(Editor's Note: This previously ran at Crystal Ball Run)
Camp Opens: March 11
Spring Game: April 21
All anyone remembers about WVU's Big East-championship season is the 70-33 victory over Clemson in the Discover Orange Bowl. But the Mountaineers had some serious ups and downs last season, including a dismal loss at Syracuse.
Now Dana Holgorsen and the rest of his Mountaineers must take it up a notch this season as the Big 12 won't be as forgiving. WVU paid a hefty price to get out of the Big East, so now the Mountaineers will find out if it was really worth it.
Stability Factor (1 = chaos; 5 = rock solid): 3.5
The Mountaineers should begin the season ranked in the Top 10, and that's based strictly on the potential of the offense. But WVU's defense is undergoing a schematic change from a 3-3-5 to a more typical 3-4 or 4-3 under new coordinator Joe DeForest.
If you have an extra $1,000 to bet on a prop bet it would make sense to pick an SEC team to win the BCS National Championship.
Alabama made it seven in a row for college football's most dominant conference, but would you take the Crimson Tide to repeat?
LSU seems like a good bet as well, especially with all of the talent returning for Les Miles' team in 2012.
Who would you pick if you had to go outside of the SEC? Oklahoma? USC? Oregon?
There have been a number of those "way-too-early" Top 25 rankings, but we'll use the one crafted by ESPN's Mark Schlabach to offer you some "way-too-early" odds on who will win the championship.
25. Louisville
You have to like what Charlie Strong is building at Louisville, especially if you are a fan of the Cardinals.
Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is a future star, and Strong keeps stockpiling talent each recruiting season.
Louisville could quickly become a dominant force in the Big East, but it's hard to imagine the Cardinals could win enough this season to win it all.
Odds: 250-1
24. North Carolina State
Mike Glennon has become a solid leader, at quarterback, and North Carolina State's defense showed some improvement in the second half of the season.
Tom O'Brien believed when he bolted from Boston College for another ACC team that he would have more success.
Matt Barkley should be applauded for returning for his final season at USC, and taking a shot at building on his legacy.
There are still those who will rip him for passing up the NFL's money and risking his health for the Trojans and Lane Kiffin one more season.
So if Barkley has a bad game or USC loses a game, the critics will come at him from about every direction.
Barkley probably doesn't care what anyone has to say about him, but he is one the top guys back in 2012 who will likely face the most scrutiny in college football.
Who are the rest?
Landry Jones, Oklahoma
Landry Jones is primed for his final run at Oklahoma and through the Big 12.
He'd love nothing more than to deliver that elusive BCS National Championship for the Sooners.
Jones had a nice 2011, but he was also inconsistent at inconvenient times as Oklahoma dropped to third in the Big 12.
OU fans are going to expect a lot from Jones in 2012, and if he slips even the slightest he is going to hear about it.
Tyrann Mathieu, LSU
Tyrann Mathieu is a polarizing figure who was easily one of the most scrutinized players in 2011.
There's no reason to think that will get any better this coming season.
(Editor's Note: This story was originally published at Crystal Ball Run)It's not like we didn't know who West Virginia would play when it finally joined the Big 12.
It became official Tuesday and the conference released the league schedule. Yet, there was something that left me speechless for awhile when I saw WVU's schedule.
Hey road trips to Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Iowa State. And how about that 2012 schedule of Baylor, Kansas State, TCU, Oklahoma and Kansas? That's four Big 12 home games against teams that finished in the Top 25 last season. Now do you see why AD Oliver Luck was so adamant about joining the Big 12 right away? OK, maybe it had something to do about money also.
Luck told the Charleston Gazette, "I know our fans will be looking forward to having the Big 12 schools visit Milan Puskar Stadium this fall. This is a tremendous opportunity for our department, and the challenges ahead are certainly exciting."
TCU fans have to be equally excited about the Horned Frogs new opponents and a more challenging schedule.
Michigan improved greatly in Brady Hoke's first season, and it would only be natural for the UM fans to think 2012 could be their year.
The odds of winning a BCS National Championship are OK, but not outstanding.
However, it would not shock many if dual-threat quarterback Denard Robinson finally put together a full season of greatness and won the Heisman Trophy.
He's not alone.
There are a number of great college football players who have a better shot at the Heisman than they do a championship.
Geno Smith, West Virginia
It's not like Geno Smith is going to put up numbers like he did in the Discover Orange Bowl against Clemson during every game next season.
But it's not a far-fetched idea to believe he will improve drastically on his first season in Dana Holgorsen's system.
If WVU makes the jump to the Big 12 (like most experts believe), then Smith will get a credibility bump that he can't earn in the Big East.
However, this also means the competition will be tougher. So it's hard to imagine the Mountaineers can pull off an undefeated regular season and earn a spot in the championship game.
You hear it every time a new coach takes over after the season ends.
They are either trying to save a recruiting class or they have a tough job of trying to pull in some good players with about a month to do it.
A coach like UCLA's Jim Mora might have been at the biggest disadvantage because it has been so long since he was on the recruiting trail.
While a coach like Toledo's Matt Campbell just took over where he left off since he was promoted to the top job.
Every one of the 26 new head coaches faced his own ups and downs during his first recruiting season with his new program.
Here is a look at their class and the grade they earned.
Terry Bowden, Akron
Terry Bowden takes over an Akron program that has the best facilities in the Mid-American Conference, but one of the worst football teams in the nation.
Bowden was hired to fix this problem.
On the whole, college football coaches get along because they understand each other better than anyone else.
But there are a few relationships that were fractured on the recruiting trail or because of past dealings.
In the case of Mack Brown and Bob Stoops, it seems these two have faced off so many times that there was no choice but to have some bad blood develop.
Not all of the great coaching rivalries are bitter or even long-term; some are the byproduct of where they coach.
Here's a look at 15 of the best going today.
Brady Hoke vs. Mark Dantonio
Until Michigan and Brady Hoke actually beat Michigan State, Mark Dantonio can hold on to bragging rights.
But these two know the importance of winning this annual matchup, and you can guarantee that they don't have the most positive things to say about each other on the recruiting trail.
(Editor's note: I recently wrote this for Crystal Ball Run, but felt some of our loyal readers may have missed it. So here it is)
I'm still not accustomed to talking about West Virginia and the Big 12 at the same time.
I still look up news on the Big East and its conference members.
One of these days I'll figure it out that I need to start learning more about the Mountaineers' future opponents in the Big 12.
No one is positive if WVU will be playing Oklahoma and Texas in 2012, but if Oliver Luck says it's going to happen then it is. Seriously, if Luck were running the Big East Conference, the league would not be in the disarray it is today.
You see why West Virginia's AD did everything he could to find a new home for the Mountaineers. He may have been criticized for this, but he was looking out for his own.
The Mountaineers' future is still up in the air, but conventional wisdom suggests WVU and the Big East will reach an agreement and the Mountaineers will play in the Big 12 in 2012. Since WVU announced it was leaving, the Big 12 and West Virginia's president have said WVU will be a member of the Big 12 on July 1.
I believe them.
