okay, so i already wasted my time with a useless pre-season poll. amd now i unleash my even more useless top Darkhorses/Sleepers in the BCS conferences.
1. Arkansas- Arkansas is EVERYONE's sleeper pick this season, so maybe believing the hype isn't the safest bet, but The Hawgs have 8 very winnable games and also they could easily upset a team like LSU or Ole Miss on the road. i predict 9-3 and a 2nd or 3rd place finish in the SEC West and a trip to a New Year's bowl. then they'll be the hyped Top 10 team to fall on their face in 2010.
2. North Carolina State- granted everyone in the ACC probably could qualify as a Darkhorse/Sleeper but i think NC State could be this year's GA Tech. their two toughest home games are North Carolina at the end of the year and the always schizophrenic Clemson. their road slate seems rough on paper with Wake, Va Tech, FSU, & Boston College. NC State also has the league's top QB.
3. Stanford- last year Stanford was 5-7. this year they return almost their entire starting offense and most of their defense. they have a tough schedule for sure but i see 6 or 7 wins including an upset or two. then Jim Harbaugh is gonna start getting talked about as the next coach at Michigan when the Rich Rod flame out finishes in one more year.
4. Texas Tech- noone is talking about The Red Raiders...and i couldn't really tell you why. i mean YES they did lose their record breaking QB and star Wide receiver, but it's never been about the players at Texas Tech. it's the system. they always win 8 or 9 games. they always score a ton of points. they always go to a bowl. they'll probably end up ranked in the top 25. this is why i was excited about the prospects of the Good Captain Leach coming to the Plains....oh well.
5. Kansas- they've got a veteran QB in Todd Reesing and a descent running game. and should be able to build momentum with wins in the first 5 games of the season. granted their schedule is a son-of-a-bitch (Texas & Oklahoma, & Texas Tech from the South...that's just not fair) but they could easily win all the rest of the games on their schedule and win the North division.
6. Illinois- sure their schedule is tough-ish with non-conference games that include Missouri, Cincinnati, & Fresno State (seriously take some pointers from Penn State...load up on cupcakes) but they've got the most talent and speed in Big 10 outside of Ohio State. look for a 3rd place finish and 8 or 9 wins.
7. Auburn- go ahead, call me a homer...but nobody thinks Auburn is gonna do shit this season. 6-6 seems to be the consensus among experts AND despite being a pretty negative blogger i still have fucking faith in my Auburn Tigers. 8-4 and a trip back to the Peach/Chik-Fil-A/Whatever the Fuck Bowl.
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My thoughts on AU and the "expert" opinions are thus: the experts thought AU was a top 10 team at the beginning of 2003, and a year later AU proved them correct. Last year the experts thought AU was a top 10 team at the beginning of the year. Could it be that we prove them correct this year? That is my hope. Of course the lack of depth is concerning as is the gauntlet of a schedule.
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