Now that the deadline for underclassmen to jump to the NFL has passed, it's a good time to examine the big winners and losers of the early-entry derby:
Early-entry losers
- Florida: Even though the Gators retain safety Ahmad Black and offensive lineman Mike Pouncey, who some expected to follow his twin brother into the NFL draft, Florida was still rocked by underclassmen jumping to the NFL.
On offense, the Gators lose playmaking TE Aaron Hernandez and center Maurkice Pouncey, while on defense they lose their top defensive back, corner Joe Haden, along with hard-hitting safety Major Wright and DE Carlos Dunlap. Even if all of the Gators' underclassmen had stayed, I doubt many folks would rank them above Bama in the 2010 preseason polls because Tim Tebow and Brandon Spikes already left. Still, these departures widened the gap and probably dropped a team that would start around No. 5 to somewhere in the 10-15 range.
See which other teams lose a ton of talent and where they could land, plus five winners. If you're depressed about Carolina hoops, this could make you smile. But -- you gotta be an ESPN Insider for that.
Bruce Feldman | email
College FootballABOUT THIS BLOG
Bruce Feldman
Bruce Feldman is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He started at ESPN in 1994. He spent a good portion of two years in the South working on his book, "Meat Market: Inside the Smash-Mouth World of College Football Recruiting."
His first book, "Cane Mutiny: How the Miami Hurricanes Overturned the Football Establishment," made it to No. 1 among sports titles in the fall of 2004.
Bruce can be reached via Twitter at @BFeldmanESPN. and his full ESPN.Com archives are located here.
