The Oklahoma Sooners will once again roll into the College Football Top 10 list.
Now this one is kind of personal to me because I’ve got a friend who annually picks the Oklahoma Sooners to win the BCS National Championship because he once lived in Oklahoma. Never mind that he like New Orleans better and now lives in Atlanta, the Oklahoma Sooners are always the college football team of the century according to him. Let’s put that aside and take an impartial look at the Sooners football team in 2012.
The Oklahoma Sooners got off to a rough start last season but recovered nicely despite the fact that they lost more than one player considered essential to the cause. Dominique Whaley, one of those players, is back and will be a contender for a rushing title if he stays healthy. Meanwhile the Sooners can also rely on quarterback Landry Jones, a proven commodity, and are hoping some of the younger wide receivers develop along the way. All in all another solid Sooners team that should be factored in a College Football Top 10 list.
There's more to the Oregon Ducks than pretty cheerleaders. The Ducks will challenge for another PAC 10 Championship
The Oregon Ducks have become an established force in the West, winning the PAC 10 three years in a row. In 2012 they’ll face more of a challenge in USC but since the Trojans are still unproven and recovering from sanctions, the smart money is moving to the Ducks to win the PAC 1- Championship again in 2012.
They’ll have to do it without LaMichael James, who’s moving on to the NFL, but like most good college football programs the Oregon Ducks have his replacement already on the squad. In this case it’s a pair of running backs. De’Anthony Thomas and Kenjon Barner are well versed in the Ducks system and we should see little dropoff in the running game. Two things that should be better in 2012 are quarterback Darron Thomas and the whole of the Ducks defense, which returns a half dozen starters and was making major strides at the end of 2011.
The Oregon Ducks schedule gives them a big heads up with most of their home games early in the season and few tougher opponents, save USC, on the road. This is an Oregon Ducks team that lost to LSU in a highly hyped season opener last year and came back with a vengeance. No comeback will be necessary in 2012. The Ducks will start fast and finish strong and I fully expect to see them finish in the upper half of the College Football Top 10 in 2012.
