The 2002 college football season will be all about drama and big-time matchups.

In addition to the yearly traditions, we'll see marquee matchups like Miami-Florida (for the first time in the regular season since 1987), Miami-Tennessee, Oklahoma-Alabama, Michigan-Washington, LSU-Virginia Tech, Virginia Tech-Texas A&M and Nebraska-Penn State, among others. The mid-major big boys are also looking to back up their claims, as Byron Leftwich and Marshall travel to Blacksburg to meet Lee Suggs and the Hokies, and Dave Ragone leads Louisville to Tallahassee to meet Bobby Bowden's Seminoles.

In what ESPN is calling "The Year of the Quarterback," it's hard to ignore that this year's class is brimming with talent. Miami's Ken Dorsey, Marshall's Leftwich, Florida's Rex Grossman and Texas' Chris Simms figure to be in the Heisman running by the end of the year, but who's to say Middle Tennessee State tailback Dwone Hicks (that's hicks4heisman.com) won't make a play for the biggest individual award in college football?

Coaching changes are aplenty this season, too. Steve Spurrier is gone in Gainesville, and Ron Zook takes on the unenviable task of following a legend and breeding a new offensive style. Ty Willingham turned Stanford around, can he do the same for the Fighting Irish? Ex-Spurrier aide Buddy Teevens takes Ty's old job, vowing to bring the Fun 'N' Gun to Stanford. Former Dallas Cowboys head coach Chan Gailey is the new leading man at Georgia Tech. The XFL's Gerry DiNardo moves in at Indiana. And former offensive coordinators Mark Mangino (Oklahoma) and Jeff Tedford (Oregon) try to Ralph Friedgen the fortunes of Kansas and Cal, respectively.

So who will be No. 1 at the year's end? Your guess is likely as good as ours, but there are certainly some favorites, starting with the defending champions from Miami. Without further heehawing, here is the TFR pre-season top 25.

(First-place votes in parentheses)

1. Miami (5)
2001 Record: 12-0
Poll Points: 170

2. Oklahoma (1)
2001 Record: 11-2
Poll Points: 158

3. Florida State (1)
2001 Record: 8-4
Poll Points: 145

4. Texas
2001 Record: 11-2
Poll Points: 143

5. Florida
2001 Record: 10-2
Poll Points: 131

6. Tennessee
2001 Record: 11-2
Poll Points: 125

7. Colorado
2001 Record: 10-3
Poll Points: 121

8. Georgia
2001 Record: 8-4
Poll Points: 119

9. Nebraska
2001 Record: 11-2
Poll Points: 116

10. Washington State
2001 Record: 10-2
Poll Points: 102

11. Washington
2001 Record: 8-4
Poll Points: 86

12. Ohio State
2001 Record: 7-5
Poll Points: 85

13. Michigan
2001 Record: 8-4
Poll Points: 81

14. Oregon
2001 Record: 11-1
Poll Points: 78

15. LSU
2001 Record: 10-3
Poll Points: 73

16. Marshall
2001 Record: 11-2
Poll Points: 63

17. Virginia Tech
2001 Record: 8-4
Poll Points: 56

18. Maryland
2001 Record: 10-2
Poll Points: 48

19. Louisville
2001 Record: 11-2
Poll Points: 46

20. Texas A&M
2001 Record: 8-4
Poll Points: 44

21. Michigan State
2001 Record: 7-5
Poll Points: 28

22. N.C. State
2001 Record: 7-5
Poll Points: 26

23. UCLA
2001 Record: 6-5
Poll Points: 25

24. Southern Cal
2001 Record: 6-6
Poll Points: 24

25. South Carolina
2001 Record: 9-3
Poll Points: 23

Honorable Mention: Notre Dame 22, Purdue 19, Boston College 17, Fresno State 14, Penn State 11, Pittsburgh 10, Indiana 8, Auburn 7, Georgia Tech 7, Wisconsin 7, Alabama 6, BYU 6, Northwestern 4, Oregon State 3, Syracuse 3, Ole Miss 2, Arkansas 1, Duke 1, Southern Miss 1, Texas Tech 1.