Let’s get real here for a second: The 2011 college football season was a little, well, boring. A scandal-driven season off the field hardly lent itself to many exciting story lines when the games were actually played, leading to one of the most unfulfilling seasons in recent memory. Sadly, even the championship left many unsatisfied; Alabama won a BCS title game that left all too many fans bored to tears, or passed out on the couch by halftime (For what it’s worth Alabama fans, I enjoyed the game. But that’s just me).
But with 2011 in the books, it’s officially time to turn the page to 2012. On Tuesday, Crystal Ball Run revealed its Top 10 teams of 2012, and today, it’s time to reveal the Top 10 story lines.
From the return of a coaching king and re-emergence of a West Coast power, not to mention some new teams changing their addresses, there is plenty to talk about as we look ahead to 2012. Here is Part I of our list, with Part II running on Thursday.
Enjoy!
10. The Dawning of a New Day At Penn State: In case you haven’t heard, it was a pretty tough season at Penn State. Off the field controversy led to the end of the Joe Paterno era, a messy end to the season, and a coaching search that dragged on longer than one of Les Miles’ tangential press conference rants. It resulted in Bill O’Brien becoming the first new head coach at the school since 1960, a hire that safe to say, didn’t leave the fan-base particularly excited. In their defense, O’Brien didn’t endear himself to anyone when he elected to remain with the New England Patriots throughout their Super Bowl run, rather than come to Happy Valley and start his new responsibilities immediately.
Like it or not though, O’Brien is headed to Happy Valley and will be a fixture in a place that isn’t used to, or adjusts well to change. And the question now becomes how quickly O’Brien can patch things up.
From a strictly football standpoint, the new coach could be exactly what Penn State needs. He’s young, and will likely bring a fresh perspective to a program that could most definitely use a boost into the 21st century.
The problem of course, isn’t the football at Penn State, as much as the PR and off-the-field issues.
The Nittany Lions football program is still in the midst of a scandal involving long-time assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, and allegations of alleged sexual abuse. Negative recruiting will be an issue, and even kids that aren’t affected by it will have to ask themselves “Do I really want to spend my four years of college in that place?”
Personally, O’Brien seems like the right man for a tough job. He’s contemporary and modern and at the very least, an interesting hire.
But will he be the man to bring this program back to prominence? Only time will tell.
9. What’s Up At Texas?: Two off-season’s ago, the Texas Longhorns were on top of the college football world, coming off a BCS title game appearance. A year ago, they were as low as they’ve been in over a decade, coming off a 5-7 season. Because of it, most of the coaching staff was shaken up and new offensive and defensive coordinators were hired.
But entering 2012? Well, what exactly do we make of them?
On the field, Texas undoubtedly improved last season, flipping a 5-7 regular season record to 7-5, with a bowl win over Cal to boot. The defense- under the leadership of new coordinator Manny Diaz- was among the nation’s best, finishing 11th in the country in yards allowed.
But the offense? Well, to quote Verne Lundquist: “Myyyy Goodness,” that’s another story all together.
The Longhorns finished the year ranked just 55th in the nation in scoring and 54th in total offense, numbers that are simply unacceptable when you recruit to the level of Texas. And beyond that, a 
tricky quarterback situation seemed to get no less confusing as the season progressed. Garrett Gilbert transferred out, and it’s rumored that Case McCoy may be doing the same, meaning that true sophomore David Ash might be the only man left standing heading into the 2012 season. Ash finished his first full year in Austin completing just 56 percent of his passes, with twice as many interceptions (eight) as touchdowns thrown (four). Needless to say, he’s got a lot of work to do this off-season.
And in the end, this all might fall back on Mack Brown.
We’re not saying that Mack Brown is on the hot-seat per se, because as best we can tell he isn’t. Still, Texas faithful are growing a bit impatient, and quite frankly, it’s hard to blame them. Given the resources Brown has at his disposal, and the recruiting classes he brings in, it’s hard to find any reason that he should have a single down year, let alone two in a row.
And if a third one creeps in next year? Well, the whispers will only grow louder.
8. What Becomes Of Boise?: If ever there was an off-season for Chris Petersen to consider leaving the cold winters and blue turf of Boise, this one seemed to be it. The Broncos unprecedented reign of success ended with another BCS snub, and the winningest quarterback in college football history (Kellen Moore) has now graduated. Simply put, no one would’ve blamed Petersen this off-season if he took a stab at coaching at a “bigger” school.
However, Petersen is still in town, but the team and coaching staff around him will have an entirely new look entering 2012. A number of key seniors (Moore, All-American offensive lineman Nate Potter) are gone off another 13-1 team, a year after studs like Austin Pettis and Titus Young departed for the pros following 2010 as well. And on Tuesday a bigger, even less expected blow hit Boise, when offensive coordinator Brent Pease left for Florida. He’s the third coordinator to leave in three years, and second offensive coordinator to depart Idaho in as many seasons.
And because of it, it’s left Boise in as precarious a place as they’ve been in seasons.
The Broncos will still enter 2012 as a favorite in the Mountain West, especially with TCU’s departure to play in the Big XII. But without Moore, and with additional turnover on the staff, how good can Boise be?
And even if they’re good, is there any way they can come close to matching the impossible standard they’ve set?
7. A Whole Lot Of Heisman Front-Runners: Entering the 2011 campaign, other than Andrew Luck, there were real no clear-cut Heisman favorites. Landry Jones seemed like logical contender down at Oklahoma, Marcus Lattimore and Trent Richardson were battling for the top running back spot in the SEC, and LaMichael James was a returning favorite out at Oregon. But what proved to be a question in the preseason became a reality once the games were played: By the time the award was announced in December, Robert Griffin had come out of nowhere to take down college football’s top prize.
Well, don’t expect the same thing to happen in 2012. That’s because there a bounty of returning favorites that could jump up and take home the award.
The early favorite seems to be star USC quarterback Matt Barkley, who finished his season with an ‘SC and Pac-12 record 39 touchdown passes. He’s just one of the contenders though. Montee Ball will return at Wisconsin, after leading the nation in both touchdowns and rushing yards this year, and Marcus Lattimore will return from a knee injury at South Carolina as well. At quarterback Jones will be at Oklahoma, with a real shot that Tajh Boyd or Geno Smith could do enough in their respective offenses to earn a trip to New York as well. Aaron Murray should be putting up good stats at Georgia, and Denard Robinson will still be doing Denard Robinson-y things at Michigan.
Point being, the race is wide open.
And the list of contenders? It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a group this good.
6. Does Alabama Have Enough Left In The Tank For A Repeat Run?: To put it simply, it won’t be easy. The Crimson Tide were built to win this year, and beyond a litany of talented seniors who will be departing Tuscaloosa (Courtney Upshaw, Mark Barron), there are any number of draft eligible juniors who could be packing their bags as well. Guys like Trent Richardson, Dre Kirkpatrick and Dont’a Hightower seem destined for the NFL…and really, who could blame them? They’ve got another National Championship ring for their trophy case, and bigger checks to cash than most of us will see in our lifetime. Enjoy the pros fellas!
As for the team they leave behind, things won’t be easy in Tuscaloosa. Some talent does return (hellooooo A.J. McCarron!), but especially on defense, there are a lot of holes to fill, with mostly young and inexperienced players. It doesn’t help that the advantageous home schedule the Tide got in 2011 won’t be nearly so in 2012, with trips to Baton Rouge and Fayetteville to likely face Top 10 teams, and an opening night date with Michigan in Dallas. That game too could be a battle of Top 10 teams as well.
It won’t be an easy road back to the top for Alabama.
But at this point, do you really dare question Nick Saban?
Also, be sure to check back on Thursday for Part II of this list!
For all his opinion, insight and articles on college football and beyond, please follow Aaron Torres on Twitter @Aaron_Torres.
