COTTRELL COLUMN: A look ahead to next football season

This college football season is still a few days from its completion, but it’s never too early to start looking ahead.

As each season comes to a close, it’s always fun to look for what may be the storylines next year — and there are shaping up to be quite a few nice ones in 2009.

For starters, if you didn’t enjoy this season you are probably out of luck, because next year should look pretty familiar.

Florida, Oklahoma, USC and Texas, this season’s unquestioned — non-Utah division — top dogs, should all be back and stronger than ever, assuming none of them are too decimated by early entries to the 2009 NFL draft.

Urban Meyer, Bob Stoops, Pete Carroll and Mack Brown, respectively, have been the faces of the decade, and should all close it with some of the strongest teams they’ve ever fielded.

And what of the Big Ten?

There was once again BCS embarrassment, as Penn State was blown out by USC in the Rose Bowl. And Ohio State’s gritty performance in the Fiesta Bowl did little to salvage what wound up a 1-6 bowl season.

Will things get better?

The Buckeyes and Nittany Lions should each be better than they were this year, but that may or may not be enough.

The conference’s biggest hope is that Rich Rodriguez’s spread experiment at Michigan begins to bear fruit, because bringing speed and flashiness to the conference will be the only way it can become competitive again.

You should also begin to see a noticeable shift of power in the SEC.

LSU, Auburn and Georgia, where much of the power has laid for this decade, all appear headed downward, at least in the short term. Florida’s not going anywhere, but Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee all have the potential to become huge powers.

And don’t count out the Mississippi schools, as Houston Nutt appears to have Ole Miss headed in the right direction and Dan Mullen has the potential to get Mississippi State rolling again.

The ACC and Big East will continue to not be as good as the Mountain West.

And speaking of the Mountain West, don’t be surprised to see another BCS buster like Utah, or our old friends from Boise State in the WAC.

And assuming that happens, especially on the heels of the Utes’ impressive beatdown of Alabama, don’t be surprised to see the calls for a playoff continue to pick up.

That would be the best news to come from what has been the most interesting decade ever in college football.

Tim Cottrell is sports designer of the Opelika-Auburn News. He will write one more column on college football this season. You can also read him on the O-A Sports Blog at oanow.com. He can be reached at 737-2511 or .