I'm ready for the new season of college football. So ready in fact, I'm a week ahead of myself for when games actually kick-off.
Regardless, we can't turn the page on a new season without some fearless and bold predictions. There's a good chance come January, I won't want to look back at these...
UConn will contend for the Big East title, but will come up just short. Also, don't expect Cincinnati, who lost head coach Brian Kelly to Notre Dame, to fall off the wagon.
Colorado head coach Dan Hawkins (16-33 at CU) might just be coaching intramurals by season's end.
Hawkins failures, compounded with Dirk Koetter's snafu at Arizona State (40-34, 2-19 vs. ranked teams) means current Boise State head coach Chris Peterson will be a Bronco for life, despite a disappointing 10-3 season this year for the Smurf turfers.
The Big 12 won't be staying at 10 teams for long. Great seasons by TCU and Houston will fast track them for membership in the new Texas-centric conference.
Nevada's Colin Kaepernick is probably the quarterback you haven't heard of. You'll know about him by the end of the year.
Florida State QB Christian Ponder will pass himself into the Heisman lead by the beginning of October and won't look back.
What about last year's Heisman winner Mark Ingram? Ingram will have fewer total yards from scrimmage then Alabama backfield partner Trent Richardson.
The Crimson Tide will still win the SEC, but will be considered this year's biggest disappointment. It's all relative, because anything less than a second straight trip to the BCS title game will be considered a failure. I don't see that happening because...
A non-AQ will play for the national championship. Which brings to the rest of my predictions.
Conference Champions:
ACC: Florida State (Atlantic), Virginia Tech (Coastal)
Big 10: Ohio State
Big 12: Oklahoma (South), Nebraska (North)
Big East: Pittsburgh
Pac-10: Oregon
SEC: Alabama (West), Georgia (East)
C-USA: Houston
MAC: No. Illinois
Mt. West: TCU
Sun Belt: Middle Tennessee
WAC: Boise State, Nevada (tie)
BCS Bowl Predictions
ROSE BOWL: Oregon vs. Texas
FIESTA BOWL: Oklahoma vs. Arizona
ORANGE BOWL: Florida State vs. Pitt
SUGAR BOWL: Alabama vs. Miami
TITLE GAME: Ohio State vs. TCU
1 comment:
Bold, indeed. I like most of the picks, though. On the big stage, I like Ohio State to get it done this year. They are deep, have a great coach, and an incredibly athletic QB who proved himself last year, along with a talented RB and the typical Tressel D.
While I'd rather OU win the title, I like them headed to the Fiesta Bowl. They would make an equally reasonable selection to the title game as far as I'm concerned, but if they got to the Fiesta and won it that'd be OK.
The typical folks in the SEC like Florida and Alabama will be solid, but not amazing. Florida doesn't know (though it appears Urban knows) how different the game will be in the shotgun spread running attack with a pocket passer...
Alabama will be strong but struggle just enough in their schedule to disqualify them from serious title game contention. I like Ingram, Richardson, and the talent all around, but the odds are stacked against them and they are the defending champs. Repeats just don't happen that often.
If Ohio State doesn't win it, it'll be Oklahoma or Virginia Tech. Yes, I actually like VT to be a serious title game possibility. Call it the reverse BSU syndrome, but I think if their D-line meets the challenge they'll beat BSU and take their 3rd ranked AP rating to the bank on an otherwise weak ACC schedule they'll be set for a title game bid.
My darkhorse before the arrest of the RB was Georgia, but for a serious darkhorse I'll go with Stanford. They have some great talent on both sides of the ball and play in a down Pac-10.
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