Vidal Hazelton and Broderick Green both committed to USC hoping to win a National Title and numerous accolades and awards, but after last season many thought that since they had been passed by younger kids; their chances for playing time was dwindling at USC. At the end of the season both decided to transfer [...]

In this week’s In The Bleachers Podcast, Adam and I are joined by Chris Huston otherwise known as the Heisman Pundit. Since 2004, HP has been breaking down the Heisman race week by week, telling us who has the best chance and who’s Heisman hopes went down the drain. He has even published [...]

# 28:WLB Mychal Sisson, Colorado State The Verdict: One of the Mountain West’s best kept secrets, Sisson is undersized even by non-BCS standards, standing just 5-foot-11 and weighing in at 203-pounds. Yet for what he lacks in ideal size, Sisson more than makes up for with an elite blend of speed, tenacity, and sheer violence of action [...]

# 29: FS Sean Baker, Ball State The Verdict: A redshirt freshmen for the Cardinals a season ago, Baker teamed up last season with veteran Ball State strong safety Alex Knipp to give coach Hoke’s defense arguably the best starting safety tandem in any of the non-BCS conferences. The ball-hawking Cardinal defense led the MAC in interceptions [...]

What we’ve been working on: The countdown of the Top 50 Non-BCS Players is still going strong. Recently Adam chose a 5 foot 5 inch running back from Kent State to be #31. Eugene Jarvis might look non-threatening, but he uses his lack of size to hide behind the offensive line, and beats you [...]

What we’ve been working on: The countdown of the Top 50 Non-BCS Players is still going strong. Recently Adam chose a 5 foot 5 inch running back from Kent State to be #31. Eugene Jarvis might look non-threatening, but he uses his lack of size to hide behind the offensive line, and beats you [...]

Another week, another full list of players. Think I’m missing the mark? Feel free to drop me a line in the box below. #30: DT D’Anthony Smith, Louisiana Tech The Verdict: A very wise and well respected defensive football coach once told me (ok, who are we kidding, it was Rich Ellerson) that analysts and fans alike [...]

Over at College Football News, Pete Fiutak poses an interesting round table question that fits in with our debate with The Wiz last week on the podcast. His question is: Does the SEC deserve the benefit of the doubt in the rankings? You can read not only his response, but a few others [...]

#31: RB Eugene Jarvis, Kent State The Verdict:It’s often tempting for analysts to overlook the production of a back like Jarvis, who at 5-foot-5 enters his senior season as one of the smallest feature backs in major college football.  While he certainly benefits from his small size in Kent State’s zone-read offensive scheme (making it difficult for [...]

He was known by the blogging community as The Wiz, who run a highly successful blog called The Wiz of Odds. Recently Jay Christensen has stepped out from behind the Wizard’s hat and joined us on this week’s edition of the In The Bleachers Podcast. In this episode we do talk a little big about [...]

# 32:DE Alex Carrington, Arkansas State The Verdict:At 6-foot-5, 285-pounds, Arkansas State’s Alex Carrington is the reigning Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year and one of the most under-the-radar defenders in the entire country. An ideal NFL prospect with a quick first step and the ability to overpower offensive linemen at the point of attack, [...]

#34:DE Carl Ihenacho, San Jose State The Verdict:While much of the nation’s attention gravitated towards Spartan defensive tackle and YouTube phenom Jarron Gilbert during the 2008 season, one could make the case that the 6-foot-3, 245-pound Ihenacho began the season with just as good of a start. A fast-twitch defender who comes off the ball with [...]

For the incoming class of freshman, if they have not already reported to school for summer sessions, they will be there within a week or two. In that time they will get acclimated with the rigors of being a student and being to work out with their new teammates. So if you’ve been [...]

# 34: WR Bryan Anderson, Central Michigan The Verdict: At 6-foot-5, 213-pounds, Anderson represents one of the most consistent receivers in the entire country, with the senior having already compiled a resume that includes  226 career receptions and 21 career receiving touchdowns (both school records.) A two-time First Team All-MAC selection and a Freshman All American in 2006, Anderson [...]

#35: LB Cardia Jackson, Louisiana-Monroe The Verdict:A two-time All-Conference slection at linebacker, Jackson remains one of the most overlooked defensive players in the entire country despite the fact that he has been of one of the most productive. Jackson was the nation’s eighth leading tackler a season ago, averaging an insane 10.6 stops per contest including eight tackles [...]

# 36:DE Ryan Winterswyk, Boise State The Verdict: Boise State and their “gimmicky” offense have gotten a lot of attention over the past few years, but college football fans have a tendency to forget that the Bronco defense remains one of the top units in the entire country, regardless of conference. It all starts up front [...]

He is the author of the book Meat Market: Inside the Smash-Mouth World of College Football Recruiting, a Senior Writer for ESPN The Magazine, and has his own Blog on ESPN.com, that man is Bruce Feldman and he joins us in this week’s In The Bleachers Podcast. A few of the topics discussed in this 45 [...]

#37: DE Albert McClellan, Marshall The Verdict: At 6-foot-2, 252-pounds, Marshall defensive end Albert McClellan may just be one of the best defenders in Conference-USA. Named to the All-Conference freshmen team during his rookie season in 2005, McClellan was a one man-wrecking crew for the Thundering Herd in 2006 en route to earning Conference-USA Defensive Player [...]

The Big East is one of two BCS conferences, where in my opinion, the race is so wide open that up to 4 teams could win the conference and find themselves playing in a BCS Bowl. However, two of those teams, Rutgers and Pittsburgh, have a little uncertainty as to who will be taking [...]

Not one negative email? I guess I really am an ‘expert!’ #38: RB Vai Taua, Nevada The Verdict:While it’s tough to justify putting a running back who “only” ran for a conference high 117.0 yards per game in 2008 so low on the countdown, the proverbial “system” label can’t be thrown completely out the window when discussing [...]

Need your college football fix after a week off at the beach? No problem, we’ve got you covered - just as long as you promise to lend us you’re beach house for next weekend. What we’ve been working on: Matt Bracken of the Baltimore Sun joined us on the podcast on Thursday, filling us in on the state [...]

In the immortal words of Lost creator J.J. Abrams: “Yes, I have a plan.” Of course we have no way of proving that we have a plan for how the next 38 players will be ranked, but nevertheless our countdown rolls on, as we dip into the 30’s with a stellar talent who just happens to be playing on [...]

#40:QB Trevor Vittatoe, UTEP The Verdict:Put Vittatoe in any other conference in the country and he would have been a first or second team All-Conference selection at some point over the past two seasons. Unfortunately for Vittatoe, he plays a conference in which the race to top 5000 yards passing often becomes the determining factor when [...]

When talking about recruiting hotbeds, states such as Florida, Texas, California, and Ohio come to mind. However, lately Maryland has been an area where an increasing number of Division 1 recruits have been popping up. Joining us this week on the podcast is Matt Bracken of the Baltimore Sun. Aside from being [...]

#41: WR Emmanuel Sanders, SMU The Verdict: It can be tough to gauge the physical talent of a C-USA receiver as the offenses in the conference thrive off of spreading teams out and throwing the ball to what amounts to being a ridiculous amount of the time. Still, to overlook Emmanuel Sanders as just a “system [...]