la times top 25

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL

No. 20: Chris Dufresne's top 25 rankings countdown

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Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times

University of Illinois head coach Ron Zook, right, ended last season with a 49-17 loss to USC in the Rose Bowl. Arrelious Benn, left, is back at receiver on a team that finished last season at 9-4.

Illinois figures to be a part of Big Ten race.

August 9, 2008

The Times' Chris Dufresne unveils his preseason college football top 25, one day (and team) at a time:

No. 20 Illinois

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No. 24: Chris Dufresne's top 25 rankings countdown

No. 25: Chris Dufresne's top 25 rankings countdown

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An informal poll conducted by Rankman found Ron Zook to be the Big Ten coach most likely to crush a beer can on his head.

The man is intense . . . and he could use singing lessons. His mangling of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at a Cubs game at Wrigley Field last spring was Zook's worst performance since last January's rendering of "Take Me Out to the Rose Bowl."

Some people don't like Zook. Didn't like him at Florida; don't like him at Illinois. His recruiting practices have raised both of Charlie Weis' eyebrows, but so far no one has sniffed out anything egregious, so Illinois figures to be in the thick of this year's wide-open-after Ohio State race in the Big Ten.

Getting back to the Rose Bowl will be more difficult, and airlines are charging for extra baggage. Last year's trip required a stunning upset of unbeaten Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio State somehow getting back into the national title game, and the Rose Bowl jumping over better teams in the Bowl Championship Series ratings to maintain its Pac-10/Big Ten relationship.

Illinois finished 9-4 after a 49-17 drubbing by USC, and has lost star rusher Rashard Mendenhall and linebacker J Leman from last year's team.

After 2-9 and 2-10 seasons in Zook's first two years, Illinois is clearly back in the Red Grange business, but losing 24 lettermen makes forecasting more difficult.

Juice Williams, who so brilliantly held the ball for eight minutes last Nov. 1 to run the clock out on Ohio State, returns at quarterback. And Arrelious Benn, a player Notre Dame wanted desperately, is back at receiver.

But how many clocks can Illinois run out again?

The Illini could go 9-4 or finish 7-6. The season opens against Missouri again, in St. Louis, while the Big Ten schedule includes games at Penn State, Michigan and Wisconsin.

The game of the year, though, could be Nov. 15, when Ohio State comes to Champagne in hopes of avenging last year's loss in Columbus.

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The countdown so far: No. 25, Notre Dame; 24. California; 23. Fresno State; 22. Florida State; 21. Rutgers; 20. Illinois.

[smazza]

boy do i disagree with poll so far

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Jim Brown / US PRESSWIRE

Tennessee Coach Phil Fulmer finished last season with a 10-4 record. The Volunteers may be just as good this year but not win as many games.COLLEGE FOOTBALL

No. 17: Chris Dufresne's top 25 rankings countdown

Jim Brown / US PRESSWIRE

Tennessee Coach Phil Fulmer finished last season with a 10-4 record. The Volunteers may be just as good this year but not win as many games.

Tennessee is a longshot for national title, but a near lock in its opener.

August 12, 2008

The Times' Chris Dufresne unveils his preseason college football top 25, one day (and team) at a time:

No. 17 Tennessee

No. 19: Chris Dufresne's top-25 rankings... No. 20: Chris Dufresne's top 25 rankings...No. 18: Chris Dufresne's top 25 rankings countdown

No. 21: Chris Dufresne's top 25 rankings countdown

No. 22: Chris Dufresne's top 25 rankings countdown

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It's been a decade since Phil Fulmer and Tennessee won the national title with Tee Martin, not Peyton Manning, at quarterback.

And that can only mean one thing in Knoxville.

When is Tennessee going to win another one?

Answer: not this year. Not in that conference, the Southeastern.

Since 1998, in the SEC, Louisiana State has won two national titles, Florida has won once and Auburn went 13-0 and didn't win in 2004.

Hasn't Fulmer exhausted his 10-year title insurance?

The answer, "no," came last month in the form of a raise and contract extension.

Tennessee last season finished 10-4 with a win over Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl but it sure didn't feel like 10-4, which is why some Volunteers fans are antsy.

Meanwhile, Fulmer can count his money and his lucky stars.

It took four overtimes to beat Kentucky last year, and South Carolina and Vanderbilt missed late field goals that could have spelled defeat.

Tennessee, though, also clobbered Georgia and played LSU to within seven in the SEC title game.

Fulmer's contract will award him an additional $850,000 if Tennessee wins the national title this year, but that seems like safe money.

The Volunteers may be just as good this year but not win as many games -- although they're almost a lock to win at least one.

After getting embarrassed in last year's opener at California, Tennessee will probably exact brutal revenge against the Pacific 10 Conference and Ben Olson-less UCLA in the Sept. 1 opener at the Rose Bowl.

The level of talent Tennessee will unleash on UCLA's defenseless offense is almost frightening. That click you heard was first-year Bruins Coach Rick Neuheisel turning off the film projector.

The rest of Tennessee's season won't be a snap, though, with Florida coming to town Sept. 20, followed a week later by a trip to Auburn. The Vols also play at top-rated Georgia on Oct. 11.

The Tennessee offense returns almost every important starter except quarterback Erik Ainge, although Jonathan Crompton, a talented junior, has patiently waited for this chance.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com

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No. 14: Chris Dufresne's top 25 rankings countdown

Powerful offense makes Brigham Young the outsider most likely to succeed.

August 15, 2008

The Times' Chris Dufresne unveils his preseason college football Top 25, one day (and team) at a time:

No. 14 Brigham Young

Quarterback Max Hall No. 15: Chris Dufresne's top 25 rankings...No. 16: Chris Dufresne's top 25 rankings countdown

No. 17: Chris Dufresne's top 25 rankings countdown

No. 18: Chris Dufresne's top 25 rankings countdown

"Where's your God now?"

A Utah fan, perhaps taking victory a little too seriously, raised a hand-held sign asking that question in 2004, after Utah defeated Brigham Young in Salt Lake City to become the first school from outside a so-called Bowl Championship Series conference to earn an automatic bid to a major bowl.

Four years later . . .

BYU is the team most likely to follow Utah, Boise State and Hawaii in the procession of schools that have worked over the BCS rule book pertaining to major bowl access.

It's fitting that BYU would finally get into this equity fight because it was the Cougars who kick-started the argument in 1996, when they finished 13-1 but failed to receive a major bowl bid.

OK, class, open your BCS textbooks to the chapter on "monopolies."

BYU was still a member of the Western Athletic Conference in 1996 when Commissioner Karl Benson used the bowl snub to initiate a legal threat that ultimately ended with the BCS, formed in 1998, assuring a major bowl bid to any non-BCS team that finished in the top six of the rankings.

Utah hit No. 6 in 2004 after its win over BYU. Two years later, when the access requirement was relaxed to a top-12 finish, Boise State earned a bid at No. 8 and last year Hawaii got in at No. 10.

This could be another crowning moment for BYU, now a Mountain West member, rekindling memories of that improbable run to the national title in the pre-BCS days of 1984.

Twenty-four years later, what's not to like?

BYU returns 10 from an offense that averaged 443 yards and 30 points a game. Max Hall, a transfer from Arizona State, needed to soak his arm after passing for 3,848 yards. BYU finished 11-2 with victories against two Pacific 10 Conference schools -- Arizona and UCLA. (The Cougars split with the Bruins, losing during the regular season but winning the Las Vegas Bowl.)

The keys to a BCS run this year will be sweeping Washington and UCLA in September and then running roughshod through the Mountain West schedule.

Oh, one more thing. BYU closes the regular season Nov. 22, against Utah, in Salt Lake City.

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The countdown so far:

25, Notre Dame; 24, California; 23, Fresno State; 22, Florida State; 21, Rutgers; 20, Illinois; 19, Penn State; 18, Oregon; 17, Tennessee; 16, Arizona State; 15, Texas Tech; 14, Brigham Young.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com

[flsportsfan83]

LOL Notre Dame?