Shane Corn is a columnist with the Capstone Report. He can be reached via email at shanesez@gmail.com.

This coming Thursday night marks the beginning of the 2010 college football season. After surviving a seemingly endless off-season - where mindless speculation often ruled the day - the men who actually put on the battle gear are about to hit the gridiron and make a run for glory. Every team has championship aspirations and wants to be in the mix for all the marbles when all is said and done.

Always driven by the media and fueled by the fans, “hype” is about to be replaced by “fact,” which gets its power from the results on the field.

SEC football programs across the South have been busy utilizing their greatest assets – the extreme heat and humidity – to better prepare their players for the upcoming task at hand.

One thing is sure – every school gets a clean slate to start. The negative emotions of the past are washed away by the positive expectations of future exploits.

Many tough questions are about to be answered, and most Southeastern Conference teams are accustomed to the pressure that the one-and-done regular season system provides.

At least some of the hard-core football issues – the things that are truly relevant - can be settled on the field.

And, as always, most of the head coaches in the SEC have something to prove. The following list looks at the supreme commanders of the nation’s most powerful college football league and what their teams must do to have a successful campaign in 2010:

Can Nick Saban reach down deep and find a way for his Crimson Tide to duplicate last year’s national championship run? Can Alabama accomplish the unheard feat of three consecutive undefeated 12-game regular seasons?

What will life after Tebow be like for Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators? Meyer has talented players layered and loaded throughout the squad, but – for the most part - Tim Tebow carried this team on his back. An adjustment will be required.

Will Mark Richt finally get his Georgia Bulldogs over the hump by beating Tennessee and Florida? He needs to at least win one of those games, win 10, and get to a BCS bowl. Mark needs a big year to wash the negative away.

Will LSU – in spite of Les Miles’ apparent on-field incompetence – step up to the challenge? Has Tiger signal-caller Jordan Jefferson matured enough to play consistent winning football? LSU needs to play up to its talent potential.

Auburn coach Gene Chizik is currently riding a wave of positive energy. Expectations are at peak level, and Gene will need to deliver the goods (victories) at some point. Will Chili seize the day or fall short in year two?

Are Bobby Pertrino, Ryan Mallet, and the Arkansas Razorbacks for real? For starters, Pertrino must prove that he understands the concept that defense wins championships. And, Ryan Mallet may have a “rocket” arm, but his footwork leaves something to be desired. Has he improved in the off-season?

Is this the year when Steve Spurrier finally gets a quarterback (in this case Steven Garcia) to play at the high level required to run his “fun-n-gun” offense efficiently? Spurrier is desperate to win some big games and take his Gamecocks to a place they’ve never been – a BCS bowl game.

Can Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen resurrect the program to a point where the Bulldogs are able to beat some of the top-tier SEC teams? An early victory over one of the better programs might launch Mullen’s team toward a winning season.

Houston Nutt is a good football coach, and the Ole Miss Rebels have been a pretty good football team for the past two years. Nutt has taken the Rebel Nation to back-to-back Cotton Bowl wins. But, that’s about as far as it goes. He and Ole Miss are operating at full capacity. The Rebel fans should be content.

Of course, everything I mentioned above can change in a heartbeat, because the variables are too numerous and random to list. At last the chance to solve every riddle has arrived. Let’s kick it off and see what happens.