Top College Football Offseason Storylines

Now that the NBA Finals, College World Series, and the Stanley Cup have finished, we now play the waiting game as far football season goes. The bad news is that there are eleven Saturday's until college football season. The good news is that number will only get smaller from here.

There are always big storylines that will be talked about heading into every college football season and this year is no different. Here are some of the big storylines to watch for as we get closer towards the college football season.

The Ohio State Quarterback Battle

The defending national champions have a minor problem, but a problem that most teams wish they had. They have not just one or two quarterbacks, but three who have proven that they can help the Buckeyes win football games.

Braxton Miller will be back this season after missing the 2014 season with a shoulder injury. Going into last season, Miller was considered one of the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy before injuring his shoulder in a preseason practice.

Redshirt freshman JT Barrett then stepped in and started every regular season game and led Ohio State to an 11-1 record and a berth in the Big Ten Championship game. His name was then thrown into the hat as a potential Heisman candidate. Unfortunately, he broke his ankle during their final regular season game against Michigan.

It was then up to sophomore Cardale Jones who arguable had the most impressive three game stretch any quarterback has ever had. His first start was a 59-0 domination of Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship. He then led the upset of the number one seed in the college football playoff, Alabama, in the Sugar Bowl. It all culminated when Jones led his team to a national championship by defeating Oregon.

Head coach Urban Meyer will have a tough decision when the fall comes around as to who will be starting the first game of the year for the Buckeyes.

Jim Harbaugh to Michigan

The Michigan football program is one of the most storied programs in all of college football. In recent years however, Michigan has been nothing short of disappointing. Ever since Lloyd Carr retired in 2007, Michigan has gone 46-42 under head coaches Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke.

The 2015 season will be the beginning of the Harbaugh era at Michigan, at least as a coach. Harbaugh played quarterback at Michigan from 1983-1986 and now returns thirty years later in an attempt to resurrect the program.

Harbaugh has been known to restore prestige to football programs. He took the Stanford head coaching job in 2007 where he went 4-8 in his first season. Just four years later, he had the team go 12-1 and topping it off with a victory in the Orange Bowl.

Harbaugh then left to the NFL to coach the San Fransisco 49ers in 2011. The year before Harbaugh was there, the 49ers were 6-10. In his first year with the 49ers, he led them to a 13-3 record and a berth in the NFC Championship before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champions New York Giants. Just one season later, he led the 49ers back to the Super Bowl for the first time in 18 years.

Harbaugh now hopes to do the same thing for his alma mater that he did the previous two jobs. Could the third time be the charm for Harbaugh?

Everett Golson Transfers to Florida State

Everett Golson has had quite the journey in his college football career. In his freshman season in 2012, he helped lead Notre Dame to a 12-0 regular season and a berth in the BCS National Championship Game against Alabama.

In May of 2013, reports stated that he was suspended from Notre Dame from academic reasons. He eventually was no longer enrolled at Notre Dame and missed the 2013 football season.

He was re-enrolled at Notre Dame in December of 2013. In his 2014 football campaign, Golson threw for over 3,000 yards along with 29 touchdowns. However, near the end of the season, there was question whether Golson would remain the starter due to tough competition from back-up Malik Zaire.

On May 7th, Golson announced he would be transferring to Florida State for his final year of eligibility. He will be filling the shoes of the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston who had a 26-1 starting record over his two seasons and led the Seminoles to the 2013 national championship and a berth in the inaugural college football playoff.

Can Golson lead the Seminoles back to the college football playoff and maybe even a national championship in his final college football season?

College Football Playoff Contenders

With the inaugural college football playoff in the record books, one of the hot topics every year will surround the four teams that could possibly make the playoffs. There was a bit of controversy surrounding last years selection.

It was debated heavily whether Ohio State should have made the playoffs even though they ended that argument after win the national championship. The bigger controversy came when both TCU and Baylor were proclaimed Big 12 champions even though Baylor defeated TCU 61-58 and also due to the lack of a conference championship game.

The consensus is that the main reason both teams were left out is because they were proclaimed co-champions and did not play in a conference championship game. There will still be no Big 12 championship game this season so it will be interesting to see how the selection committee will select the teams this year based off of how the top four to six teams will look come December.

There will be much to look forward to this coming college football season. I feel as if college football is more exciting than ever, especially with the new four team playoff that we have for at least the next ten seasons. All of the fun that is college football will kickoff on Thursday September 3rd.