Increasingly, mid-majors have been making their presence felt in the Bowl Championship Series. In the first six years of the BCS, no mid-majors qualified for BCS bowl games. In the past six years, six have played in BCS games, highlighted by two (TCU and Boise State) making it in the same year last season for the first time.

So far, however, a mid-major never has played for a BCS national championship. That could change this season. Boise State begins the season as the No. 5 team in the USA Today coaches poll. If Boise State falters, TCU is at No. 7. (The coaches' poll is factored into the BCS formula. The Associated Press media poll is not).

Part of the problem in recent years has been preseason rankings. Mid-majors such as Boise State, Utah, TCU and others have had to come from positions lower in the polls to qualify for the BCS. Last year, Boise State was the highest ranked mid-major at No. 16 in the preseason coaches' poll. From 2002 through last year, no mid-majors have started a season ranked in the Top 10 of the poll.

That is not the case this season, and it could produce something many in the sport have wanted to see -- a national title game not involving a team from one of the establishment conferences.

Not only are mid-majors deserving, but it would further illustrate the need for a college football postseason tournament. If a team like Ohio State or Texas is left out of a national title game because of Boise State, it just might push the establishment schools currently resisting a playoff in the direction of a tournament.

Of course, a cynic's view is that the BCS conferences merely would snatch them up like the Pac-10 did with Utah this year. But hey, we can dream of scenarios for a national playoff, can't we?

The Bowl Championship Series has been around for 12 years, and there never has been a repeat national champion.

Plenty of teams have come close. USC won in 2004 and lost in the championship game to Texas in 2005. Florida won championships in 2006 and '08. The Gators failed to repeat in '07 when conference rival LSU won it all and last season when Alabama ended the Gators' perfect season in the SEC title game.

Like USC and Florida before it, Alabama is a heavy favorite to repeat this season. Coach Nick Saban has lots of talent returning, including running back Mark Ingram, who won the Heisman Trophy last year and rushed for 1,658 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also has a defense capable of shutting down the top offenses in the SEC.

It always is tough to get through the SEC unscathed, but Alabama will have the benefit of playing Florida at home as well as the Iron Bowl against Auburn. The only road games against Top 25 teams are at LSU and Arkansas.

Saban is looking to become the first coach to win three BCS championships. He has won two in the past seven years, one with LSU and one with the Tide. The only other coach with two BCS titles is Urban Meyer of Florida.

Pryor was the No. 1 recruit in the country when he was at Jeannette High School three years ago. Now he is a junior and the leader of the No. 2 team in the country, and there is going to be more pressure for him to live up to his billing.

Yes, Pryor had a solid sophomore season in leading the Buckeyes to a Big Ten Conference title and a victory in the Rose Bowl, but he is the type of recruit who will be judged on the number of national championships he delivers, not Big Ten titles.

Pryor can't allow the Buckeyes to lose to teams such as Purdue, as he did last season when he turned the ball over four times, and win a national championship.

Ohio State's offense is not designed to showcase Pryor's athletic abilities. He is playing for a conservative coach in Jim Tressel, so he will have limited opportunities to make big plays. Thus, he has to make those big plays when called upon.

So, the pressure is on. Not for gaudy statistics. Not for a Heisman Trophy. Not for another Big Ten title.

The only thing that matters in Columbus this season is an undefeated record and a national championship.

It was not all that long ago that Nebraska fans were suffering through the Bill Callahan Era. For a four-year period, the Cornhuskers were 27-22 and lost their place among the nation's elite programs.

After a 10-4 record last year, the Huskers could be ready to reclaim a spot among the best teams in the country. Third-year coach Bo Pelini has the Huskers poised for a big season in their final year in the Big 12 Conference.

Nebraska will move to the Big Ten in 2011, but the Huskers could go out with a bang. Pelini returns eight starters from a defense that ranked among the best in the country last year. And remember, Texas needed a field goal as time expired to beat Nebraska in the Big 12 championship.

The difference-maker could be the offense. The Huskers averaged 25.1 points per game in 2009 and were mediocre offensively. That should change now that senior quarterback Zac Lee has a season of starting experience under his belt.

With an improved offense, Nebraska is good enough to win the Big 12, a final blow conference administrators are hoping they do not have to absorb.

USC is not in the top 10 of The Associated Press preseason poll for the first time since 2002. The Trojans were sanctioned over the offseason for the Reggie Bush affair and will not be allowed to play in a bowl game the next two years.

This is a problem for the Pac-10, which has been living off the success of the Trojans for the better part of past decade.

There is not another team in the conference that can assume the mantel, and it might have been part of the reason the Pac-10 went hard after Texas during the conference expansion talks in the spring.

Without a dominant USC football program, the Pac-10 is a lot less marketable. The best the Pac-10 had to offer last season was Oregon, which finished 11-3 and No. 11 in the final AP poll. USC was the only other Pac-10 school to finish among the top 25 at the end of last season, and the Trojans were No. 22 with a 9-4 record.

Oregon State could be a sleeper, and Stanford has improved every year under coach Jim Harbaugh, but it is hard to envision a national-title contender coming out of the conference this year. In fact, it's hard to fathom any of the teams finishing in the Top 10.