Preseason College Football Rankings 2012: Georgia At 7, Trails USC, Three SEC West Teams

Now that the LSU-Alabama game is over a week old, it's time to start thinking about the 2012 college football season, even if it's still nine months away.

The SBNation BlogPoll, which combines the opinions of a wide spectrum of team-specific bloggers, has an early pre-season top 25 out.

Matt Barkley's return has many bullish on USC on ending the SEC's streak of six straight BCS national championships, as the Trojans are rated No. 1 in their first year without post-season restrictions under Lane Kiffin.

However, the SEC still has five teams in the top 10, with Georgia at No. 7, trailing No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Alabama and No. 6 Arkansas and ahead of No. 10 South Carolina.

In a stroke of good fortune thanks to the additions of Texas A&M and Missouri to the conference, the Bulldogs will miss all three of the SEC West powers during the regular season while the Gamecocks have to travel to Death Valley to play the Tigers and host the Razorbacks in Columbia.

Georgia, meanwhile, isn't scheduled to play a single opponent ranked in the preseason top 25 outside of South Carolina, and their Oct. 6 trip to Williams-Brice Stadium looms as their biggest hurdle to a possible 12-0 start and a date with whoever survives the SEC West in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta.

Georgia Tech, coming off a disappointing 8-5 season, finished in the "others receiving votes category", but the ACC should be wide open next season, as only three teams -- No. 9 Florida State, No. 15 Virginia Tech and No. 16 Clemson -- are ranked in the top 25.