Official 2011 Pre-Season Power Rankings.

Part of Wasatch Swagger's 2011 College Football Preview.

PAC-12

1. Oregon Ducks
2. Stanford Cardinal
3. Southern California Trojans*
4. Arizona State Sun Devils
5. Arizona Wildcats
6. Utah Utes
7. Washington Huskies
8. Oregon State Beavers
9. California Golden Bears
10. UCLA Bruins
11. Colorado Buffaloes
12. Washington State Cougars

By Division

North

1. Oregon
2. Stanford
3. Washington
4. Oregon State
5. California
6. Washington State

South

1. USC*
2. Arizona State
3. Arizona
4. Utah
5. UCLA
6. Colorado

Bowl Projections:

Rose--Oregon vs. Penn State
Sugar--Stanford vs. LSU
Alamo--Arizona State vs. Oklahoma State
Holiday--Arizona vs. Texas A&M
Sun--Utah vs. Maryland
Las Vegas--Washington vs. TCU
Kraft Fight Hunger--Oregon State vs. Nevada
New Mexico--UCLA vs. Utah State

*USC is ineligible for the post season and the conference championship game.

Football Bowl Subdivision Independents

1. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
2. Brigham Young Cougars
3. Navy Midshipmen
4. Army Black Knights

Bowl Projections
Champ Sports--Notre Dame vs. Clemson
Armed Forces--BYU vs. Tulsa
Military--Navy vs. North Carolina State

WAC

1. Hawaii Warriors
2. Nevada Wolfpack
3. Fresno State Bulldogs
4. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
5. Utah State Aggies
6. Idaho Vandals
7. San Jose State Spartans
8. New Mexico State Aggies

Bowl Projections:
Hawaii--Hawaii vs. Houston
Kraft Fight Hunger--Nevada vs. Oregon State
Poinsettia--Fresno State vs. Air Force
Humanitarian--Louisiana Tech vs. Ohio
New Mexico--Utah State vs. UCLA

(For those of you that care...)
MWC
Fiesta--Boise State vs. Wisconsin
Las Vegas--TCU vs.Washington
Poinsettia--Air Force vs. Fresno State
Independence--San Diego State vs. Wake Forest
New Mexico--No Representation...Utah State vs. UCLA

BCS Games.

NC Game--Alabama vs. Oklahoma

Rose--Oregon vs. Penn State

Sugar--Stanford vs. LSU

Fiesta--Boise State vs. Wisconsin

Orange--Florida State vs. Cincinnati

Big Sky

1. Eastern Washington Eagles
2. Montana State Bobcats
3. Montana Grizzlies
4. Weber State Wildcats
5. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
6. Portland State Vikings
7. Sacramento State Hornets
8. Northern Colorado Bears
9. Idaho State Bengals

Playoff Projection
Eastern Washington, Montana State and Montana

Great West Football Conference

1. Southern Utah Thunderbirds
2. California Davis Aggies
3. California Polytechnic Mustangs
4. North Dakota Fighting Sioux
5. South Dakota Coyotes

Playoff Projection
Southern Utah

College Football Preview 2011 Brigham Young Cougars

July 1, 2011 is Independence Day for BYU.  No longer part of the Mountain West Conference and a TV deal that left them as exposed as a nun in Nome.  BYU picked a good time to declare their independence.  They have 10 returning starters on offense, and that usually translates into big numbers.  The last time that many offensive players returned for the Cougars, they played in their only New Years Day bowl game in their storied football history.  Defense returns a lot of talent as well, but has lost some key people.  Reviews are mixed on how well BYU will do in their first season outside of conference play.  But BYU will have to do well out of the gate.  That task will not be easy with Ole Miss, Texas, Utah and Central Florida as the first four opponents.  Should BYU begin 0-4, look for the doubters to turn into gloaters.  But I think that they will begin 2-2 and win 9 games, which will be a good start for the new era in BYU athletics.

Schedule

S3 @Mississippi
S10 @Texas
S17 Utah
S23 Central Florida
S30 Utah State
O8 San Jose State
O15 @Oregon State
O22 Idaho State
O28 @TCU
N5 BYE
N12 Idaho
N19 New Mexico State
N26 BYE
D3 @Hawaii

Projected Finish: 9-3
Post-Season Projection: Armed Forces Bowl vs. Tulsa

College Football Preview 2011 Utah Utes

The Utes begin PAC-12 play in 2011 and they will not be as bad as some people predict, they will not be as good as other people predict.  But they will win more than enough games to earn national respect and prove that they belong.  Kyle Whittingham is as good as any coach in the league, and with Norm Chow running the offense, they will be a force to be reckoned with, in 2012.  2011, however, will be a little rough in the beginning.  In 2010, the last season in the MWC, the Ute offense seemed stuck in neutral and if it was not for the play of the defense, which saved the day against BYU, the second half of the season would have been a complete disaster.  The futility can not be put on the shoulders of Jordan Wynn, who will prove to be a great quarterback one day.  If Harvey Langi proves to be what everyone hopes for, the Utes will be good enough on offense to win more than a few games.  As usual, there will be little doubt about the quality of the Ute defense.

Schedule

S1 Montana State
S8 @USC
S17 @BYU
S24 BYE
O1 Washington
O8 Arizona State
O18 @Pittsburgh
O22 @California
O29 Oregon State
N5 @Arizona
N12 UCLA
N19 @Washington State
N25 Colorado

Projected Outcome: 8-4 (6-3 in conference play)
Post Season Projection: Sun Bowl vs. Maryland

College Football Preview 2011--Weber State Wildcats

2011 Football Schedule

Weber State just missed the FCS playoffs last season and had losses in a couple of close games.  Four year starting QB Cam Higgins has now gone pro in something other than sports, and the Cats are also looking to replace power runner Via Tafuna, who was instrumental in Weber's late-season push in 2010.  Star TE Tyler Francisco has taken his game to the Canadian Football League.  There are a lot of holes on offense for Ron McBride to fill in the off-season.  But the performance of the offense in the Spring game has given hope that junior QB Mike Hoke can pick up where Higgins left off.  Last year' star linebacker,  Nick Webb leads an experienced defense in Ogden.  In order to make the playoffs, Weber will have to beat at least one team from Montana or perhaps defending national champion Eastern Washington or even in-state rival Utah State and that is a tall order.  The Big Sky Conference will be a tough as ever in 2011.  And the Cats will have a good chance to make a big impression at the beginning of the season when they open up against a reeling Wyoming Cowboys team from the FBS.  Weber's big disadvantage is starting the season outside the national rankings.  Even in a playoff system, that means something when hoping for an at-large bid.

S3   @ Wyoming

S10 @ Utah State

S17 Sacramento State*

S24 @ Northern Colorado*

O1  @ Eastern Washington*

O8  BYE

O15 Idaho State*

O22 Southern Utah

O29 @ Montana*

N5   Montana State*

N12 Northern Arizona*

N19 @ Portland State*

*Big Sky Conference Game

Projected Win

Projected Outcome: 7-4

Post-Season Projection: Just miss the FCS playoffs

College Football Preview 2011 Utah State Aggies

In 2010, the Aggies seemed to be on the verge of big things.  They beat in-state rival BYU and nearly came away with wins against Oklahoma and Nevada.  At other times they looked dreadful.  They followed-up the BYU win with a lousy performance at Louisiana Tech, which is one of four games where the Aggies scored in single digits. In 2010, the Aggie offense was very good once they got the ball to the opponents red zone, where they scored almost 90% of the time.  Getting to red zone on a more consistent basis will be the main goal of the offense, and that should be accomplished with Robert Turbin returning from injury.  BTW...Turbin can score from long distance as well.  As good as the Aggies were in the offensive red zone, is where the defense had a little trouble in 2010.  Linebacker Bobby Wagner is the leading returning tackler from 2010.  There should be plenty of high scoring games for Utah State in 2011, and if they can win one or two of them, there may even be some post-season action this year.  Winning five games, however, should be enough progress for Gary Anderson and his crew, but I see 7 wins, if they can beat the teams that they should.  This should set up a big 2012 when most of the WAC powers are in the Mountain West Conference.

2012 Schedule

S3 @Auburn
S10 Weber State
S17 BYE
S24 Colorado State
S30 @BYU
O8 Wyoming
O15 @Fresno State
O22 Louisiana Tech
O29 BYE
N5 @Hawaii
N12 San Jose State
N19 @Idaho
N26 Nevada
D3 @New Mexico State

Publish Post

Projected Finish 7-5 (4-3 in Conference Play)
Post Season Projection: New Mexico Bowl vs. Rice

College Football Preview 2011--Southern Utah Thunderbirds

There is a two-fold mission in Cedar City this year. 1. Defend the Great West Conference Championship. 2. Win at least 7 games and qualify for the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

These goal are not out of reach this year with quarterback Brad Sorenson returning for head coach Ed Lamb. The only bad news is that there are only four home games this coming year. Five of the final six are on the road. The Thunderbirds need to learn to be comfortable away from the Eccles Colosseum this year.

Sorensen, who had a 149.7 efficiency rating in 2010, will have to find new targets this season as his top two receivers from last season are not on this year's squad. But the third leading receiver and the team's leading rusher from a year ago, Austin Minifee is back. On defense, linebacker Blake Fenn and corner-back Erron Vonner return from last year's squad. Also of note, last year, on average, SUU outscored their opposition in every single quarter. Building on this momentum should get them into the first round of the playoffs.

Schedule:

S3 @ South Dakota State
S10 Sacramento State
S17 UT San Antonio
S24 @ UNLV
O1 North Dakota*
O8 @ South Dakota*
O15 @ Cal Poly*
O22 @ Weber State
O29 UC Davis*
N5 BYE
N12 @ Northern Iowa
N19 @ Northern Arizona

Projected Wins
*Great West Conference Games
Projected Finish 7-5 (4-1 in conference play)
Post-season projection: NCAA FCS Playoff 1st-round road game.