Complete College Football Predictions

My football attention span may have been focused solely on our Fantasy Football draft last week, but today is the rebirth of my favorite sport – college football. There may have been games on Thursday, but college football doesn’t start until I see College Gameday. College students with stupid signs and Lee Corso putting on a mascot head – gotta love it. I love the analysis they bring from across the country, even though it is often small-sighted. Case in point: “It’s 87 degrees today in Pittsburgh – that’s an advantage for Pitt”. Really? They’re playing Bowling Green, which is only about 2-3 hours west. Their climates can’t be that different.

Nevertheless, I bring to you my complete predictions for college football – the best sport in the land. Last year was extremely exciting with App St over U-M and#1 and #2 changing hands week after week. Adding to my excitement today: I have no less than 6 channels to watch games on today (including the Big 10 Network) and one of the first things Stacey said this morning was “honey, do you want to go shopping for tvs tomorrow?” I love this woman. Enough talk – here’s my thoughts.

MSU Results
at Cal L
E Mich W
Fl Atl W
ND W
at Ind W
Iowa W
at NW L
OSU L
at Mich W
Wisc L
Purd W
at PSU L

MSU’s schedule will be tough. I know this sounds ridiculous with EMU and Florida Atlantic on the schedule, but the key is the stretch from NW to PSU. In that stretch, their 3 easiest games are on the road. They also play 4 of the 5 teams that they lost to during the regular season last year in a row (NW, OSU, U-M, Wisco). The highlight of the year will be defeating U-M for the first time since 2001. They don’t improve at all from last year, but they don’t take a step back and that’s important.

Big 10 Final Standings:
1. OSU
2. Wisconsin
3. Penn St
4. Illinois
5. Michigan
6. MSU
7. Purdue
8. Northwestern
9. Indiana
10. Iowa
11. Minnesota

Heisman
1. Tim Tebow, QB Florida – becomes first repeat Heisman since Archie Griffin
2. Sam Bradford, QB Oklahoma – very accurate – he may not have too much buzz now, but he will by the end of the season
3. BeanieWells, RB Ohio St – best back in the country
4. Michael Crabtree, WR Texas Tech – ridiculous talent – will be a top 5 pick in next year’s draft
5. Knowshon Moreno, RB Georgia – I don’t know too much about him, but Georgia is getting all of the hype right now
(Side note: Literally, as I typed this, Beanie Wells went down with a foot injury on my tv in the background. I don’t care – I’m sticking with this list!)

BCS Conference Champions
ACC: Virginia Tech
Big 10: Ohio State
Big East: Pittsburgh
Pac 10: USC
Big 12: Oklahoma
SEC: Florida
I ranked each of the conferences from top to bottom in terms of how competitive each will be. I know Mike hates to hear it and will completely disagree, but the SEC has the most elite teams. Only 3 of the 12 teams had non-winning records last year (compared to 3 in the Big 10 and Big East; and 5 in the Big 12, ACC, and Pac-10). They had the highest percentage of winning teams last season of any BCS conference. Argue that! Sorry, I got a little excited.

Here it goes - my NCAA Championship Game prediction. Don't kill me.

National Championship Game: Ohio State over Oklahoma
I swear, I am NOT turning into a Buckeye fan and I am not being a homer by saying this. They return the most talent from last year while playing in a weaker conference. They have a solid defense and a new weapon on offense in Terrelle Pryor. This year was the year that they have been admittedly targeting for years and they will finally win the National Championship.

Breaking Down the Draft

With the draft now complete, I wanted to give my favorite picks in each round. I swear I was modest.

Round 16 - 4th and Goal - Fred Taylor - Usually underrated, a solid last round pick
Round 15 - Zoo Tycoons - Bernard Berrian - supposed to be a key in the "hot pick" offense
Round 14 - I Miss Aaron Rowand - Seattle - always have a favorable schedule
Round 13 - Cumming From Behind - Chester Taylor - if anything happens to Petersen...
Round 12 - Kevinexorable - Michael Turner - someone has to score on Atlanta's team, right?
Round 11 - Me - Laurence Maroney - if nothing else, good trade bait
Round 10 - Wicked Weasels - Santana Moss - fairly consistent from one season to another
Round 9 - I Miss Aaron Rowand - Darren McFadden - reports from training camp have been great, remember what AP did last year?
Round 8 - Zoo Tycoons - Jake Delhomme - last year was an off-year, with more weapons and the way the NFC South changes so much he could be due for a big year
Round 7 - Kevinexorable - Santonio Holmes - should continue to improve and take over as Pitt's #1 go-to guy
Round 6 - Canadian Beasters - Willie Parker - I don't think injuries will be an issue
Round 5 - Me - Matt Hasselbeck - overlooked nationally, not as flashy but consistent
Round 4 - Cumming From Behind - Brandon Marshall - despite being out for 2 weeks, he will be top 2 among the other 7 WRs drafted this round
Round 3 - Cumming From Behind - Ben Roethlisberger - not too many questions about him this year
Round 2 - Kevinexorable - Reggie Wayne - least amount of doubt compared to all other WRs drafted that round (Moss, TO, Edwards)
Round 1 - push - the round went pretty much as expected except for 1 slot

Here's how it all shakes out...
4th and Goal - 1
Wicked Weasels - 1
Canadian Beasters - 1
I Miss Aaron Rowand - 2
Zoo Tycoons - 2
Me - 2
Kevinexorable - 3
Cumming from Behind - 3

After looking at everyone's team, I have to give Kevin credit. We have turned mocking his past teams into a pasttime and I am sure it can't be fun to watch his roster turn into the injury report. I really like his wide receivers and his running backs are solid (if Gore works out for you, I'll be pissed). I have to rip you for drafting Vince Young though. He had almost TWICE as many INTs as TDs!!!

I like a lot of Mike's picks, but I think you chose a 2004 fantasy team in some cases (Warner, Holt, Driver, Williams, Shockey). You have to let me know how you got that championship belt to show up on your team helmet.

What Else

There's only 10 days until THE day - I think we're sufficiently dorky enough to know what I'm referring to. I sat down a few days ago with some buffalo wings, the Sportscenter mock draft and had 2 mock drafts of my own. It was great. I learned one things: I'm overrating Larry Johnson. I know this because I was the one to draft him in both leagues.

All of this built up to my single best draft ever. Let's take a minute and review my ridiculous team and how it came about.
QB: Tom Brady, Jeff Garcia
WR: Terrell Owens, Plaxico Burress, Jerricho Cotchery, Donald Driver, Ted Ginn Jr
RB: Jamal Lewis, Laurence Maroney, Selvin Young, Julius Jones
TE: Tony Gonzalez, Donald Lee
K: David Akers
DEF: Baltimore

...and I picked 8th.

1. By ignoring RBs, I was able to stay ahead of everyone else.
This year's RB crop is LT, 5 guys, and everyone else. If I'm picking 8th, do I really want top pick of "everyone else"? By passing on RB early, I was able to draft the first QB and 2nd WR. The next 3 RBs taken after I took TO were Larry Johnson (I resisted the urge), Brandon Jacobs, and Ryan Grant. The next 3 WRs taken after I finally took Jamal Lewis were Torry "shows up to the game" Holt, Chad Johnson, and Brandon Marshall (automatically out 3 games due to suspension).

2. Once everyone transitioned over to QB/WR, I was still able to get top tier RBs in round 3 and 5.
After I picked TO in round 2, there were only 4 RBs taken before I picked Jamal Lewis 15 picks later and only another 4 before I picked Maroney 20 picks later. Again, the talent of QBs and WRs was declining much quicker than RBs at that point.

3. I waited on TE, DEF, and K.
Gates and Witten went in round 4 while I was still trying to fill my WR and RB needs. After I took 2 RBs and WRs, I knew it was time to get a decent TE in Tony Gonzalez in round 6. Unfortunately, I couldn't take Dallas Clark because of bye week issues. The first defense was taken in round 6 (San Diego). I was the last person to draft a defense, but was able to get Baltimore in round 12. Same thing for kicker, when I drafted Akers in the last round. There just isn't enough difference between kickers.

4. I took a mix of everyone else
With my bench players, I took a mix of people who should have great years due to roster changes (Cotchery, Selvin Young, Ginn Jr.) and players with something to prove after the Favre saga (Driver, Garcia).

I can't wait until a week from Tuesday to do it all over again.

It's like Christmas Eve

In a few hours, football comes out of hibernation. I see great things this season: the Fantasy title belt returning home to me, the Lions winning 13 games, and a continuation of the Brett Favre drama.

And because it needs to be posted again...



NFC East
Dallas Cowboys
Philadelphia Eagles
NY Giants
Washington Redskins

I see the Giants having a stereotypical letdown season after winning the Super Bowl - only to 7-9, but out of the playoffs. I think the Cowboys are too talented to not win 12-13 games again this season.

NFC North
Minnesota Vikings
Green Bay Packers
Detroit Lions
Chicago Bears

Keep in mind these standings are under the assumption Favre goes to Minnesota. If he doesn't, it will be a toss-up between Minnesota and Green Bay for the division.

NFC South
New Orleans Saints
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Carolina Panthers
Atlanta Falcons

I REALLY like the Saints this year - you'll see how much in just a bit. I think they have a huge bounce back year.

NFC West
Arizona Cardinals
Seattle Seahawks
St Louis Rams
San Francisco 49ers

I think the surprise of the season will be the Cardinals. The Seahawks have been dominant in this division for a while, but they are starting to age - kind of like the Pistons. I have a lot of confidence that Matt Leinart will step up this year - he should with as many offensive weapons as they have.

AFC East
New England Patriots
NY Jets
Buffalo Bills
Miami Dolphins

Patriots continue to dominate in a weak division. Next...

AFC North
Pittsburgh Steelers
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Baltimore Ravens

Everyone LOVES the Browns, but I last year was a special blip. I say they go 6-10 or 7-9 in what will once again be a competitive division with a tough schedule (they play the NFC East and the AFC South).

AFC South
Indianapolis Colts
Houston Texans
Jacksonville Jaguars
Tennessee Titans

I also see the Jaguars to regress after last year. I don't think they have the offensive talent to win week after week.

AFC West
San Diego Chargers
Denver Broncos
Oakland Raiders
Kansas City Chiefs

I think this division will have improved from last year - word out of training camp is that Darren McFadden is progressing very quickly.

AFC Wild Card: Denver Broncos, Cincinnati Bengals
NFC Wild Card: Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

AFC Champions: New England Patriots
NFC Champions: New Orleans Saints

Super Bowl Champions: New England Patriots

I've heard some people say that they will play all season with a chip on their shoulder because they lost the Super Bowl last year. I like that reasoning, but I like their talent even more. I think they are too stacked to not win it all this year.

Fantasy Players I Like
Well, let's not give away all of my thoughts. That would just be silly.

Game Over

I woke up this morning and began perusing the news. Then I found an article that told me that the 2008 election is over and Barack Obama just won.

The article was titled "New McCain ad calls Obama 'The One'". I was curious about this, so I checked it out on youtube.



Surely that has to be a joke. I mean, yes, Barack Obama has been too preachy and McCain supporters will completely agree with the ad, but that will be a huge turnoff to undecided voters. The poor production quality and odd looking "paid for..." at the end made me think it was fake. Plus, don't they have to say "I'm John McCain and I approve this message" at the end? I was 90% sure it was a joke until I visited johnmccain.com and saw it front and center on his website.

I feel like we're going to hear about the infamous 'The One' ad for months and that people will point to this as one of the final nails in John McCain's campaign. This is coming from someone who proudly displays a photo of himself near McCain at a 2000 rally and was upset I wasn't 12 months older so I could have voted for McCain in the primaries that year. I think that McCain is listening to too many strategists and selling himself out in search of the presidency this time around. Am I overreacting or did this ad just seal the election for Obama?