The following article will be published in the latest issue of Campus Talk, a magazine distributed in Tampa, Orlando, Gainesville and Tallahassee.  If you're a local, pick one up and increase their circulation.  They also have lots of pictures of pretty girls for extra motivation.

While most college students would rather spend the remainder of summer avoiding the prospect of returning to class, they can at least take solace that while fall semester brings textbooks, exams and sleep-inducing lectures, it also brings about the most glorious time of year:  college football season.

2008’s national title contenders will feature a number of familiar faces looking to punch their ticket to the BCS Championship game in Miami on January 8, 2009.  Lining up for that opportunity will be several traditional powerhouses such as Ohio State, Georgia, Oklahoma, Florida and USC, while other programs such as Missouri, Kansas, Virginia Tech, LSU, Wisconsin, Auburn, Penn State, Oregon, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, Clemson and BYU will not go down without a fight.

With each new season, college football becomes increasingly more competitive and entertaining.  Smaller conference teams have shown they can play on the same field as the bigger schools, while the power conferences such as the PAC-10, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC continue to beat each other up all season long until only one conference champ is left standing.  Last year, LSU became the first school to ever win a national title with more than one loss.  Regardless of whether the BCS eventually decides to switch to a playoff system or keep their current format, with such stiff competition, a multiple-loss championship team may now be the norm rather than the exception.

As usual, key games highlight this year’s college schedule, with rarely a boring Saturday on the schedule.  Many of these contests will have a direct effect on the national championship picture.

The season starts out in the very first week with NC State traveling to South Carolina, USC going to Virginia, Alabama facing Clemson and Tennessee going to UCLA.  However, no early game will have quite the hype and anticipation of the September 13 match-up between Ohio State and USC.  Go ahead and mark it on your calendar now.  Both schools will likely be ranked in the top five and despite this being a non-conference game, the winner will be on the inside track to a BCS Championship.  After that game, the Buckeyes will have to face conference rivals Wisconsin and Illinois on the road, as well as their traditional season-ending contest against Michigan.  If Ohio State can make it through the Big Ten schedule relatively unscathed, they’ll have an excellent chance to play in their third consecutive championship game.  They may just have the talent to do so.  USC, for the first time in a long time, seemed somewhat vulnerable last year, losing to both Stanford and Oregon.  Long gone are the days of Bush and Leinart.  Even John David Booty has left for the NFL.  But just because USC doesn’t have those familiar faces doesn’t mean they won’t compete at an extremely high level.  Year after year, Coach Pete Carroll reloads his program with all-Americans at nearly every position.  With such talent, it should come as no surprise that USC and Ohio State are the favorites to win their respective conferences.

Only one week after that mammoth contest, the bulk of conference play begins, with huge match-ups including LSU at Auburn and Florida at Tennessee.  The winner of these games, as is the case every year, will become the front-runners in their respective divisions in the Southeastern Conference.  After winning last year’s national championship, LSU will have a difficult time repeating with road games at Auburn, Florida, South Carolina and Arkansas.  They also have Georgia on their schedule.  Auburn travels to play Alabama at the end of the year, but most of their difficult conference games will be played at home, including games against Tennessee and Georgia.  As usual, SEC teams will beat each other up all season long.  As that conference remains one of the elite in college football from top to bottom, it is becoming increasingly rare for any team to walk away undefeated, or with even one loss.

Georgia is also another serious title contender.  After destroying Hawaii in their bowl game last year, Georgia finished the nation ranked second.  Since they return most of their talent, including Heisman candidates Knowshon Moreno and Matthew Stafford, they could finish this season higher than that.  The only thing standing in their way of a return to glory is their schedule, easily one of the toughest in the nation.  UGA plays at South Carolina, Arizona State, LSU and Auburn as well as hosting both Alabama and Tennessee.   This year’s Florida-Georgia game could be one for the ages and should put that rivalry back on the map as one of the nation’s finest.

The Big 12 must be included in any national championship conversation.  Oklahoma is loaded with talent, but the two surprise teams in the conference last year were Kansas and Missouri.  While Kansas and Mizzou should battle for the Big 12 North title, Texas will do their best to keep Oklahoma honest in the South.   The ACC also boasts national title contenders in Virginia Tech, Clemson and even a pesky Wake Forest team.  And several Big East teams were major players last year, although Rutgers, Louisville and West Virginia all lost talent to the NFL.

Few other areas in the south have as many quality programs as the sunshine state.  Florida, Florida State, UCF and USF all had bright points last season and should carry that success into 2008.  The four schools all play in different divisions, and with a clean slate for 2008, all have a chance to be competitive, and possibly figure into the national championship landscape.

Florida Gators:  Returning Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow has vowed to improve upon the Gators’ 2007 9-4 record, even though few of last year’s losses can be attributed to his performance.  He will have a slew of offensive weapons at his disposal to keep that promise.  Chris Rainey, Percy Harvin and USC transfer Emmanuel Moody will shore up the backfield, while Tebow will have targets to throw to in Louis Murphy and Cornelius Ingram.  Florida’s inexperienced defense, particularly in the secondary, kept the 2007 Gators on the outside looking in at a conference championship.  Even with another year under their belt, and an offense that promises to dazzle fans nationwide, the pre-season favorite in many polls still faces an uphill battle in their quest for an SEC crown.  Florida welcomes in-state rival University of Miami back into the mix on Sept 6.  Although the Gators should be favored going into this game, UF hasn’t beaten UM since the 1980s.  After that, things don’t get any easier as conference play begins.  Their road schedule, however, is favorable.  The Gators travel to Tennessee, Arkansas and Vanderbilt while having the luxury of hosting Mississippi, LSU, Kentucky and South Carolina.  The biggest game, not only in conference, but perhaps of the entire year, may be the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville.  Many have projected Florida and Georgia to be ranked #1 and #2 by late October.  And while the Gators have owned the Bulldogs in recent years, one gets the impression that with their victory last year, Georgia is ready to turn the tide.

Florida State Seminoles: The garnet and gold remain a shell of their former selves.  The program that struck fear into its opponents and dominated the 1990s has fallen upon hard times.  Nobody would ever have expected the Seminoles to tally back-to-back 7-6 seasons.  Years ago, such mediocrity would be unheard of, but now, in Tallahassee it’s the norm.  The rest of the ACC have caught up with the joneses and Virginia Tech and Clemson should yield championship contenders.  Fortunately for Bobby Bowden, both of these games will be hosted in the stadium that bears his name.  The ‘Noles ACC road schedule includes game at Miami, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech and Maryland.  Their schedule is favorable and lines up nicely for them to rebound from their recent woes.  QB Drew Weatherford will no longer have to look over his shoulder at Xavier Lee, which may help his confidence, but Coach Bowden has two sophomore sensations, Christian Ponder and D’Vontrey Richardson, waiting in the wings if the senior can’t get the job done.  Weatherford has the tools on offense in RB Antone Smith and an experienced wide receiving corps to keep the ball moving.  Whether their defense can return to championship form, however, will determine whether we’ll be hearing a healthy tomahawk chop late in the season.

South Florida:  The Bulls will be hard-pressed to equal the success they had last season, which was arguably the greatest in the history of the program.  USF was ranked as high as number two nationally.  Three consecutive mid-season losses, however, brought USF back to the middle of the pack of the Big East conference standings.  They were also humiliated by Oregon in the Sun Bowl, outscored by five touchdowns.  The Bulls return junior QB Matt Grothe who led last year’s team in both passing and rushing.  Someone else in the backfield will have to relieve him of this offensive burden if the Bulls want to seriously contend for a conference title.  The Bulls 2008 out-of-conference schedule features some respectable opponents in North Carolina State and UCF on the road and Kansas at home.  The contest against the Jayhawks may serve as a litmus test for the rest of their season.  Their conference road schedule is not any easier as they’ll have to travel to Louisville, Cincinnati and West Virginia.  With many Big East teams losing key players to the NFL draft, the Bulls might be able to take advantage of their returning experience and finish atop the conference standings.

Central Florida: Like Jim Leavitt in Tampa, UCF head coach George O’Leary continues to build a strong program in a state traditionally dominated by Florida, Florida State and Miami football.  Competing for athletes against the big three is no easy task, but O’Leary continues to bring in young talent.  For the Knights to repeat as Conference USA champs, they’ll have to do so without the services of stud running back Kevin Smith, who left early for the NFL draft.  Also departing was senior quarterback Kyle Israel, which means UCF will essentially be starting anew from the offensive end.  Mike Greco or Joe Weatherford will likely compete for snaps as Israel’s replacement.  Their defense which ranked near the top of the conference in most statistics may have to hold down the fort until the offense can get their feet wet.  UCF has scheduled two difficult out-of conference road games against Big East opponents, Boston College and Miami.  The conference road schedule includes games at UTEP, Tulsa, Marshall and Memphis while they host SMU, Memphis, Southern Miss and UAB.