Tag: College football predictions (Page 4 of 6)

      National title picture could change today … Or stay exactly the same

      September 25, 2010 /

      By the end of the day today, we could have a whole new look at the national title picture. Then again, you could say that any week in college football.

      This time, however, there’s actually a chance that things could get jumbled up. The top team in the country, Alabama, is facing by far its stiffest test of the season as it travels to Fayetteville to take on Ryan Mallett and Arkansas. No. 3 Boise State will play in its second — and probably last — “showcase” game of the year when it plays host to Oregon State.

      We know that if Boise State loses, a lot of the debate about who deserves what will go away, at least until we have to sort through a handful of one-loss teams at the end of the season (but we’ll save that for later). If the Tide lose and the Broncos win, is Boise all of the sudden in the driver’s seat for a spot in the title game? Probably not, actually.

      It’s a big slate today, so find a spot on the couch by the mid-afternoon games and settle in for some good football. Continue reading »

      College Football, External Sports

      2010 College Football Week 4 Predictions

      September 23, 2010 /
      TUSCALOOSA, AL - SEPTEMBER 11: Head coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide looks on from the sidelines against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Bryant-Denny Stadium on September 11, 2010 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

      Last week was the first time I posted predictions for the new college football season and after going 3-1, I’m fired up for a reversal of fortune this Saturday. (The college football prediction gods can be a very fickle bunch, not unlike their cousins, the NFL prediction gods.)

      Ohio State, Alabama and Arizona State were winners in Week 3, while Texas Tech was my only loser. Here are my predictions for Week 4.

      No. 1 Alabama –7 vs. No. 10 Arkansas, Saturday, 3:30PM ET
      This game makes my head hurt. I can absolutely see a good Razorback team staying with the Tide for four quarters before finally succumbing to defeat and I wouldn’t be completely shocked if Arkansas pulled off the upset entirely. But now that Alabama is back at full strength with Mark Ingram’s return, something tells me Nick Saban’s squad flexes its muscles this weekend. ‘Bama held quarterback Ryan Mallett to only 160 passing yards last year and intercepted him once. Mallett is a better quarterback then he was in September of last year (where the Tide cruised to a 35-7 victory), but ‘Bama has the second best pass defense in the country and I think the Razorback QB is going to have a tough go of things again this year.
      THE PICK: ALABAMA -7

      Temple +13.5 at No. 23 Penn State, Saturday, 3:30PM ET
      No longer are the Owls just a patsy for the Nittany Lions, who have often scheduled Temple early in the year as a tune up game. Temple is 3-0 and coming off a two-touchdown win over a Connecticut team that people had high hopes for entering the year. Penn State routed Kent State 24-0, but are just two weeks removed from a brutal effort against Alabama. Freshman quarterback Robert Bolden is still trying to find his way and has turned the ball over at least once in each of his first three games. The Lions haven’t lost to Temple since 1941, but I think this game will be closer than people expect.
      THE PICK: TEMPLE +13.5

      No. 12 South Carolina +3 at No. 17 Auburn, Saturday, 7:45PM ET
      With this game being played in Auburn, the line is set right. But I still feel as though South Carolina isn’t getting the respect it deserves. The Gamecocks routed a better-than-average Southern Miss team on opening night, then dominated Georgia 17-6 before waxing Furman, 38-19. Auburn, meanwhile, took it to Arkansas State in the first weekend, barely edged college football’s equivalent of the Seattle Mariners (Mississippi State) in Week 2 and then had to come from behind to top Clemson last week. Thanks to Cameron Newton, Onterio McCalebb and Michael Dyer, the Tigers can run the football but South Carolina has the sixth-best run defense in the nation and I see them containing the Tigers’ offensive attack. Again, the line is set right but I like the Gamecocks.
      THE PICK: SOUTH CAROLINA +3

      No. 22 West Virginia at No. 15 LSU -10, Saturday, 9:00PM ET
      The Tigers are a very quiet 3-0 right now. After nearly blowing a win against North Carolina in the opening week, their defense has looked solid the past two Saturdays in wins over Vanderbilt and Mississippi State. The Tigers have won 28 consecutive home games against non-conference foes, although they have lost their past three home games against top 25 opponents. Still, West Virginia has had issues with turnovers the past three weeks and needed overtime to beat Marshall two weeks ago. Noel Devine will have a tough time finding room against the 16th-best run defense in the nation and Jordan Jefferson should have no problem moving the ball through the air against the Mountaineers’ suspect secondary.
      THE PICK: LSU –10

      Season Record: 3-1

      College Football, External Sports

      2010 College Football Week 3 Picks & Predictions

      September 17, 2010 /
      HOUSTON - SEPTEMBER 04: Head coach Mack Brown of the Texas Longhorns looks over the team during warm ups before playing the Rice Owls at Reliant Stadium on September 4, 2010 in Houston, Texas. Texas beat Rice 34-17. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

      I have yet to make any college football predictions for the new year, so what better time to start than now? Here are a couple of picks to fade come Saturday. (It’s not that I’m not confident. I’m just confident that I don’t have a clue what I’m doing – big difference.)

      Ohio at No. 2 Ohio State, 12:00PM ET
      The Buckeyes appear to be a pony that you can back all season. They have a top 5 defense, Terrelle Pryor isn’t turning the ball over like Jake Delhomme on a NFL Sunday and any one of their top three runners (Pryor, Dan Herron, Brandon Saine) could take one to the house at any time. Ohio, meanwhile, beat Wofford and then lost to Toledo 20-13 at home last week. They lack offensive firepower and while their defense can compete against MAC opponents, OSU shouldn’t have any problems lighting up the scoreboard on Saturday. I always fear the backdoor cover in a game like this, but hopefully the Buckeyes score about 80 and it won’t matter.
      THE PICK: OHIO STATE –29.5

      No. 1 Alabama at Duke, 3:30PM ET
      Same thing here as the game above – I fear the backdoor cover (especially with ‘Bama playing on the road), but I’m willing to lay the points in what should be a rout. Duke gave up 27 to Elon (who?) in Week 1 and 54 to Wake Forest last week. Considering Mark Ingram is coming back this Saturday and the Tide will be at full strength offensively, anything less than 50 out of Alabama will be a disappointment. On the other side of the ball, ‘Bama has only allowed six points this season. Penn State needed three and a half quarters just to get on the scoreboard with a field goal last week and by that point, the game was already in the books.
      THE PICK: ALABAMA –23.5

      Arizona State +12.5 at. Wisconsin, 3:30PM ET
      Wisconsin has won 25 straight home games against unranked opponents, but they’re 0-2 against the spread this year, which includes a lackluster 27-14 win over a brutal San Jose State team last weekend. Michigan transfer Steven Threet is now the Sun Devils’ starter and he holds a 1-0 record against the Badgers in his short collegiate career. I don’t see ASU winning this game outright (especially considering they’ve lost six straight to FBS schools), but I’ll take the 12.5 points with thunderstorms expected to hit in Madison by game time.
      THE PICK: ARIZONA STATE +12.5

      No. 6 Texas at Texas Tech +3, 8:00PM ET
      There’s something about Lubbock that doesn’t sit well with Mack Brown. The Longhorns are only 3-3 under Brown at Texas Tech and the last time these two teams met here, Michael Crabtree shocked a then-ranked No. 1 Texas team with a last-second touchdown. The Longhorns didn’t look particularly sharp in their first two games of the season, although both were victories. Tech, meanwhile, staved off a late comeback by SMU in Week 1 and then waxed New Mexico 52-17 last Saturday. There’s just something about Lubbock that gives the Raiders a significant edge in this matchup, which is why I like Tech to win outright (but go ahead and give me the points anyway…you know, so they don’t go to waste).
      THE PICK: TEXAS TECH +3

      College Football, External Sports

      2010 College Football Predictions

      August 30, 2010 /
      Jan 1, 2010; Pasadena, CA, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes players huddle before the 2010 Rose Bowl against the Oregon Ducks. Photo via Newscom

      Conference winners, sleepers, power rankings and one big, fat national championship prediction.

      Enjoy.

      Big Ten

      Champion: Ohio State
      Yes, it’s true – the Buckeyes need Terrelle Pryor to be more consistent in the passing game this year if they expect to win a national championship. But stop acting like that’s the difference between OSU winning the Big Ten and them turning into Vanderbilt. Choke on this for a second: The Buckeyes return all three leading rushers from 2009 in Pryor, Brandon Saine and Dan Herron, the secondary features three senior NFL prospects, and they own the best defensive end in the nation in Cameron Heyward. Pryor is also coming off a dominating performance against Oregon in the Rose Bowl and reports state that he has committed himself this offseason to being a better teammate. Sorry Buckeye-haters, but the gap between them and Alabama is closer than you think.

      Conference Champion Sleeper: Michigan Slate
      My biggest concern with the Spartans is that despite pulling off an upset nearly every year, they also manage to lose a game they shouldn’t. But they have a slew of playmakers and plenty of depth on both sides of the ball, plus feature a ton of offensive firepower in Larry Caper, Edwin Baker, Keith Nicol and Mark Dell. Oh, and linebacker Greg Jones is the best defender in the nation. If this team can avoid being tripped up by an inferior opponent, they could easily surprise this season.

      Conference Power Ranking: #1 Ohio State, #2 Iowa, #3 Wisconsin, # 4 Penn State, #5 Michigan State, #6 Northwestern, #7 Michigan, #8 Purdue, #9 Illinois, #10 Indiana, #11 Minnesota.

      I admit that I had Michigan rated too high when I did my Big Ten preview last week. Having any sort of trust in Rich Rodriguez right now is a dangerous proposition for obvious reasons. Just when you think he’s going to figure things out in Ann Arbor, he makes a decision to muck everything up. Penn State might be ranked a little high given their quarterback concerns. Wisconsin is going to give teams trouble this year and Northwestern is going to be a tough opponent every week as well.

      Continue reading »

      College Football, External Sports

      Staples: Alabama, Boise top early teams for 2010

      January 14, 2010 /

      Andy Staples of SI.com put together his 2010 Top 25 in college football, with Alabama and Boise State ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.

      Here is his top 5:

      1. Alabama Crimson Tide
      It’s no coincidence that after linebacker Rolando McClain announced his decision to skip his senior year and enter the draft, rising junior Donta’ Hightower was brought before the media. That baton pass should go smoothly, and if you watched the BCS title game, you already know rising junior Marcell Dareus can take over a game. On the other side of the ball, the Crimson Tide only return a national-title winning quarterback (Greg McElroy), a Heisman Trophy-winning tailback (Mark Ingram) and the back a lot of people think is better than the Heisman winner (Trent Richardson).

      2. Boise State Broncos
      It’s time to stop doubting the Broncos. I ripped on their schedule plenty last season, but all they do when they get on the big stage is win. It’s easy to say they wouldn’t go undefeated in a better conference, but when Boise State has played teams from better conferences in the past few years, the Broncos have won. So to all the teams that think Boise State shouldn’t be ranked this high, you have one way to prove it: beat the Broncos.

      3. Ohio State Buckeyes
      Now that the Buckeyes have cast the BCS bowl gorilla from their backs, it’s time to work on Ohio State’s personal King Kong — the BCS title game. The Buckeyes have the talent. They have experience at key positions. Their only problem? The 2010 Big Ten will be deeper than it’s been in years.

      4. Texas Longhorns
      Rising sophomore quarterback Garrett Gilbert offered a glimpse of how good he can be in the BCS title game. The Longhorns’ defense loses end Sergio Kindle, but this is Texas. Kindle’s exit only means rising sophomore Alex Okafor has a chance to become a household name.

      5. Iowa Hawkeyes
      Defensive tackle Adrian Clayborn said he would be back next season, but that was before he owned Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl. If he can fend off agents the way he fends off blockers, he’ll be the anchor of a stacked team playing a schedule that brings Penn State and Ohio State to Iowa City.

      If Ohio State can take what they did against Oregon in the Rose Bowl and build upon it for next year, there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing the Buckeyes in the national title game.

      It’s a little early to be making predictions, but it’s fun to look ahead. I remember last year how everyone thought Ole Miss was going to make some noise in the SEC and the Rebels failed to deliver on that.

      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

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