In keeping with the recent handicapping theme, analyst Mike Hook of Pregame.com joins Homerism for a two-part preview of the national college football landscape. In part one, we look at some of the keys to being a successful handicapper on the national level. Also, Mike turns the tables on Homerism to help him get a better handle on the Oklahoma Sooners in 2010.

Other topics we cover include:

• Mike's take on the differences between handicapping analysis and run-of-the-mill punditry;
• the importance of scheduling in college football handicapping, as well as experience on the lines and coaching continuity;
• Mike's outlook for OU, including his concerns about the cornerbacks and special teams;
• the potential that San Diego standout receiver Kenny Stills could make a special immediately; and
• OU head coach Bob Stoops' reputation among the sharp bettors.

For diehard fans -- and degenerate gamblers -- the day the bookies release the projected win totals for the upcoming college football season is like Christmas, except without actually knowing what day it falls on.

Today is that day. (Both Sportsbook.com and TheGreek.com have the totals posted.)

TheGreek.com has set the over/under for our beloved Oklahoma Sooners at 10, which we should interpret as a very good sign. When it comes to prognostication, I'll take the oddsmakers over the Bob Grieses and Desmond Howards all day long.

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Professional handicapper Tony George, who specializes in Big 12 football for Pregame.com, joins Homerism for the first of two podcasts to break down the conference. First up, we cover the Big North 12, including George's predictions of long seasons for Iowa State and Kansas State; Turner Gill's impact on the Kansas Jayhawks; Colorado, the conference sleeper; Missouri's high-powered offense and division favorite Nebraska.

Look-Ahead Factor: Some
Letdown Factor: Zip
Kerouac Factor: Big big big
Motivation Factor: Oh yeah

Oklahoma held a 9-1 edge on the Texas A&M Aggies in the 2000s. Yet, for a series that was awfully one-sided, the two teams sure produced some memorable games.

Heading into the 2010 season, the Heisman Trophy may be as wide open as ever. Chris Huston of Heisman Pundit joins Homerism for a podcast to review the 10 Heismandments that tend to dictate the winner.

Chris and I also break down the field and look at:

• the chances that Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs, the People's Choice for Heisman, could actually win the award;
• whether or not Oklahoma Sooners DeMarco Murray and Landry Jones can make a serious run;
• why Alabama running back Mark Ingram's won't repeat in 2010;
• the real frontrunner, Ohio State Buckeyes QB Terrelle Pryor
• the impact of Washington quarterback Jake Locker's media blitz on the voting;
• two more strong QB candidates, Jacory Harris of the Miami Hurricanes and Arkansas Razorback Ryan Mallett;
• Boise State trigger man Kellen Moore's set-up for a possible run in 2011;
• how parallels with Ron Dayne hurt fellow Wisconsin Badgers runner John Clay's candidacy;
• a couple potential dark horses.

In the comments on my post regarding conference depth earlier this week, some questions were raised about the data set I used. Specifically, how does Notre Dame affect the results?

I decided to run the numbers again for clarification. I also added some additional inforrmation on opponents' winning percentage to give a more complete picture of schedule strength.

As a refresher, the goal of the exercise is to depict conference depth in the last decade by negating the impact of each league's top two teams on the conference's overall performance outside the league. I'm limiting the nonconference games under consideration to games against other BCS teams, and I've done two sets of numbers -- one set that includes Notre Dame and one that excludes the Fightin' Irish.

(Note: The "adjusted" results below remove each conference's top two teams from the data used.)

Let's see how things change.

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The Big East is the red-headed stepchild of the BCS conferences. Most big-time college football fans wait to pay attention to the league until a Big East team pops up on the nonconference schedule or an undefeated Cincinnati or West Virginia starts to make its way up the polls late in the season.

Bloguin network colleague Aaron Torres of AaronTorres-Sports.com is here to tell you why you're missing out. Torres join Homerism for a podcast to explain why the league is on the rise. Among the topics we discuss:

• Randy Edsall's brilliant coaching job at UConn in 2009;
• the changes taking place for the Cincinnati Bearcats under new coach Butch Jones;
• Greg Schiano's standing on the national landscape; and
• whether or not West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart has shown he's the right guy to lead the Mountaineers.

Big 12 fans have heard for years now that the conference's major problem is depth. It's Texas and Oklahoma, then everybody else.

Makes sense, seeing as the Longhorns and Sooners have won eight of 10 conference championships last decade.

Does it stand up to scrutiny, though? What about the other conferences? Let's take a look.

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Who am I?

• As a quarterback, I had the most rushing touchdowns last season, 27, of any player who returns in 2010. (That just happens to a record for quarterbacks, by the way.)

• I didn't throw the ball too often last year, with fewer than 10 pass attempts per game. When I did, though, I made it count, passing for 9.8 yards per throw with an efficiency rating of 148.96.

• I went over 1,000 yards in both passing and rushing last year while leading my team to a 10-4 record. Did all that while essentially missing two games.

• I saved some of my best performances for my team's biggest games in 2009: a near upset of Ohio State, an actual upset of Notre Dame and a Texas Bowl blowout of Missouri.

• When my career is over, my goal is to become president.

Answer: Navy's star signal caller Ricky Dobbs. If you've never heard of him, you're probably not even close to being alone. And that's a damn shame.

Dobbs just happens to be the best quarterback to darken the U.S. Naval Academy's door since the immortal Roger Staubach was doing his thing back in the 1960s. More importantly, he has been named Blatant Homerism's Favorite Non-Sooner in College Football.

All the speculation related to Missouri's flirtations with Big Ten haven't left much time to talk about actual Tiger football lately. Michael Gaio, lead writer for Bloguin network partner MizzouRah, joins Homerism to put an end to that.

Gaio and I break down the 2010 version of the Missouri Tigers and a wild offseason in Columbia. We touch on:

• the general sense of disappointment among Mizzou fans that the Tigers aren't leaving for the Big Ten (yet);
• Blaine Gabbert's maturation as a quarterback in his first season;
• who will fill Danario Alexander's shoes;
• the loss of Sean Weatherspoon at linebacker;
• what the coaching staff is doing to improve the Mizzou defense; and
  
• Michael's optimistic outlook for the Tigers in 2010.