The Oklahoma Sooners top the list as the most likely team in the nation to go all the way this year with 2012 BCS championship odds. The dynamic passing duo of quarterback Landry Jones and Ryan Broyles will be back, along with linebacker Travis Lewis and four starters on the offensive line.

Even after the pitiful showing by the Texas Longhorns last season, they are expected to be back in contention. Defensive coordinator Will Muschamp has moved on to Florida, and quarterback Garrett Gilbert will need massive improvement for this team to live up to expectations.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys are poised for another big run after the announcement that quarterback Brandon Weeden and wide receiver Justin Blackmon will both return. These two helped the Cowboys have one of the best offenses in the nation last year.

The floodgates opened on Day Two, however, as the loop witnessed a whopping 13 picks go in the 2nd-round when 15 of the top 60 players in this year’s draft came out of the ACC.

Looking back, in its six years as a 12-member league, the ACC has sent 50 teams to a bowl game, topped only by the SEC (51) in that span.

The kingpin of the conference, Virginia Tech, is the only team in the nation with 10-plus wins each of the last seven seasons. Not to mention Georgia Tech led the nation in rushing offense and Boston College topped the land in rushing defense last season.

This year however will be one of the most anticipated seasons in Big Ten history. The conference brings along some new faces to the league this season, Brady Hoke becomes the new headman at Michigan, Bo Pelini brings in the Nebraska Cornhuskers and also the prestigious conference will hold its first championship game December 3, 2011, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Another interesting factor this fall is the introduction of sub-divisions in conference play.

In September, the conference announced its two divisions: Legends and Leaders. The Legends division is composed of Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern. The Leaders will consist of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin.

Under its current alignment, which has been in place for six seasons, the BIG EAST is a combined 186-79 SU in non-conference games (.721). That stands as the best six-year non-league record in the history of the conference and second among FBS conferences, only behind the SEC. FYI: inside the aforementioned straight up record is a sterling 21-6 ATS mark in these games when playing off back-to-back losses.

Two new coaches with sterling Division 1 records join the conference for 2011, namely Todd Graham (Pittsburgh) and Paul Pasqualoni (Connecticut). Graham led Tulsa to a 36-17 mark in his four years with the Hurricane while Pasqualoni, who went 62-33 in BIG EAST games at Syracuse from 1991-2004, has more BIG EAST wins than any coach in the conference.

In addition, the top six quarterbacks in terms of passing yards per game last year are back in 2011, including Zach Collaros (Cincinnati), Geno Smith (WVU), Tino Sunseri (Pitt), Ryan Nassib (Syracuse), Chas Dodd (Rutgers) and B. J. Daniels (USF).