ESPN CFB Live's Preseason Top 25: Poking Fun At A Way Too Early List

Late last week E$PN released it's pre-season Top 25 for the 2011 college football season. It didn't seem fair to mock it then, but now that I've had some time to think it over, I am willing to mock it now. Try and take this "analysis" for what it's worth, huh? I mean after all, there's no way those guys at E$PN actually expected anyone to take them seriously anyhow, right?

1. Oklahoma: Okay, since they bring back so many guys and are playing in a league where it's basically them or Texas, I can see them getting the nod here. On the other hand, despite the message the annual spring game may have sent, the Sooners will have a time replacing the departed DeMarco Murray.

2. Alabama: Seriously? Didn't they lose a gang of people? I know the Tide are always supposed to Roll but, damn, can we keep it real? Trent Richardson is a stud, but he's never been that stud minus Mark Ingram. Julio Jones was a presence, when healthy, is there some other guy ready to step into that big-bodied role? Not to mention you no longer have a seasoned quarterback—ummm, to put them at No. 2 seems like too much.

3. Oregon: They should be No. 2...hell, they should be No. 1.

4. LSU: Is Jordan Jefferson still their best quarterback? I don't care how good their defense was last season—and keep in mind that was WITH Patrick Peterson—if Jefferson doesn't stop decapitating their offense, they won't get very far.

5. Boise State: I get it, until they get their backsides handed to them by a BCS team, everyone loves the Broncos. Fair enough.

6. Florida State: I sure hope they don't start getting the big head. This seems a bit high for a team that no longer has an experienced quarterback.

7. Stanford: If Jim Harbaugh was still the head coach, they would be a lot higher than this in my opinion.

8. South Carolina: It's allllllll about Marcus Lattimore. Where his legs go, so goes the South Carolina offense. Now, if they could just figure out what to do at quarterback.

9. Oklahoma State: That's right, there is another team in Oklahoma. How old is Brandon Weeden now? I swear that kid should be retired.

10. Ohio State: Hahahahahahahahahaha....talk to me when they aren't under threat of probation. That team is a hot mess.

11. Texas A&M: For real, they're this good?

12. Arkansas: It's nice they feel this way about the Hogs...too bad the rest of the SEC doesn't.

13. Nebraska: As long as Pelini isn't making his quarterback cry like a baby, they might do alright in the Big Ten this season.

14. Wisconsin: Call me when they start running the score up on GOOD teams. That's when I'll start taking them more seriously.

15. TCU: No Andy Dalton? No way.

16. Michigan State: I don't see lightning striking twice here.

17. Notre Dame: Notre who?

18. Florida: Blah. Blah. Blah. *in mocking voice* "they have Will Muschamp, they've got Charlie Weis, they're gonna shock the world with their new pro-style offense"...yeah, yeah, yeah.

19. Virginia Tech: Does the Beamer train ever not get the E$PN love?

20. Texas: So, you lose a lot of people on your coveted staff and STILL manage to be a Top 25 team? Oh, and about that losing (non-bowl qualifying) season you just finished, are you really THAT much better then 2010?

21. Mississippi State: Fool me once. Shame on you. Fool me twice....

22. Auburn: Not even Nick Saban is convinced you can do it all again.

23. Missouri: Isn't your best player in the NFL Draft already?

24. West Virginia: You only have Pitt to worry about, you should be good every year.

25. Arizona State: As soon as your offense can consistently match up with your defense, then you just might be some kind of special.

CFB Rumor Mill: Randy Shannon Out At Miami, Is Rich Rodriguez Next At Michigan?

It's not even December yet, but the Grinch has already made his annual appearance in college football's coal-giving department. There are reports that both Randy Shannon of Miami and Rich Rodriguez of Michigan will be fired from their respective posts after this season.

Shannon's fate seems a lot less surprising, if indeed true, as he stood to have the most to lose if he finished the 2010 season in poor fashion. The Hurricanes were favored by many to be the front-runners for an ACC Championship berth and, quite possibly, a sleeper candidate in the BCS.

Instead, the Cane's finished the season 7-5 overall—suffering embarrassing conference losses to both Florida State (45-17) and Virginia Tech (31-17). Adding more insult to injury, they lost their final home game to South Florida, in overtime, with Jacory Harris looking as pedestrian as ever.

There was simply no room for error this season, and Shannon's regime played too conservative a hand again.

As for Rodriguez, the verdict is still out on him, but there are just as many who would be for his demise as are for giving him another season.  His offense proved explosive through the first five games, but as Denard Robinson fizzled, and the Michigan defense exposed, the good times ended—Michigan ended the year 2-5, and finish 7-5 on the season.

On the bright side, they're bowl eligible, the spread has proven it can be effective with the right personnel, and Denard Robinson, when healthy, is a legitimate weapon. That said, how many fans and boosters in Ann Arbor can stand to give Rodriguez one more season?

The swirling rumor is they might have their eye on Jim Harbaugh.

The young coach, and Michigan alumnus, has turned Stanford football into a force in the Pac-10. The Cardinals are 10-1, in the BCS Top 10, and, possibly, on their way to a BCS berth. However, he did have some rather unsavory comments about his alma mater in 2007:

"...the athletic department has ways to get borderline guys in and, when they’re in, they steer them to courses in sports communications. They’re adulated when they’re playing, but when they get out, the people who adulated them won’t hire them."

Hmmm, don't know that too many Michigan fans have forgotten that one.

Either way, it's looking like the maize and blue might be looking for another change in the big house—we'll just have to wait and see what happens in this developing story.