Nebraska's inaugural season in the Big 12 was supposed to be a special one. We had Nebraska picked to win their half of the conference and Phil Steele had them in a tie with Michigan State. Nebraska won some important games (Ohio State, Michigan State and Penn State) but they also received two road beat-downs at the hands of Wisconsin and Michigan. The Cornhuskers finished the regular season 9-3 but all losses came in conference and they finished third in their half of the B1G. That 30-13 loss to South Carolina in the Capital One Bowl probably didn't feel very good to end the season. We caught up with and occassional contributor and big time Nebraska Cornhuskers fan Brandon Collard to get his thoughts on the 2011 season and also to take a quick peak into 2012. 

CFBZ: You've found yourself frustrated by the Nebraska offense in the recent past. How did Tim Beck do this season?

The last mock before the combine and free agency bonanza.

Round 1

1. Indianapolis Colts = Andrew Luck QB Stanford
2. St. Louis Rams = Matt Kalil OT USC
3. Minnesota Vikings = Morris Claiborne CB LSU
4. Cleveland Browns = Robert Griffin III QB Baylor
5. Tampa Bay Bucs = Trent Richardson HB Alabama
6. Washington Redskins = Justin Blackmon WR Oklahoma State
7. Jacksonville Jaguars = Kendall Wright WR Baylor
8. Carolina Panthers = Riley Reiff OT Iowa
9. Miami Dolphins = David DeCastro OG Stanford
10. Buffalo Bills = Courtney Upshaw OLB Alabama
11. Kansas City Chiefs = Jonathan Martin OT Stanford
12. Seattle Seahawks = Michael Brockers DT LSU
13. Arizona Cardinals = Luke Kuechly ILB Boston College
14. Dallas Cowboys = Dre Kirkpatrick CB Alabama
15. Philadelphia Eagles = Devon Still DT Penn State no comments

Coming off of a 7-6 season in 2010, the expectation was for modest improvement. Phil Steele picked Baylor 8th in the Big 12 and we picked them 7th. What happened on the offensive side of the football was far from modest. It was outstanding. Led by Superman Socks himself, Robert Griffin III, the Bears increased their points per game from 31.2 to 45.3. RG3 was dynamic and he posted a 37 to 6 TD to INT ratio on his way to winning the prestigous Heisman Trophy. But he didn't do it alone. RB Terrance Ganaway ran for over 1500 yards and 21 TDs. WR Kendall Wright caught 108 passes and 14 TDs and three other Baylor plays also posted 40+ reception seasons. The only thing that held Baylor back was it's defense.

As good as they were on offense, the defense was the exact opposite. The Bears gave up a whopping 488.5 yards per game and allowed 37.2 points per game. The good news for Baylor is that on many nights the offense was better than the defense was bad. RG3 and the Bears took center stage on the opening Friday of the season as they surprised TCU 50-48. RG3 and the Bears would go on to beat the likes of Oklahoma and Texas en route to a 10-3 season. To get the inside scoop on the 2011 Baylor Bears we caught up with Jay Beck of the Big 12 website Turfburner.

CFBZ: It was a fantastic year for the Baylor Bears. What was the one defining moment for Baylor's 2011 season? no comments

It seems like just a couple of years ago that Georgia State started it's football program. Wait a minute, it was only a couple of years ago! After two years and nine wins, the Panthers are now looking at bigger and better things. The AJC reported on their possible move:

Georgia State’s athletics department commissioned a report that explores the expenses and revenues from moving from the FCS, where Georgia State currently plays, to the FBS, which features bowls games and the BCS. The report concludes that “GSU is well-positioned to make a transition to FBS” and “that the Sun Belt would be the best fit.”

Fresh off a 7-6 debut season with the Louisville Cardinals, Charlie Strong had his work cut out for him this year. Louisville returned only 3 offensive starters and 6 defensive starters this season. According to Phil Steele, Louisville was the least experienced team in the Big East and second to only Auburn in the entire FBS. Louisville played like an inexperienced team early in the season as they opened just 2-4. To make matters worse they also accumulated losses to Sun Belt (FIU) and Conference USA (Marshall) schools. Louisville found themselves down the stretch as they finished 5-1 in the regular season including an upset of a ranked West Virginia team. Once again Louisville finished out the season 7-6 under Charlie Strong but this time they posted a 5-2 conference record (vs 3-4 in 2010). We caught up with Mark Ennis, co-manager of Big East Coast Bias and co-host of The Two Man Game on ESPN 680 in Louisville, to get his take on the 2011 version of the Louisville Cardinals.

CFBZ: Louisville went 5-2 in the Big East and tied for the Conference Title. What were the primary factors in their success this year?

After the first five games, the 2011 season looked like it was going to be a long one for the Wolfpack. At that point they were 2-3 with their only wins coming against Liberty and South Alabama. They had conference losses to Wake Forest and Georgia Tech and had been blown out by 30 points at the hands of the Bearcats of Cincinatti. Under first year starting QB Mike Glennon, they were able to right the ship and win 6 of the last 8 (including a shut-out of rival UNC and an upset of ACC Champion Clemson) to finish 8-5 overall and 4-4 in the conference. We caught up with James from the NC State based blog Riddick & Reynolds to get his take on the 2011 season and beyond.

CFBZ: After NC State started 2-3 there were some rumblings about Tom O'Brien being on the Hot Seat. After finishing 8-5, what are your thoughts on the job O'Brien is doing?

Signing day has come and went and rosters for spring camp are pretty much set. There is still room for some teams to add players if they want but at this point that would be the exception and not the rule. Let's take a look team by team at the recruiting classes:

Alabama Crimson Tide:

CFBZ Top 100 Recruits: 8

Total Class: 26

Top Ranked Recruit: S Landon Collins

5-Stars: 3 (Collins, LB Reggie Ragland; WR Cryus Jones)

4-Stars: 15 (S Eddie Williams; LB Dillion Lee; RB TJ Yeldon; LB Denzel Devall; CB Geno Smith; LB Tyler Hayes; WR Amari Cooper; DT Korren Kirven; RB Kenyan Drake; DT Dalvin Tomlinson; WR Chris Black; OT Brandon Greene; DE Ryan Anderson; OT Alphonse Taylor; CB Travell Dixon)

We are a little late on bringing you our "way too early Top....." but we figured we would wait until all of the kids made their NFL decisions and for National Signing Day to come and go. For the purpose of this article when I refer to "returning starters" I am going to be using Phil Steele's figures that he posted on his website.

#10 South Carolina Gamecocks

South Carolina finished #10 in our final poll of the year so it makes a lot of sense to have them here to start 2012. The Gamecocks exceeded our expectations last season by overcoming the loss of Marcus Lattimore and the demise of Stephen Garcia. They were just a three point loss to Auburn away from playing in the SEC Championship Game for the second straight year. This year the Gamecocks will have to replace a lot of talent (Alshon Jeffrey, Melvin Ingram, Antonio Allen, C.C. Whitlock, Stephon Gilmore) especially on the defensive side of the football. They return 7 starters on offense and 6 on defense. QB Connor Shaw grew into the position once he took over for Garcia but he's still more dangerous with his feet than he is with his arm. If he can improve his passing this season and create more balance for the Gamecocks they could be a very dangerous team. The schedule is not a killer (East Carolina, UAB, Wofford, Kentucky should be freebies) but they do get LSU and Arkansas out of the SEC West.

Fresh off an 11-2 season in 2009, the Hawkeyes fell short of expectations and sent QB Ricky Stanzi out with an 8-5 record in 2010. Heading into 2011, the Hawkeyes were not only dealing with replacing Stanzi but also five more players that were drafted in the 2011 NFL Draft. When the dust settled on the season...RB Marcus Coker finished second in the league in rushing behind Heisman contender Montee Ball, WR Marvin McNutt finished first in the conference in receiving yards and QB James Vandenberg posted an impressive 25 to 7 INT ratio as well as finishing third in the conference (behind Kirk Cousins and Russell Wilson) in passing yards. If I would have told you that before the season, you probably would have thought Iowa would finish better than 7-6. We caught up with our buddy Ross from the Iowa blog Black Heart Gold Pants to get his take on the 2011 season and also get a glimpse into 2012.

CFBZ: In our Pre-Season Preview you said you thought 8-4 would make for a fairly successful season. Iowa finished up 7-6. Was this season a success, a failure or somewhere in between?

In three years at Iowa State, Paul Rhoads has taken Iowa State from a doormat to a competent team. The Cyclones are no longer a team that the opposition can expect to pencil in as a victory. Just ask Iowa, UConn, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. The Cyclones beat all of those teams last season. Some were bigger wins than others but all were important victories for Rhoads and his team. The Cyclones finished the regular season at 6-6 after dropping a game by seven points at #11 Kansas State. Despite losing to Rutgers in this years Insight Bowl, Rhoads has now taken Iowa State to bowl games in two out of the last three years and is looking to taking them further. We caught up with the gang at Wide Right & Natty Lite to get their take on the 2011 Iowa State Cyclones and to get a sneak peak into 2012.

CFBZ: You said before the season that you thought the Cyclones would go 5-7 or 6-6. After finishing 6-7 how do you feel about the season?