Nebraska (24)

Nebraska gets the nod at 24 for a couple reasons, one they get to play a favorable Big-12 schedule not having to play Texas or Oklahoma State. Second, they were good last year (9-4 with a bowl win over struggling Clemson) and return most of their defense, and two of their 3 best running backs that combined for 1,200 yards and 13 TD's last season. They do lose their starting quarterback and number one receiver Joe Ganz and Nate Swift who produced 35 Td's between the two which makes the Huskers not able to accelerate that high into my preseason poll. Bo Pelini's third year should end with another bowl appearance but with a stacked upper tear in the Big-12 no BCS bowl will be in the sights for this Nebraska team. I expect they will go at least 3-1 in out of conference play against three sun belt teams and Virginia Tech. They definilty have a chance against VT though I have never been convinced by the top teams in the ACC these past few years. During conference play expect the huskies to lose to powerhouse Oklahoma and two of these three games at Colorado, at Kansas and at Missouri. leaving the Huskers at 8-4 and my preseason 24.
TOP PLAYERS
-Ndamuking Suh- Great name and great DT, should lead a great Defensive line, major questions at LB though.
-Roy Helu Jr.- starting RB last year averaged 6.4 YPC last yearwith over 800 yards, expect more touches as the Huskers rely more heavily on their run game.

University of Arizona (25)

Arizona has not been a championship contender since... well never really they have been good here and there but never consistently fantastic. Arizona did, however, finish 8-5 with a clear victory over 16th ranked BYU in the Las Vegas bowl. This year the PAC-10 will be one of the most powerful conferences in the country with USC as always being a championship contender and Cal, Oregon, and Oregon State all being legitimate BCS bowl contenders and likely top 25 finishers. So if all these teams are going to be good how can UA get into the top 25. Here is the deal minus Oregon State the Wildcats don't have to play any of those PAC-10 teams untill the end of the season. UA starts with two scrubs Central Michigan and Northern Arizona, mark up the W's and UA is walking into Iowa with a 2-0 record and a bunch of confidence. Iowa will be the test, a likely preseason top 25 team, the Hawkeyes will give Arizona a chance to display the PAC-10 dominance over the Big-10(11) if and when they win the Wildcats could start 3-0 looking at one of the easiest middle schedules in the conference (at OSU, at Washington then at home against stanford, UCLA and Wazzu) For ranking purposes lets say they lose to OSU away, Corvallis will be tough but the Beavers will defnintly be strong this year with the Rodgers brothers and 2 returning starting QB's. So here we have a 7-1 Arizona team facing the difficult schedule, but once you are 7-1 the team will definitly be top 20 and have the confidence to play the rest of their schedule (at Cal, Home against Oregon, then at ASU and USC) assuming they can beat a strugiling ASU team,even if they lose the other three an 8-4 PAC-10 team deserves to be at least ranked 25 on my list.
TOP PLAYERS
-Rob Gronkowski-One of the best tight ends in the country, had 10 TD's last year, will help new quarterback Matt Scott or Nick Fowles.
-Brooks Reed- A massive DE, one of ESPN's top 10 workout warriors, had 8 sacks last season as a first year starter expect him to anchor a strong defense.
-Nicholas Grigsby- Starting RB he had over 1100 yards and 13 touchdowns last year as a sophomore, expect him and backup RB Keola Antolin to help which ever rookie QB gets the job to ease into the position with a great running game.

Pre-preseason top 25

1. USC
2. Florida
3. Oklahoma
4. Texas
5. Oklahoma State
6. California
7. Ohio State
   
8. Alabama
9. Penn State
10. Oregon
11. Ole Miss
12. Virginia Tech
13. LSU
14. Utah
15. Florida State
16. Georgia
17. Georgia Tech
18. TCU
19. Cincinnati
    
20. Oregon State
21. Arkansas
    
22. Miami
23. Notre Dame
24. Nebraska
    
25. Arizona

This is pretty early on, once fall practice starts I will do another top 25. I know Florida is number one on almost every poll, but USC would have won last year and with a better Quarterback and a more experienced offense I have them number 1.