School’s almost in for thousands of student-athletes, participating in everything from baseball to wrestling. Here are five defending champions of note on the men’s side:

FBS: Louisiana State
FCS: Appalachian State
Soccer: Wake Forest
Water Polo: California
Cross Country: Oregon

LSU is 20-1 on the futures market to retain the BCS championship. Appalachian State’s football team is in a much stronger position to defend; the Mountaineers have collected three titles in a row, and the FCS (formerly Division I-A) uses a playoff system to determine its champion. There is some turnover, though, on this year’s Appalachian State squad.

Wake Forest is the preseason No. 1 in soccer, boasting nine returnees from the team that went 22-2-2 last year. Cal, the top-ranked preseason water polo program, is looking for a three-peat. The Ducks are Cross Country kings for the first time since the early 1970s; they’ll get a good challenge from Wisconsin. I’ll take the Demon Deacons in this fivesome.

Football is easily the most popular sport in America. So you’d think with all the attention it gets, people would have figured out by now how important the offensive and defensive lines are to a team – especially in college.

Nope. The casual fan is still fixated on the “skill” players – the quarterback, running backs, wide receivers and those tight ends who catch the football on a regular basis. This opens up a wide lane for handicappers to swoop in, get an information advantage on the competition, and make some cash.

A star quarterback with a lousy offensive line is going to underperform. Over in the Pac-10, one of the few question marks with this year’s USC Trojans is whether the O-line is stout enough. Meanwhile, the less famous Oregon Ducks have a fearsome front four that should make QB Nate Costa’s job a lot easier. The Ducks are flying under the betting radar and well worth investigating.

Thanks to the ubiquity of the Internet, you can see thousands of college athletes drinking right from the comfort of your own home. College students drink alcohol? Shocking.

But this is more than just a college thing. Studies show that college athletes drink more heavily than non-athletes. And this relationship extends to sports fans, as well. One speculated cause: advertising.

Despite a push among concerned groups, including prominent athletic directors and coaches, the NCAA will not stop showing advertisements for alcohol. This is despite the fact that the NCAA has already put rules in place that limit the ads to products containing six percent alcohol or less. Conveniently enough, beer is the beverage of choice on campuses across the globe.

Here’s a crazy idea: Lower the legal drinking age. It’s 18 just about everywhere else in the world. To paraphrase Mojo Nixon, if you’re old enough to die for your country, you’re old enough to buy a beer.

The critics have spoken, and the Arizona State Sun Devils are this year’s top college sports program. Sports Illustrated put together a Top 25 last month that praised ASU for its strength in baseball, golf and track. The Stanford Cardinal were second, followed by the UCLA Bruins. That’s three Pacific-10 teams in a row.

We’re used to seeing strong Pac-10 teams on the football field. But the USC Trojans are only tied for seventh on this list. Meanwhile, here’s what’s expected on the gridiron from the SI top three:

Arizona State: 8.5 wins (-145 under)
UCLA: 6.0 wins (-170 under)
Stanford: OFF

Those are low expectations. If the futures market plays out, only the Sun Devils will make it to a bowl game this year. Stanford was off the board at press time but is generally considered the worst football team in the conference. Yes, but they have one hell of a golf program.