Five College Football Teams That Will Slip in 2011

Virginia Tech: Last season began with a thud (losses to Boise and James Madison) and ended with one (bad loss to Stanford). Now for further bad news – QB Tyrod Taylor graduates. And the Hokies’ top two running backs – Darren Evans and Ryan Williams – have declared for the NFL. Silver lining? Speedy David Wilson’s a real nice running back, and he has four offensive lineman returning. The Hokies’ young defense loses two defensive lineman and two defensive backs, but here’s the good news – the schedule (or what we could find of it) doesn’t include any out-of-conference tests. But the Hokies won’t be the class of the ACC. Florida State will be.

Auburn. Duh. The Tigers will lose Cam Newton, four offensive lineman, two wide receivers, and at least six starters on defense. This year’s schedule was a joke – next year they have to visit South Carolina and Arkansas in consecutive weeks, and then host Florida and LSU in a 4-game stretch that probably defines their season. Also, Georgia’s going to be improved. Alabama is Alabama. Projected record (subject to change in August after six months of commitments, arrests and transfers): 8-4.

TCU: Kept Gary Patterson from going to Michigan, but player-wise, the Horned Frogs will suffer heavy loss – 26 seniors. Gone are QB Andy Dalton, three members of the offensive line, a slew of WRs, their top tight end, and three members of the vaunted defensive line and formidable secondary. We couldn’t find TCU’s complete 2011 schedule, but here’s a partial look.

Oregon. The Ducks will return QB Darron Thomas and RB LaMichael James, but they’ll lose their top two WRs and three offensive linemen. The Ducks rotate in 25 players on defense, so will they be hurt by losing five defensive starters? Maybe not. Purely a guess – as phenomenal as Oregon’s offense was this year, Pac-10 coaches have all summer to prepare for the up-tempo attack (and study what Auburn and Cal did). I don’t see Oregon averaging 49 points per game again. And then there’s the schedule: at Stanford, vs. LSU (season-opener), USC, and the Pac-10 Championship. The Ducks will still be in the hunt for the Pac-10 title game, but the guess here is Stanford will be the best in the league. Projected record: 9-3.