College Football sadly came to an end Monday night, with the Alabama Crimson Tide proving once again that they’re still the kings of college football. Nick Saban took home his 5th title, 4th at Alabama, and can tie Bear Bryant for the most all time with a repeat next year. Before we get into playoff predictions, let’s dive into my Top 25 to kick off the season. Clemson is my pre-season #1 due to the talent they’re returning.
Note: Personally I don’t think they should release rankings until week 4, but I’ll be doing one for the preseason anyways.
1. Clemson Tigers
2. Alabama Crimson Tide
3. Stanford Cardinal
4. Ohio State Buckeyes
5. Michigan Wolverines
6. Baylor Bears
7. Oklahoma Sooners
8. Houston Cougars
9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
10. Ole Miss Rebels
11. Tennessee Volunteers
12. Michigan State Spartans
13. Florida State Seminoles
14. Southern California Trojans
15. Louisiana State Tigers
16. North Carolina Tar Heels
17. Oregon Ducks
18. Iowa Hawkeyes
19. Texas Christian Horned Frogs
20. UCLA Bruins
21. Georgia Bulldogs
22. Washington State Cougars
23. Oklahoma State Cowboys
24. Florida Gators
25. Boise State Broncos
There’s always a couple of movers and shakers, and here are my biggest winners in 2015:
Michigan Wolverines– After a promising start to 2015, a deflating loss after the botched punt against Sparty caused Michigan’s season to go downhill. I don’t expect anything like that to happen to the Maize and Blue in 2015, and the matchup vs. Ohio State in Columbus will go a long way in telling how the season goes.
Tennessee Volunteers– Tennessee lost 4 games in 2015. They lost those games by a combined 17 points, 2 of the teams they lost to were playoff teams. If they had stopped a 4th and 25 vs Florida, they would have been in the SEC Championship. If Tennessee manages to upset Alabama for the 1st time in 10 years, Rocky Top will get really interesting.
Arkansas Razorbacks– Arkansas is another team that lost a lot of close games. They’re improving every year, and could be looking at a top 10 finish.
There’s always a few teams who start the year in the top 25 that we always end up laughing at at the end of the year. (See; #6 Auburn). Here’s my Busts for 2016.
Baylor Bears– Baylor is losing a lot of their defense. They will benefit from being healthy and playing an easy schedule (as always), but I think they slip up in a game or 2 and lose to Oklahoma in Norman.
Ole Miss Rebels– Losing Nkemdiche, Treadwell, Tunsil, and a slew of other members of the landshark defense will hurt Ole Miss badly. Alabama will NOT turn the ball over 5 times in a game again, and the youth of Ole Miss will cause them to lose about 4 games; one to the Tide in Oxford, and one to the Georgia Southern Eagles on November 5th. Write it down, I’m calling it.
USC Trojans– USC is always overrated, and this year will be no different. Big loss against Alabama to start the year, finish with 4-5 losses.
Heisman Finalists:
Deshaun Watson, Clemson
Christian McCaffrey, Stanford
Joshua Dobbs, Tennessee
Dalvin Cook, Florida State
Bo Scarbrough, Alabama
Dobbs is my dark horse for this year. Deshaun Watson and McCaffery will duke it out for 1st. Winner is italicized.
Conference Champions:
AAC- Houston
ACC- Clemson
B1G- Ohio State
Big 12- Oklahoma
C-USA- Western Kentucky
MAC- Bowling Green
MWC- Boise State
Pac-12- Stanford
SEC- Alabama
Sun Belt- Georgia Southern
Playoff Top 4:
1. Alabama Crimson Tide
2. Ohio State Buckeyes
3. Clemson Tigers
4. Stanford Cardinal
Pretty vanilla picks. I think Urban Meyer gets this young group of guys ready for the season and they beat Michigan , win the Big 10, and move on to face Clemson. Alabama will get McCaffrey and Stanford.
2016-2017 CFP National Championship
Alabama 38, Ohio State 31