By Steven Lassan (@AthlonSteven on Twitter)

It wasn't that long ago that Alabama celebrated its national title victory over LSU in New Orleans. And now it's already time to turn the page to 2012. Spring practice is underway across the nation and will continue into late April for several college football teams.

Here's a look at some of the key storylines to watch over the next couple of months.

By Steven Lassan (@AthlonSteven on Twitter)

When the 2012 season kicks off, 27 teams will have a new coach roaming the sidelines. Athlon examines each hire and grades the moves by each school. Grading new hires is never an exact science, but one can get a good snapshot of a coach by looking at his resume and previous experience. 

By Steven Lassan (@AthlonSteven on Twitter)

by Nathan Rush

Hawaii Bowl
Southern Miss (11–2) vs. Nevada (7–5)
Date: Dec. 24, 2011 at 8 p.m. ET
Location: Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii

How’d you like to spend Christmas on Christmas Island? Well, Southern Miss and Nevada will do just that when the Hawaii Bowl kicks off as the only game on television Christmas Eve.

-by Braden Gall (follow at @BradenGall)

Poinsettia Bowl
TCU (10-2) vs. Louisiana Tech (8-4)
Date: Dec. 21 at 8 p.m. ET
Location: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, Calif.

Bowl season kicks off on Saturday, Dec. 17 in Albuquerque and ends on Jan. 9 in New Orleans with the BCS Championship. With 35 games on the docket, there's plenty of options to keep college fans interested over the next month.

Athlon's editors offer their predictions for all 35 games with a slight twist. The picks were made with confidence points, 1 being the least and 35 being the most. 

The six editors were split on the Rose Bowl, but all are picking Alabama to knock off LSU in the national championship. 

By Steven Lassan (@AthlonSteven on Twitter)

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Utah State (7-5) vs. Ohio (9-4)
Date: Dec. 17 at 5:30 p.m. ET
Location: Bronco Stadium, Boise, Idaho

Bowl season is upon us, and there are several quality storylines in the early matchups.

Putting together an All-America team is never easy and that’s certainly the case in 2011. Several players didn’t make the cut on Athlon’s All-America team, but that doesn’t take anything away from the season they had.

On defense, sorting out the best of the best in the linebacking corps and in the secondary was difficult. On the other side of the ball, Oklahoma State’s Justin Blackmon was an easy selection at one receiver spot, but the other was a close call between Western Michigan’s Jordan White, USC’s Robert Woods and Baylor’s Kendall Wright.

By Steven Lassan (@AthlonSteven on Twitter)

(Published December 8th, 2011) Click here to view Athlon's updated top 25 for 2012.