Great championship game, huh? Really dispelled the myth that the SEC is the best conference in college football and the Big Ten is vastly overrated. I'd say both those truths are plenty plain to see now, though I really thought Ohio State and Michigan gave the Big Ten a Big Two.

Oh well. Looking ahead to next year, I can't see a remarkable turnaround for our once mighty conference, though the bottom tier of Indiana and Illinois will be appreciably better and quite possibly replaced by Minnesota and Northwestern. At the top, Michigan will be good - top five good in my opinion, more on that in a minute - but Ohio State will take a step back with juniors Ted Ginn and Antonio Pittman likely off to the NFL, and Wisconsin is bound to lose more than one game considering its road dates at Penn State and Ohio State.

As for the Wolverines, I don't believe they're as bad as they played against USC, especially on offense where their weapons are on par with anyone in the country. Michigan's Rose Bowl opponent, USC, will likely rank No. 1 in my preseason poll (again, they held the top spot last year as well) with an in-tact defense and a returning quarterback.

I'd put Michigan No. 2 for now and probably West Virginia three. Quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton are back for the Mountaineers, and the Big East will be down a bit with Louisville breaking in a new coach and possibly a new quarterback. Florida and Virginia Tech would round out my top five, with Texas, Arkansas and Ohio State among the other candidates depending on who's coming back. If you're looking for Boise State-like longshots, Hawaii and South Florida are teams to keep on your radar.

Here's my preseason top 10, subject to change:
1. USC
2. Michigan
3. West Virginia
4. Florida
5. Virginia Tech
6. Texas
7. Arkansas
8. Ohio State
9. California
10. LSU