The wait is over.  Several CSF writers collaborated for our first ever CSF Preseason Top 25, and after four weeks, we have worked our way to our top five teams, heading into the 2011 season.  Without further adieu, here are the five teams we feel have the best chance at competing for a national title this year.

5.  Oregon:  A return to the Rose Bowl this year should thrill Duck fans, but last year’s run will make the season seem like a disappointment. Too much on the defensive side was lost, and it will show in road games against LSU and Stanford.  –  Peter Marhoefer, Mr. Touchdown USA

Most notably, the Ducks return LaMichael James and QB Daron Thomas.  They’re still the best team in the Pacific Atlantic Numeric, but I think playing LSU away from Autzen in September will take a bit of steam out of 2011.  –  Justin Cange, CSF writer/contributor

4.  Florida State: After getting throttled in Norman by the Sooners last year, it appeared Florida State was once again an over-hyped team in the weak ACC.  However, the ‘Noles, and most notably cornerback Greg Reid (who was picked on all game long by Oklahoma) played with a chip on their shoulder and appear to have their swagger back, after dismantling the hated Florida Gators and taking down favored South Carolina in the Chik-fil-A Bowl.  They return a stable of running backs, an experienced offensive line and a defense led by DE Brandon Jenkins that was tops in the nation with 48 sacks last season.  –  Jeff Dunbar, CSF Senior Editor

The ‘Noles of the 90′s may be on precipitous of returning as Jimbo Fisher guided FSU to a quiet 10-win season in 2010.  The ‘Noles have recruiting momentum in the Sunshine State again, after finally beating the Gators last year.  They return nine starters on each side of the ball, they don’t play North Carolina or Virginia Tech and the ACC is still down.  Sounds less crazy now, right?  –  Justin Cange, CSF writer/contributor (Justin picked FSU as #1)

3.  LSU:  If athleticism won championships, they would be my #1.  Surely one of the Les Miles gambles will finally come back to bite him this year?  If they hire a clock management coach I’ll move them  higher.  –  Christian Hon, CSF writer/contributor

A match-up with Oregon in September is already being hyped up, but the Tigers return 17 starters from last year’s Cotton Bowl team, and they should be prepared to make a statement early in the season. As long as Jordan Jefferson can find some consistency under center, Les Miles will have a high-power offense to go along with an always athletic and strong defense.  –  Nick Mattar, CSF writer/contributor

2.  Alabama:  Trent Richardson will finally get to carry the majority of the rushing load, and he will have a lot of help with a strong offensive line returning from last season. Questions abound at other skill positions, but the defense should still be powerful, and defensive end Damion Square will be leading the way. A home game against a very strong LSU squad may determine who goes to the national championship game in January.  –  Nick Mattar, CSF writer/contributor

Nick Saban returns a stacked defense led by yet another stud linebacker in Dont’a Hightower.  The dominant Tide running game never seemed to return to the level of 2009, mostly due to nagging injuries to Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson.  If Richardson can stay healthy in 2011, expect him to make the trip to New York as a Heisman finalist, and more importantly, expect Bama to reclaim the SEC Championship, which would put them in prime position for another BCS title game.  –  Jeff Dunbar, CSF Senior Editor

1.  Oklahoma:  A Lock for the #1 spot with the surprise return of many NFL ready players.  However, history tells us that seniors returning to “finish the job” rarely do.  –  Christian Hon, CSF writer/contributor

A lighter Big 12 will allow the Sooners to focus on three games vs. improving Texas, Texas A&M, and the Ole’ defense of Oklahoma State.  Nine Offensive starters should vault Oklahoma to the top spot if Stanford stumbles. A trip to Florida State, which will have revenge on the mind after last year’s rout in early September could ruin the Sooners hope for a BCS Championship Game appearance.  –  Peter Marhoefer, Mr. Touchdown USA

CSF’s College Football Preseason Countdown to #1 continues this week with our #11-#15 ranked teams.  In case you missed them, check out our breakdown of #21-#25 and last week’s breakdown of teams #16-#20. 

15.  Virginia Tech:  The Hokies will have little trouble replacing the loss of QB Tyrod Taylor. There are Seven games on the schedule that look like blow outs before the season starts. The Hokies will meet the Seminoles once again in the ACC Championship Game.  –  Peter Marhoefer, Mr. Touchdown USA

The model of consistently being good, winning games, playing the right way, developing NFL ready players and an empty national championship trophy case.  I would love to have seen this team  with Tyrod Taylor and their running backs return, minus the brain freeze that got them early last year.  What might have been…  –  Christian Hon, CSF writer/contributor

14.  TCU:  They’re not going to be anywhere as good as last season, but, for one more season at least, they’ll play in the Mountain West before moving to the Big East.  Two years from now, none of us will even be able to name their previous conference.  –  Justin Cange, CSF writer/contributor

The Horned Frogs’ season will come down to the big game on November 12 at Boise State, and if Gary Patterson’s boys can pull it off, then a BCS bid will not be out of reach. But there are a lot of inexperienced players, which leads me to believe they could drop a game or two that would have been an easy W last season.  –  Nick Mattar, CSF writer/contributor

13.  Ohio State:  Off the field distractions and dates with Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Michigan State will keep the Buckeyes out of the BCS Title game but returning to the Rose Bowl.  –  Peter Marhoefer, Mr. Touchdown USA

Their players’ appreciation for tattoos could cost the Buckeyes dearly this season.  Of the five game suspensions of including key contributors Terrelle Pryor and Boom Herron, two of those games pit OSU against Miami and Michigan State.  Pryor and company return just in time to take on Big Ten newcomer Nebraska in Lincoln…not exactly a preseason game.  With their daunting schedule, the suspensions, and the continued pressure of an NCAA investigation, Ohio State will likely see themselves out of the BCS picture in 2011.  –  Jeff Dunbar, CSF Senior Editor

12.  Wisconsin:  The Badgers will sleepily bulldoze through the Big Ten and make us wonder how a perennial 10 win team can be so boring.  –  Christian Hon, CSF writer/contributor

The tailback tandem of Montee Ball, and James White will carry a huge load of the offense, and they will have to in order for new quarterback Jon Budmayr to succeed.  Budmayr has no game experience, but he has two talented receivers in Nick Toon and Jared Abbrederis to help him ease into his first season. On the other side of the ball, JJ Watt and Niles Brinkley will be tough to replace, but they should be fine as long as Louis Nzegwu and their senior-laden secondary produce.

11.  Oklahoma State:  I still don’t know how OSU didn’t win the Big 12 last year.  With that offense clicking on all cylinders and a road-weary OU team coming to Stillwater late in the season, I thought surely the Pokes would achieve their first berth in the Big 12 Championship Game.  Instead, they got blitzed again by OU.  Their biggest weapons on offense return, however, and as long as Brandon Weeden can find Justin Blackmon, OU is the only team that serves as a challenge.  — Justin Cange, CSF writer/contributor

Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon are getting all the hype, and why shouldn’t they after the numbers they posted last season.  But look for running back Joseph Randle to burst onto the national season in 2011.  As a freshman, the RB split time with Kendal Hunter, and he still had 452 yards rushing with another 427 yards receiving.  OSU also gets Oklahoma at home again this season, the second year in a row this rivalry match up will be played in Stillwater, due to the conference reallignment this fall.  –  Jeff Dunbar, CSF Senior Editor 

With the end of spring football for all the major FBS programs and summer workouts beginning, for college football fans, two-a-days are right around the corner.  With that in mind, several writers for College Sports Feed have broken down the upcoming 2011 season and we will be counting down our CSF Preseason Top 25 over the next few weeks.

In this five-part series of articles, we will work our way down to our preseason #1.  In this first segment, we take a look at our Preseason Teams 21-25.

25.  Kentucky:  No this is not my 2011 Basketball Preview, Kentucky will be the surprise team of the 2011 season. The Wildcats return 10 defensive starters from a team that should have beaten National Champions Auburn last year.  Kentucky has 3 joke non conference games against Western Kentucky, Central Michigan, Jacksonville State and a home date with Louisville. Auburn, Alabama and Arkansas are off the schedule as well.  Back to back road games at LSU and South Carolina will be the true test of the Wildcats season.  –  Peter Marhoefer, Mr. Touchdown USA

24.  Notre Dame: That roller coaster ride for first year coach Brian Kelly ended up with wins over Utah, USC and a blowout over Miami in the Sun Bowl. If the Irish can get more consistent QB play from their quarterback, whomever that will be, they’ll have a great chance at winning ten games.  –  Justin Cange, CSF writer/contributor

23.  Utah:  The Utes try their luck in the Pac 12 this fall.  Despite going 33-6 in the last three years, many pollsters continue to keep Utah out of Top 25.  Legendary offensive coordinator Norm Chow will help, but depth, particularly on offense, could be an issue now that the Utes are playing in a BCS conference.  If the offensive line and quarterback Jordan Wynn (who is spent the spring recovering from shoulder surgery) can stay healthy, look for Utah to make some waves in the inaugural season of the Pac 12.  –  Jeff Dunbar, CSF Senior Editor

22.  Arizona State:  With the entire offense back Coach Dennis Erickson will show the country if the Sun Devils are for real in a Nationally Televised Friday night game vs. Missouri week two.  –  Peter  Marhoefer, Mr. Touchdown USA

Despite a fairly difficult schedule, including Missouri at home and Utah on the road, the Sun Devils have a great chance to make noise in the new Pac-12. Quarterback Brock Osweiler will be at the helm, having finished last season extremely well when filling in for oft-injured Steven Threet. The strength of the defense is undoubtedly at linebacker – watch for Vontaze Burfict to breakout and become one of the conference’s top middle linebackers.  –  Nick Mattar, CSF writer/contributor

21.  Mississippi State:  This team finished in the top 15 last year, lost no one, but still dropped in most polls?  Why?  Beware of the Bulldogs, SEC.  –  Christian Hon, CSF writer/contributor

Expectations are high after their Gator Bowl blowout over Michigan, and there is reason to believe the Bulldogs can meet them. Their high-octane offense returns almost every starter, and coach Dan Mullen now has his system fully in place. The only thing keeping this team from challenging for a conference title is their defense, which for the first time in a long time will be the team’s weak spot  –  Nick Mattar, CSF writer/contributor

As the end of Spring Football draws near, some major college football programs have answered some questions, while others have more questions than they had in February.  In this three-part series, College FootBlog will release our Preseason 2010 Top 25 with some insight on each team and the season that will be here in five months.  In this first edition, we will break down #16-#25.

Oregon State RB Quizz Rodgers is one of the most electric players in college football (google images)

16. Oregon State: The Beavers surprised many outside of their conference last season, but to the Pac 10, their rise in ’09 was a continuance of what they have been doing for the last four years, the Beavers are 36-17 and have finished second in the Pac 10 in each of the last two years.  The Rodgers brothers (Quizz and James) return to lead the offense.  There is a battle between Ryan Katz and Peter Lalich to replace Sean Canfield at quarterback, but if the last four years are any indication, Oregon State is for real and they are here to stay.

17. Miami: Many doubted the Hurricane offense going into last season, but then sophomore quarterback Jacory Harris proceeded to light up defensive secondaries en route to a 3,000-yard passing season.  Harris and his receiving corps faltered against Wisconsin in their bowl game, but with only one wideout leaving for graduation (Leonard Hankerson), look for Miami to put up good numbers on offense again in 2010.  Couple that with a very athletic defense led by linebacker Sean Spence, and the ‘Canes will be tough this fall.

18. LSU: The Tigers were a decent offense away from ending Tim Tebow’s BCS Championship long before Alabama knocked the Gators off in the SEC Championship Game.  Les Miles had a solid defense last season, and senior linebacker Kelvin Sheppard returns to anchor this season’s unit.   Do-everything offensive game-breaker, Russell Shepard should make a name for himself in his sophomore season.

19. Nebraska: Bo Pelini brought respect back to the storied program that had been in a major drought since the days of Eric Crouch.  Pelini has brought back the “black shirt” defense as opposed to what had looked more like the “mesh shirt” defense in the earlier part of the last decade.  The loss of Ndamukong Suh is significant, but luckily for Husker fans, the rest of the Big 12 is not good at tackle football.

20. Georgia: After a disappointing 8-5 season, look for the Bulldogs to bounce back this fall.  The offense should take a step forward, with one of the top receivers in the country in AJ Green and running back Washaun Ealey.  The defense was a major reason the ‘Dawgs underachieved in 2009, so head coach Mark Richt has revamped his coaching staff on that side of the ball, and the buzz coming out of Athens so far this spring sounds like those changes are already having a favorable impact.

21. Penn State: Look for JoPa to make one last run in 2010, although we believe the Nittany Lions don’t quite have enough to dethrone Ohio State for a run at the Big Ten title.  The thing that Penn State has going for them is their conference.  While there are four teams that should be very good in 2010, the rest of the conference takes a significant nosedive, and PSU should benefit from that.

Senior quarterback Josh Nesbitt is the key to GT's triple option attack (google images)

22. Georgia Tech: After scoffing at Paul Johnson bringing the triple option to a major college offense a couple years ago, we have all learned one thing–he is a great football coach.  And we have learned to not count him out.  The loss of stud running back Jonathan Dwyer will hurt the Yellow Jackets, but if quarterback Josh Nesbitt can stay healthy, GT will make another run at an ACC Championship Game.

23. North Carolina: Butch Davis has the Tarheels playing great football…well, at least on defense.  UNC boasted the nation’s 6th ranked total defense, allowing opposing offenses just under 270 yards per game.  Unfortunately, for the ‘Heels, the offense was as bad as the defense was good.  UNC was ranked a pathetic 108th in total offense.   If the offense can improve at all (which isn’t exactly a tall order), look for Butch Davis’ squad to give teams fits in 2010.

24. West Virginia: The Mountaineers will have to overcome the loss of quarterback Jarrett Brown, but Geno Smith will look to show why he was such a highly-touted QB out of Florida.  Noel Devine has been one of the most explosive players in the country since his freshman season, and the fact that he returned for his senior means that the Mountaineers can always one play away from breaking one.

25. Auburn: The heavily criticized hiring of Gene Chizik worked out well, as he led the Tigers to an 8-5 record and a bowl victory over Northwestern in his inaugural season.  Look for even more improvement from the offense and a stout defense.  Look for freshman running back Michael Dyer and freshman DE Corey Lemonier to make immediate impact this fall.

Alright I’m finally back and I’m ready to give put in my two cents about this upcoming year in college football. First of all lets congratulate Alabama on a stellar season and for ending the season as number one. Tebow’s gone, McCoy’s gone, Bradford’s gone, Clausen’s gone, should we just cancel this upcoming season? Is there even anyone else worth watching? Two Words, Crimson Tide.

Alabama took down Texas in the National Championship last January to end their revenge season on top of the world. That is exactly where they will be to start off the 2010 season. Alabama is losing a very small amount of starters to the NFL Draft this year and will be returning nearly everyone, this would include Heisman Winner Mark Ingram. The Crimson Tide is going to come out firing on all cylinders this season, considering there only real competition in the SEC was Florida last year, this shouldn’t be tough. But they still have a few teams that may give them a run for their money including the Auburn Tigers, with new Head Coach Gene Chizick. The SEC definitely won’t be the tough bully conference they have been in the last couple years, but they will sure be a dominant conference.

The Big 12 lost two of their most dominating quarterbacks of all time in Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford and Texas’s Colt McCoy to the NFL Draft, but they have plenty of up and rising stars to take a second look at. Oklahoma’s Quarterback Landry Jones was quarterback for most of the season, due to Sam Bradford’s injury, and he did nothing but shine. Landry Jones broke every record set by any Oklahoma quarterback  in history and he was only a Freshman. Texas, on the other hand, will be starting a Sophomore in Garrett Gilbert who everyone got to get a sneak peek of during the National Championship Game after Colt McCoy was injured in the first quarter. Longhorns Coach Mack Brown said, “He’s going to be great, I just know it.” So this years Red River Rivalry will be a even more impressive one then past years with two kids under twenty running the show.

The PAC-10 will need to impress a little after a few awful seasons. Powerhouse USC has been taken over by Oregon and this year the Ducks are bringing almost everyone back as well including running back sensation LaMichael James. Jerimiah Masoli and the Ducks are preparing to have a faster and even more up tempo team then last year, should we be in-store for another PAC-10 quack attack?  The Trojans are looking to rebuild and rebuild fast and leading the squad is new Head Coach Lane Kiffin. Know one quite knows how the Trojans will fare this season, but to maintain their celebrity shine they will need to turn their game around quick.

Many other conferences and teams will be looking to make a statement this season including the all impressive Boise State Broncos, who are tired of playing in Glendale every year in the same game. Maybe this year they will get to play in Glendale again, but on January 10 in the National Championship. We will have a year like we haven’t seen in a while with having many brand new starting quarterbacks and  head coaches. This year will be a brand new year with tough predictions and brand new young stars.

2010 Preseason Top 25

1. Alabama Crimson Tide
2. Ohio State Buckeyes
3. Oregon Ducks
4. Boise State Broncos
5. TCU Horned Frogs
6. USC Trojans
7. Nebraska Cornhuskers
8. Texas Longhorns
9. Oklahoma Sooners
10. Florida Gators
11. Wisconsin Badgers
12. Miami Hurricanes
13. Pittsburgh Panthers
14. Virgina Tech
15. Iowa Hawkeyes
16. UCONN Huskies
17. LSU Tigers
18. Penn State
19. Houston Cougars
20. Arkansas Razorbacks
21. Oregon State Beavers
22. Cincinnati Bearcats
23. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
24. Tennessee Volunteers
25. Auburn Tigers

In the preseason games, it is critical to get established! Every season, teams jockey to get the top rankings heading into the regular season. What do teams need to do to create enough inertia in the preseason that will propel them into a successful regular, and post season?