The March Madness betting tournament appears to many college football enthusiasts as the highlight of the offseason, before spring workouts start up. Despite the NCAA football betting season not starting until September, here are our picks for the top seeds on the AP Poll.

• Oregon Ducks - With Cam Newton of the Auburn Tigers declaring for the NFL draft after the National Title game in January and the Oregon Ducks all deciding to return to school for their senior years, we feel it is safe to say they will be number one when the season opens. Oregon Ducks fans should be thrilled, as the duo of quarterback Darron Thomas and running back LaMichael James return for their senior seasons.

Add them to an Oregon defense, that remains roughly the same as last season, and it may be fair to assume, that the team will go undefeated in the regular season again this year. Last year, was LaMichael James time to shine, as he carried the rushing load for the Ducks. However, in 2011-12, we expect Darron Thomas to not only lead the NCAA but become the top pick of the 2012 NFL draft.

• Stanford Cardinals - Although they lost Head Coach Jim Harbaugh to the NFL, the Cardinals aren't entirely in shambles heading into September. Why is that you may ask? Well, with senior quarterback Andrew Luck announcing that he will return for one more year to Stanford, the Cardinals went from a team that would drop considerably in 2011 to a team that should contend for a National title.

• Boise State Broncos - Another quarterback that decided to come back for his senior year is Broncos pivot Kellen Moore. Similar to Luck at Stanford, if Moore had declared for the NFL, the Broncos would probably have dropped considerably in the AP 25 rankings. In our opinion, with TCU and Auburn taking a step back this year, the Boise State Broncos are a team that should be on everyone's radars.