MWC unit previews: SECONDARIES

The Wimple's ranking of the MWC's secondaries, best to worst:

Air Force's corners are the conference's best returning tandem: Anthony Wright and Reggie Rembert were 1st- and 2nd-team all-MWC. Jon Davis joins returns as safety with them, and the only newcomer is Phil Ohili, who has two years' experience as a backup. Air Force and TCU had the best pass defenses in the MWC last season, holding opposing squads to 154 and 157 ypg, and 57.6% and 47.4% completions. AFA returns 75% of its starters secondary; TCU only 40%-- although new starting cornerback Jason Teague played lots and often in '09. AFA's and TCU's secondaries are the class of the conference in 2010.

See TCU's and the rest of the MWC's secondary ranking after the jump.

MWC unit previews: Special Teams

Preseason practices are just weeks away.  To get you there, the Wimple begins the MWC unit rankings, starting with special teams. 

Opponent Preview: SMU

This was supposed to be the (first in a long time) year the Ponies could sit back and relax during the off-season: the depthchart was filled with underclassmen who managed 8 wins in 2009, and there was little reason to expect they couldn't do at least 7 in 2010. Kyle Padron was back, with a good bevy of receivers. Knowing June Jones's offense like they now do, and with a slowly improving defense, hadn't the Mustangs finally found the golden road to repeating bowl eligibility?

And then came the sucker punch.

Opponent Preview: BAYLOR

Baylor has been on the cusp of bowl-eligibility, at least in pre-season writing, for years.  It appears that the Bears are finally going to make good on all that pre-season press, now that the team's best runningback and quarterback return, and get to work behind slightly improved lines.  It does not yet appear that Baylor is so much improved, however, that they may expect to leave Fort Worth with a win. 

Opponent Preview: OREGON STATE

Gary Patterson has already begun to raise expectations for Oregon State, reminding audiences that the Beavers were a drive away from the Rose Bowl, and return 21 starters.  While the Wimple hopes CGP's coaching is better than his math, El Bulldog is on to something: Oregon State is the toughest opener the Frogs have lined up since OU in 2005.