Ole Miss begins the season with a win over Jacksonville State, probably turns to Masoli on the road against Tulane, at least to spark the team to a second victory. Masoli gets more reps in their third consecutive win against Vanderbilt, putting them at 3-0 and 1-0 in Conference play. The Masoli talk begins to ratchet up. He's getting the bulk of the work against Fresno State and the team moves to 4-0, followed by their fifth consecutive win over Kentucky at home. The Rebels under Masoli are 5-0 heading to Tuscaloosa to take on the Tide, and that's not a good for anyone. The Tide rolls and Masoli is dropped back to reality, although Ole Miss is now just 5-1. A road game against Arkansas and home tilt with Auburn don't go any better and the Masoli shine is beginning to wear off as this three game losing streak puts the team at 5-3. Louisiana-Lafayette becomes lambs to the slaughter, but Tennessee and LSU road games result in ticks to the "L" column. Ole Miss is 6-5 heading into their rivalry game with Mississippi State, which they win to end the season at 7-5.

29. Arizona

At Toledo
Citadel
Iowa
California
Oregon State
At Washington State
Washington
At UCLA
At Stanford
USC
At Oregon
Arizona State

Arizona starts off the season with a pair of warm up games, although the Toledo affair could be a good test for where they stand, since it will be a night game under the lights on the road across the country. The first monster test is their third game home affair with Iowa. That game will be nationally broadcast and Arizona could be ranked at this point at the edge of the top 25. Unfortunately, all of the setting in the world won't help them in this one as Iowa should be able to control the game and the score, putting Arizona at 2-1. The following week, they take on Cal at home and should be able to rebound with a victory here, but when Oregon State comes to town for game 5, the Cats will take their second loss, dropping to 3-2 on the year. The next two games are the back to back's with the Washington schools, first taking on Washington State on the road, followed by Washington at home. I think Arizona should win both of these games, pushing the needle back to 5-2. It's at this point that the season just disappears in a cloud of dust. Back to back road tests with UCLA and Stanford likely result in losses, followed a home loss to USC and another road loss to Oregon. While they finish with a win against Arizona State at home, it's only enough to push their final overall record to 6-6 and leave them scratching for a bowl game.

28. Brigham Young

Washington
At Air Force
At Florida State
Nevada
At Utah State
San Diego State
At TCU
Wyoming
UNLV
At Colorado State
New Mexico
At Utah

BYU is really trying to test themselves in non-Conference play, just in case they run the table, so they can play in a BCS Bowl/National Championship. They open with Washington at home, under the lights, to kick start a very aggressive schedule for them. I think BYU rises the occasion and comes up with a big win over Washington, then follows up that big win with a solid victory over Air Force on the road, bringing them to 2-0 as they head to Tallahassee to take on the Seminoles. Florida State just has too much for BYU and the aggressive scheduling backfires on them, dropping them to 2-1. BYU then rolls through three straight victories taking out Nevada and San Diego State at home and Utah State on the road, beefing up that record to a respectable 5-1. Unfortunately, the next step is at TCU, where the Horned Frogs prove way too much to handle and BYU drops to 5-2. From there, it's victories over Wyoming, UNLV, and New Mexico at home, with a road win over Colorado State and the Brigham Young is looking at having won seven of their last eight with a 9-2 overall record. Final stop is a trip to in-state rival Utah. I think BYU drops this one and finishes the season 9-3 on the year. Solid, but unspectacular play.

27. Houston

Texas State
UTEP
At UCLA
Tulane
Mississippi State
At Rice
At Southern Methodist
At Memphis
UCF
Tulsa
At Southern Miss
At Texas Tech

Houston is another team to watch this season. They start off with a fringe top 25 ranking, a self reported Heisman candidate at QB, a fairly unchallenging schedule, and an opportunity to run the table scoring 50 points a game playing nobody of significance. Their primary drive has to be for a BCS berth. The season starts with Texas State and UTEP at home, both of which should be easy wins and warm-ups for Houston, as well as an opportunity to gauge the Defense. Their first real test comes on the road against UCLA, which is probably going to be too much to handle and a loss. Despite that hiccup, the team should rebound nicely with wins over Tulane at home, Mississippi State at home, a road game against Rice, another against Southern Methodist (SMU), and a win over Memphis on the road. All of a sudden this team is 7-1 with their only loss to a ranked UCLA team. Their next three games they get UCF and Tulsa at home, and Southern Miss on the road. I'm guessing they win two out of three here and head into the Texas Tech game with a 9-2 record. 10 wins is the minimum needed to have this team sniffing a BCS and I see a loss here for Houston, dropping them to 9-3 on the year.

26. Cincinnati

At Fresno State
Indiana State
At North Carolina State
Oklahoma
Miami (OH)
At Louisville
South Florida
Syracuse
At West Virginia
Rutgers
At Connecticut
Pittsburgh

Cincinnati is trying to take the next step from BCS team to National Title contender. A preseason ranking outside the top 25 isn't going to help that and in reality, all but eliminates any shot at that to start the year, but a Conference Title is still within reach. Cincinnati opens with just one pushover in Week 2 and two decent games in Weeks 1 and 3. Their road game against Fresno State to start the season is their first semi-decent test and I think they rise to the occasion and pick up a big win. After taking out Indiana State the following week, they head to NC State to take on Wolfpack with a 2-0 record. Another win on the road and a big and very much needed win for Cinci. At 3-0 with a likely fringe top 25 ranking, Cincinnati gets Oklahoma in Ohio, but they prove to be too much and come up with a big win, dropping Cincinnati to 3-1. After that, Cincinnati rattles off wins over Miami (OH), on the road against Louisville, and a pair of home affairs with South Florida and Syracuse, giving them a 7-1 record heading into their matchup with West Virginia on the road which could determine the Conference Champion. While they lose this game, they close out the season with three big wins over Rutgers and Pittsburgh at home and Connecticut on the road. The Pitt game could also have major Conference Championship implications. I've got Cincinnati finishing up at 10-2 (strong chance that 9-3 could happen), with just a single loss in Conference.

24 (t). West Virginia

Coastal Carolina
At Marshall
Maryland
At LSU
UNLV
South Florida
Syracuse
At Connecticut
Cincinnati
At Louisville
At Pittsburgh
Rutgers

West Virginia is a team that is looking at a potential Big East Championship and a BCS berth. They are certainly not a BCS Title caliber team, but that doesn't mean an appearance in one of the five big games isn't possible. They open the season with a preseason game against Coastal Carolina to make sure everything is fine tuned and ready to go. Then they take that 1-0 record to in-state rival Marshall's backyard for a Friday night nationally televised affair. West Virginia will announce themselves to the national crowd with a blowout win here. From here, they head home to take on Maryland and after a tough outing there, they should roll into Baton Rouge for their matchup with LSU with a 3-0 record. West Virginia will struggle with the overall ability of the LSU team and in that kind of hostile environment, they'll get handed their first loss of the season, dropping to 3-1. The next three games are all at home, against UNLV, South Florida, and Syracuse, and West Virginia should win them all. A clean sweep puts them at a rock solid 6-1 where they hit the road to take on UCONN. Despite Connecticut giving them all they can handle, West Virginia should get out of there with a "W", a 7-1 record, and a taste for a Big East Title. Back in West Virginia, the Bearcats come to town and West Virginia wins a huge Big East Title implication game, advancing to 8-1 and undefeated in Conference play. Their road game against Louisville is an easy win for them, but then they hit the buzz saw that is Pitt, on the road, Friday night, likely nationally televised, and bam, they take their first Conference loss, dropping them to 9-2 heading into the Rutgers game to end the season. After disposing of Rutgers, West Virginia finds themselves sitting at 10-2 with just a single Conference loss and hoping for a BCS berth.

24 (t). Utah

Pittsburgh
UNLV
At New Mexico
San Jose State
At Iowa State
At Wyoming
Colorado State
At Air Force
TCU
At Note Dame
At San Diego State
BYU

Utah pretty much has to run the table to have a shot at a BCS Title, which they won't, so don't sweat it. Opening with Pittsburgh at home is nice, but even with the hometown crowd going crazy behind them, it won't be enough to take down the Panthers, and just like that Utah is out of the National Championship running. So their next hope is for a BCS bid, which means they need to run the table from here on out. They won't. It might look they will when they take down UNLV at home, then New Mexico on the road, San Jose State at home, Iowa State and Wyoming on the road, Colorado State at home, and finally Air Force on the road. That will give Utah a 7-1 record, a solid ranking (probably close to 15th) when they head into that game with TCU. But the Horned Frogs are no joke this year, so they gladly come in and crush the Utes, giving them their second loss of the season. Before you feel too sad for them, their next stop is South Bend where they take loss number three. Utah is now looking at a 7-3 record when they trounce San Diego State to move to 8-3 with just BYU left on the schedule. A big win for the Utes to end the season is enough to guarantee them a bowl berth with a 9-3 season behind them.

23. Auburn

Arkansas State
At Mississippi State
Clemson
South Carolina
Louisiana-Monroe
At Kentucky
Arkansas
LSU
At Mississippi
Chattanooga
Georgia
At Alabama

Arkansas State is the traditional early brush-off game for Auburn before heading to Mississippi State, both resulting in early victories and putting the Tigers at 2-0. The Tigers then battle Clemson in a very tough non-Conference game, winning and putting the team at 3-0. Back to back home stands against South Carolina and Louisiana-Monroe both result in victories and Auburn is a solid 5-0. A road win over Kentucky makes them 6-0 as they head to battle with Arkansas and LSU. Both will be very tough games, but I think Auburn wins them both. This team is 8-0 and at this point, is likely ranked in the top 10 in the country. The Tigers travel to Mississippi for a big road matchup with Auburn and again, I see them winning this game. They win the final two home games of the regular season and this team could conceivably move to 11-0, assuming they take down Chattanooga and Georgia. The final matchup could put Auburn vs. Alabama in a game that could see both undefeated. Obviously I'm picking them to lose this ball game on the road, but 11-1 is not impossible for this team. Their schedule sets up nicely. I struggle with this, so I'm thinking maybe they drop one of the Arkansas or LSU games, so 10-2 is possible. Right now, we'll call them one of the surprise teams of the season and stick with 11-1.

22. Oregon State

TCU
Louisville
At Boise State
Arizona State
At Arizona
At Washington
California
At UCLA
Washington State
USC
At Stanford
Oregon

Oregon State's schedule is devastating. I'm not sure how they survive it this year. They open the season with a home game against TCU, but I see them losing this one early. Next up is Louisville and that should be a win at home. If TCU wasn't enough, they travel to Boise State to battle the Broncos on the blue field and I think they get taken out. All of a sudden, this team is 1-2 in non-conference play. Oregon State plays back to back games against Arizona State at home and Arizona on the road and they sweep them both, moving to 3-2 on the year and heading for a big matchup against Washington on the road. This one doesn't end so well, as the Huskies put a hurt on Oregon State and send this ball club to a very rough 3-3 start. The mediocrity continues as they are able to pull one out against California at home before traveling to UCLA and losing, once again putting the team at .500 and 4-4 overall. Washington State's a win, but in one of the shocker's of the season, I'm calling on them upsetting USC on national TV, pushing them to 6-4 with two big games remaining and the chance to salvage a season. Unfortunately for the Beavers, both a road game against Stanford and in the final game of the season at home, they lose both to end the season 6-6. Tough schedule = tough season for a mediocre team.

21. Georgia

Louisiana-Lafayette
At South Carolina
Arkansas
At Mississippi State
At Colorado
Tennessee
Vanderbilt
At Kentucky
Florida
Idaho State
At Auburn
Georgia Tech

Georgia opens the season against Louisiana-Lafayette for their warm-up game and comes away with an early win. Their road trip to South Carolina is a nail biter, but Georgia wins and moves to 2-0. Then Arkansas comes to town and Georgia gets their second big win, moving to 3-0. The schedule softens a bit after that and Georgia is able to rattle off wins on the road against Mississippi State and Colorado, at home against Tennessee and Vanderbilt, and on the road against Kentucky. They meet up with Florida in Jacksonville on a neutral field with a record of 8-0 and a top 10 ranking. But this game doesn't bode well and a vaunted Florida team takes them out, knocking Georgia down to 8-1, but more importantly, behind in the SEC Title race. The Dawgs recover with a win over Idaho State to move them to 9-1, but a very tough Auburn takes them down again in a road loss. The Bulldogs are able to take out their rival Georgia Tech to end the season and finish 2010 with a record of 10-2, with a 6-2 Conference record.

20. Florida State

Samford
At Oklahoma
BYU
Wake Forest
At Virginia
At Miami (FL)
Boston College
At North Carolina State
North Carolina
Clemson
At Maryland
Florida

The Seminoles are calling on Christian Ponder to be their savior and a Heisman candidate, but I'm just not seeing the resume to justify that. He'll be out of the race by the North Carolina game, if not sooner. Looking at the schedule, the 'Noles will take down Samford in their blowout, but get rolled by Oklahoma in week 2. In week 3, they win a big non-conference matchup with BYU, then take out Wake at home. With a 3-1 record, Florida State will spend three of the next four weeks on the road. That stretch will see wins over Virginia and North Carolina State on the road and Virginia at home, but they do take a key loss to in-state rival Miami (FL), putting them at 6-2. Three of the final four are at home and FSU gets big wins over North Carolina and Clemson, as well as Maryland on the road to advance to 9-2 with a showdown against Florida left on the schedule. I think Florida State can play Florida tough this year, but when it's all said and done, the Gators hold on for a key victory and FSU drops to 9-3 on the year. The good news is that they only took a single conference loss though.


Coming up...19 to 1, plus final season predictions.