NO. 1 AUBURN: Fresh off its second Top 5 in a Mercury College B.A.S.S. Championship, Auburn is expected to be right back in the title hunt. Returning most of it starters and boasting more than 25 members, Auburn has the talent base to really compete in 2012.
NO. 2 LSU SHREVEPORT: LSU Shreveport is the only school to receive two Super Regional titles. The team stumbled a little bit for the championship, but veteran Joe Landry wants nothing more than to put his name on the crystal cup. Watch out for the Pilots.
NO. 3 ARKANSAS TECH: The Wonder Boys already have one championship under their belt and notched a Super Regional title last year. With a healthy 30-member team, Arkansas Tech is poised to make a run at its second title next season.
NO. 4 STEPHEN F. AUSTIN: You can’t leave the defending Mercury College B.A.S.S. Championship winners out of the Top 10. They are losing the championship team of Ryan Watkins and Andrew Upshaw, but the Jacks have shown their team is bigger than two players. They are the only team to win two titles since Mercury College B.A.S.S. began.
NO. 5 VIRGINIA TECH: Another school fresh off of a Top 5 finish that can also lay claim to a national title back in 2007. Wyatt Blevins has graduated, but Carson Rezjor is back for another year. Virginia Tech is also one of those teams with a large number of anglers. Can it become the second school to win two titles?
NO. 6 N.C. STATE: The 2008 champions were so close to making a Top 5 this year, finishing seventh. The Wolfpack has a diverse set of lakes all within one hour of the N.C. State campus, making the team very dangerous when it comes to competition. These team members are looking for their second Mercury College B.A.S.S. title in 2012.
NO. 7 EASTERN KENTUCKY: The only team to record both a Super Regional title and a National Championship, EKU is a team that isn’t huge in size, but the anglers continue to compete on a high level. The team will be a contender in 2012.
No. 8 LSU: With one Top 5 under its belt and all of its key anglers returning, LSU will be a major threat. The team will kick off the year against another SEC opponent at the 2012 Bassmaster College Classic in Shreveport, La., on B.A.S.S.’s biggest stage, the Bassmaster Classic. That should be some good practice for the Tigers as they move into the national title hunt.
NO. 9 GEORGIA: Close but no cigar. Georgia notched a second-place finish in 2010 and a third place in 2011, and the Bulldogs were oh-so-close both times. They slipped one spot this year, which isn’t really anything in bass fishing. Look out for them to right the ship and compete for a national championship.
NO. 10 TARLETON STATE: The team came on strong this year, nearly winning the West Super Regional, and Tarleton State was the first team out of the Top 5 for the Mercury College B.A.S.S. Championship. All the starters are returning in 2012, which is what the team will need to put it over the hump.
