Boise State won its third straight opener over a BCS team, and the Broncos did it in impressive fashion with their 35-21 dismantling of Georgia. Many college football fans and media have questioned Boise’s credentials over the last few seasons when it came to the BCS Championship Game. Could the Broncos handle the attrition of a big-time conference?

By Braden Gall (@AthlonBraden) and Steven Lassan (@AthlonSteven)

Athlon Sports continues its countdown to the college football season with a look at the top 40 players for 2011 in the Pac-12.

Several factors worked into the criteria for developing the 40 players: 

By Jake Veyhl

Scan the list of the 2001 NFL Draft first-round selections below and you’ll probably recognize quite a few of the biggest names from college football. There are future Hall of Famers, franchise staples who are still with the organizations that drafted them and guys who have bounced around the league. And of course, there are a few busts.

The coaching carousel is usually one of the most intriguing elements of college football's regular season and has been in full effect since May with the departure of Jim Tressel at Ohio State and Bill Stewart at West Virginia. 

Which coach will be the first to get fired? Athlon Sports ranks 10 coaches on the hot seat, along with a few others who are getting warm. 

On the Hot Seat

by Steven Lassan (@AthlonSteven on Twitter)

The countdown to kickoff for the 2011 college football season is less than 40 days away. With fall camps opening up in a matter of days, now is another good opportunity to project how the teams will fare this upcoming season.

With the start of the 2011 just around the corner, it's time to revisit the conference power rankings. The SEC claims the last five national titles and should reign surpreme once again this year. However, the Big 12 should be in great shape this year, especially with three teams picked in the top 12 of Athlon's 2011 Top 25.

We have ranked every college football program in the country, based on the attractiveness of the position from a coaching perspective. We considered many factors — tradition, facilities, location, money  — but in the end, we simply asked ourselves the following question: Where would we want to coach? Check back tomorrow for rankings 50-1.

(Note: Current or impending NCAA sanctions were not a factor in these rankings.)