Gators coach Urban Meyer

One of the quickest ways to find value in college football is to look at the teams with new coaches for 2008. Some of these coaches will be working in the national spotlight for the first time, after climbing the ranks from the lower majors up to the big time – think Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators.

All eyes are on Paul Johnson after he left a very successful run at Navy to join the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Tech is 100-1 odds to win the 2009 BCS title game; the main question is whether Johnson’s triple option will work against major-conference competition. At these odds, there’s lots of room for optimism.

Bill Stewart doesn’t have the same cachet as Johnson, as he moves up from assistant to head coach at West Virginia (25-1). But the Mountaineers still have much of that talent Rich Rodriguez left behind, and Stewart was at the helm for their 48-28 Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma.