One of the most interesting college football articles I remember from last year appeared in The Wall Street Journal, which added up career starts on each team’s offensive line and used it as a predictor for success.

I thought it’d be interesting to reflect on some of those numbers.

Here were the top five BCS schools before last season with the most career starts on the offensive line:

• 1. Virginia Tech: 100
• 2. Notre Dame: 100
• 3. Georgia: 99
• 4. Iowa: 98
• 5. Minnesota: 96

Of those five, only Notre Dame didn’t play in a bowl game.

When I looked at the numbers across the college football landscape, however, something else became evident: While offensive line experience is undeniably important, it cannot be directly correlated to a team’s success.

No other squad makes this point more obvious than Alabama.

The Crimson Tide returned only 50 career starts on the O-line — second worst in the SEC last year — but won the BCS Championship.

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AP Photo

Of course, much of that had to do with the elite O-line talent coach Nick Saban lured to Tuscaloosa. Three of Bama’s five O-linemen hadn’t started a college game last season. Didn’t matter. Their unique skill set in the trenches made up for any lack of experience.

A slew of other teams thrived without experienced O-lines last season.

The WSJ cited five teams last season to worry about due to their lack of O-line experience: Oregon (20 career starts on O-line), West Virginia (25), Oklahoma (29), Penn State (39) and Alabama (50).

Oregon ended up winning the Pac-10 and going 10-3 overall; West Virginia won nine games; Oklahoma struggled by Oklahoma standards, but still made a bowl; Penn State won 11 games; and, of course, Alabama won it all.

Conversely, Notre Dame and Michigan were two teams pinpointed for potential big seasons last year because of their experienced O-lines. Notre Dame struggled to win six games and missed a bowl, while Michigan went 1-7 in the Big Ten.

Now I’m not suggesting to completely ignore career starts on the O-line. They’re interesting to look at when determining who looks good for next year and who might struggle.

Using it as a life-or-death predictor, however, wouldn’t be wise.

That holds true when looking ahead to the Big 12 in 2010.

When the fall rolls around, here are the conference teams with the most career starts on the O-line:

• Colorado: 109
• Iowa State: 89
• Kansas: 85
• Missouri: 80
• Nebraska: 75
• Kansas State: 63
• Texas: 47
• Texas A&M: 43
• Oklahoma: 42
• Baylor: 37
• Texas Tech: 29
• Oklahoma State: 12

Something tells me Colorado won’t win the North in 2010.

Furthermore, Iowa State should struggle to make a bowl game. Analyst Phil Steele recently ranked the Cyclones as having the toughest schedule in the country next year.

Kansas will be a bit of a mystery in 2010 under first-year coach Turner Gill. The lack of an experienced offensive line played a part in the Jayhawks’ 1-7 conference record last year. KU had 26 career starts by O-linemen heading into last season, the lowest number in the Big 12. Perhaps now that the Jayhawks have considerably more experience on the O-line (all five linemen return), and a much easier schedule, they’ll be contenders in the North.

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Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo: KU O-lineman Jeremiah Hatch (77) celebrates a KU touchdown against Missouri last season at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.

Nebraska, Texas and Oklahoma — the three Big 12 teams that figure to have BCS game potential next season — showed up toward the middle and lower portion of the O-line experience chart.

Not to worry.

Alabama proved last year that 50 returning starts on the O-line are more than enough to have a rather memorable season.

What do you think? How important are career starts by O-linemen?

As always, discuss.