I can't wait for Saturday | Defense will determine if Sooners are ready for SEC

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Greetings from “Can’t Wait For Saturday,” your morning bite of college football, courtesy of Bob Asmussen, longtime Illini columnist, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman State representative. He’ll give you his take each day on the game he loves.

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Are you ready for the most complete college football ever? Twelve playoff teams means eight more postseason games than before. What used to be three is now 11 to decide who is the best,

The favorites could dominate the first two rounds. Or the semifinals will be occupied by the top seeds. One can only hope.

Kick back, relax, and enjoy every moment. As a prelude, I will be using this space over the next month and a half to count down my preseason Top 50. I welcome complaints and disagreements, and may even include them in future articles.

Here we go…

17. Oklahoma SEC

What is there to love?

After a rough first season for coach Brent Venables, the team won 10 games in 2023, including a victory over despised Texas. … The defense returns six starters, none better than linebacker Danny Stutsman. … Safety Billy Bowman Jr. ranked among the national leaders with six interceptions. … Jackson Arnold started the bowl game for the Sooners after Dillon Gabriel entered the transfer portal. He also saw time last season when the starter was injured. Arnold threw for 361 yards in the Alamo Bowl loss to Arizona. … The starting kicker and punter return to what has been an outstanding special teams at Oklahoma in recent years. … SEC favorite Georgia is off the schedule. And the nonconference slate is soft.

Reasons to worry

Yes, Arnold threw for a lot of yards in San Antonio. But he also lost four balls in a close loss. … This isn’t the Big 12. There are no byes. … Only two starters return on offense, none on the line. Recipe for disaster in a league that knows how to play defense. … Venables has a new offensive coordinator. So that means a lot of changes on the side of the ball versus the head coach’s expertise. … Top-5 Texas is on the schedule in Dallas. Oklahoma travels to Mississippi, Missouri and LSU and hosts Alabama. Good luck with that.

Previous

50. Maryland’s Big Ten

49. Colorado Big 12

48. Georgia Tech ACC

47. Tulane American

46. UCF Big 12

45. South Florida American

44. Appalachian Sunbelt

43. Rutgers Big Ten

42. Virginia Tech ACC

41. Texas Tech Big 12

40. Liberty USA Conference

39. South Carolina SEC

38. Washington’s Big Ten

37. North Carolina ACC

36. Boise State Mountains to the west

35. American Memphis

34. Kentucky SEC

33. Nebraska’s Big Ten

32. Florida SEC

31. Auburn SEC

30. SMU ACC

29. Wisconsin Big Ten

28. West Virginia Big 12

27. Iowa State Big 12

26. North Carolina State ACC

25. Iowa’s Big Ten

24. Arizona Big 12

23. Louisville ACC – July 13

22. Southern California’s Big Ten

21. Kansas State Big 12

20. Texas A&M SEC – July 16

19. Kansas Big 12 – July 17

18. Miami ACC