– Paul Johnson’s option offense took the ACC by storm last year. Despite an entire year’s worth of tape to study for opposing defenses, we think the Yellow Jackets offense will keep right on clicking this fall (just look at the improvement Johnson’s offense made in year 2 at both Navy and Georgia Southern). All of the key pieces return on offense and the back 7 of the defense are all back. GT gets both Virginia Tech and UNC at home this year, and could easily carry a top 10 ranking into the season finale against Georgia. Our Pick: 10-15

OVERRATED – #5 LSU
– No one can deny LSU’s talent and potential, but a top 5 preseason ranking is a little high in our opinion. The Tigers disappointed last year with a 7-5 regular season and only 3 conference wins. The bad news is the SEC slate doesn’t get any easier this year, and with road games at Georgia, ‘Bama, and Ole Miss and a game against the ‘Gators sandwiched between Georgia and Auburn, the Tigers could drop 3 or more and find themselves on the outside of the top 10. LSU certainly has the ability to win the SEC West and make a run at a BCS bowl, but we don’t think it happens this year. Our Pick: 10-15



UNDERRATED – #12 Oregon
– Anyone who read our Pac 10 preview knows we are super high on the Ducks this year. 12th isn’t a bad spot to put them, but we think they are worthy of a top 10 ranking. Yeah yeah, we know it’s Coach Chip Kelly’s first year and they have questions on the offensive line and lose a lot on defense, but the Ducks still have the potential to go BCS-bowling. Jeremiah Masoli presents as big of a match-up problem as any QB in the nation, and LeGarrette Blount is a load at RB. We think the transition to Kelly from Mike Bellotti will be seamless, and the defense has shown this spring that they will be able to hang with the offenses in the rest of the conference. If the Ducks can avoid an opening-week letdown at Boise State they will be primed for a run at the Pac 10 title and a birth in a BCS bowl. Our Pick: Top 8

SNUBBED – Notre Dame
– ND’s schedule is widely considered to be as soft as Andre Smith’s “abs” at the NFL combine. While some have the Irish in the top 10 (we’re looking at you, Phil Steele), EA has them out of the top 25 completely. We think the Irish will fall somewhere in the middle. Jimmy Clausen leads an offense that returns a ton from last year, and the team’s athleticism should be much improved all the way around. The game against USC will show that the Irish still have a long way to go to be considered elite again, but Charlie Weis’ team will ride a relatively easy schedule to about 8 wins and could make a run at a BCS bowl. Our Pick: 20th

One thing to keep in mind is that “our picks” are where we think the team’s will finish the season, so we were able to factor in the schedule and other variables that EA may have left out in their pre-season rankings.

Some honorable mentions include Virginia Tech (underrated) and Penn State (overrated). We are very high on Virginia Tech this year and think they can make a run at the National Championship, but their rough non-conference schedule and the potential of Georgia Tech and UNC kept us from arguing against the Hokies #10 ranking. Penn State loses a lot of talent, but with Darryl Clark and Evan Royster back to lead the offense and a potentially dominating D combined with a cake non-conference schedule and relatively easy conference slate, we think they can hang around the top 10 all season. If the Lions played anybody outside of the conference we would want them lower in the rankings, but as is we think they have the pieces to make another BCS bowl.

Sound off in our comments section to tell us who YOU think is overrated or underrated, or let us know how wrong we are with our picks. Be sure to check back regularly as we continue to update information on NCAA 10 and talk the 2009 college football season!