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Top 16 College Preseason Vote - Draft Insiders
August 25, 2007
Frank Coyle - Head Scout
1.: Southern Cal
2.: Michigan
3.: LSU
4.: Florida
5.: West Virginia
6.: Virginia Tech
7.: Texas
8.: Louisville
9.: UCLA
10.: Cal
11.: Wisconsin
12.: Oklahoma
13.: Auburn
14.: Florida St.
15.: Rutgers
16.: Tennessee
Frank Coyle is a longtime member of the FWAA and votes in all the major college awards - the Heisman Trophy, Lombardi, Outland, Jim Thorpe including all the defensive awards. He is also a voter for the FWAA on the weekly College team polls, the Grantland Rice Polls. He is a nationwide radio and TV personality and makes frequent appearances on sports talk shows from coast to coast. He has been a regular guest on major radio shows such as the Score in Chicago, Sporting News Radio, ESPN Radio nationwide, WEEI Boston, WFAN in New York and Sports Extra in San Diego as well as every major sports talk show nationwide. His Heisman Trophy and Jim Thorpe Award ballots are released annually in early Dec.
DraftInsiders.com - Final College Top 16 Teams
Jan. 9
Florida Crushes Ohio St. for BCS Title
Florida crushed an undefeated but over hyped Ohio St. club for the BCS national championship. Florida won the title in a rout 41-14 behind the best defense in the nation and a full arsenal of playmakers on offense. They beat a tough Arkansas club in the SEC title game and only a tough loss to Auburn mars a perfect record. Ohio St. was never able to get their offense in gear and Heisman Trophy QB Troy Smith had his worst performance in over two years. Their young defense struggled vs the fast Gator offense. USC played their best game of the season in the Rose Bowl when they drilled a good Michigan club. They were up and down to the competition all season that cost them a chance at the national title especially when they got beat by arch rival UCLA. LSU wore down an overmatched Notre Dame club with power and fine athleticism. They are the best 11-2 club I have ever seen and maybe the best team in the country at this point of the season. Louisville completed a tremendous season with a strong bowl win over Wake Forest, in addition to earning the Big East title. Their offense can tag 50 points on any defense in the nation, but they lost HC Bobby Petrino to the NFL after the season. Boise St. finished the season as the nation’s only undefeated team with an incredible overtime bowl victory over Oklahoma. It is a classic game already and preserved their perfect season, though one that is blemished with no top 15 clubs on the schedule. Wisconsin outfought a tough Arkansas club with their best win of the year and finished at an impressive 12-1. Auburn won the Cotton Bowl and finished with a strong 11-2 season including the only win over Florida. Michigan lost to USC in the Rose Bowl and saw their perfect season fade when they closed with two losses in their biggest games vs Ohio St. and USC. West Virginia won the Gator Bowl and finished with a strong 11-2 season with all their key performers returning next fall. Notre Dame finished their season at 10-3 after failing to redeem themselves in the Sugar bowl game vs LSU. Cal bombed a good Texas A&M club that returns them to the top 16 teams. Their two late season losses cost them a top 10 ranking. Rutgers won their first bowl game in 137 years that makes the Boston Red Sox look like annual champions. Rutgers will be in the Top 10 clubs for the next preseason. Texas returns to the top 16 on the merits of a victory over Iowa. This young club should be dangerous next fall. Arkansas lost another close game this time to Wisconsin in their bowl game. They finished with three straight losses including the SEC title game. They had a major turnaround season though, with a young emerging club that bores well for the future. Oklahoma lost a heartbreaker to Boise St. in double overtime in one of the classic bowl games of all time. They finished 10-3 including a terrible call vs Oregon in a 1 point loss. HC Bobby Stoops did an incredible job coaching, moving a wide receiver Paul Thompson to QB just prior to summer camp but winning the Big 12 title despite the late problems.
1. Florida
2. Ohio St.
3: LSU
4. USC
5. Louisville
6. Boise St.
7. Wisconsin
8. Auburn
9. Michigan
10. West Virginia
11. Notre Dame
12. Cal
13. Rutgers
14. Texas
15. Arkansas
16. Oklahoma
Team of the Week: Florida
Frank Coyle www.draftinsiders.com