Two teams who have enjoyed Cinderella runs in 2008 will look to do the same in 2009.

With the 2009 NCAA college football season just around the corner, everybody will be gunning for the Florida Gators looking to stop their quest to give the graduating Tim Tebow another title in his final year.

Two of those teams are the Pittsburgh Panthers and the Iowa Hawkeyes. These two teams had amazing runs nobody saw coming back in 2008. While they won’t be catching anybody off guard this season, both of these teams have more than enough reason to really put the rest of the field on notice.

Take the Pittsburgh Panthers for example. 2008 was very successful for the Panthers and head coach Dave Wannstedt, winning nine games in dominant fashion. But still, they lost to Oregon State in their bowl appearance, ending their campaign in disappointing fashion. That bowl game was pretty unusual by the way. The final score was 3-0. Pittsburgh hadn’t been shut out all year, and it’s lowest scoring total prior to that was 17. Go figure.

The keys for the Panthers to have more success in ‘09 and compete for the Big East championship? Their offense has to get going, and stay going all year long.

Now that their go to guy, LeSean McCoy is gone to the pro ranks, they will have to rely heavily on quarterback Bill Stull and other newcomers to the offense. Stull had a successful 2008 season, but he will need to build up and have an even better ‘09 if Pitt wants to have any type of success. Watch out for the Panthers in the Big East, they should be a top-three favorite to win it.

The Iowa Hawkeyes, on the other hand, became a surprise team in 2008 to many college football viewers, and experts across America. They came out of the gate 3-0, and then lost three in a row. They rallied to finish the season strong, and as hot as any other team in the country, winning six of its final seven games, including a thrashing of South Carolina in the Outback Bowl, 31-10.

Iowa had much success in 2008 thanks to its big play at running back from it’s star, Shonn Greene. He was the only running back in the NCAA last season to run for over 100 yards in all of the games he played in. Too bad he’s gone pro. The Hawkeyes will be hurt from the loss of Greene, but the tailback play in Iowa is pretty talented and deep that they should have no problem replacing him.

The Iowa defense will be it’s best attribute. They return all their defensive backs, and linebackers, including it’s hard hitting athlete Pat Angerer. Iowa should have a solid season, and be a dark horse to win the Big 10. They could surprise a lot more footballs fans in 2009.

Which team will win the 2010 BCS National Championship? Bodog Sportsbook has the odds.

Florida Gators 3.00

Oklahoma Sooners 5.50

Alabama Crimson Tide 21.00

USC Trojans 7.00

Want more odds? Visit Bodog Sportsbook for more college football betting odds. Want to watch college football live? Get college football tickets online now.

Pittsburgh Panthers Iowa Hawkeyes