Campus Confidential

By Adam Abramson

Now that the season is over, it's time for the postseason games to begin.

And who better to discuss than Terrelle Pryor.

I've long thought that the nation's top football prospect would end up at Ohio State, but there's been some developments over the last month that make this a wide open race.

Let's start with Michigan, who I feel is the new team to beat.

Ryan Mallett, the most heralded recruit at quarterback in Michigan history (along with Drew Henson), is transferring. And you can't blame him. He can sit out next season and use his redshirt and be ready to play with three years of eligibility in 2009. He's 6'7" and boasts a big arm, not exactly ideal for Rich Rodriguez's system. He's looking at UCLA, Texas A&M, Tennessee and Arkansas. Three of those bring new coaches to the table and all three guys could use a Ryan Mallett to jumpstart things on their respective campuses. And with Tennessee, head coach Phillip Fulmer could announce the hiring of former Michigan assistants Frank DeBord and Scott Loeffler. Mallett studied under both DeBord and Loeffler, the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, respectively. I think this will come down to Tennessee and UCLA.

All of that leaves the depth chart in Ann Arbor wide open. Steve Threet appears to be the incumbent, and he's a good one. At 6'6", 225, he has some experience running a spread offense. But I can't imagine he can make an engine like that run the same way a Terrelle Pryor could (Pryor is also 6'6", but is all speed). Michigan offers the chance for Pryor to come in and play right now. And I have a feeling Pryor and Rodriguez are pretty close (I'd guess that Rodriguez first call bearing Michigan news went to Pryor).

Ohio State's depth chart can't offer that. Todd Boeckman is back next year and is hoping to lead the Buckeyes to the national title game. At best, Pryor could play a Tim Tebow role. But this-coming season is Boeckman's last and Pryor would have several years to lead a storied program.

Penn State's depth chart features two complete studs that will beat each other up for the starting job. Pat Devlin is the drop back gunslinger who can easily man a pro-style offense in State College. Daryll Clark is the dual-threat weapon who showed flashes of brilliance in PSU's bowl game and had people thinking Michael Robinson all over again. I'm sure Pryor would give both of these guys a good run for the starting job, but it won't be easy. However, it is the only home-state school on his list at this point.

Florida has a Heisman winner atop the depth chart and a guy who had fans chanting his name at the last spring game in Cameron Newton. And behind Newton is John Brantley -- one of the top QB prospects just a year ago. However, if anyone can make this happen, it's Urban Meyer -- the guy who didn't find many jokes funny on the Fox pregame show for the BCS title game.

And then there's basketball. Pryor is pretty darn good at that sport as well and wants to play it in college. He's a blue chip prospect described as "A do everything forward." Not bad.

Let's take Penn State out of the equation because their hoops program is in neutral. Michigan is still rebuilding, while Florida and Ohio State are reloading. But you have to put your chips on Florida to emerge as the program with the brightest future. Coming off back-to-back titles, Billy Donovan has added some serious talent to his squad and I'm sure it's pretty enticing to Pryor.

So, with all of that said, is there an edge here? It's tough to say, but he's the No. 1 football prospect in the country, so I'll assume that's most important to him. His best chance of success and making an immediate impact appears to be at Michigan.

So I'm going with Maize and Blue, for now. But we'll keep a close eye on this.