Depth of talent

Most of the early preseason college football forecasts have Southern California and Louisiana State contending for the national title.

So it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that those two schools have the most representatives in the latest edition of the Rivals.com College Football Power Rankings.

Southern California had a dozen people included in the power rankings, which measure the top players and coaches at each position. LSU was close behind with 11 representatives.

Michigan and Florida each had nine guys on the list, while Oklahoma and Texas had eight representatives apiece.

Our first edition of the power rankings for the 2007 season came out during spring practice. At that time, we included the top 10 players or coaches at each position. This time our lists have been expanded to include either the top 20 or 25 players at each spot.

We also added a category for offensive linemen, who hadn't been included in last year's version of the power rankings.

USC representatives in the power rankings included quarterback John David Booty, tight end Fred Davis, offensive lineman Sam Baker, defensive linemen Sedrick Ellis and Lawrence Jackson, linebackers Rey Maualuga, Keith Rivers and Brian Cushing, defensive back Terrell Thomas, head coach Pete Carroll, offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian and defensive coordinator Nick Holt.

None of the USC players topped any categories.

The top players and coaches at their respective positions were Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan, Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, California wide receiver DeSean Jackson, Wisconsin tight end Travis Beckum, Michigan offensive lineman Jake Long, Louisiana State defensive lineman Glenn Dorsey, Penn State linebacker Dan Connor, Arizona defensive back Antoine Cason, Florida head coach Urban Meyer, Florida State offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher and Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong.

Jackson also earned the top spot in our rankings of special-teams players. He was one of three players to appear twice in the rankings, joining Oregon State wide receiver/punt returner Sammie Stroughter and Arkansas running back/kick returner Felix Jones.

This second edition of the power rankings coincided with the end of spring practice. We will run a third version of the rankings just before the start of the season and will update them each week throughout the regular season.

The rating of a player and coach can fluctuate during the season depending on how they fared the previous week, but the power rankings measure their overall careers as well as their most recent performances.

We believe our power rankings provide an accurate indicator of which players and coaches are the best at their respective positions.

See more at http://sports.yahoo.com

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