Conference by conference breakdown, predictions

After I previewed and predicted the SEC last week, here are the rest of the power conferences and my prediction for the national championship in Glendale, Ariz.

ACC
Virginia Tech over Florida State
The Hokies have been the ACC's most consistent team for several years (possibly since the glory days of Florida State's run in the 1990s), and have finished in the top 12 nationally in scoring and total defense each of the last six seasons. Coach Frank Beamer has a loaded offensive backfield, but lost six starters on defense. He did keep coordinator Bud Foster, who got a raise after flirting with Georgia and other openings.

Florida State opens the Jimbo Fisher era with a new defensive coordinator (Mark Stoops) and one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Christian Ponder. The Noles are fortunate to play in a weak division in which the second best team, Clemson, returns a top QB in Kyle Parker, but will dearly miss offensive playmakers C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford.

Virginia Tech is simply a more stable program, and honestly, in the ACC, that's all you need.

Big East
Pitt over UConn
Like him or not, Dave Wannestadt has Pitt on the right track and should wrap up a conference championship. The Panthers have three of the best players in the league in RB Dion Lewis, WR Jonathan Baldwin and DE Greg Romeus.

Even though the Huskies were 8-5 last year, they lost every game by four points or less, and embarrassed South Carolina in the Papajohns.com Bowl. RB Jordan Trodman should be better than last year's 1,188-yard rushing season. The 16 starters is a big reason why they'll contend, and possibly win the conference title. What's more, the Huskies get West Virginia, Pitt and Cincinnati at home. But Pitt's talent will overcome UConn's experience.

Big Ten
Ohio State over Iowa
Largely based on Terrelle Pryor's performance in the Rose Bowl, the Buckeyes are a popular pick to not only win the league, but play for the national championship. This season could be a replay of last year's overtime win against Iowa at home. The Hawkeyes should be OSU's toughest competition in the conference, and this time, they travel to Iowa City. Iowa DE Adrian Clayborn and S Tyler Sash will be charged with slowing Pryor and Co.

The Hawkeyes have a legitimate chance to unseat the Buckeyes if only by their sheer number of home games against the conference's elite. Wisconsin, Penn State, and Michigan State, along with the Buckeyes, will play among the black and gold.

Big 12
Oklahoma over Nebraska
The last time NeBraska was ranked in the preseason top 10 was 2002. In only the second season for coach Bo Pelini, the Cornhuskers have gained a lot of fans this offseason, as not many have forgotten how their barely lost last year's Big 12 Championship game on a controversial call.

Fortunately for the Huskers, Texas is the only top 10 team on their schedule, unless Missouri gets hot.

The Big 12 South will be decided by two quarterbacks (Landry Jones and Garrett Gilbert) who were called into duty last year following injuries to Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy. In DeMarco Murray, the Sooners have a top flight running back, and another solid defensive unit. The big question is the offensive line. A matchup against Nebraska could expose that weak link.

Pac 10
Oregon over Oregon State
For the second straight season, the Civil War should decide the Pac-10. The Ducks should be favored by a touchdown in every game but Oregon State, Cal and USC. It wouldn't be a shock if the Ducks finished with a one-loss season. Despite the loss of QB Jeremiah Masoli to Ole Miss, senior Nate Costa has garnered some accolades in the preseason and is expected to win the job over sophomore Darron Thomas.

LaMichael James, an RB who took over for LaGarrette Blount last season, is an undersized by speedy back who will be a focal point of the offense. Last year, he had six games of more than 150 rushing yards.

The Beavers return 14 starters, including an all-namer, Jacquizz Rodgers, an RB who burst on the scene two years ago in an upset of USC. Rodgers and his brother, James are a tough combination for defenses. James Rodgers led the Pac-10 in all-purpose yards per game (179.1) last season. The trouble for Rodgers is OSU's passing game won't scare many opponents. Much like the offense, the defense is built on DT Stephen Paea, and not much else.

Oregon, which was the first team other than USC to win the conference since 2001, should have plenty of confidence. And more depth than its arch-rival, which will be the difference.

National Championship
Because of the BCS formula, choosing a national championship matchup is largely based on where a team starts the season in the polls. And because a loss means a team will have to rely on help from others, it's easy to narrow the prediction to teams that should lose one game or less.

Taking that into account, it's difficult to list any team outside of the top 10 as a national championship contender.

Coaches poll:
1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Florida
4. Texas
5. Boise State
6. Virginia Tech
7. TCU
8. Oklahoma
9. Nebraska
10. Iowa

The BCS Standings are a combination of the coaches' poll, the Harris Interactive poll, which consists of former players, coaches, administrators, and current and former media, and six computer rankings (Peter Wolfe, Wes Colley, Sagarin 
Seattle Times, Richard Billingsley, Kenneth Massey).

Off the bat, it's difficult to put two SEC teams in the final game. Similar to last year, Alabama and Florida are expected to play for the SEC Championship, and therefore, both shouldn't advance to the Big Game. Because of the Crimson Tide's schedule, which is loaded with opponents coming off of bye weeks, and improvement from teams like Arkansas and South Carolina. Take out Florida because of the inexperience at quarterback, and the youth on defense.

Alabama and Florida will each have at least one loss after the SEC Championship, and it wouldn't be a shock for each to have two.

Boise State's season starts and ends on Labor Day against Virginia Tech. Win, and the Broncos can coast to the Fiesta Bowl provided they aren't punished by a weak schedule. Boise State won't make the Fiesta Bowl for one of two reasons: It'll lose to Virginia Tech, or its schedule will keep it out of the top two slots.

That leaves us with Oklahoma and Ohio State.

Each team must largely survive one conference game (Texas, Iowa) to preserve hopes of a trip to Glendale, Ariz.

When the lights go down in Glendale, it'll be Terrelle Pryor and the Buckeyes who prevail with a win what was taken from them at the end of the 2002 season.