Experience in the early part of the season is key, so lets take a look at that for a moment. Info gathered from Phil Steele's CFB Magazine.
The top 5 teams in terms of experience this year in CFB are....
1. UTSA - This is a team with 10 starters back on both side of the ball and 19 of them are seniors. Overall they return 27 seniors in the 2 deep, they have 89% of their tackles returning and 91% of their yards are back as well. Oh yeah they also have 143 career starts returning to their OL.
2. Louisiana- Lafayette - 17 starters back and 12 of them are seniors. They have 16 seniors in the 2 deep, have 78% of their tackles back and 88.7% of their yards.
3. Indiana - The Hoosiers have 17 starters back and 9 of them are seniors. They have 80% of their tackles backs and are 3rd in the nation with 130 career starts returning to the OL.
4. Central Michigan - 19 starters back with 9 of them being seniors. They have all 11 starters back on offense, 87.4 % of the their yards and 90 career OL starts.
5. Mississippi State - 16 starters back with 12 being seniors. They also have back 82.6% of their lettermen, which is 3rd in the nation and have 80% of their years and 82% of their tackles back from last year.
The next 5 are
6. Auburn - 14 starters and 53 Lettermen back
7. Houston - 17 starters and 45 Lettermen back
8. Idaho - 17 Starters and 45 Lettermen back
9. Maryland - 17 starters and 53 letermen back
10. Army - 16 starters and 59 lettermen back
*** Interesting to note that UTSA and Houston and 2 of the most experienced teams in the nation and they face each other tomorrow night.
Now to the bottom of the list
128. Oklahoma State - 8 starters back and 7 or seniors. they return just 54.3% of their lettermen (last in the nation), just 49.6% of their yardage, 35% of tyheir tackles (2nd to last) and have just 38 career starts on the OL.
127. Boston College - The Eagles actually have 13 seniors in their starting lineup, but just 9 are returning starters. they have just 59.3% of their lettermen back, just 12.8 % of their yardage (last in the nation) and just 55.3% of their tackles return.
126. SMU - The Ponies have 12 starters back, but just 5 seniors in their starting lineup. Actually just 8 seniors in the 2-deep overall. . They have 30% of their yardage back and 57.7% of their tackles.
125. Wake Forest - Just 10 starters are back. 7 Starters are senior and just 8 seniors in the 2-deep overall. 22.8% of their yardage returns, which is 126th in the nation.
124. Vanderbilt - Just 10 starters back and 5 starters are seniors with just 6 seniors in the 2-deep overall. Just 32.5% of their yards are back and just 53.4% of their tackles return as well.
Rest of the bottom 10.
123. Tennessee - 10 starters and 43 lettermen are back.
122. Missouri - 8 starters and 39 lettermen are back
121. Ohio - 12 starters and 45 lettermen back
120. Notre Dame - 12 starters and 41 lettermen back
119. LSU - 12 starters and 44 lettermen are back
I know its allot but maybe you can use something for the show.