The Pain In The Butt For Each Conference Race Will Be ..

[MeanGreen61]

5. The pain in the butt in each conference race will be ...

These teams don't have enough in the bag to win their respective leagues, but they're going to ruin the dreams of several favorites, or give a far tougher game than expected.

ACC - North Carolina

How will the Butch Davis team come out to start the season? Teams like Miami, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech might be mentally planning ahead for other games and could get burned if the defense makes a major immediate improvement.

Big East - Cincinnati

Louisville and West Virginia have to come to Cincinnati in what could be beartraps. New head coach Brian Kelly's offense will be a thorn in everyone's side, while the defense should build on a strong second half of 2006.

Big Ten - Illinois

The talent is there, and the attitude will follow. There are just enough young, athletic playmakers to quickly turn the close losses of last year into victories. Don't be shocked if the Big Ten title dreams of Penn State, Wisconsin or Michigan die in Champaign.

Big 12 - Iowa State

The Cyclone 2006 disaster was bizarre. The experience and talent was more than there to be far better than 4-8, and the experience and talent is there to be far, far better on offense. New head man Gene Chizik knows the Big 12 and should pay immediate dividends. While the team won't be good enough to be in the North race, it could screw up Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and/or Missouri.

Conference USA - SMU

Justin Willis is one of the nation's brightest young quarterbacks, and he came painfully close to leading the team to a bowl game. The Mustangs beat most of the Conference USA teams it was supposed to beat, and now it should get past at least one of the main challengers.

MAC - Ball State

With Nate Davis and the Cardinal passing game, Ball State will be one of the MAC's deep sleepers. It pushed Michigan late last year and won its final three conference games.

Mountain West - Wyoming

QB Karsten Sween and RB Wynel Seldon are great playmakers to build the offense around. After going 6-6 last season with four losses by a touchdown or less, it might not take much for the Cowboys to be an eight-win team and in the Mountain West race if everything breaks right.

Pac 10 - Washington

Ty Willingham doesn't have a Pac 10 title team, but there are plenty of exciting young players to cause a stir. While the Huskies can make a statement in before the conference race starts with Boise State and Ohio State coming to Seattle, the program can finally get back on track once and for all with a few upsets in home games against USC, Oregon and Cal.

SEC - Vanderbilt

Just ask Florida over the last two years how tough it is to put Vanderbilt away. With one of the SEC's most experienced teams, and QB Chris Nickson and WR Earl Bennett scaring the daylights out of opposing coordinators, this won't be the Commodores of past years. After losing four games by a touchdown or less last season, this is a team ready to start to win the close ones.

Sun Belt - Florida Atlantic

Anyone can make a big splash in the nation's most wide open conference. Howard Schnellenberger's club is loaded with experience with an offense that should be a bit more effective and consistent enough to flirt with the Sun Belt title.

WAC - New Mexico State

When you've got an offense that can throw for 400 yards on a normal day, you're going to freak some teams out. The Aggies might not be very good, but they'll light up the scoreboard like a pinball machine.