And now...

#1: BYU 11-1 (7-1)
BYU returns 9 guys from the 25th-rated total yardage offense, averaging just under 443 yds/game. Among the returners are Max Hall who threw for nearly 4,000 yards in his first collegiate season (5th in the country), Harvey Unga, who rushed for 1,200 yards in his first full season (15th in the country), Austin Collie, who had nearly 1,000 yards receiving while averaging 16.9 yards/catch, Dennis Pitta, who emerged as a reliable target at TE with 813 yards (4th in the country for tight ends), and 4 starters on the offensive line, with the only non-starter a former SEC all-freshman team member. Even the backup linemen have a experience: four of the non-starters played in at least 5 games last year and 2 of them started at least 2 games. They are a little thin at WR at this point, but with Austin Collie sidelined for a few weeks a lot of the fresher faces are seeing time with the first team. The best pro-prospect at TE isn't even Pitta, who will likely be the leading pass catcher from that position, it's Andrew George who has the size, speed, catching and blocking ability to succeed at the next level. As far as the backs are concerned, the loss of fullback Manase Tonga could be big. However, BYU runs a lot of single back formations, so the fullback isn't as vital as he is in a Big-10, three-yard-and-a-cloud-of-dust type offense. His blocking and pass catching ability will be missed. Fui Vakapuna will get Tonga's reps and this year he is healthy, and his ability to run exceeded Tonga's, though he'll need to block better against some of the bigger defenses (Washington, UCLA, and Utah). The offense averaged over 30 points/game last year, add the 10 returning starters and the ability to actually kick field goals this year (they added a high school All-American kicker with a state record 65-yard field goal-and several other plus 60 yarders-as a senior), they should be able to push 40 pts/game.
Defensively, they lost a lot of starters but do have a lot of experience coming back. The D-line only lost one player from the rotation of 7-8 they played last year. They replace that one lost with Russell Tialavea, who sat out last year with an injury, but led the team two years ago in blocked kicks and centers eaten alive, though I hear he dropped 30 pounds and is only 310 this season. All-America candidate Jan Jorgensen had a dominant season as a sophomore last year, following up a successful freshman All-American campaign prior to that. At linebacker, only David Nixon returns as a starter, but Shaun Doman and Matt Bauman both played in double-digit games last year and recorded over 30 tackles a piece. Doman also played in 12 games during the 2006 campaign. Matt Ah You is in the mix at MLB as well, having played in 13 games over two seasons prior to a mission. Weakside LB is the only place they don't have experience in the front 7, though they have a talented, big fast, strong guy with a mean streak in So'oto to man up out there. As far as the secondary is concerned, they are a little more green, but not completely inexperienced. The safeties (Kellen Fowler and David Tafuna) both have starts logged in their careers: Fowler filled in for an injury and started 4 games last year, and Tafuna has played in 34 games over his career. At the corners, the jobs are still not quite decided. Brandon Howard comes in as the most experienced CB, having played in every game last year, mostly on special teams, but he did rotate in at corner early in the season. The defense may not be quite as good individually, but I don't think they'll finish much worse than last year's 10th-rated defense. They gave up 18 points/game, and that average goes up due to a 55-point shoot out against Tulsa. They won't have any shootouts this year. Only one team on the schedule was in the top 50 in the country in passing yards last year (SDSU) and they had an NFL-caliber QB who won't be there this season.
Outlook: can a 1-loss team break into the BCS? I think we might find out this year. BYU has come out of the gates slowly each season under Bronco Mendenhall: will these be the year that changes? Perhaps. The coach has put it on the players to start just like they finish. Besides that, I think this is the first year that the team believes in themselves early in the year. If they can escape the early visit to Washington and take care of business at home against UCLA, then they really could run the table. There will certainly be hype after two "BCS" wins and, at 3-0, they could be making a push for the top 10 at that point. They are capable of beating Utah, but they have had to mount comeback drives each of the last two games to win. If they have to rely on a last-minute touchdown for the third straight season, they may fall one game short on their "Quest for Perfection." I think 11-1 is very reasonable, even with the HUGE target they'll have on their backs, 12-0 is certainly not out of the question.
Loss: Utah, last game of the year, on the road at your rival's place, College Gameday in the vicinity, BCS on the line, too bad it's available ONLY on the Mtn Network, contact your local television provider for details on subscribing.
Good wins: @TCU, @Washington, vs. UCLA, vs. New Mexico: I think all of these teams will be bowl eligible, except maybe UW, but a win on the road against the Pac 10 is a good win for any non-BCS school.
What it all means: If BYU is 11-0, playing Utah, they would likely be in the top 5. A loss and they still could be in the top 12 (the automatic qualifying ranking for a non-BCS team), but even if they are in the top 20 they could still be invited...it would be better to just win the game.
Future: assuming no one jets early for the NFL, next year could be even better for BYU. It will be the first year the offense and defense will enter on somewhat even footing. Max Hall could enter the season as a legitimate Heisman candidate (not a "darkhorse" candidate like he is this year). They will graduate 4 of 5 starters on the O-Line but they have experienced backups already, and they haven't even played this season yet. Only one WR graduates: Michael Reid. We'll have to see how return missionaries and freshmen play this year to see how big of a loss that is. Defensively, they will likely only be starting only 3 seniors. The 2009 season could be the best team BYU will have fielded in about 25 years (their national championship season for those counting)...They have a fairly challenging schedule, however. In their first 3 games of the season they play @Arizona State and play host to Florida State. So it's also possible that they'll have a better team but end up with a worse record. But if they go to a BCS game this year and start off beating those two teams next year out of conference... They also have Utah State on the non-conference schedule and they'll get TCU, Air Force, and Utah at home, in conference. Considering they haven't lost at home since November of 2005 in an overtime game against rival Utah, that should be a big help. Next year looks really good for BYU. 2009 could be another BYU-Utah classic too!