90-86

NO SBC
NO FAU

OK, starting to call BS on this one.

;D

we were probably about 105 last year in my opinion. our only wins were against teams that were 110+. i've said it before, if two teams play that are last in the country, somebody has to win. It doesn't mean you're a 50th ranked team if you win 8 games vs awful teams.

even the top 25 will be off.

the writeups on each team are what's important.

I'm sure we'll be in the next round of picks.

I didn't think we would be in the top 85. Thank you rivals for giving us some love. They also agree with Bartell, Cox, Cyrill, Johnson, Lockley and Polo. " FAU will go bowling again in 2010".

What's these people's obsession with Polo? He had 1 good half of a season and that's because QB's didn't want to throw towards Small so they picked the freshman Polo. I hope he proves me wrong this season but since that first half of his freshman season he hasn't been that good. Not good enough imo to be picked for any pre-season all conference accolade or anything

Agree…

But stripping the complexity of the schemes combined with Coach Hopkins teaching style has already shown improvement…he was hawking a lot more this Spring - they all were…

#81 is it!

85-81

COACH: Howard Schnellenberger (53-55, 10th season; 153-132-3, 26th season overall).

LAST SEASON: 5-7, 5-3 (T-3rd in Sun Belt)

FINAL 2009 RIVALS.COM RANKING: 102nd

KEEP AN EYE ON: One offshoot of last season's disappointing record was that the Owls got a head start on the rebuilding process. Senior QB Rusty Smith was injured in Game 7 and Jeff Van Camp came on and played solid football down the stretch. He has good size and a nice arm, and if he keeps the interception total down, FAU could have the most productive passing attack in the Sun Belt.

STRENGTHS: Senior WR Lester Jean steadily has improved throughout his career, and he has 50-catch potential. WR Avery Holley and TE Rob Housler each should have 30-plus receptions. RB Alfred Morris ran for a league-leading 1,392 yards last season; he had seven 100-yard games and five games with two rushing TDs. There are potential all-league players at each level of the defense: E Kevin Cyrille, LB Michael Lockley and SS Marcus Bartels. The secondary has potential.

WEAKNESSES: While there is ample skill-position talent, all five starters on the offensive line are gone. Not only will there be five new starters, depth is an issue, too; one of the projected starting guards is Andy Czuprynski, who was a defensive tackle when spring practice started. Defensively, FAU was 112th nationally in rushing defense, 112th in total defense and 106th in scoring defense last season. Finding a way to pressure opposing passers is vital; FAU managed just 12 sacks last season, an embarrassingly low number for a team with this many athletes. Only three teams nationally had fewer sacks.

BUZZ: The Owls look as if they have a chance to finish as high as third in the Sun Belt; anything better than that would be a surprise. There is some talent on offense, but the defense has some issues, even with nine returning starters. There also are some issues with the schedule. FAU has just four home games, the fewest in the nation for a FBS team; there's just one home game before Oct. 30

I saw yahoo sports preseason preview it state,s  the same thing. Thank you rivals for giving us a good preview. Now the OWLS have to live up to the billing, IE: Van Camp, LESTER Jean, Old school A Morris, K cyrille, M. Lockley,M. Bartell and the gang. Let's go bowling again in 2010. This is the thinking of a contender with his glass full of hope!

So at No. 81, FAU outranks seven of their 2010 opponents.

So based on Rivals pre-season rankings, we should go 7-5 (6-2). That sounds about right.