Alabama Tops USA Today's College Football Poll

Four reasons why college football is the greatest sport in the world.

The first USA Today football poll of the year is out today and to no one's surprise Alabama is at the top. Here is the top 10:

1.Alabama

2. Ohio State
3. Florida
4. Texas
5. Boise State
6. Virginia Tech
7.TCU
8.Oklahoma
9.Nebraska
10.Iowa

If you are curious about the rest of the top 25 then you can look at it here. The SEC packs the top 25 as usual. 2 of the top 3 are SEC teams and there are 6 in the poll total. No Big East teams are in the top 10 and that's not shocking. The first Big East team to make an appearance is Pitt at #15. The only other team from that conference is West Virginia at 25.

The power of the SEC is without question. The conference is enjoying a long streak of national championships, four in a row if you are keeping count, but this year is more open than years in the past. The defending champs are returning all of their most important components on offense but they have to replace almost their entire defense, which was their strongest advantage. Florida has the task of replacing Tim Tebow at quarterback and Brandon Spikes at linebacker. Florida reloads every year but the new players will have to develop so I doubt the Gators will make a serious run at the title. Look for them to be there next year or the year after.

Ohio State will be a team to watch. Terrell Pryor made huge strides last year and he looked like a Heisman caliber player in the Rose Bowl. It seemed like he finally got it. TCU and Boise State are compelling teams. Both mid-major teams have never been in the top 10 at the beginning of the season. This is the first chance that either team has to make some legit noise when it comes to the BCS championship game.

Look out for Arkansas, Miami (FL), and LSU. All three had young teams last year that may be primed to climb the ladder and become contenders. My pretenders are Oregon, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia Tech. Look for one or more of those teams to fall out of the top 25 early.

Teams that we usually see in the top 25 that aren't there are Notre Dame and Michigan. Both teams are in turmoil, one with a current coach and the other with a new coach and a new system.

Stay tuned for more college football analysis as the day progresses. I will be picking the schedules of the Irish, the Cats and the Cards. I love this time of year!