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Well here we are in year 4 of CFN and another year of predictions. I did pretty well last year for pre season. This year looks like it could be pretty interesting for the BCS. I am personally looking for 6 teams to be undefeated after the regular season with a couple of teams waiting on the outcome of Conference Championship games. Just remember my picks are based on what their record will be and what their strength of schedule will be. Now off to the races .
What more can be said about Steve Spurrier. I know the man gets emotional but he has a right to this year. This team is loaded. Rex Grossman and Jabar Gaffney are back as sophomores to make an incredible offensive tandem. If Grossman can keep out of Spurrier’s doghouse and keep Brock Berlin off of the field he has an outside chance at winning the Heisman (I wonder how Steve’s ego would handle another Heisman trophy QB with 2 years of eligibility left?). Alex Brown and Lito Sheppard are back for the defensive side of the ball and Alex knows he needs to turn into the monster he has the potential to be because this is his last chance before the NFL comes a callin’. Look for Alex to dominate this year and get that big money NFL contract. Look for Lito to be THE premier corner this year. Tennessee and FSU make trips to the Swamp this year as long as they don’t let down @ South Carolina on November 10th and can keep their minds on the game and not just on revenge when Mississippi State comes to Gainesville I see no one really stopping this team on their way to the Rose Bowl.
2) Nebraska 12 – 0 Returning Starters: 3 - Off 9 - Def Well another year and another great Nebraska team. Frank Solich has yet to reach the Promised Land but this could be the year for him. Eric Crouch is back and one of the lead contenders for the Heisman. A loaded defense is ready to dominate teams. Look for the Crouch to move the ball well with an option oriented offense that will give some teams fits. All of the big games are at home this year with the exception of Colorado to end the season. Look for the Huskers to make it to the Big 12 championship game and then after winning it go on to play the Gators in the Rose Bowl.
The
team that should have been in the national championship game last year is going
to make a statement again this year. Look for Ken Dorsey to make his case for
the Heisman in a big way this year. With Najeh Davenport back to run the ball
this offense looks to be potent the only question is who to throw the ball to? I
don’t think that will be a problem. Miami always seems to have some kind of
speed demon with great hands waiting in the wings. A good solid defense is back
to make some teams pay dearly for any yards they get. This could be a Rose Bowl
team but if things go the way I think this team will be left out of the equation
again. 4) Oregon
11 – 0
Returning Starters: 8 - Off
4 - Def Well here is where I have to eat my crow from last year. The Pac 10 proved to be a good conference producing some great teams. This is one of those teams and I look for them to keep duplicating their success. With Joey Harrington back at QB and an offense back that was very potent last year look for lots of points. The Ducks have all of their big games at home and with Washington off of the schedule I look for the Ducks to run the table and win the Pac 10. 5) Georgia Tech
12 – 0
Returning Starters: 7 - Off
9 - Def Time to talk about
my Bees. I know most people looking at this are thinking I have serious bias.
Well I am here to tell you not true. I have accurately picked the Yellow Jackets
record and ranking correctly for the past 4 years. Let’s look at the facts.
Returning all of our offensive weapons. Only losses were on the line and with
some great second team players from last year stepping into the holes we should
see no degradation. On defense we lost nothing major. We have a Notre Dame
transfer coming in to play corner (our weakest point from last year) and a
defensive line that did great things last year. A linebacking corps that played
incredibly. Quarterback George Godsey is being mentioned in the same sentence as
the Heisman trophy. Greg Gathers, Daryl Smith, Nick Rogers, and Jeremy Muyres
all are being mentioned as All-American candidates on defense. Kelly Campbell
being Recorded 2nd team All-American honors. This team will be hard
to stop. Now I know they have to play FSU in Tallahassee but I want to point out
that Chris Weinke beat Tech the past 2 years and Not FSU. No Weinke this year
and this team has their best shot ever at beating the Noles. With Clemson, NC
State, and Georgia at home this year I see nothing stopping the Bees from an
perfect season with hopes of a Rose Bowl. I do not think they will make it to
Pasadena though even with being undefeated. The strength of schedule hurts them
in the BCS rankings. 6) Texas
11 – 0
Returning Starters: 9 - Off
8 - Def Major or Chris ahhhh to have these problems. Mack Brown is looking forward to big things in Texas. This team is going to do big things with a dream schedule. Nebraska and Kansas State are not on the schedule this year. Oklahoma is coming to play in Dallas. With all of this happening I see nothing stopping the Longhorns from making an undefeated run in the Big 12 South. Only problem will be playing Nebraska in the championship game. Sorry Mack looks like you will have to wait another year before the National title dream can come your way. Look for Chris Simms to be the starter and make a Heisman case. Look for Quentin Jammer to maker receivers wish they were somewhere else. Look for Texas to be relegated to playing Miami in the Orange Bowl.
Well the dream
team from last year is a little weakened but they still have Ken Simonton at RB
and have Washington at home. Look for the Beavers to be 10-0 when they go to
play in the Civil War at the end of the season. Look for the Beavers to make a
case for Simonton to win the Heisman, but most of all look for Dennis Erickson
to try and win the recruiting war and keep Oregon State on the national map. I
look for great things out of this team in the future. 8) Virginia Tech
10 – 1
Returning Starters: 5 - Off
10 - Def Hmmm Michael has gone to the NFL. There is hope though in Blacksburg. Lee Suggs is back, a great defense is back, and most of all they play a very light schedule in a weakened Big East conference. As long as the Hokies don’t slip against Pittsburgh they should be 10-0 when they go to play Miami at the end of the year and their big bowl hopes will be alive. Hopefully this will help the Frank Beamer recruiting process and will make the Hokies keep this momentum going.
Well Phil Fulmer keeps finding ways to win. Tennessee keeps it’s storied tradition going. With LSU and UGA at home (with revenge on their mind for last years loss at Georgia) and a game @ Notre Dame this Tennessee team looks to have a tough schedule this year. I still seeing them win those games and the only loss should be an early loss @ Florida.
Well this is the first year in awhile that Notre Dame hasn’t tried to schedule themselves into oblivion. Now they do have some Tough games @ Nebraska for the first game of the season will not help their case but then they should rebound and win 7 in a row until Tennessee comes calling in November. With some Big 10 teams weakened and playing quite a few Big East teams that are weakened I look for the Irish to maintain their winning ways and make a case for themselves come BCS decision time.
Well the Big 10 is going to do their normal beat each other up but I think Northwestern will be the one to survive the onslaught. Damian Anderson is one of the leading contenders for the Heisman and will bring a big season of rushing to the Big 10 probably breaking the 2000-yard barrier. Look for the Wildcats to win the big 10 in a toughly contested conference.
Bobby Bowden is in an interesting position this year. For the first time in awhile Bobby is lacking a QB with experience. Last time this happened Florida beat them, Georgia Tech was rebuilding, and Miami was not on the schedule. Now we fast forward to 2001 Florida is loaded with talent, Georgia Tech has almost beaten FSU for the past 2 years only for Chris Weinke to bring them back from the oblivion, and Miami is on the schedule. Does not look good for a Noles team that is going to need a year to get all that talent to gel. Oh yeah the last time this happened their wasn’t another Bowden coaching in the ACC either. I will say this though. They still are Florida State, they still have a lot of talent and they will be back in the national title hunt, just not this year.
The Tigers have a lot of momentum going into this season. With a lot of returning talent this team should be ready to play. With games @ Tennessee and @ Florida back to back the Tigers look to be a little beat up but the key game will be against Mississippi State with that game deciding the SEC West. The defense has shorn itself up and looks to be a little more experienced to help boost this team to some big wins.
Another season another pretty good Kansas State team oh yeah and another weak schedule. With games @ Nebraska and @ Oklahoma I look for the Wildcats to finish out the rest of the games while winning. Look for Josh Scobey to run the ball a lot in Manhattan. Should be a standard Kansas State 9 – 2 season. 15) Michigan
9 – 2
Returning Starters: 4 - Off
8 - Def See Northwestern. The Big 10 will beat each other up and without Drew Henson the Wolverines are in a tougher place than they would be with him. The A-Train is gone but they are Michigan and always have some kind of talent hidden under a rock somewhere. Should be an interesting year for Big 10 football.
Well here they are a year removed from winning the national title. Unfortunately it is without the man whom generated all of their offense. No Josh Heupel no national championship repeat. Nate Hybl should be the starter out there but it is going to take him a year to get settled in. The defense is monstrous though and with Rocky Calmus back at linebacker I look for the defense to do what they did last year and put the hurt on people. The 2000 season saw only 2 wins with 25 points or more but do not look for the offensive production to be better this year. With games in Dallas against the Longhorns and @ Nebraska look for this Sooner team to finish 2nd in the Big 12 South.
Well the Bulldogs look to be making a run at the SEC West. Unfortunately they have to go to Florida with the Gators looking for revenge for last year. The 2 pivotal games will be on September 22 with South Carolina at home and October 20 with LSU at home. That is what will decide the SEC West. Should be an interesting season with the defensive monster called Mississippi State. The Rams have been doing well and I look for them to continue their winning ways. With the first game of the year against Colorado at a neutral site which they have a good chance of winning. Even if they lose that I look for them to dominate the rest of their schedule, especially with the Mountain West being weaker this year.
Lou, Lou, Lou or should we be praising Charlie Strong the defensive coordinator of South Carolina. For the last few years thus man has been putting together a defense that makes other SEC teams quiver. Finally they have put together an offense to go with this incredible defense. Look for this year to prove that last year’s success was not a hoax. I look for the Gamecocks to make a run and finish 3rd in the SEC East.
This Conference USA offering is going to show us a lot of defense with the return of 10 defensive starters on a defense that did impressive things last year look for the Pirates to win the Conference USA title. Look for the Pirates to win this closely contested race in their conference.
Tommy Bowden is whipping the Tigers back into shape and with the return of Quarterback Woodrow Dantzler they should be exciting to watch. Only problems this year are tha they have to rebuild the defense and with games on the road at Georgia tech and South Carolina I look for the Tigers to have a couple of tough losses. I still don’t think Tommy has enough to beat Daddy Bowden yet but give him a few years then you will have a much more contested ACC title.
I think this is the first time for quite awhile that Marshall is not going to win the Mid American Conference. The Rockets look to turn last years success into Gold this year by winning the MAC and getting to a bowl this year. They should have gone last year but you know those good old politics.
If Antonio Bryant can keep out of trouble the Panthers have a chance to make a statement in the Big East. Unfortunately they replace Penn State on the schedule with Notre Dame. Tough thing to do if you ask me. Look for the Panthers to have some great defensive struggles until they can find someone to get the ball to Antonio Bryant. 24) Purdue
8 – 3
Returning Starters: 4 - Off
10 - Def Well Mr. Brees is gone and Vinny Sutherland is gone. But the defense is back. With the Big 10 being weaker this year than it has in many years I look for Purdue to squeak their way into a few wins. Should be an interesting thing to watch how the Boilermakers do with life after Mr. Rees.
Cardinals should put on an impressive delay of offense again this year. I think this 2nd place team in Conference USA will sneak their way into the top 25 with some early season wins that will make a difference to pollster. |