If you haven’t already noticed, there is no offseason in football. Whether it is the college or pro game, every major sports network knows where its bread is buttered and that is directly on the football side of things. We’re not much different.

Every week leading up to the football season we’ll do a coast-to-coast look at what’s happening on college campuses while we get ready for a huge 2010 season. We’ll usually focus on one or two teams from every major conference in the nation as well as a few non-BCS programs that have a shot to crash the party next January. We’ll also provide you with blogs for each team. Let’s go!

ACC

Florida State prepares for its first season in the post-Bowden era (1976-2009). While it’s easy to assume the Seminoles will keep rolling along and improve on their 7-6 record with the return of QB Christian Ponder, it’s also easy to forget Bowden turned what used to be a women’s college into a perennial national title contender over the course of his career. Ponder will get an opportunity to prove himself immediately in a September 11th showdown at Oklahoma followed by a rematch with BYU in Tallahassee.

Florida State fans are dying for an electrifying playmaker on the defensive side of the ball and are turning to sophomore cornerback Greg Reid to fulfill their need for speed. After leading the nation in punt returns last season Jimbo Fisher’s staff is considering moving Reid to the offensive side of the ball in certain packages. The ‘Noles need to find a game-breaker or someone who simply strikes fear into the opposing defensive coordinator’s heart in order to start piling up the big plays that defined the championship-level FSU teams of the late-90′s. Reid might be the right man for the job.

Big East

Randy Edsall’s recruiting classes have never been number one in the conference. Matter of fact, they hardly break out of the Big East basement on National Signing Day. Somehow, year in and year out, the Huskies find a way to defeat the so-called four star recruits on the opposite sidelines. Wins against Notre Dame, South Florida and South Carolina proved the young Huskies could play with anybody, regardless of how many stars were next to their name in high school. That’s why Edsall doesn’t take Rivals, ESPNU or any other recruiting service too seriously when that important day rolls around every year.

UConn lost five games by a total of 15 points last season. Combine those heartbreakers with the loss of team leader Jasper Howard in the middle of the season and you have a 2009 season that transformed the Huskies from a young team that was vulnerable to miscues into a team that can handle any situation, adversity or controversy put in their way. Think Edsall’s program be out to prove something when they travel to Ann Arbor to face a Michigan team led by Rich Rodriguez, a coach that annually ran the score up on the Huskies while he was at West Virginia?

Big Ten

Penn State will have a new look head coach this season. No, you didn’t miss the retirement of Joe Paterno during the offseason. But you may have missed the doctor’s appointment that made the eyes of Penn State Football even better. Paterno got laser surgery and will not be sporting the trademark Coke bottle frames that America has fallen in love with over the last few decades. Not only does Joe-Pa have a full head of thick hair, now he’s going back to relying on his own two eyes. You get the feeling that the legend might live -and coach- forever.

Senior RB Evan Royster only needs 481 yards to pass Curt Warner and become Penn State’s all-time leading rusher. Royster decided to return for his senior season, a surprising move for a running back that has a ton of mileage on his legs. The Nittany Lions weren’t as lucky on the defensive side of the ball with the loss of linebacker Navarro Bowman to the NFL, who was drafted by the 49ers in the third round of an extremely deep Draft in April.

Big 12

Contrary to what the media has been telling us all spring, the Oklahoma Sooners are not breaking in a fresh face at the quarterback position. The bumps and bruises fans expect out of a new quarterback came unexpectedly last season as Landry Jones was forced into action early after Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford went down with a bum shoulder. Jones looked like a dear in headlights during that first game against BYU but put together a decent season. He had four games in which he threw for 3 or more touchdowns as well as a season high 392 yards against Texas A&M. His five interceptions against Nebraska was his lowest point of the season and coach Bob Stoops is surely doing everything in his power over the summer to stop another rollercoaster season from taking place.

16 out of the 29 recruits Stoops will bring on to campus this fall have a listed forty time in the 4.5 or 4.4 range. Even though some of these athletes have a ways to go before they become solid contributors in the Big 12, there is no doubt Oklahoma will have enough depth to make practices a constant competition. One of the biggest reasons other conferences have trouble competing against the SEC and BIG 12 is the lack of speed they compete against during the week. If you can’t get a good look in practice, game speed becomes a shock and teams can find themselves down 21-0 in a hurry.

PAC-10

Jeremiah Masoli was supposed to be preparing himself for a run at the Heisman Trophy. He was supposed to be putting on a show for the Oregon fans that cheered his name from the first time he juked an opposing defender out of his jock. He was supposed to be the tenor of one of the finest offensive orchestras college football has ever seen. Instead, he was sitting there with his mitts inside a warm pouch, trying not to yawn as he watched as the Oregon Ducks held their annual spring game. As this New York Times article describes, Masoli is the face of the Ducks program for all the wrong reasons.

With LaMichael James suspended for the first game of the season due to -guess what? – off-field transgressions, true freshman Lache Seastrunk will get an immediate opportunity to prove himself. He won’t have the best opponent in New Mexico but Seastrunk might be able to show that he is every bit as worthy as James was last year, when he took over the ball carrying duties after LaGarrette Blount landed his infamous straight right to the jaw of a Boise State lineman. Seastrunk was the highest rated player in the Ducks recruiting class and reminds some scouts of a young Jahvid Best. He and James can form a deadly 1-2 punch for Oregon, who will need production out of their running backs with Masoli on the sidelines for the year.

SEC

Arkansas received a huge scare in February, one that they would have gladly gone without, when star quarterback Ryan Mallett broke his foot. He wasn’t able to take part in the Razorbacks’ spring practice sessions but told John Saunders that he was about to be 100% on College Football Live. As strange as it sounds, an injury that doesn’t require major surgery can be the best thing that happens to a player, especially a quarterback. Mallett said he spent the majority of his down time in the film room and was probably able to see things he might have missed had he been focused on performing in the upcoming practices. With a healthy Mallett running their offense, everybody in the country expects Arkansas to be one of the most dangerous offenses in the nation.

Bobby Petrino brought this one upon himself. After putting his house in East Fayetteville, AR on the market for a little over $2 million, Petrino and Razorback officials had to answer questions about whether it was a sign that the coach had one foot out the door already. Arkansas released a statement saying Petrino would like to sell one of his properties because of the market but you can’t blame Razorbacks fans for being a little suspicious considering Petrino’s history of making quick escapes.

Non-BCS

Boise State will steal all the headlines going into the 2010 season, and rightfully so, but Texas Christian will also be in the mix once January rolls around. The Horned Frogs only lose two starters on an offense led by senior QB Andy Dalton who knows this could be his best chance at winning a BCS bowl game. They have to replace defensive end Jerry Hughes but that’s the beauty about recruiting in Texas. There are enough athletes to go around and you can turn a big athlete into a pass rushing specialist quicker than you can turn him into a quarterback.

TCU will get a chance to prove itself early in the 2010 season. They open the season at Cowboy Stadium against Oregon State, one of the most underrated programs in the nation over the past five years. The Horned Frogs will be hard pressed to keep Jacquizz Rodgers in check but they do get a break as the Beavers break in a new quarterback. Sean Canfield was a silent assassin last year and may have opened more holes for Rodgers than their offensive line. Now, Quiz and Co. will have to make things happen without him. You better believe TCU will do everything in their power to open the season by giving Rodgers a rude awakening instead of becoming his first victim on the way to a Heisman Trophy run.