College Football 2009 Preseason Top 5

College football is right around the corner. On September 3^rd, the first games of the season will kick off, and the pursuit of another college football championship will begin. So what teams are in the hunt for the 2009-2010 BCS Title?

Let's take a look at this season's preseason Top 5.

1. Florida Gators (Last year's record: 13-1): There's no doubt that the Gators are the favorites as we enter the 2009 college football season. Yes, they lost Percy Harvin to the NFL, but they have plenty of other options to throw to, including a couple of wide receivers that weren't on the field last year. Most importantly, former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow is back under center, and his ability to will his team to victory will likely result in yet another BCS Championship appearance for the Gators.

2. Texas Longhorns (Last year's record: 12-1): If it weren't for Big 12's egregious tiebreaking rules, perhaps the Longhorns would be the reigning BCS champions-then again, if the team's safety had caught that interception against Texas Tech, the tiebreakers wouldn't have mattered. Anyway, the Longhorns return QB Colt McCoy, who is looking like this year's favorite to win the Heisman, even despite the return of both Tebow and Sam Bradford. McCoy will get a lot of help from his "6^th year" senior Jordan Shipley, who will be back catching passes...yet again.

3. Oklahoma Sooners (Last year's record: 12-2): The Oklahoma Sooners lost in last year's championship to the Gators. A lot of the loss came at the hands of the Sooners passing game, which just wasn't clicking throughout the game. But with QB Sam Bradford back, the passing game is set to redeem itself, and TE Jermaine Gresham and OT Trent Williams will make sure of it. On the defensive end, future first-round pick DT Gerald McCoy is back to lead a defense prime for another Big 12 Championship.

4. USC Trojans (Last year's record: 12-1) USC is coming back without last year's quarterback, Mark Sanchez. Mitch Mustain is said to have a shot at the starting job, but regardless of who gets it, USC will still return 9 starters on offense, making them unquestionably the best offensive team in the Pac 10. However, winning the Pac 10 may not be that easy. USC lost its entire linebacking core to the NFL, and it's hard to believe that they will be a better defensive unit than last year, where they still struggled with certain aspects of the running game. Despite that though, their overall talent level is just too much for most teams, and they'll get a lot of wins this year, no matter how difficult winning the Pac 10 is.

5. LSU Tigers (Last year's record: 8-5): The Tigers didn't have a great season last year, but they were still quite formidable. This year, quarterback Jordan Jefferson is likely to take over the helm, and he should bring some consistency to the Tigers passing game. However, he may have to give up a few plays to incoming freshmen Russell Shepard, who is a very mobile and athletic quarterback in the mold of Vince Young. As for the defense, that will be completely reshaped as new defensive coordinator John Chavis installs a new defense, after manning the defense at Tennessee for 13 seasons.