Spring practices are in the books and fall camps will be here before you know it so that means getting an early jump on the 2006 NCAA football season. Knowing the teams now will save you time in August and Matt Fargo is here to help you get a grasp of what to expect this upcoming year. We go from worst to first in this 2006 College Football Preview.

#86 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 7-4 SU; 5-6 ATS

Fargos Take The Bulldogs qualify as the team that got the biggest shaft last season after not getting invited to a bowl game despite a 7-4 record. Making matters worse, Louisiana Tech defeated Fresno St. in its final game of the year but the latter Bulldogs secured a bid to the Liberty Bowl while the former Bulldogs were forced to sit home during the postseason. Louisiana Tech has increased its win totals each of the last four seasons but trying to top its seven wins from last season might be too much to ask for. Not only does the schedule not set up in their favor but the Bulldogs need to replace key offensive players all over the place along with nine of their defenders. They had their best defensive season in 10 years but reverting back to the days of the bottom of the conference is likely. Offensively, the Bulldogs will be breaking in a new quarterback, new running backs and two key offensive linemen. Louisiana Tech closed last season with a 7-2 record but with four of their first five games on the road, keeping that momentum going will be impossible.

Returning Starters on Offense 6 Louisiana Tech averaged 28.7 ppg last year, the most it has put up since 2001 but it has to replace efficient Matt Kubik at quarterback. Junior Zac Champion is the likely starter but he has only eight pass attempts to his credit in five relief appearances. He does have a solid group of receivers to throw the ball to and he should get plenty of protection behind an offensive line that averages a whopping 314 pounds. Running back is a big question mark even though the talent is there. Returning rushing leader Mark Dillard was switched to safety and his status is still in question following a sexual assault charge in February. Incumbents Freddie Franklin and Patrick Jackson combined for 815 rushing yards a season ago but after those two, there is no one left. If Champion can fill in quickly, the offense can be very good once again.

Returning Starters on Defense 2 This is where the problems begin. The Bulldogs have only two starters returning on defense and even though it was one of the best in a decade, it still wasnt exceptional. They finished 58th in scoring and 66th in total defense and those ranking are sure to go the wrong way this season. The rushing defense was the strength, allowing only 133.2 ypg and 3.8 ypc but only one player is back from the front seven and there will only be two seniors there to start. The reinstatement of Dillard will be a key piece to the secondary if nothing else for depth purposes. If there is one sign of optimism it is the fact that Louisiana Tech returned only four starters last season and still had a decent year. Young players have to make big strides right away but with the early part of the schedule extremely difficult, that a lofty goal.

Schedule Not only do the Bulldogs have eight road games this season, four of those occur in their first five games. The one home game is an easy contest against 1-AA Nicholls St. but the four road games surrounding that are at Nebraska, Texas A&M, Clemson and Boise St. A 1-4 start is inevitable but there is a nice stretch following those games with Idaho, Utah St., San Jose St. and North Texas. A game at Hawaii will be the third straight away from home and while the next two games are against frontrunners Nevada and Fresno St., at least those games are in Ruston. The finale at New Mexico St. could determine whether or not the Bulldogs have a second straight winning campaign since there are 13 games on this years schedule.

You can bet on Louisiana Tech is extremely young and the difficulty of the beginning part of the schedule does not bode well for such a young squad. While there is light at the end of the tunnel, it might already be too late for the Bulldogs to salvage the season. They will undoubtedly be receiving points in their first four lined games but that might not necessarily be a good thing. Louisiana Tech is just 7-17 ATS as an underdog over the last four seasons and that includes a 5-13 ATS mark as a road dog. The biggest go against could be its game at Texas A&M. This follows the game against Nicholls St. and the Bulldogs are a paltry 3-17 ATS following a straight up win.