But, the appearance of football in April gives the opportunity to release a super-early top 15. This top 15 is a 4 part cocktail of speculation, reflection of what's happened in the off-season to date, a carrying forward of last season's results, and bias. You won't see Notre Dame or Michigan coming anywhere near this thing.
Before a look at the 15, a detour back to college basketball for a few minutes. Its been 2 weeks since Duke held off Butler in an epic final, and this is the first chance I've had to share my Final Four reflections. They are as follows.
- Hindsight is always 20/20 they say, and hindsight this year tells us that Butler was highly underseeded. The Bulldogs were every bit as good as the #2 and #1 seeds in the field, and landed in the 5 spot because the reside in the backwater locale of the Horizon League. Talk of a preseason top 5 appearance next year is warranted, and should have been closer to the front of our minds when we filled out our brackets a month ago. Hindsight also says their coach is one of the very best in all of the NCAA.
- If Gordon Heyward's half court heave had fallen - oh, baby. That would have supplanted Lorenzo Charles, Christian Laettner, Bryce Drew and all the other oft-replayed March buzzer beaters to take the top spot as the greatest of all. A half court shot to win the title. Could you imagine! And he was at most 3 inches off. It also would have pushed the Duke-Butler game into "greatest college basketball game ever played" territory. It was a magnificently tense, well-coached, well-played, riveting affair. As it stands it deserves merit as one of the greatest finals of all time, and had Heyward added the slightest twitch of a finger, it would have joined the Duke-Kentucky regional final in the top 2 games ever played in the sport.
- There were a lot of jokes surrounding the Bob Huggins-DeSean Butler moment in the semifinal. But those making homoerotic wisecracks about the exchange are either very misguided about what true masculinity is or way too insecure about themselves. What we saw in those few moments was one of the most powerful, and most manly, things we'll ever see in sports. I have never seen a coach do what Huggins did before. DeSean Butler was in utter agony, more so in his soul than in his body. Wracked with pain in his knee, he also took upon himself the inevitable loss to come, and the thwarting of his much beloved coach's first national title. All the emotion of it came crashing down on him, and the nation watched a broken man writhing on the final four floor. Bob Huggins, of course, recognized this, and did what a real man would do in that situation. He laid aside the rough exterior he's well-known for and entered into another man's pain, bringing comfort, care, and true love to a player he cares deeply about. I nearly cried as I watched Coach Huggins cradle Butler's head, gently stroking his cheek with his thumb, saying over and over again that he loved him and he's proud of him (as Butler would later reveal). Manhood isn't just about being a warrior, a protector, a competitor. It's also about being a friend, and a real man, a strong man, can take off the armor and truly, tenderly, display love to another man, without fear of appearances. Bob Huggins did just that, and it was a beautiful picture of love and true masculinity.
Detour over, back on the highway now. Here's my highly speculative, highly unscientific spring top 15.
1. Alabama
What, you expected anyone else? The Crimson Tide won the title, return every key offensive starter including the Heisman winner and a QB who's not lost since he hit puberty, and haul in another impressive recruiting class. Like last year with Florida, everyone expects Bama to be back in the title game. Just don't remind Tide fans how Florida's year panned out.
2. Ohio State
Coming off an impressive performance in the Rose Bowl, the Buckeyes look poised to plod back into the BCS Championship game. Terrelle Pryor's career has strangely mirrored that of Vince Young, only Pryor is statistically further along. Young ended up with a national championship as a senior - will Pryor's come as a junior?
3. Boise State
Everyone's darling. Twenty returning starters. Finally some national respect. A near-genius coach. Big time non-conference games. The table is set for the first non power conference school to win the national title since BYU in 1984. Can Boise, who's used to the underdog role, handle the pressure of being in the spotlight every week?
4. Texas
Ranked this high because Texas doesn't rebuild, they just bring forward the next batch of all-American talent stocking the shelves, and because Garrett Gilbert got about a year of experience in one game by playing in the national championship. He nearly led the Longhorns to win the darn thing too.
5. Miami (FL)
Too high? Maybe. But don't forget how Jacory Harris became the Heisman favorite for a brief moment in late September. He showed his potential in the early part of last year, and if he can carry that through a full season, the Hurricanes can return to the national title picture behind he and the boatload of young talent that's gathered and matured in Coral Gables these past 2 seasons.
6. Iowa
Ricky Stanzi doesn't impress a lot of people, but all he seems to do is win. Undefeated with Stanzi under center, the Hawkeyes fell when he did. This year they bring back ferocious Adrian Claybourn and a stout defense, their fleet of runningbacks all return, with the addition of last year's incumbent starter before injury, Jewel Hampton, and a healthy Stanzi under center. Circle November 20 on the calendar - that's when the Buckeyes head to town for the Big Ten's game of the year.
7. Florida
Like Texas, Florida is another program that can lose nearly every key performer and still sit firmly in the top 15. The talent is just so deep. John Brantley will have a plethora of options in distributing the ball, and the defense may start freshman, but they'll still be tenacious.
8. Oregon
I was considering placing the Ducks at #1 before they became a hotbed of legal turmoil. Now they've lost their 2 most talented and lethal offensive performers, Jeremiah Masoli and LaMichael James, and in spite of a talented, experienced roster, one cannot help but assume they'll struggle at least a bit. Then again, Chip Kelly navigated this road before, guiding the Ducks to a Pac-Ten title after LaGarrette Blount's embarrassing outburst in Boise.
9. Pittsburgh
The Panthers have been stockpiling quality talent for years, and return their best players on both sides of the ball. Dion Lewis may run for 2000 yards, and if they can find a QB who can rival Bill Stull's performance from last year, they'll be in the Big East, if not the national, mix.
10. Oklahoma
Bob Stoops is too good a coach for the Sooners to have 2 down years in a row. Landry Jones may not take them all the way to the top, but he has the talent around him to come close.
11. USC
Ain't what it used to be, but the Trojans will churn out another BCS berth behind Matt Barkley and their All Star roster.
12. Virginia Tech
They'll be ranked higher than this in the preseason, but history tells us that the Hokies always manage to finish somewhere around here. And I just can't consider a team a national title contender when Tyrod Taylor is running the show.
13. TCU
There's no reason to think the Horned Frogs can't crash the BCS again. Just watch out for the opener against an always underrated Oregon State team. TCU could fall out of BCS contention in week one.
14. Oregon State
Speaking of the Beavers, they have the misfortune of playing both BCS busters this year - TCU and Boise State. But Mike Riley, one of the best in the business, stayed in town, and he'll have both Rodgers brothers back to wreak havoc on the Pac Ten.
15. LSU
Major questions surrounding the competency of QB Jordan Jefferson keep the Tigers from being higher on this list. LSU has the overall talent to win it all.
And, for good measure, the next 15. Let the debate begin!
16. North Carolina
17. Wisconsin
18. Arkansas
19. Nebraska
20. Penn State
21. Georgia
22. Texas A&M
23. South Carolina
24. Cincinnati
25. Missouri
26. Georgia Tech
27. California
28. Utah
29. Florida State
30. Purdue
Next: either an argument for a 96-team NCAA basketball field, or the very overdue 4-year football rankings. Who knows what or when - stay tuned!
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