| The Master List |
| Rank | Team (Final '99 AP Top 25 Rank) | '99
Record | Returning
Starters | Schedule
Strength |
| 1 | Nebraska (3) | 12-1 | 20 | 52 |
| The Orange Bowl -- site of the Big Red's '94 and '97 (and 2000) national titles -- is Husker Heaven |
| 2 | Florida State (1) | 12-0 | 14 | 12 |
| Chris Weinke, 28, is older than 15 NFL starting signal-callers -- and 21-1 as a starter |
| 3 | Alabama (8) | 10-3 | 18 | 25 |
| Bear of a schedule: road games at UCLA, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi State |
| 4 | Michigan (5) | 10-2 | 13 | 23 |
| Lloyd Carr's squad takes the A-Train, tailback Anthony Thomas, to the Rose Bowl |
| 5 | Wisconsin (4) | 10-2 | 18 | 33 |
| Badgers have produced a 1,000-yard rusher seven straight seasons, a Big Ten record |
| 6 | Kansas State (6) | 11-1 | 17 | 62 |
| Another cream-puff schedule for the Wildcats -- that is, until Nov. 11, when they face Nebraska |
| 7 | Georgia (16) | 8-4 | 19 | 39 |
| Terrence Edwards (772 yards in '99) was first freshman to lead Dawgs in receiving since '78 |
| 8 | Clemson | 6-6 | 17 | 69 |
| Tigers offense (402.6 yards per game last season) has eight returning starters |
| 9 | Texas (21) | 9-5 | 18 | 67 |
| Casey Hampton and Shaun Rogers: first Texas tackle tandem since '71 to be first-team all-league |
| 10 | Miami (15) | 9-4 | 15 | 43 |
| If the Hurricanes upset Florida State on Oct. 7, they could go all the way to ... Miami |
| 11 | Florida (12) | 9-4 | 15 | 54 |
| Is the Fun 'n' Gun done? Gators' top five wideouts have just 13 starts between them |
| 12 | Virginia Tech (2) | 11-1 | 11 | 60 |
| André Davis set school marks for receiving yards (962) and yards per catch (27.5) in '99 |
| 13 | Washington | 7-5 | 17 | 30 |
| Sophomore Paul Arnold (6.3 yards per carry as a freshman) is a star-in-the-making |
| 14 | Tennessee (9) | 9-3 | 12 | 15 |
| The Volunteers' streak of five consecutive Top 10 finishes is in jeopardy |
| 15 | TCU | 8-4 | 19 | 107 |
| End Aaron Schobel (a school-record 24.5 sacks in his career) anchors an underrated defense |
| 16 | Purdue (25) | 7-5 | 14 | 27 |
| Boilermakers have 25 wins in three years under Joe Tiller; had only 23 from 1990 through '96 |
| 17 | Mississippi (22) | 8-4 | 18 | 46 |
| Deuce McAllister is Ole Miss's best Heisman candidate since freshman QB Eli Manning's dad, Archie |
| 18 | USC | 6-6 | 15 | 38 |
| No showdown in the West: Trojans and Washington, the Pac-10's top two teams, don't face each other |
| 19 | Penn State (11) | 10-3 | 9 | 9 |
| If QB Rashard Casey misses time, untested sophomore Matt Senneca (1 of 2, one INT) is next in line |
| 20 | Southern Miss (14) | 9-3 | 16 | 59 |
| Over the last two years Golden Eagles are 10-0 when Derrick Nix rushes for 100 yards |
| 21 | Illinois (24) | 8-4 | 14 | 48 |
| All but two starters are back for an offense that put up the most points (388) in school history |
| 22 | Ohio State | 6-6 | 14 | 4 |
| Senior wideouts Ken-Yon Rambo and Reggie Germany are the Big Ten's best pass-catching duo |
| 23 | Oklahoma | 7-5 | 17 | 51 |
| Sooners jumped from 107th in the nation in passing yards to ninth (321.7 yards per game) in '99 |
| 24 | Colorado State | 8-4 | 17 | 81 |
| Wideout Dallas Davis had a Texas-sized punt-return average last season (16.9 yards) |
| 25 | Colorado | 7-5 | 12 | 1 |
| On Oct. 14 Buffaloes can become the first team to beat Texas seven consecutive times |
| 26 | Notre Dame | 5-7 | 13 | 24 |
| A brutal early schedule (Texas A&M, Nebraska and Purdue) intensifies the Bob Davie watch |
| 27 | Oregon (19) | 9-3 | 10 | 42 |
| QB A.J. Feeley is healthy again, but his backup, Joey Harrington, was unbeaten in four '99 starts |
| 28 | Michigan State (7) | 10-2 | 12 | 3 |
| Bruising (6'1", 252 pounds) T.J. Duckett takes over at tailback after also playing linebacker in '99 |
| 29 | Texas A&M (23) | 8-4 | 14 | 19 |
| The Aggies are counting on sophomore cornerback Sammy Davis to become a headline act |
| 30 | East Carolina | 9-3 | 15 | 74 |
| Junior quarterback David Garrard threw for 2,000 yards in each of his first two seasons |
| 31 | UCLA | 4-7 | 16 | 2 |
| With a healthy DeShaun Foster at tailback, Bruins will rebound from a miserable '99 |
| 32 | BYU | 8-4 | 13 | 57 |
| Cougars will travel 10,874 miles; if only their runners (89 yards per game) covered as much ground |
| 33 | Georgia Tech (20) | 8-4 | 16 | 28 |
| Will quarterback George Godsey be as divine as his predecessor, Joe Hamilton? Not likely |
| 34 | Marshall (10) | 13-0 | 13 | 109 |
| Loss of QB Chad Pennington hurts Herd, which holds nation's longest winning streak (17 games) |
| 35 | Oregon State | 7-5 | 15 | 63 |
| Junior tailback Ken Simonton needs 39 yards to break the school rushing record |
| 36 | Minnesota (18) | 8-4 | 14 | 55 |
| DE Karon Riley had a Big Ten-best 16 sacks last season for overachieving Golden Gophers |
| 37 | Boston College | 8-4 | 13 | 80 |
| All-Big East running back Cedric Washington had a breakout season in '99 (1,122 yards) |
| 38 | Arkansas (17) | 8-4 | 9 | 17 |
| Good news: five home games to start year; bad news: two are against Alabama and Georgia |
| 39 | Utah | 9-3 | 18 | 75 |
| Ute the Man: Steve Smith averaged 20 yards per catch and returned three punts for TDs last year |
| 40 | Virginia | 7-5 | 12 | 29 |
| Must replace three All-Americas on offense, including alltime rushing leader Thomas Jones |
| 41 | Mississippi State (13) | 10-2 | 10 | 20 |
| Pork Chop Womack is the anchor of a typically Grade A Bulldogs O-line |
| 42 | Maryland | 5-6 | 15 | 56 |
| Tailback LaMont Jordan is the Division I active career rushing leader (3,227 yards) |
| 43 | Syracuse | 7-5 | 13 | 49 |
| Last year's five losses were the most since Paul Pasqualoni took over as coach in '91 |
| 44 | North Carolina | 3-8 | 14 | 31 |
| Tar Heels lost only one starter from a D that didn't allow a point during the final 10 quarters of '99 |
| 45 | Arizona | 6-6 | 13 | 21 |
| The Wildcats have blocked 14 kicks over the last two years, five by 6'7" tight end Peter Hansen |
| 46 | Fresno State | 8-5 | 16 | 85 |
| Francophiles will love Bulldogs' flashy tailback: Paris Gaines |
| 47 | LSU | 3-8 | 18 | 36 |
| Booty Call: Quarterback Josh Booty will hook up often with brother Abram (26 catches in '99) |
| 48 | Stanford | 8-4 | 14 | 16 |
| With departure of Troy Walters, DeRonnie Pitts (58 catches in '99) emerges as big-play guy |
| 49 | Hawaii | 9-4 | 13 | 94 |
| Warriors set an NCAA record in '99 for the biggest one-year turnaround (0-12 to 9-4) |
| 50 | Arizona State | 6-6 | 12 | 37 |
| Top of the Heap: Todd Heap's 55 catches for 832 yards last fall is a school record for tight ends |
