THE IRISH AND ‘STORY OF O’ TOP CFB FUTURES - Author: betED 

This College football season could be all about the Story of O – as in Ohio and Okalahoma. The Ohio State Buckeyes and Oklahoma Sooners are two of the top picks to capture the 2007 BCS National Championship, as www.betED.com released its College football futures Wednesday. Rounding out the top five picks are the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, USC Trojans, and West Virginia Mountaineers. Notre Dame actually has the slight edge overall, according to www.betED.com, with the Irish 9-2 favorites to end up on top. The Buckeyes are right behind at 5-1, followed by Oklahoma at 6-1. The Trojans and Mountaineers are both at 9-1. Offense is one reason Notre Dame tops the list. Standout QB Brady Quinn, Notre Dame’s career leader in total yards, passing yards, completions and touchdown passes, is back this season along with his favorite receiver – All-American Jeff Samardzija – as well as Rhema McKnight, the team’s leading receiver in 2003 and 2004 who missed most of last year with an injury. It’s no surprise Notre Dame and Ohio State are neck-and-neck. The two teams battled hard in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl, with Ohio State winning 34-20. One of the stars of that tilt was Buckeyes QB Quarterback Troy Smith who, paired with WR Ted Ginn Jr., will give the Bucks a potential two-man Heisman Trophy weapon, similar to USC’s Leinart-Bush duo of the last two years. The Trojans, meanwhile, are favored to win the Pac-10. USC’s recruiting has more than made up for a loss of players from last season. “There’s no doubt we lost a lot of outstanding players, especially on offense,” USC coach Pete Carroll says. “But this is not an unfamiliar situation for us. It has the feel of the 2003 season when we lost Carson (Palmer) and Troy (Polamalu) and all those running backs. We regrouped and had a real nice season. We’ve shown that we’re very capable of doing that. I don’t see it being any different this season.