I say.......
1. Boise State Broncos
Yes, Boise State is my unbiased number one selection. I am sure that many will say that this pick is just loaded with bias, my being a BSU student and all, but I assure you I thought long and hard over my top 5 and truly believe the Broncos to be the nation's top team on paper. I would argue that bias is the only reason BSU is not the number one in everyone's polls. If a bottom tier BIG-12 team, say Kansas, returned all but one starter from a team that went 14-0 a year ago, while beating a top 10 PAC-10 champion and a fourth ranked MWC champion in a BCS bowl where do you think they would be in the polls. Number one. There. Is. No. Doubt. About. It. The Broncos have lost one game in two years and return the nations most complete team, QB Kellen Moore is 26-1 as a starter, has never lost a regular season game, the team has gone unbeaten in three of the last four regular seasons, and enters the last year of their WAC tenure having never lost a single WAC game at home. The Broncos are consistent, who cares how easy the schedule is, something has to be said for being perfect every year and they beat the good teams when they play them. The only reason anyone has them third is because they are a WAC team, and keeping them out of the top 2 in the preseason means they can excuse leaving them out of the title game if they run the table. This is the number one team in college football going into the season, whether the coaches admit it or not.
The Broncos will be led by QB Kellen Moore, a Junior who has a very good chance at breaking Colt McCoy's career wins record. Moore comes off an outstanding season, throwing for over 3,900 yards, a near 70% completion percentage, and a ridiculous 39/3 TD/INT ratio. This year, those numbers could be even bigger. Moore sat through the majority of the fourth quarter in six games last year, and with the Broncos likely to be in the BCS discussion all year long, Coach Chris Peterson may be more inclined to let him stay in and run up the scores a bit. There is a tremendous group of talent at RB as well, D.J. Harper, Doug Martin, and Jeremy Avery are all good enough to start, but will split carries. Harper is the most talented, and will be looking to prove it after missing all but two games to an injury last year. Martin is a bruising runner and Avery is very balanced, between them they have the player they need in any situation. Titus Young and Austin Pettis are stars at WR and will ensure Moore has great targets all year long.
The defense is probably the most under-rated unit in football. The line smothered the run last year, finishing inside the top ten in the country, and say what you want about the overall quality in the WAC but these teams can score. The LB's are great as well, led by Ryan Winterswyk, who is probably the best defender in the WAC. Safety Jeron Johnson is also incredibly talented. The Broncos one missing starter from last years team is first round draft pick Kyle Wilson, who will be sorely missed, but the defense should get by fine without him. The biggest loss is not Wilson, however, but co-ordinator Justin Wilcox who left for Tennessee.
The schedule is realistically not much easier than many top ten teams in the nation. While the conference is a joke to them, they have great teams in Oregon State and Virginia Tech on the schedule out of conference. There are a lot of teams, such as Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Texas that only play two or three games this season that are in their league. Boise State essentially has a two game season, but Nevada and Idaho will be on the road this year. Nevada has been very close to beating Boise in each of the last three years and should not be overlooked and Idaho, while not all that good, will be pissed off and ready to play a big game this season due to the war of words between the schools officials this offseason.
Prediction: Winner WAC (big shock I know): National Championship Game.
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