Hello Group!
It was on a Sunday 52 weeks ago. I was sitting in this very chair on the back porch putting together the 2014 College Football Preview edition of speaktherights.com. There are six such chairs like the one I am sitting in and I did a smart thing early in the summer when I rotated the cushions. I will be here for a while today sharing with you my views of the upcoming College Football Season. And of course, I will post my predictions for each week of the college football season and update my progress and my setbacks. I encourage you to pick some games for yourself.
Know this…my football picks are about winners and losers…and not about point spreads. I do not and have not and will not bet money on a college football game. I love the game too much to let that happen. I have never bet on a professional basketball game either. No one has ever asked.
My allegiances in the teams I root for have not changed. I still root on the Marshall Thundering Herd and the Ole Miss Rebels. I still dream about one day seeing a game at The Rose Bowl where UCLA plays their home games. The Indiana Hoosiers still have a place in my heart…but I can only find it about two days out of the week and that is usually Tuesday and Wednesday. The words Indiana and football are like putting together the words Mississippi and soccer or steak and caramel syrup. You get the point. It has been this way for a very long time. I tend to call it the “natural order of things”. If only these words could fire the Hoosiers up. I don’t think I have any readers in Bloomington. Too many basketball fans there.
Lets take a look at the conferences of some FBS members.
THE ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE
The Duke Blue Devils are reason to give Indiana Hoosier football fans some hope. The Dukies have won 19 games in the last two years. Success can be had where basketball is the major attraction. Indiana does not have Coach David Cutcliffe or the Manning brothers camping out during the summer.
The Louisville Cardinals, another one of my alma maters I can’t bring myself to warm up to, fared well in their first foray into the Atlantic Coast Conference last year. Bobby Petrino can coach. He is also trying to make nice with folks in town and that is a plus too. He smiles sometimes when he shouldn’t. It looks a little painful for him.
THE ACC ATLANTIC DIVISION
1. Florida State: Too many strong horses in the stable for the Seminole to ride on.
2. Clemson: Yabba Dabo Do Ball is fun for the Clemson players. Youtube is coach’s friend.
3. NC State: Many of you know my love for the state. Upsets will be Pack’s friends.
4. Boston College: Coach Addazio brings light to land of low expectations.
5. Louisville: I know you think this is Papa John Cardinal Pool Hall Hate…it is not. QB?
6. Syracuse: Improved last year. Tough spot in a tough conference division. Too cold.
7. Wake Forest: Bless their hearts.
THE ACC COASTAL DIVISON
1. Virginia Tech: I still believe in Beamer Ball.
2. Georgia Tech: The grind it out O by Coach Johnson worked for 11 wins last year.
3. Duke: Am I the only one who believes this team can win 9 games again?
4. Miami: If the players are together, they could win this division.
5. North Carolina: I left them off my predictions last year. Why is that?
6. Pittsburgh: New coach….again. I wish him luck.
7 Virginia: Thomas Jefferson would have gone for two every time.
THE BIG TEN
I took some flak last year from some of my Hoosier Football friends…they didn’t reveal their real names. They took umbrage with my calling Bloomington the safest place in America on a Fall Saturday.
Last week I told my brother-in-law, Hi-ho Steverino, that one of these days we should plan a BigTenapalooza and go to each of the schools to see a game in one season. He responded first with the enthusiasm that a young man should and agreed that it would be a noble pursuit. Then he politely reminded me that Rutgers and Maryland are also in the Big Ten…rendering a visit to all of them impossible during a 12 week season. I tried.
On to the picks…
The BIG TEN EAST DIVISION
1. OHIO STATE: Brutus is still at the Big Ten helm. Stop him and you too can win it all.
2. PENN STATE: Coach F took the names off backs of jerseys. Another tradition will follow.
3. MICHIGAN STATE: Sparty is a toughy. They will lose a couple nail-biters.
4. MICHIGAN: Coach Harbaugh is a Michigan Man! They still have some work.
5. INDIANA: Because Rutgers and Maryland also play in this division.
6. RUTGERS: Only 3 projected returning starters on offense.
7. MARYLAND: Are they really in the Big Ten? Is that a typo?
The BIG TEN WEST DIVISION
1. MINNESOTA: My upset pick. They will hold on to the ball when they need to.
2. WISCONSIN: I hope Bucky steps in a Badger trap.
3. IOWA: I gave them the love last year. Picking them 3 may still be the love.
4. NEBRASKA: Could be 1 or 2. We’ll see how the new coach thing works out.
5. NORTHWESTERN: HUGE disappointment last year. They’ll struggle.
6. ILLINOIS: I may be stepping in it here. Many returning on both sides of ball.
7. PURDUE: Pete needs to trade that hat he wears for a bag to put over his head.
I better not give Purdue too much grief. I may be eating my words after week #1. Carrie, my dear wife, and I are going to be in Huntington on September 6th to watch the Boilermakers at Marshall. I don’t think the Herd has ever hosted a Big Ten team…at least not in a long while.
I gave IOWA way too much love last year. I still like them.
The league that still rules college football is the SEC. Look at attendance. Look at records. Look at the game day pageantry. There is a word that still matters in the SEC in this world of reality tv, twitterers, face bookers, blogger, instagramers, and other assorted possums. The word: TRADITION. In a world that is tilting on its axis a bit more than it did before, in the SEC it is still your way of life against mine. It’s BAMA vs. AUBURN…OLE MISS vs. STATE…UGA vs. FLA…and this is not going to change anytime soon.
THE SEC RULES COLLEGE FOOTBALL and we all know it.
THE SEC EAST DIVISION
1. GEORGIA: They might win them all. O-Line back..,DBs back. UGA is one happy dog.
2. FLORIDA: Could they of wanted a coach to go this badly? New guy is set.
3. MISSOURI: The Tigers will still be strong…but not the rep in Atlanta in December.
4. TENNESSEE: Not a believer yet. Many have them much higher ranked. We’ll see.
5. SOUTH CAROLINA: Talk about let down. I crowned Coach Spurrier king last year.
6A. KENTUCKY: I want to put them higher. I have lived long enough to know better.
6B. VANDERBILT: Tough to win college ball in a town that loves guitars and hockey sticks.
THE SEC WEST DIVISION
I still call this is toughest division in football…college or pro.
1. OLE MISS: There. I said it. The Peach Bowl debacle leads to the turnaround. Homer?
2. ALABAMA: Sorry, brother Tim. At least you’ll be ahead of Auburn.
3. LSU: Tiger Mike is ready to improve over last year’s 4 loss season. Les eats grass.
4. ARKANSAS: Yes…the Pigs. They will be ahead of Auburn. Offense is loaded and ready.
5. AUBURN: The War Eagle is in bad shape…he didn’t get fed during summer school.
6. MISS.STATE: Old adage…if you can’t say anything nice…………………………………………………
7. TEXAS A&M: Should be playing the Longhorns every year. Is this college football?
I hold true to my assertion of Texas A&M. They don’t have a single game against another Texas school on their schedule. Exhibit “A-through Y” as to what dollars have done to hurt college football. Exhibit Z? That’s easy…Rutgers in the Big Ten instead of Missouri.
During last year’s speaktherights.com College Football Preview, I picked some Conference Championship Game winners. We’ll get to those later in the year.
I do want to include my winners of other conferences.
PAC 12: UCLA…Oregon still good. Bruins will bring shock waves to left coast.
C-USA: MARSHALL, of course. Cato gone? He will be missed but not needed to carry on.
AAC: CINCINNATI…The Kiel QB will be in Heisman hunt. His numbers will be gaudy.
BIG 12: TEXAS…Coach Strong has turned the tide.
MAC: UMASS…call me crazy…go right ahead.
MOUNTAIN WEST: BOSIE STATE..who else?
SUN BELT: ARKANSAS STATE…they go through coaches and keep winning.
Have a great college football season and check back for the speaktherights.com College Football Picks that will be posted mid-week during the 2015 College Football Season.
Speaking the pigskin rights.
Danny Johnson