The 2009 Collegiate Football Season is a little more than a month away. If you’re a fan, you know the feeling you get when a cool breeze and subtle smell in the air has you grinning from ear to ear. You know ‘The World’s Largest Cocktail Party’ (a.k.a. South Carolina vs. Florida) is on the horizon and ‘Tailgating In The Grove’ before an Ole Miss game is iconic. You know ‘Rocky Top’ by heart and are frantically trying to find out what channel the Canes and Seminoles will be dueling on and when I-40 becomes a parking lot when the Tarheels play the Wolfpack. This is Southern football. For those who have lived it, it’s a passion. For those who have yet to experience it, welcome.

For a twist from the national previews, we thought we’d break into the sports-writing category with a little Southern flair by announcing our top 10 teams to watch. Taking the Mason-Dixon Line west to the Mississippi, we’ve found these teams to not only be contenders in their respective conferences, but also nationwide for major Bowl Games.

1. The University of Florida (SEC, Gainesville, FL): The defending national champs, with the one-year removed Heisman Trophy winner and a returning group of future Sunday players, will be hard-pressed to lose any games this year. When Tebow said, “Let’s do it again” after the parade last year, he wasn’t referring to the ride at Disney World. He wants to bring the crystal back to Gainesville.

2. Georgia (SEC, Athens, GA): So they lost Stafford to the NFL, and have had their fair share of off-season… well, let’s just call them informalities. The Bulldogs could still run the SEC until they meet with the team listed above. Possibly one of the top five games to watch this year, Florida vs. Georgia will live up to its hype with national title implications.

3. Georgia Tech (ACC, Atlanta, GA): Though it’s only coach Paul Johnson’s second year at the helm, the Yellow Jackets are expected to compete for the ACC title. They return 17 starters, including 2008 ACC Player of The Year (Dwyer) from last year’s 9-4 team that made it to last year’s conference title game.

4. Ole Miss (SEC, University, MS): Why is Ole Miss one of our top choices? It’s the gun on junior quarterback and projected 2009 Heisman Trophy candidate Jevan Snead. After leading his team to their first Bowl game since 2003, Snead emerged as a leader whose past of flopping from Florida to Texas, then Texas to Ole Miss shall haunt him no more.

5. North Carolina (ACC, Chapel Hill, NC): With one of the top recruiting classes in the nation and nine returning starters on the D-line, including a potential All-American (Austin), expect the Heels to compete for the ACC title this year. Even though they lost three big-name receivers to the NFL, accounting for 19 of last year’s 21 TD passes, the WR core will be okay with top talent coming in and returning starter Little. The x-factors are a reliable running game and a healthy QB Yates.

6. Alabama (SEC, Tuscaloosa, AL): Many others would predict Alabama to compete higher than Ole Miss and Georgia, and based on last year’s record, I would too. But looking away from the success of 2008, they lost a lot of talent to the NFL, including their leading rusher and starting QB. Under Nick Saban, they will regroup and contend, just not as well as last year.

7. LSU (SEC, Baton Rouge, LA): Can you really ever count the Tigers out of anything? Coach Les Miles is reeling with energy from last year’s thrashing of Georgia Tech in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, but is still in the rebuilding stages. If anyone will challenge
Ole Miss in the SEC, it’ll be either Alabama or LSU.

8. Virginia Tech (ACC, Blacksburg, VA): Sorry, I just can’t believe that VA Tech will bring home another Coastal Division title. Though QB Taylor is impressive, lightning quick and ‘Vick-esque,’ he threw three interceptions in their spring game and was sacked twice by a Red-Shirt freshman. I’ll put them into the ACC title hunt again because coach Beamer has it under control, but don’t think they’ll get it.

9. East Carolina (C-USA, Greenville, NC): After shocking the nation last season with early upsets over Virginia Tech and West Virginia, things went downhill quickly for the Pirates only to rebound to a Bowl game. Although they may not have another 1991 ‘we believe’ season, they will win C-USA with Pickney returning at QB. Coach Skip Holtz’s group is one of the most talented he’s seen. Sidenote: Watch the season opener vs. Appalachian State game to see some fun offense.

10. North Carolina State (ACC, Raleigh, NC): Two words: Russell Wilson. When 30K-plus show up to a spring game to watch you (folks, this is a scrimmage), you’ll take another look too. After getting knocked out last year vs. South Carolina, Wilson came back to help his team to a winning season and even had their baseball team competing for an ACC Title. This two-sport star is not the second coming of Bo Jackson, but he can lead this team to compete.

So there you have it: Our predictions for the best teams in the South for the 2009-2010 College football season. Others receiving honorable mention were Auburn, Tennessee (both of the SEC), and our lone Big East mention—the University of South Florida.

We also have to give a quick nod to Appalachian State in Boone, NC. Even though they aren’t allowed to compete in the Bowl Games because of their NCAA Division ranking, they have won three national championships in the past four years and will compete for another this year. Just because you don’t play with the ‘big boys’ doesn’t mean you can’t beat them…

We may be right, we may be crazy, but we had fun doing it and would love to hear what your thoughts are. Leave your comments under this article.