College Football is almost back

[Bored 0]

In just about a month the 2005 college football season will kick off in Houston when Oregon travels to take on the Cougars. Not exactly USC/Virginia Tech but we'll take what we can get. Soooo for the next month for those desperate for some college football discussion well here you are.

 

Here are my conference champion predictions for the season, none terribly original or surprising.

 

ACC: Miami

Big XII: Oklahoma

Big East: Louisville

Big Ten: Ohio State

Conference USA: UTEP

MAC: Bowling Green

Mountain West: Utah

Pac-10: USC

SEC: LSU

Sun Belt: North Texas

WAC: Boise State

[Vern Gagne 0]

Number of posts it takes for you know who to make this topic about you know what team?

 

I like Florida in the SEC. Meyer imo is a better coach than Les Miles. Outside of beating OU those two years, nothing has really jumped out for me. Meyer doesn't have the big conference experience, and maybe i'm a year early with Florida but I see Chris Leak having a great year.

[AlwaysPissedOff 0]

Eh, Florida should be damn good on offense with Meyer, but their defense is still a big question mark. I think really only Tennessee and a healthy Bama team will be the standouts this year in the SEC.

[Vern Gagne 0]

A Shula not named Don having success? I'll believe it when i see it.

[cabbageboy 0]

It blows my mind to think that unless U of L really screws up in the Big East we'll be in the BCS this year. I never thought I'd see the day U of L played the likes of Oklahoma, Miami, or LSU in a major bowl.

[Damaramu 0]

Arkansas/USC. I dunno why. I know it's at USC and USC will probably kill them. But something about the game interests me. I dunno maybe it's an SEC team going deep into the Pac 10......I dunno but I really want to watch the game. Unfortunately it will probably be regional and I will miss it.

 

Oh and Texas/OSU will be awesome. I can't wait for that game either.

 

My way to early conference predictions are:

 

ACC: FSU

Big East: U of L

Big XII: Texas

Big Ten: Iowa

SEC: Tennessee

Pac 10: USC(duh)

And that's it. I don't know enough about the smaller conferences to make a decision on them.

I stand by my USC, U of L, and Iowa picks. The rest are shaky but I'm pretty sure the Texas and Tennessee one's will be right.

[MrRant 0]

Stop saying "I dunno".

 

Christ.

[Damaramu 0]

Stop saying "I dunno".

 

Christ.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Ignore it. Christ. Can't you use that ignore feature and just not read anything I say?

[MrRant 0]

Then I'd miss the insanity of the college football season posting that you share.

[Damaramu 0]

Then I'd miss the insanity of the college football season posting that you share.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Ok then ignore it b/c I probably won't stop. Bitching won't help you.

[Art Sandusky 0]

Big Six (really Big Five) predictions:

 

Big East - Syracuse almost sneaks in due to tiebreakers and weird shit like that again, but UL beats out Pitt by the end of the season.

 

Big XII - Texas in the South, umm... Missouri in the North? Texas wins anyway.

 

SEC - Tennessee in the East, LSU in the West. I'm scared to pick a winner of this because it's super close, but fuck it. Go Vols.

 

Big Ten - Iowa's gonna stomp a mudhole and walk it dry.

 

Pac 10 - USC after scares against Cal and Oregon State.

 

ACC - FSU's shit is way too disorganized going into the season, Boston College becomes the next new kid on the block to win out in the ACC, although only in the Atlantic. Miami avenges last year and wins the Coastal division, beating BC in the title game, a game which will have a sickening number of clips of the Hail Mary shown.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

My choices are identical to Patrick's, except for LSU, who I think will win the national title in a throwing-a-dart-at-some-team kinda before the season prediction.

[Crimson Platypus 0]

The only conference that I really know anything about at this point of the year is the Big 10. I'd have to agree with all above who picked Iowa to win it. They went 10-2 last year with having like 4 RBs get injured. They really only lost Matt Roth from a strong defense and I think that their offense is pretty much all back as well.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Iowa's going to be a black and yellow killing machine. Just watch.

[Crimson Platypus 0]

Which makes me that much happier that MSU doesn't have to play them this year.

[Gert T 0]

September 24th - Iowa at Ohio State, which will be the Big Ten opener for both teams!

 

The question is, will Ohio State be undefeated headed into it? Iowa surely will (Ball State, @ Iowa State, Northern Iowa)

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

I'm thinking yes. Ohio State/Texas is *the* non-conference game of the year (though LSU/Arizona State ought to be grand as well) and I could make an argument for Texas, but I think the Buckeyes are too deep on defense to lose that one, especially at home.

 

Sometime later today, as I get more and more bored at work, I'll do an ACC breakdown and full-conference predictions, since Tobacco Road is my backyard.

[Damaramu 0]

Well if you're going to do the ACC I guess I can break down the Big XII race.

 

I think there's actually 3 serious contenders in the South: OU, Texas, and Texas A&M. And I'll put Texas Tech in as a darkhorse b/c the D got better and the offense will have you guessing always.

 

Now the key game in the South will of course be The Red River Shootout.

OU has a mental edge winning the game 5 straight years. And Texas will probably still be one dimensional which has killed them in the past. However with the key losses of OU they may not have the personnel to stop this one dimensional attack. And Vince Young wasn't too bad throwing the ball in the Rose Bowl and was said to get better over the offseason.

On top of that while Texas did lose Derrick Johnson that is pretty much it. They return nearly the entire damn defense that held a high scoring OU offense to only 12 points last year. Granted Peterson rushed for over 200 yards but Texas clamped down in the red zone. This year that tough Texas D returns with a new D-coordinator, Auburn's DC from last year! With Jason White, Mark Clayton, and Mark Bradley gone alone with half the offensive line OU may have trouble opening up holes for Peterson or protecting whoever is in the backfield calling the signals. Which is still a question as to who will even be calling the signals at this point!

Now OU may have more of a chance if OSU knocks Texas off b/c then they may be mentall down. But if they beat OSU then they'll come into the game on Cloud 9 and finally have the swagger that they haven't had in the past.

The crimson and cream blood that runs through my veins begs for me to pick OU but realistically it's Longhorns year. If they ever had a chance this is the chance.

 

Now Texas A&M can sneak up on people b/c they were very good last year. They have Texas in College Station which is a very tough place to play. But they have to go to OU. They were a horrible road team and the last time they were in Norman they were pounded 77-0. As a matter of fact in their last 3 trips to Norman they have lost 159-6! However in College Station they are dangerous. If they can get Texas to beat OU and then someone else to knock OU off and they knock off Texas then they have the Big XII.

 

Now in the North it's wide open still. Any of these teams could probably do it. I think in the end it'll be a 2 team race between Colorado and Iowa State but I think Nebraska could shock some people. They had a great recruiting class and they claim they have the personnel to run the West Coast offense effectively now.

 

Well that's what I think about the Big XII this year at least. The North is once again wide open and the South is a 2(this year 3) team race as usual.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

I got bored pretty quickly.

 

Eddie Mac's ACC Breakdown

 

So it's no secret that I go to the University of Virginia, and that I'm a huge homer for ACC football. I go to every UVA home game and this year I'm going to try to get to a few away games as well, especially the Thanksgiving game down in the Orange Bowl. This is a big year for the ACC--the expansion is finally complete, and the first ACC championship game in Jacksonville will decide who makes the BCS. It's still no SEC, but I think this year's set of ACC teams ought to be #2 as far as conferences go, despite the fact that this is a reloading year for several of the programs.

 

My divisional predictions:

 

ATLANTIC

1. Florida State

2. N.C. State

3. Boston College

4. Clemson

5. Maryland

6. Wake Forest

 

In its first year as a 12-team conference, the ACC's divisions seem woefully unbalanced. Only two Atlantic division teams made it to bowls last year, while everyone in the Coastal but Duke made it to the post-season. The Atlantic is kinda like the Big 12 North right now. This will balance out in time, but not in time for this year. Despite losing Wyatt "God" Sexton to Lyme disease and being fucking crazy, as well as big-time CB Antonio Cromartie, FSU should still walk away with the Atlantic. They're going to get creamed in the Miami game, but by October one of their redshirt freshman QBs will have it together. There are too many good young players all over the field for them to collapse entirely. The Seminoles will likely continue to be what they've been for the past 4 years: a very good team, but only occasionally a great team. Probably 8 wins.

 

I don't believe in Boston College just yet. Yeah, they went 9-3 last year. Yeah, they return a ton of starters. They've also lost to Wake Forest an awful lot lately. BC did well in the Big East, but the ACC's mid-level teams are way, way better than the likes of Syracuse, Rutgers, etc. I see them dropping at least 3 games--FSU, Virginia Tech, and UVA--and probably at least one more to someone in the Atlantic. Instead I'm throwing my second-place lot in with N.C. State, who returns a strong front four and should be able to put a few more points on the board now that QB Jay Davis has had a full year of getting his ass kicked and learning how to not get his ass kicked. I don't expect anyone in the Atlantic besides FSU to finish with more than 7 wins, so the middle-of-the-conference is a huge crapshoot. Everyone lands between 7-4 and 4-7, probably 2 of them besides FSU make bowls.

 

Maryland, Clemson, and Wake are all good for a few upsets here and there, but I doubt any of them will be a major factor. Maryland's QB situation is a mess and their offense will be just about as anemic as it was last year. Clemson can't keep it together for a whole season and still has porous lines that are going to give up big play after big play on both sides of the ball. Even though I've got them in the cellar, Wake is the one team that might surprise; coach Jim Grobe has a better program than he should down there, and their weird spread, trick-based offense gives good teams trouble. Chris Barclay is a great running back, too.

 

On to the big-time...

 

COASTAL

1. Miami

2. Virginia

3. Virginia Tech

4. Georgia Tech

5. North Carolina

6. Duke

 

Yep, Miami. How boring is that? But they've got the talent and another 4 guys who are gonna go in the first round of the NFL draft. Like I said before, the Annual FSU Shitkicking should play out as usual. A few losses, but I think they'll end up taking the division and ultimately the conference, possibly on tiebreakers with one or both of the Virginia schools.

 

Georgia Tech is the ACC jerk-yourself-off pick of the year, the team that's being hyped as a preseason top-20 surprise. This isn't 1990, guys. This team hasn't been seriously competitive under Chan Gailey and it's not going to be this year. They don't play FSU, but they play at Miami, at Virginia Tech, at Virginia...and 5 ACC wins might not even be enough to get these guys a winning season, because they have one of the roughest OOC schedules around. At Auburn, hosting UConn, and the rivalry game at Georgia. They have Calvin Johnson, the best WR in the conference, but they also have Reggie Ball, the flightiest QB in the conference not named Charlie Whitehurst. I think this is a 6-5 team, again, as it has been for the last four years.

 

The two teams that'll finish above Georgia Tech are the Virginia schools. UVA's big problem the past few years has been just not getting big wins or road wins. In 4 years as coach, Al Groh's best wins are Penn State (home) in 2001, West Virginia (bowl) in 2002, and Virginia Tech (home) in 2003. Last year UVA beat everyone they should have (except Fresno) and lost to everyone they should have. Not beating one of FSU, Miami, or VT would make this year a huge disappointment, and two wins should really be attainable with FSU on the slide and at home. 7 guys departed for the NFL draft, but the team is mostly solid all-around. Wali Lundy will return to being the #1 RB. I expect better things out of Marques Hagans. The defense is thin at OLB, but having the best pair of ILBs in the country (future top-10 pick Ahmad Brooks along with Kai Parham) should fill in for that. The secondary is still a problem and will continue to get burned on 10-15 yard inside routes, but the line is great (and the o-line is even better). The team is once again loaded with NFL-caliber talent, but whether they'll come together remains to be seen. One thing I like about this year is the schedule; last year, it started with 5 of the 6 easiest games and set the team up for a big fall. This year starts against Western Michigan and then immediately gets into the thick of things, with road games at Syracuse, Maryland, and BC before the homestand against the Seminoles. UVA'll probably drop at least one of those road games, but I'm hoping the more balanced schedule keeps everything hype-free and tests the team early.

 

I'm taking my UVA over rival Tech because the only thing Marcus Vick has shown me is that he can fuck 14 year-olds and get his dumb ass suspended for a year. He has the last name, and that's about it. Anyone who followed ACC football in 2003 knows that Vick was a half-assed version of his brother back then. Now he's missed an entire year with the team and he's taking over the starting job. You expect improvement why? He has talent, but not nearly as much as his name might suggest. Bryan Randall was vital to Tech last year, and replacing a strong veteran QB with a much-hyped, inexperienced guy with happy feet is going to cause a substantial drop. The rest of the team, especially RB Mike Imoh, TE Jeff King, and CB Jimmy Williams, will keep the team going, but I'll be shocked if they manage to repeat as champs with Vick under center. Winning season, yeah, winning conference, no.

 

North Carolina will surprise a few people but probably not as well as they did last year, and miss out on the postseason. Duke continues its reign as the Baylor of the ACC.

 

POSTSEASON

 

Championship Game: Miami over Florida State, making it 8 in a row. Duh.

 

Miami will probably have picked up a loss or two and won't be national championship material, but they'll get the BCS game. Don't think the ACC will get a second BCS game unless one of the Virginia schools really steps up. The Gator has second pick in the bowl order, but since the championship game is in Jacksonville too, I doubt they'll take whoever loses that game. What fans are going to want to go back to the same place they watched their boys get stomped three weeks previous? The third-place team will deserve the Peach, but probably get bumped up. So, until the improved bowl tie-ins start next year:

 

BCS: Miami

Gator: Virginia

Peach: FSU

Champs Sports: Virginia Tech

Tire/Car Care Bowl (Charlotte): N.C. State

Shitty Boise Bowl: Georgia Tech or BC

 

And one or two of the other winning teams will fill in for a conference that can't use all of its slots. And that's my pre-season take on the ACC. Thoughts?

[Gert T 0]

Yo Eddie Mac, I was bored at work today too (unemployed) so I was checking out some info on the ACC teams (a conference I admittingly know pretty much squat about), but I noticed that they have two three game stretches that could be tough (@Maryland, @BC, FSU & later GT, VT, & @ Miami)

 

I guess after looking at that my question is do you think they have a shot at going into that game in Miami with a shot at ACC Coastal Title if they could steal a win in Miami?

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Edwin, you sure have a lot of confidence in ACC. Miami won't be in the title game, mark my words.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Edwin, you sure have a lot of confidence in ACC. Miami won't be in the title game, mark my words.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Miami will probably have picked up a loss or two and won't be national championship material, but they'll get the BCS game.

Maybe you misunderstood--I don't mean the BCS Championship game. I mean the ACC's automatic BCS bid. I.e. Orange or Sugar, certainly not Rose.

I guess after looking at that my question is do you think they have a shot at going into that game in Miami with a shot at ACC Coastal Title if they could steal a win in Miami?

Gert, I assume you're talking about my Cavs, since that's whose schedule you pointed out. Yes, I do think there's an outside shot that Virginia/Miami could decide who wins the Coastal. It's rough, though--the only ACC teams I see as having better than a slim chance at beating Miami this year are the two Virginia squads, since banged-up FSU plays them so early in the season. Upsets are possible (Clemson & UNC last year), but not terribly likely.

 

I will be surprised if Virginia goes down to Miami with less than 2 ACC losses, because of those rough stretches you pointed out. If that's the case, they'll have needed Miami to lose at least one game previous to have a shot at it. I do think that'll happen, so I guess it's feasible. I guess the roadblock for me is that I flat-out don't think Virginia can beat Miami. Watching the game last year showed off UVA's one big, big weakness: speed. The Miami receivers and return guys were just too quick on their routes for our very average DBs to handle. UVA also doesn't have the best reputation for high pressure games; last year's Miami game was, more or less, for a chance to take full control of the ACC race, and the Cavs collapsed in the end. And that was in Scott Stadium. Miami bleeds speed; UVA is a power team.

 

Overall, I wouldn't be too shocked if Miami, Virginia, or Virginia Tech were to win the Coastal. Those three teams are on a tier above the other half of the division.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

So did I. Miami won't be in the ACC title game.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Well then, explain yourself, sonny boy. Picking Tech?

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Not necessarily, though I do believe Virginia Tech will have a better year than Miami. I see it coming down to possible 4 teams: VT, FSU, Maryland (they will get better) and Virginia.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

You're right that Maryland will get better. Friedgen is too good of a game coach to let the same deadweight offense run the same setups as last year. I question how much room they'll have to improve their record in a fairly loaded conference, but even if they only win one more game than last year, the team will likely have improved a sizable amount.

 

Few things would make me happier than seeing storied Miami shunted all the way down to, say, the Car Care Bowl (VT in Boise would be one of those of few things), so I'll gladly eat my hat if you're right.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I know Miami will likely still perform well, but not enough to be in the ACC title game. I hope it comes down to either Maryland or Virginia.

[Bored 0]

If Maryland wins the ACC I'll let Ralph Friedgen sit on my head after he ate a trough full of beans.

[Damaramu 0]

Bored.....why did you pick OU and Ohio State? Those are the only ones that jump out at me.

I mean just about everyone and their dog has picked Texas to win the Big XII and has OSU made that many gains on offense to become much better than they were last year? Yeah they could score in the last 2 games but up until then it was sad.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Texas=