National Preview

While I love writing this blog, I don’t particularly love trying to predict everything that will happen in a season. More often than not I feel I have a pretty good idea about teams in the SEC and to a certain extent, the ACC, but I depend too much on the talking heads on TV for what is going on in the Big 12, Big 10, and Pac 12.

Despite that, here are my sure to be wrong national predictions, including my picks for the college football playoff and the New Year’s Six games. Hope you enjoy.

ACC:

Everyone is talking about how Florida State and Clemson are the teams to beat in the ACC, and I am very confused as to how FSU is even in the conversation. Sure FSU has a great running back and a solid defense, but they are going to start a red-shirt freshman at quarterback. I’ve heard multiple pundits point this fact out and then go on to say that Jamies Winston was a red-shirt freshman the year FSU won the national title. What does that have to do with anything?

For me, the ACC is all about Clemson. Sure they have some pieces to replace on defense, but their offense is going to be so good that they will simply outscore most of the opponents they face. Their schedule is very manageable, although I do see them struggling in the first game of the season on the road at Auburn. I think they will win, but it’s going to be a 7 or 10 point game. Watson is a great quarterback and he will be in the Heisman discussion all season, but don’t sleep on the Tigers ability to run the football with a stable of very good running backs.

I think Clemson wins the Atlantic and goes on to beat Miami in the ACC title game.

Big 10:

It is a three team race in the Big 10. Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State are head and shoulders better than the rest of the conference and they all play in the same division. So whoever wins the Big 10 East will most likely win the Big 10. I think each team will take at least one loss, but in the end, I think Ohio State beats Michigan at the end of the season to win the East and goes on to beat Wisconsin in the Big 10 title game.

Big 12:

There is no conference in America with more question marks than the Big 12. Oklahoma has been terrible under Bob Stoops when they come into a season with big expectations. The Sooners are the prohibitive favorites, but they have non-conference games against Houston to open the season and Ohio State in Week 3. TCU has to replace a lot of key players on offense, which means they will be reverting back to their roots by depending almost solely on their defense to win games. Baylor turned into a dumpster fire this offseason and lost their head coach in Art Briles. Although they still have some talent, I don’t see how they could compete with everything they have had going on.

That just leaves Texas. The team that the entire conference was built around has turned into an after-thought since Mack Brown left a few years ago. Charlie Strong is on the hottest seat in America, and the Longhorns will be tested right off the bat with a home game against Notre Dame this Sunday. If Texas can manage to win that game, they could get some momentum heading into the meat of their schedule, but if they lose to the Irish, the season could get out of hand very quickly. My guess is the latter will happen and Strong will be gone by season’s end.

I have no clue what to expect from the Big 12, so I’ll take TCU just because I don’t trust Big Game Bob.

Pac 12:

Again, I would not pretend to be a Pac 12 expert, but I love Stanford. All of the talking heads talk about parity in the Pac 12, but to me that translates to a lot of good teams but no great team. I don’t think Stanford is a great team, but they have a great player. I think the Trees will drop two games this season, but the Pac 12 is going to beat up each other so I think that will be enough for Stanford to win the North and then beat either USC or UCLA in the Pac 12 title game.

SEC:

Last season, Les Miles was on the verge of being fired. This year, I think the Tigers are going to win the SEC. They host Alabama on November 5^th in a game that will determine the division. I think LSU may drop a game somewhere along the way, but as long as they beat the Tide in Death Valley, they will hold the tie breaker and play in Atlanta. I assume Alabama will be good, but in reality, they have to take a step back. If any other team in America was replacing their quarterback, their running back, and their defensive coordinator, they would never be chosen to be number one in the preseason, but Alabama has earned that respect from everyone across the nation. I think this season is going to be like 2010 when Bama was good, but not great.

The East is tricky. For some reason everyone is expecting Tennessee to not only win the division, but compete for the college football playoff. Sure they have a lot of talent, and the media loves Josh Dobbs because he is an amazing kid, but he’s not a great quarterback. By definition you can’t be a great quarterback and not be able to throw the ball well, and for all his athleticism, he doesn’t throw the ball well. On top of that, he often makes questionable decisions when he does throw from the pocket. Tennessee has to play Alabama, like they do each year, they go on the road to A&M and they have to travel to Athens. They could win the East, but this is the same team that gave up leads in the fourth quarter to Florida and Oklahoma last season. I think Georgia sneaks in and wins the East, which says more about the East than it does about Georgia. Georgia has an incredibly easy back half of the schedule, and if they can beat Tennessee in Athens, they should play in Atlanta.

College Football Playoff:

(1)    Clemson v. (4) Stanford

(2)    Ohio State v. (3) LSU

New Year’s Six Bowl Games:

Peach: National Semifinal

Fiesta: National Semifinal

Cotton: Alabama v. Oklahoma

Rose: Michigan v. USC

Sugar: Georgia v. TCU

Orange: FSU v. Houston

Well now you know what won’t happen! The season kicks off tonight and even though there isn’t a marquee game, I think its worth watching Tennessee v. App State and Vandy v. South Carolina to get a look at three of Georgia’s opponents this season. Not to mention, we have been waiting a long time for the start of the season, we might as well enjoy it, because it will be over before we know it.