BoiseStateFan's 2017 College Football Predictions/Preview Thread

[BoiseStateFan27]

Maryland Terrapins

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Preview: Maryland is a program with some challenges, despite being near DC they don't have too big of a fanbase and they play in the absolutely loaded Big 10 east. Despite these head coach DJ Durkin took on the job and did quite well he brought them to a bowl and brought in a top 20 recruiting class...still an uphill climb though as being in the lower part of the bottom 20 means their class ranked just 4th in their own division. Good news is it seems Maryland is improving.

Last year started out well for Maryland as they opened 4-0 winning most of their games with ease, the only exception was an overtime win over UCF. Maryland did start to struggle as they were crushed in their next two games before taking down Michigan State. Maryland lost a close game to Indiana before a very rough 3 game stretch that included losing by a combined 121-6 to Michigan and Ohio State. Maryland did easily beat Rutgers to make a bowl, they lost that bowl in a close one to Boston College.

Maryland's offense would basically depend on the opponent. If the opponent was bad Maryland could move the ball at will, but if they opponent was good Maryland usually went 3 and out. Good news is Maryland returns a duo of exciting running backs in Ty Johnson and Lorenzo Harrison. Maryland returns most of their offensive line that could perhaps play better against bigger opponents. They return their top receiver in D.J Moore and North Carolina transfer Caleb Henderson came in and looks like to stabilize the QB position. Bad news is Moore is a rather inconsistent receiver he gets some big plays but also struggles at times, and a lot of the other options that are experienced also lack size. Henderson was promising that he won the job but he's rather inexperienced.

Maryland's defense was solid at times but seemingly dropped off later in the year. Good news is Maryland has a lot of experience back in their front 7 and adds some talented freshmen as well. The secondary has good players returning such as safety Darnell Savage Jr and corner JC Jackson, injuries let to some experience here. Bad news is Maryland's run defense was just awful, inexperienced freshman may get pushed into the lineup right away on the defensive line if Maryland isn't getting better in that regard. The secondary while a strength did lose a good corner in William Likely.

Maryland's schedule is just absolutely brutal. They play a road game against Texas to open the year and hosting UCF is tricky as well. Then in conference play they have the misfortune of drawing Wisconsin, Northwestern and Minnesota from the West which is one of the toughest draws possible. Maryland might improve this year but despite that improvement the schedule will make their record worse.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 @ Texas: L
Sep. 9 Towson: W
Sep. 23 UCF: W
Sep. 30 @ Minnesota: L
Oct. 7 @ Ohio State: L
Oct. 13 Northwestern: L
Oct. 21 @ Wisconsin: L
Oct. 28 Indiana: W
Nov. 4 @ Rutgers: W
Nov. 11 Michigan: L
Nov. 18 @ Michigan State: L
Nov. 25 Penn State: So is this being called a rivalry now? My guess is no. L

Predicted Record: 4-8(2-7)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Michigan Wolverines

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Preview: Michigan is good again, that much is clear after two years under Jim Harbaugh, how good still remains a question. Harbaugh is perhaps one of the most entertaining coaches in college football, whether it's the odd locations he takes his time for spring practice, spats with other coaches and the media, or his sideline antics where he throws his papers into the wind, he makes Michigan football entertaining.

Michigan started out the year as one of the best teams in the nation, they opened by easily dominating Hawai'i and UCF. They took their first challenge when they fell behind 21-7 but thanks to Colorado losing their QB to injury and special teams miscues Michigan fired back and pretty much dominated the game from there. Michigan then absolutely destroyed Penn State 49-10 in a result that looks even more impressive now, then they survived a defensive match as they beat Wisconsin 14-7. Michigan really went into cruising mode as they just ran Rutgers off the field in a 78-0 win, then they beat Illinois 41-8. Michigan did get challenged by rival Michigan State as they struggled but managed to win their first game against them since 2012, and only Michigan's 2nd win against Michigan State since 2008. Michigan absolutely destroyed Maryland 59-3. Then suddenly Michigan suffered a rather random upset loss to Iowa on the road 13-14. They struggled but beat Indiana the next week 20-10, then Michigan took on their rival Ohio State looking for their first win against them since 2011. Michigan dominated a lot of the game holding a 17-7 lead in the 3rd quarter before Ohio State came back and tied it to bring the game to overtime, there Ohio State ended up winning the game 30-27 in double overtime and a major letdown for Michigan. Michigan struggled in their bowl game as well trailing Florida State most of the game before making a late comeback and losing by 1.

Michigan's offense for most of the year was basically able to physically dominate everyone but late in the year the passing game struggled, defenses caught on and stacked the box causing Michigan to struggle. They do return QB Wilton Speight who is an accurate passer and aside from some late season struggles mostly avoided making mistakes. Speight is a little limited as a passer, he doesn't have the biggest of arm, his performance prior to the late season struggles were probably his ceiling. Michigan loses RB De'Veon Smith but expected starter sophomore Chris Evans managed to spell Smith quite nicely and he seems to have a lot of potential. Michigan loses just about everyone who caught a pass last year, it's not all bad though. Michigan will be relying on a lot of inexperienced youngsters but most of them are a lot more talented than the weapons they're replacing. One prime example is freshman Donavan Peoples-Jones, who was rated as the top receiver in the country, expect him to make an impact. Michigan loses a valuable tight end in Jake Butt, but Harbaugh is pretty good at finding tight ends, someone will emerge. Michigan loses 3 excellent offensive linemen and tackle Grant Newsome won't make it back this year after his horrible leg injury last year, still they return versatile lineman Mason Cole who will likely play left tackle or center depending on need for Michigan, and sophomore Ben Bredeson is talented as well.

Michigan had one of the top defenses in the nation, even when their offense failed them late in the year their defense managed to still give them a shot to win every game (and even scored points itself to lead the comeback against Florida State.) You would think Michigan was in trouble when you see they lose just about every starter on the defensive line, and this was a fantastic trio in Taco Charlton, Chris Wormley and Ryan Glasgow, but the cupboard is far from bare. Michigan returns a solid defensive tackle in Maurice Hurst, a defensive end in Rashan Gary who was the top prospect in the nation in 2016 and he wasted no time flashing potential last year. Only concern could be depth if injuries do hit this year. Michigan should be strong at linebacker despite the loss of Ben Gedeon thanks to the return of senior Mike McCray and there's a few exciting sophomores in the mix,, like the defensive line depth could be an issue though. Michigan had one of the best secondaries in the nation last year and now suddenly it's a huge concern this year. Jabrill Peppers(let's be honest he pretty much was a safety last year), Delano Hill, Dymonte Thomas are all gone from the safety position and corners Jourdan Lewis and Channing Stribling are both gone as well. Michigan may end up relying on a lot of sophomores which is scary, so far the only player who really has any starting experience is safety Josh Metellus who flashed ability at times when he filled in for Peppers in the Orange bowl.

Michigan's schedule is a major upgrade from last year, playing Florida on a neutral site, and taking on tricky opponents such as Cincinnati and Air Force to complete their non-conference. Michigan draws Wisconsin, Purdue and Minnesota from the West division, it's not the worst draw but playing Wisconsin on the road will be tough. Overall Michigan will once again be good, they're not quite a playoff contender this year but don't expect them to fall too far either.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 Florida (Jerryworld): For one, no one on the Florida Gators team had been born yet the last time Florida played a non-conference game outside the state...that is absurd. Two I suspect Michigan's defense will dominate this game in a win. W
Sep. 9 Cincinnati: Michigan rolls past Cincinnati pretty easily. W
Sep. 16 Air Force: Air Force's option offense could prove to be tricky, but Michigan's offense will be mostly unstoppable in this game. W
Sep. 23 @ Purdue: Michigan wins in a blowout. W
Oct. 7 Michigan State: Great time for a bye week, Michigan gets a challenge from their rival but survives to win. W
Oct. 14 @ Indiana: Once again Michigan is tested but they manage to pull away late to win. W
Oct. 21 @ Penn State: The first game where Michigan's young secondary gets tested, Penn State's excellent pass game makes big plays throughout the game to allow them to beat Michigan for revenge on last year's embarrassment. L
Oct. 28 Rutgers: At least it shouldn't be as bad as 78-0 again. W
Nov. 4 Minnesota: Michigan dominates this game as well. W
Nov. 11 @ Maryland: Another dominant win. W
Nov. 18 @ Wisconsin: Huge game for both teams, Michigan ends up surprising Wisconsin to keep their division hopes alive. W
Nov. 25 Ohio State: Once again these two get in a tough matchup but Meyer has gotten the best of Harbaugh the past two years, I'll pick that to continue. L

Predicted Record: 10-2(7-2)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Michigan State Spartans

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Preview: Michigan State has been a rather consistent program under Mark Dantonio, they have overachieved a lot and Dantonio has this team well prepared for their biggest rivals. Even just in the last 4 years Michigan State has won 2 big 10 championships, a Rose Bowl and made a playoff appearance. This program seemed as solid and steady as they come. All of a sudden they collapsed completely last year. Now not to toot my horn or anything (but really I guess I am) I was lower on Michigan State than most...I had them going 8-4...they went 3-9 that's how surprising this collapse was. How do they rebound?

Last year trouble was apparent very early on as Michigan State struggled with Furman and only won by 15, but then they took off to a 36-7 lead on Notre Dame and although Notre Dame nearly came back we all then assumed everything was fine...it wasn't. Michigan State was thoroughly dominated by Wisconsin, lost in overtime to Indiana, and got destroyed by BYU. Michigan State then gave up 54 points to Northwestern in a shootout loss, and then they lost to Maryland. They suddenly played a lot better in nearly taking down rival Michigan, but then lost to Illinois. Michigan State then destroyed Rutgers and very nearly beat Ohio State, losing by 1 after a failed two point conversion late. They ended with a struggle in a blowout loss to Penn State.

Michigan State's offense was just dramatically inconsistent last year, some games they were good some games they were absolutely awful. There was almost no patter to this, some of their good games were against good defenses and some were against bad defenses, some of their bad games also occurred against good defenses and some against bad ones. The only pattern there was is that they played well offensively against Notre Dame, Michigan and Ohio State their 3 primary rivals. Michigan State returns sophomore QB Brian Lewerke who is a mobile QB and played alright when he took the starting job from the departed Tyler O'Conner, Lewerke didn't make it long before breaking a leg though so there's not much experience at the QB position. RB L.J Scott is the best player on the offense and he returns after a strong year last year despite the collapse around him. The receiving corps is completely unproven, the top 4 receivers are all gone. The offensive line struggled last year with injuries and shuffling, good news is Brian Allen their best lineman and also the only one to make it all 12 games returns, but there's a lot of experience gone and at the same time still 4 other players with starting experience back.

Michigan State also fell apart on defense last year, after being so good for so long they struggled defensively. Michigan State's defensive line was replacing a lot entering last year and to add on to that they suffered a lot of injuries. Michigan State struggled to get pressure on the QB as the only two impact pass rushers on the line were Malik McDowell and Demetrius Cooper. McDowell is now gone and Cooper is in trouble for an assault/battery charge, chances are he doesn't play this year. Michigan State at least should have solid defensive tackles. The strength on Michigan State's defense will be at linebacker as they have two solid linebackers in Chris Frey and Andrew Dowell. The secondary surprisingly collapsed last year, and improving will be a challenge. Michigan State is losing every starter in the secondary, thanks to some injuries some backups did get experience but wow this is a major question mark.

Michigan State has a pretty tough schedule, they have a non-conference matchup with Notre Dame to go along with games against Western Michigan and Bowling Green. Michigan State gets a tricky draw from the West as they face Iowa, Minnesota and Northwestern. It's tough to not have faith in Dantonio but wow this was a stunning collapse and now they seem to be in rebuild mode, they still stand an outside shot at a bowl.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 Bowling Green: Michigan State should dominate this game to win. W
Sep. 9 Western Michigan: This isn't last year's Western Michigan, I think Michigan State takes this one. W
Sep. 23 Notre Dame: Dantonio especially with a bye week has still shown he can prepare well for his rivals, once again Michigan State shows up and plays surprisingly well to upset Notre Dame. W
Sep. 30 Iowa: Michigan State hits struggles as they lose to Iowa. L
Oct. 7 @ Michigan: Michigan State puts up a fight in this game and loses in a close one. L
Oct. 14 @ Minnesota: Michigan State continues to struggle and loses once again. L
Oct. 21 Indiana: Finally they take down Indiana to get another win. W
Oct. 27 @ Northwestern: L
Nov. 4 Penn State: L
Nov. 11 @ Ohio State: This is bizarre but Michigan State just seems to have Ohio State's number lately, oddly enough mostly on the road at on neutral sites. The last time Michigan State lost to Ohio State in Columbus was in 2007! Bold move but I'm picking Michigan State for a major upset. W
Nov. 18 Maryland: Michigan State dominates to win. W
Nov. 25 @ Rutgers: Nothing says rivalry week like Michigan State vs Rutgers? W

Predicted Record: 7-5(4-5)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Minnesota Golden Gophers

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Preview: Minnesota has somehow managed to be a solid program lately despite a lot of coaching turnover recently. Tracy Claeys did a good job in his first year at Minnesota, but he joined his players in threatening to boycott Minnesota's bowl game in a major controversy and after the game he was fired. Luckily for Minnesota P.J. Fleck one of the hot names on the coaching carousel after leading Western Michigan to the Cotton bowl, Fleck wanted to coach Western Michigan in that bowl game and as a result he was still available, it was sure good news for Minnesota as they grabbed a new an exciting coach. What will year 1 of Fleck have in store?

Minnesota opened the year 3-0 with two of the wins in close games. Then Minnesota lost two in a row, but they weren't bad losses as they lost in overtime to Penn State and by 7 in a defensive game to Iowa. Minnesota then rolled off 4 consecutive wins over mostly struggling teams. Then Minnesota lost by 7 in a close game to Nebraska. Minnesota turned around and dominated Northwestern and then they took an early halftime lead against Wisconsin with a chance to finally beat them, unfortunately for Minnesota they collapsed in the 2nd half and lost by 14. Minnesota dealt with the aforementioned turmoil entering their bowl game and still somehow upset Washington State 17-12 in a surprising result.

Minnesota's offense had some good moments but struggled a lot last year. Good news is the strength of their offense in both RBs Rodney Smith and Shannon Brooks both return. Minnesota gets tight end Brandon Lingen back after he missed most of last year with an injury. Bad news is Minnesota lost a few starters on the offensive line, and a lot of projected starters needed offseason surgeries. Minnesota lost by far their most consistent threat at receiver Drew Wolitarsky, and while big play threat Rashad Still is back, he isn't the most reliable receiver. QB Mitch Leidner was the weakness of the offense as he threw more picks than TDs, he is gone but the fact that no one was able to replace him last year might show that finding an upgrade is tough.

Minnesota had a very good defense last year, they were able to play well no matter what the competition was. Good news is Minnesota returns a lot of good players in the front 7 including defensive tackles Steven Richardson and Andrew Stelter and linebackers Blake Cashman and Jonathan Celestin. Minnesota also returns a strong safety duo in Antoine Winfield Jr and Duke McGhee and Corner Antonio Shenault is back as well. Bad news is depth... how much of it does Minnesota have? Other than the projected starters there are a lot of unproven players, if injuries hit Minnesota could be in some trouble.

Minnesota has a tricky schedule. Oregon State and Mid Tenn State will both be challenging non-conference opponents. Minnesota draws Michigan, Maryland and Michigan State from the East division, but overall the schedule is incredibly backloaded so the end of the year could be tough. Still I think another bowl appearance is in the cards.

Predictions:

Aug. 31 Buffalo: W
Sep. 9 @ Oregon State: L
Sep. 16 Mid Tenn State: W
Sep. 30 Maryland: W
Oct. 7 @ Purdue: W
Oct. 14 Michigan State: W
Oct. 21 Illinois: W
Oct. 28 @ Iowa: L
Nov. 4 @ Michigan: L
Nov. 11 Nebraska: L
Nov. 18 @ Northwestern: L
Nov. 25 Wisconsin: L

Predicted Record: 6-6(4-5)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Nebraska Cornhuskers

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Preview: Mike Riley was a very well regarded head coach, leading Oregon State to some of their best seasons ever and now he's trying to build Nebraska. He didn't quite have his players but last year showed some possibility of what he could accomplish. Now we'll see what Riley has for year 3.

Last year started out strongly, Nebraska easily beat Fresno State and pulled away late in the game to blowout Wyoming, then Nebraska took advantage of several failed 2 point conversions by Oregon to win by 3 (though Nebraska had coaching gaffes of their own too) and then they easily beat Northwestern and Illinois. Nebraska beat Indiana in a close game, and then beat Purdue. With a great start they took on Wisconsin in a big game that went into overtime and Nebraska ended up losing in overtime. Suddenly Nebraska collapsed as they were absolutely destroyed by Ohio State 62-3, they recovered to beat Minnesota and Maryland but then got blown out 40-10 by Iowa. Nebraska took on a fellow team that started strong and went in reverse in Tennessee in their bowl game and lost.

Nebraska's offense was decent for part of the year but fell apart later in the year. QB Tommy Armstrong Jr didn't fit the offense the best but he was a gritty player, when he got hurt things just got worse now Armstrong is gone. QB Tanner Lee will be the starter, he is a former Tulane QB and showed some potential but we really don't know much about him because the players around him weren't great. Nebraska brings back a committee of backs who each had carries at times last year, though their production wasn't great. Nebraska also has some questions at receiver they lose Brandon Reilly, but lead receiver Stanley Morgan Jr is back though he was arrested for possession in May, no news on a potential suspension. There's also De'Mornay Pierson-El who is a dangerous punt returner but hasn't quite developed as a receiver, other than that there's not a whole lot of experience. The offensive line though relied on a lot of sophomores last year which means those sophomores are now juniors, they struggled last year but having a lot of experience back should lead to improvement.

Nebraska's defense was solid most of the year despite not having help from the offensive a lot, still they made a change at defensive coordinator but it was a good one. They brought in Bob Diaco who perhaps was one of the top available possibilities for defensive coordinators. On the defensive line Nebraska loses two starters but also has some experienced players like Freedom Akinmoladun that return. Nebraska has a similar situation at linebacker with two starters gone but Dedrick Young II showed some potential last year and same with Marcus Newby. Nebraska's loses perhaps its two best players in safety Nate Gerry who graduated and corner Chris Jones who unfortunately tore his meniscus last month, Jones might be able to make it back this year but it's not likely. Still Nebraska has good pieces in the secondary like safeties Aaron Williams and Joshua Kalu and corner Lamar Jackson.

Nebraska has a pretty tough schedule, they have a big non-conference game against Oregon and play two solid teams in Arkansas State and Northern Illinois. Nebraska gets one break in drawing Rutgers from the East but that is offset by the fact that they also have to face Ohio State and Penn State. This might end up being a challenging year for Nebraska, there's a lot of unproven players that will step in everywhere.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 Arkansas State: Nebraska should be able to win this game rather easily. W
Sep. 9 @ Oregon: This game was a tough one, I'm taking Oregon in a toss-up. L
Sep. 16 Northern Illinois: Nebraska should roll in this game. W
Sep. 23 Rutgers: Another easy win. W
Sep. 29 @ Illinois: W
Oct. 7 Wisconsin: Nebraska has only beaten Wisconsin once since joining the Big 10 so I'll go with Wisconsin. L
Oct. 14 Ohio State: Nebraska will have a tough time scoring on Ohio State, they won't lose as bad as last year though. L
Oct. 28 @ Purdue: Nebraska wins easily. W
Nov. 4 Northwestern: Nebraska's defense comes through to lead them to a win. W
Nov. 11 @ Minnesota: Nebraska takes down Minnesota as well. W
Nov. 18 @ Penn State: Nebraska does struggle to keep up with Penn State in a loss. L
Nov. 24 Iowa: Iowa has mostly had Nebraska's number lately so I'll pick that to continue. L

Predictions: 7-5(5-4)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Northwestern Wildcats

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Preview: Northwestern has been in solid shape for a while now. The reason for that has been head coach Pat Fitzgerald who is perhaps one of the most underrated coaches in the country. Previously in their history Northwestern had a miraculous Rose bowl run in 1996, but for the most part they were traditionally one of the worst power conference programs. That has changed under Fitzgerald who has now accounted for 7 of Northwestern's 13 bowl appearances and 2 of Northwesterns 3 bowl wins. Fitzgerald might just be getting started.

Last year didn't start off well for Northwestern they lost an upset at the time to Western Michigan and then it got even worse as Northwestern's offense went nowhere in a 9-7 loss to Illinois State of FCS. Northwestern did rebound though, as they beat Duke but then lost to Nebraska. Suddenly Northwestern discovered their offense in a 38-31 win over Iowa and beat Michigan State in a 54-40 shootout. Northwestern easily beat Indiana and nearly upset Ohio State in Columbus. Northwestern was dominated by Wisconsin but blew out Purdue. Northwestern did lose to Minnesota before a blowout win over Illinois to end the regular season. Northwestern then took a rather impressive bowl win as they beat a Pitt team that had beaten Clemson and Penn State 31-24.

Northwestern was just dreadful offensively to start the year but quickly started to figure things out and by midseason they had a solid offense. QB Clayton Thorson took a big step up as a sophomore and he should be excellent as a junior if he can make nearly as big of step forward this year. The star of the team is one of the more underrated running backs in the nation in RB Justin Jackson, he is a senior and he will really help this offense go, and backup John Moten IV showed promise late last year too. Northwestern does lose their top receiver in Austin Carr but they still have solid options in Flynn Nagel and big play threat Soloman Vault, they also add a talented grad transfer from Oregon in Jalen Brown. Northwestern struggled on the offensive line last year but returning 5 offensive linemen with experienced plus adding Georgia Tech transfer Trey Klock should help.

Northwestern was mostly solid defensively last year. Northwestern loses a very good player on the defensive line in Ifeadi Odenigbo and a solid end in C.J Robbins but that's it, everyone else is back on the defensive line and Xavier Washington and Joe Gazino were good ends in their own right. Northwestern face a little more turnover at linebacker especially since they lose a star player in Anthony Walker Jr but linebacker Nate Hall does return, some former backups could step in or an unproven youngster may step up. Northwestern looks like they will be absolutely loaded in the secondary as everyone is back. Godwin Igwebuike and Kyle Queiro make an excellent safety duo and corners Montre Hardage and Trae Williams are solid plus there's the return of a key corner from 2015 in Keith Watkins II who missed all of last year because of injury.

Northwestern's schedule sets up pretty nicely, they play Nevada, Duke and Bowling Green OOC. Their draw from the East division isn't awful, yes they face Penn State but the other games are against Michigan State and Maryland. For the most part when you think of Big 10 championship contenders there's only 4 names that come to mind, but if anyone outside of those for win their division that sleeper team is most likely Northwestern as they should have a very solid year.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 Nevada: W
Sep. 9 @ Duke: Duke will likely challenge Northwestern but Northwestern takes the win. W
Sep. 16 Bowling Green: W
Sep. 30 @ Wisconsin: Oddly enough Northwestern's last win over Wisconsin came on the road, but I suspect that won't be the case here, Wisconsin wins this by 10. L
Oct. 7 Penn State: Northwestern becomes a tricky test for Penn State but Penn State takes off late. L
Oct. 14 @ Maryland: W
Oct. 21 Iowa: W
Oct. 27 Michigan State: W
Nov. 4 @ Nebraska: Northwestern takes a minor upset loss to Nebraska. L
Nov. 11 Purdue: W
Nov. 18 Minnesota: W
Nov. 25 @ Illinois: W

Predicted Record: 9-3(6-3)

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[BoiseStateFan27]

Ohio State Buckeyes

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Preview: There's Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide and there's Urban Meyer's Ohio State Buckeyes, in the past several years you have to immediately look at these two teams as national championship contenders every single year. Urban Meyer has only lost 6 games in 5 years at Ohio State, I mean that is incredible. Every year they were a title contender...well except Urban's first year where Ohio State had a bowl ban which by the way they went undefeated that year. This team is not without questions though, can they be answered for a championship run?

Last year Ohio State opened with dominance a 77-10 win over Bowling Green, but then they struggled with Tulsa for a half before some pick 6s in the pouring rain cleared Ohio State to dominate and win 48-3. Then in one of the most impressive results of the year Ohio State went on the road and blew out Oklahoma 45-24. Ohio State destroyed Rutgers 58-0, then outlasted an early challenge from Indiana to win. Then Ohio State struggled badly for a half with Wisconsin before coming back to tie it up and winning in overtime. Finally Ohio State's struggles hit their peak they took a 21-10 lead on Penn State but Penn State fired back to bring it to within 4 and then an Ohio State field goal was blocked and returned for the game winning touchdown. Ohio State then barely got past Northwestern at home before a sudden resurgence in a pair of 62-3 destructions over Nebraska and Maryland. Suddenly Ohio State struggled again needing to stop a late 2 point conversion to avoid a loss to Michigan State. Ohio State then found themselves being dominated for 2 and a half quarters against rival Michigan and down 17-7 when Ohio State charged back to bring the game to overtime where Ohio State won in 2nd overtime. Ohio State's offensive struggles really came to light in the playoff against Clemson where they were dominated in a 31-0 loss.

Ohio State had an offense that could run over most teams because against really good defenses they struggled. QB J.T Barrett is back and it seems like he's been around forever, Barrett has actually struggled more since his freshman year. Barrett has a good arm and can make any throw and he's an excellent runner, also just overall he's a winner problem is he struggles with anticipation that is something that will need to be worked on this year. RB Mike Weber ran for over 1,000 yards as a freshman last year and he returns to now be the primary back and there's talented backups galore on this team who can spell him. Receiver is a major question mark as this was a major weakspot for Ohio State last year, other than Noah Brown (who is now gone) against Oklahoma no one really made an impact. Junior Parris Campbell is a receiver that has NFL scouts intrigued they think he could have a breakout year, and there's a lot of former top recruits, will reliable options emerge though? Tight end Marcus Baugh is also pretty good and underutilized, he is one of the few tight ends I've actually seen hurdle a defender though. Ohio State's offensive line could overwhelm a lot of opponents but got overwhelmed themselves against teams like Penn State, Clemson, Wisconsin and Michigan, but 4 starters are back this year so experience should lead to improvement.

Ohio State had one of the better defenses in the nation last year and it's hard to see that not continuing. Ohio State's defensive line might actually be the best in college football as they are extremely loaded it's entirely possible that every single lineman is back this year, the only question mark is defensive tackle Michael Hill who was indefinitely suspended. Sam Hubbard, Tyquan Lewis, Dre'Mont Jones, Nick Bosa, and Jaylyn Holmes still make a scary unit. Ohio State loses linebacker Raekwon McMillan but almost everyone else is back at linebacker including Jerome Baker and Chris Worley, there's also Dante Booker who played in 2015 and was supposed to be a starter last year but got injured for the entire season. Ohio State did have a ball-hawking secondary last year as the trio of Malik Hooker, Marshon Lattimore and Gareon Conley were all very good at picking off passes and even taking them to the endzone, all 3 players were taken in the first round of the NFL draft which means Ohio State's secondary will look a lot different. Safety Damon Webb is the only returning starter and corners Denzel Ward and Damon Arnette got some good experience last year, it's mostly unproven options beyond that but there's a lot of talent to choose from.

Ohio State does not have the most intimidating schedule but it definitely will have it's challenges. They host Oklahoma in a big non-conference showdown. They draw Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois from the West division and the games against Nebraska and Iowa are both on the road. Playing Penn State at home is huge but they face their rivals Michigan on the road. Still Ohio State's expectations are championship or bust and they certainly are a few answers from it.

Predictions:

Aug. 31 @ Indiana: This is an odd game, usually Ohio State plays week 1 at home and on a Saturday. Weird Thursday night opener but Ohio State wins it. W
Sep. 9 Oklahoma: Big matchup for only the 2nd week of the season, it should be fun to see one of the best offensive lines in college football take on one of the best defensive lines. I think the defensive side might win the battle. W
Sep. 16 Army: Army's option offense could keep this closer than expected but they will struggle to stop Ohio State's offense. W
Sep. 23 UNLV: W
Sep. 30 @ Rutgers: Ohio State has badly beaten Rutgers in every meeting so far. W
Oct. 7 Maryland: Maryland usually suffers a similar fate to Rutgers. W
Oct. 14 @ Nebraska: This could prove to be a tricky test but Ohio State wins it. W
Oct. 28 Penn State: Big time matchup between these two, it turns out to be a close game, but it's hard to bet against Meyer with the bye week assisting him, Penn State gets Michigan the week before, what a scheduling advantage. W
Nov. 4 @ Iowa: This here is a dangerous game for Ohio State, coming off the big game against Penn State they take the tricky road trip to Iowa. I'm going with Ohio State to survive the upset bid though. W
Nov. 11 Michigan State: Ohio State finally can't sidestep losses anymore, Michigan State has been the one team that has really given Urban Meyer's Ohio State teams problems every single year. Ohio State amazingly hasn't beaten Michigan State at home since 2007, going with Michigan State for a big upset. L
Nov. 18 Illinois: W
Nov. 25 @ Michigan: This turns out to be a close game again and Ohio State barely pulls off the win. W

Predicted Record: 11-1(8-1)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Penn State Nittany Lions

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Preview: James Franklin had been well regarded as a coach on the rise when he took over the Penn State program, but for the most part he had struggled. Franklin was even finding himself in a spot where if improvement didn't happen soon enough he could possibly be on the hot seat. Sure enough early in the year it actually seemed like Franklin was on the hot seat, all he did was suddenly go on a 9 game win streak and turn Penn State into one of the most exciting teams in college football. I'd say he's safe now, but what does he have for an encore?

Last year really threw everyone off the trail of Penn State's surge, they struggled early against Kent State before pulling away late, then Penn State rather quickly fell behind 28-7 against Pitt before a 4th quarter rally was nearly enough for Penn State to win. Penn State struggled past Temple to win by 7 and then they were absolutely ran off the field by Michigan in a 49-10 loss. It seemed to be worse as Penn State was down 23-20 with a minute left against Minnesota but managed drive to field goal range for the tying kick and won in overtime. Suddenly Penn State took off, they dominated Maryland, blocked a late field goal for a comeback win over Ohio State. Absolutely destroyed both Purdue and Iowa. Then Penn State found themselves in trouble against Indiana, and with 4 minutes left they were down 31-28, Penn State scored 3 TDs in the last 4 minutes to win 45-31. Penn State blew out Rutgers and Michigan State to end the regular season. Penn State followed a similar path in the Big 10 championship as they trailed Wisconsin 28-14 at halftime, only to come back and win 38-31 for a Big 10 title. Penn State missed out on a playoff birth but got a Rose Bowl bid as a consolation prize. Penn State took on USC in what turned out to be one of the games of the year as Penn State fell behind 27-14 then stormed ahead 42-27 only for USC to make a comeback and Penn State lost 52-49.

Penn State's offense was mostly excellent last year, but it wasn't perfect there's still things to work on. Penn State returns their QB in Trace McSorely who is mobile and played excellent last year as there were even times where he had to make plays despite being behind the chains and most of the time he came through. Penn State returns perhaps the best RB in the nation in Saquon Barkley who is a dangerous back, a threat to score any time you hand him the ball, Penn State might be looking for a decent backup to emerge and spell him more though. Penn State loses their top receiver in Chris Godwin but wow there is still a lot back. They have fantastic tall receivers in DaeSean Hamilton and Saeed Blacknall, there's also slot receiver DeAndre Thompkins. Penn State also has perhaps the best TE in the nation in Mike Gesicki. The offensive line is still a major question mark for Penn State as this offense had a lot of negative plays, they made a lot of big exciting plays but a lot of times Barkley also was taken down behind the line of scrimmage.

Penn State got it together defensively once they got some injured players back midseason. This year they should be good. On the defensive line Penn State loses some solid ends in Garrett Sickels and Evan Schwan but they do return a pair of defensive tackles and potential replacements Shareef Miller and Torrence Brown both looked good in the spring. Penn State was absolutely destroyed by linebacker injuries early in the year and progressively more of them got healthy and the defense improved. Penn State will miss linebacker Brandon Bell but everyone else is back, Jason Cabinda was hurt until the Ohio State game and immediately made an impact upon his return in that game he looks set to be the leader of this unit. Penn State returns a very good safety in Marcus Allen and there's a lot of other experienced options but there's some big losses as safety Malik Golden is gone and perhaps Penn State's best corner John Reid tore his ACL in the spring and looks done for the year.

Penn State definitely has some tricky games on the schedule, their non-conference games against Akron, Pitt and Georgia State are all at home but in conference play Penn State gets Iowa, Northwestern and Nebraska from the West division, perhaps the toughest draw possible that doesn't include Wisconsin and Penn State has to face their biggest division foe in Ohio State on the road. It's all on the table though for Penn State as they have the talent to make a run to the playoff and possibly win a national championship.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 Akron: W
Sep. 9 Pittsburgh: Penn State gets revenge for last year's loss as their offense proves to be too much. W
Sep. 16 Georgia State: W
Sep. 23 @ Iowa: Playing Iowa on the road always happens to be a tricky test, Iowa's defense prevents giving up big plays to Penn State and it allows Iowa to keep the game close and pull off the upset. L
Sep. 30 Indiana: W
Oct. 7 @ Northwestern: Penn State struggles for a little bit but survives to win. W
Oct. 21 Michigan: Penn State has a great day offensively as they make enough plays to beat Michigan. W
Oct. 28 @ Ohio State: This game proves to be a back and forth battle with Ohio State taking the win. L
Nov. 4 @ Michigan State: W
Nov. 11 Rutgers: W
Nov. 18 Nebraska: Penn State ends up dominating this game. W
Nov. 25 @ Maryland: Easy win. W

Predicted Record: 10-2(7-2)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Purdue Boilermakers

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Preview: Purdue has been a program that can be solid at times with the right coach, and they even had the occasional spike of good years, such as the Drew Brees rose bowl year of 2001 but lately Purdue has simply been bad, not only do they tend to get beat up in Big 10 play but under their previous head coach they were blown out in other games also. They made a surprisingly good hire in former Western Kentucky coach Jeff Brohm. Brohm has been excellent so far so now we can see what he has for year 1.

Last year Purdue at least started off by actually beating their FCS opponent easily but they fell to 2-2 with blowout losses to Cincinnati and Maryland. Purdue kept their record at 3-3 as they beat Illinois and lost in a shootout to Iowa. That's pretty much it for highlights, Purdue lost the next 6 games and all but one by double digits.

Purdue mostly struggled offensively but previous coach Darrell Hazell did run a more conservative offense compared to Brohm's spread offense. Good news is Purdue gets their QB back in David Blough. Blough has shown signs that he could be a good QB but he also threw 21 picks last year, but Brohm has proven to be quite the QB whisperer. Purdue returns a lot of their RBs they could move the ball using the run but didn't gain more than a few yards at a time. The offensive line will at least have options thanks to a lot of transfers. Bad news is again Blough's turnover happy tendencies and Purdue has a complete gaping hole at receiver, their top 4 are gone.

Purdue also struggled defensively as well last year. Good news is Purdue should be ok on the defensive line as they lose two good players but there are a few more returning that got experience thanks to injuries. Linebacker should be a strength with the return of Marcus Bailey and Danny Ezechukwu, plus grad transfer T.J McCollum followed Brohm to Purdue and he was one of the better players on Western Kentucky's defense last year. Bad news is the secondary struggled last year, and part of that was due to injuries but it was a struggle no matter who was in the lineup. Also if injuries hit in the front 7 Purdue doesn't have much depth.

Purdue's schedule is pretty brutal. They face Louisville, Ohio and Missouri in non-conference play. Purdue does get one benefit as they draw Rutgers from the East a rare conference opponent that punches in the same class, but Purdue also faces rival Indiana and drew Michigan as well. It will be tough for progress to show for Brohm this year, he inherits a roster that would probably lose by 3 TDs to the one he left at Western Kentucky.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 Louisville (Indianapolis): L
Sep. 8 Ohio: W
Sep. 16 @ Missouri: L
Sep. 23 Michigan: L
Oct. 7 Minnesota: L
Oct. 14 @ Wisconsin: L
Oct. 21 @ Rutgers: W
Oct. 28 Nebraska: L
Nov. 4 Illinois: W
Nov. 11 @ Northwestern: L
Nov. 18 @ Iowa: L
Nov. 25 Indiana: L

Predictions: 3-9(2-6)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

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Preview: Rutgers has managed to plummet to one of the most pathetic power 5 programs during their time in the Big 10. The amazing thing is prior to their time in the Big 10 and their first year in the Big 10 Rutgers was actually having some of their betters years as a program, playing in bowls and competing in the top 25, but due to their athletic department as a whole becoming completely dysfunctional Rutgers has completely collapsed, Chris Ash made a bold move taking on this mess, it remains to be seen how long it will take him to dig Rutgers out.

Rutgers was pretty bad most of the year, they did start out 2-1 with wins over Howard and New Mexico. Rutgers started big 10 play in humiliating fashion they scored a total of 14 points in their first 4 big 10 games, one of those games was an embarrassing 78-0 home loss to Michigan. Rutgers was slightly more competitive in their next two losses against Minnesota and Indiana before being blown out again in their last 3 games while scoring a total of 13 points in the process (all 13 points came against Maryland by the way.)

In case you couldn't tell Rutgers' offense was horrendous. They have 6 division foes in the Big 10 East and were shut out by 4 of them. So what's the good news? Well how about players that weren't around last year. Receiver Janarion Grant was by far the most explosive player Rutgers had, he played a huge role in Rutgers only two wins and then broke his ankle in the 4th game against Iowa, Grant does return which is huge. There is also help on the way in transfer QB Kyle Bolin a former Louisville player who was a starter until some guy named Lamar Jackson showed up, RB Gus Edwards a talented transfer from Miami joins returning RB Robert Martin in the backfield. Arkansas transfer WR Damon Mitchell should be able to help out and possibly even highly regarded freshman Bo Melton. Then there's another Miami transfer in TE Jerome Washington who should help as well. Bad news is the offensive line loses 3 starters and was already bad, one of the highest regarded transfers in former Michigan receiver Ahmir Mitchell tore his ACL in the spring. Will all these transfer pans out? There's a reason they brought in so many, there's not much else on this offense.

Rutgers also struggled defensively, didn't help that the offense was so bad but injuries hurt too. Good news is Rutgers was inexperienced at linebacker last year and used a lot of them, they didn't play well but experience should help them improve. The secondary looks like a strength with just about everyone back, along with some players who missed all of last year. Bad news is a lot of the top players on the defensive line are gone and projected starter at linebacker Tyreek Maddox-Williams tore his ACL and is out for the year.

Rutgers will have a tough schedule simply because of how bad they are. Playing a playoff contender in Washington OOC won't help matters but winnable games against Eastern Michigan and Morgan State should be helpful. Also good is that Rutgers got a very favorable draw from the West as they face both Illinois and Purdue both very winnable games, they get Nebraska as well. Overall it's hard to be optimistic about this team as they were so bad last year, it would be a remarkable turnaround if they could simply win a single conference game.

Predictions:

Sep. 1 Washington: L
Sep. 9 Eastern Michigan: W
Sep. 16 Morgan State: W
Sep. 23 @ Nebraska: L
Sep. 30 Ohio State: L
Oct. 14 @ Illinois: L
Oct. 21 Purdue: L
Oct. 28 @ Michigan: L
Nov. 4 Maryland (Yankee Stadium): Well if you want a tour of what Yankee stadium looks like on the inside this is the day to go as no one will be there to watch this football game. L
Nov. 11 @ Penn State: L
Nov. 18 @ Indiana: L
Nov. 25 Michigan State: L

Predicted Record: 2-10(0-9)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Wisconsin Badgers

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Preview: Wisconsin has been one of the more consistent programs in the country as they usually manage to be good, but not quite a championship contender level team. Even despite a lot of coaching turnover Wisconsin has managed to maintain this status and now with head coach Paul Chryst it appears that Wisconsin has settled that situation. Chryst is a former Wisconsin man himself and fully believes in AD Barry Alvarez's strategy of taking advantage of the big physical players available to them and using that physicality to their advantage.

Last year Wisconsin faced a tough schedule but showed right away that they were not intimidated as they dominated LSU for most of the game in their opener, nearly gave the game away and then took it back in a 16-14 win. Wisconsin dominated Akron, and then out of nowhere nearly got upset by Georgia State before surviving. Wisconsin made a statement in a 30-6 destruction of Michigan State but then lost a defensive grind it out game against Michigan and then lost in overtime to Ohio State. Wisconsin got in yet another defensive game beating Iowa 17-9, and then they took down a previously unbeaten Nebraska in overtime. Wisconsin easily rolled past Northwestern, Illinois and Purdue. In the regular season finale they struggled with Minnesota for a half before their defense took over and they won by 14. Wisconsin took on Penn State in the Big 10 championship and raced off to a 28-14 halftime lead but Penn State dominated the 2nd half and Wisconsin lost by 7, Wisconsin then won the Cotton bowl beating Western Michigan 24-16.

Wisconsin's offense was not great last year but it did the job. QB Bart Houston played ok at times early last year but started to struggle and was replaced by then freshman QB Alex Hornibrook. Hornibrook flashed ability at times but also made mistakes, eventually the two split time and then Hornibrook got hurt late and Houston took over and performed well. Now Houston graduated so the job is all Hornibrook's he's more experienced now and has the full offseason as preparation to be a starter Wisconsin will be hoping he plays well or they'll have the scary possibility of turning the job over to yet another freshman. Wisconsin loses their top 2 RBs but the replacements actually seem more promising. There's Pitt transfer Chris James who was a Chryst recruit there, James looked good in Chyrst's offense but didn't fit well once Chryst left, he looks promising. Then there's sophomore Bradrick Shaw who showed a lot of potential in his limited carries last year. Wisconsin returns a very good receiver in Jazz Peavy and they return one of the better tight ends in the country in Troy Fumagalli, there's not much experience behind these two but there are a lot of good young athletes. The offensive line returns 7 experienced players, and while they lose left tackle Ryan Ramczyk this line should be solid seeing that they're as big and powerful as ever.

Wisconsin has had a long tradition of very good defenses for a while now, it's difficult to see that not continuing. Wisconsin's defensive line was solid last year despite injuries hitting, and now this means the line is very experienced as a lot of people played last year and every single player is back. Wisconsin had a very strong linebacker unit last year and once again that was despite injuries. Wisconsin does have a lot of big losses though, excellent outside linebackers T.J Watt and Vince Biegel are both gone and unfortunately middle linebacker Jack Cichy tore his ACL(disappointing because he's a good player and missed the last 7 games of last year with a torn Pec.) Wisconsin still has some good players middle linebacker T.J Edwards is very good and there's also Ryan Connelly who had 7 TFL in limited action last year and Chris Orr who played in 2015 and missed all of last year because of an injury. There's also former South Dakota outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel who seems promising. Wisconsin's secondary loses two good players in safety Leo Musso and corner Sojourn Shelton. The good news is though that everyone else is back, and Wisconsin adds former Hawai'i corner Nick Nelson who looks ready to step in and play immediately.

Wisconsin finds themselves with a rather favorable schedule, instead of facing LSU Wisconsin takes on BYU on the road this year, and their other games are against Florida Atlantic and Utah State. Wisconsin draws Michigan from the East division but avoids Ohio State and Penn State. Overall Wisconsin has a very good shot at being unbeaten entering the Big 10 championship, I'm not quite sure if this is a playoff team but this year definitely is a disappointment if they don't win the West division.

Predictions:

Sep. 1 Utah State: Not used to Wisconsin playing on a Friday night. W
Sep. 9 Florida Atlantic: They beat Kiffin's team easily. W
Sep. 16 @ BYU: This could prove to be a tricky challenge but I think Wisconsin grinds out a close win. W
Sep. 30 Northwestern: Wisconsin having a bye week prior is favorable, I think they take this game. W
Oct. 7 @ Nebraska: Nebraska gives Wisconsin a tough time but once again Wisconsin grinds out the win. W
Oct. 14 Purdue: W
Oct. 21 Maryland: W
Oct. 28 @ Illinois: W
Nov. 4 @ Indiana: Wisconsin takes this game easily. W
Nov. 11 Iowa: Oddly enough Wisconsin struggles with Iowa more at home than on the road, this proves to be yet another low scoring grind it out game, and Wisconsin barely wins. W
Nov. 18 Michigan: Wisconsin finally gets upset as Michigan takes them down. L
Nov. 25 @ Minnesota: Wisconsin has beaten Minnesota every year since 2004 which is a very long winning streak, I don't see a reason why that doesn't continue. W

Predicted Record: 11-1(8-1)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

​

East:

1. Ohio State Buckeyes 11-1(8-1)
2. Penn State Nittany Lions 10-2(7-2)
3. Michigan Wolverines 10-2(7-2)
4. Michigan State Spartans 7-5(4-5)
5. Indiana Hoosiers 6-6(3-6)
6. Maryland Terrapins 4-8(2-7)
7. Rutgers Scarlet Knights 2-10(0-9)

West:

1. Wisconsin Badgers 11-1(8-1)
2. Northwestern Wildcats 9-3(6-3)
3. Iowa Hawkeyes 7-5(6-3)
4. Nebraska Cornhuskers 7-5(5-4)
5. Minnesota Golden Gophers 6-6(4-5)
6. Purdue Boilermakers 3-9(2-6)
7. Illinois Fighting Illini 3-9(1-8)

Big 10 Championship: Ohio State Buckeyes vs Wisconsin Badgers - Yet another big game for championship week as Ohio State takes on Wisconsin for a winner goes to the playoff matchup. Both teams were undefeated for most of the year but took upset losses late in the year that spoiled their undefeated seasons. Will Ohio State win the Big 10 for the first time since 2014, or will Wisconsin surprise everyone and earn their bid for the playoff?

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

On to the SEC

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Alabama Crimson Tide

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Preview: I mentioned earlier about how Urban Meyer's Ohio State is one of the few sure things in college football well even on occasion Ohio State hasn't been quite as good as expected, so there's only one true sure thing in college football and that is Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide. Before the playoff era Alabama had been strong ever since Saban got all his pieces together and now in the playoff era not only is Alabama the only team to have made the playoff every single year but they've also occupied the #1 seed every year! Should we go ahead and chalk them up for another playoff birth? Perhaps..

Last year Alabama started in dominate fashion as they absolutely humiliated USC on the big stage in a 52-6 destruction. Alabama actually struggled a little more than expected against Western Kentucky but that was still a 38-10 win. Alabama received their first real challenge of the year when Ole Miss suddenly darted off to a 24-3 lead on Alabama but Alabama basically dominated from that point forward until Ole Miss made a slight comeback at the end. From there Alabama pretty much emasculated everyone, winning in blowouts over Kent State, Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee. Alabama was briefly challenged by Texas A&M as they fell behind 13-14 but Alabama promptly dominated from there to win 33-14. Alabama got in a major defensive struggle against LSU in a game that was actually tied 0-0 for the majority of the time before Alabama scored 10 points late to win. Alabama easily beat Mississippi State, Chattanooga and Auburn to enter the SEC championship unbeaten. There Alabama completely embarrassed Florida in a 54-16 destruction. Alabama opened the playoff dominating Washington in a 24-7 win and then they took on Clemson in the national championship. Alabama looked dominate early but Clemson managed to make a comeback and in the last seconds of the game Clemson scored the game winning TD to win in one of the best national championships of all time.

Alabama's offense was mostly too much for anyone they faced but it wasn't perfect. Sophomore Jalen Hurts surprisingly took the starting job as a true freshman after the first game and never looked back, his running ability just made the Alabama offense that much more dangerous but he had one flaw and that was the fact that his deep ball accuracy was bad, it didn't matter most of the time but against Clemson they were able to dare Hurts to hit on a deep ball and Hurts only succeeded once. If Hurts struggles Saban will not hesitate to put in true freshman QB Tua Tagovailoa who lit it up in the spring game. Alabama has a ridiculous trio of running backs in Bo Scarbrough, Damien Harris and Joshua Jacobs, there's highly touted incoming freshman Najee Harris just for good measure, this is the best RB corps in the nation. Alabama has some turnover at receiver but most importantly they get their stud receiver in Calvin Ridley back. Alabama does lose a fantastic tight end in OJ Howard and solid receivers in ArDarius Stewart and Gehrig Dieter, but they do get senior Robert Foster back after he was hurt for a good portion of last year, there's also loads of talent to choose from. Alabama loses two good offensive linemen in Cam Robinson and Alphonse Taylor but 3 starters are back, and their offensive line will still be good we know that.

Alabama once against had one of the best defenses in college football. Their defensive line loses a lot though, as Jonathan Allen and Dalvin Tomlinson were fantastic ends and both are gone, Alabama loses a trio at linebacker in Reuben Foster, Ryan Anderson and Tim Williams that was perhaps their best group of linebackers yet (there's a lot of competition for that though.) So time to panic right, that much talent is gone? Not really, Alabama has a good nose tackle in Da'Ron Payne returning and someone is going to emerge to be a scary good defensive end once again, same goes for linebacker, one good linebacker unit leaves and another emerges. Perhaps the biggest weakness Alabama has had in recent years was the secondary, that may not be an issue this year. Alabama brings back an excellent trio of safeties in Minkah Fitzpatrick, Ronnie Harrison and Tony Brown. Fitzpatrick is the best player on this whole defense, even Nick Saban struggles to hide his excitement about him. Corner is more of a question Anthony Averett returns and he was solid but it is a little more surprising that converted receiver Trevon Diggs is in line for the other spot, although I'd suspect he will likely be good.

Alabama's schedule is mostly focused around one game and that is the massive season opener against Florida State, two elite programs in their prime facing off, of all the season openers Alabama has done lately Florida State is by far the best team they've faced. The rest of the unfortunate victims on Alabama's non-conference schedule are Colorado State, Fresno State and Mercer. It doesn't really matter who Alabama gets from the East they would easily beat any of them. Obviously the expectation is clear win a championship or the season is a bust, at this point we know Alabama will be the number 1 seed for the playoff and if they don't lose to Florida State in the opener expect them to be unbeaten entering the playoff.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 Florida State (Atlanta): Alabama's secondary plays well in the scramble drill which allows their front 7 to take down Francois and not let him find big plays, that allows Alabama to win. W
Sep. 9 Fresno State: Let's move on. W
Sep. 16 Colorado State: Colorado State is decent this year but... W
Sep. 23 @ Vanderbilt: W
Sep. 30 Ole Miss: This is a challenging game simply because this is Ole Miss' bowl game, they will throw out lots of tricks but Alabama wins easily. W
Oct. 7 @ Texas A&M: Once again Alabama disappoints A&M by dominating them. W
Oct. 14 Arkansas: W
Oct. 21 Tennessee: W
Nov. 4 LSU: Alabama has owned LSU since the national championship in 2011, LSU doesn't have a good enough QB to keep that from continuing. W
Nov. 11 @ Mississippi State: Traditional blowout win. W
Nov. 18 Mercer: Where did Alabama find these guys? I didn't even know Mercer played football. Turns out they've only had a team since 2013 ouch. W
Nov. 25 @ Auburn: Some folks will want to pull the idea of a potential Auburn upset, but Alabama ends up dominating them instead. W

Predicted Record: 12-0(8-0)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Arkansas Razorbacks

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Preview: Bret Bielema is now entering his 5th year at Arkansas, and with how much the man loves to talk you would actually think he's doing really well here. I mean he certainly has made us more aware of Arkansas than usual. It's not until you really look at it and realize that so far he's actually struggling, he doesn't have a winning record even (though a year 1 reset helps with that) he's not the first coach you think of when you think of the hot seat but in all reality Bielema might just be on the hotseat this year, can he finally back up the talk?

Last year Arkansas immediately struggled as they needed a late touchdown to avoid being upset by Louisiana Tech, the following week Arkansas took advantage of Kenny Hill's mistakes to build a big lead on TCU and then nearly blew it as TCU made a late comeback and was in position to win with a chip shot field goal on the last play, Arkansas blocked it and then won in overtime. Arkansas easily beat Texas State and then against Texas A&M they took their annual loss, Arkansas dominated a lot of the first half but the game turned when Arkansas failed on 4 straight goal line plays and then Texas A&M scored a long touchdown a few plays later. From there on Arkansas literally followed a patter where they won a game then lost one. They had highlights such as a 31-10 domination of Florida but also were absolutely destroyed 56-3 by Auburn. Arkansas ended the year 7-6, their last two losses were to Missouri and Virginia Tech (in their bowl game) where Arkansas blew big leads (24-7 and 24-0 respectively) to lose both.

Arkansas had a decent offense, but it definitely had it's flaws. Good news is QB Austin Allen was solid last year and he returns, sophomore backup RB Devwah Whaley showed potential last year and now he's expected to be the starter, South Carolina transfer David Williams joins as well. Arkansas does return 3 starters on the offensive line including a great center in Frank Ragnow. Bad news is Arkansas is basically starting over at receiver as most everyone that has caught a pass is gone, the offensive line may have been somewhat young last year but it struggled, the line was responsible for a lot of goal line and short yardage failures and Allen was under duress way too often, also the best lineman in left tackle Dan Skipper is gone. Arkansas also had to deal with 1,300 yard rusher Rawleigh Williams III retiring from football.

Arkansas has slumped defensively the past two years. Good news is they brought in a good coach in former Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads to run the defense. Arkansas returns almost all their top linebackers from last year and they return a solid corner in Ryan Pulley along with all their safeties. Nose tackle Bijhon Jackson is massive and has the size to make this defense work. Bad news is other than Jackson basically everyone else who played is gone from the defensive line. Returning a lot of linebackers is great but other than Randy Ramsey a lot of the linebackers didn't do much last year. Arkansas also loses a good corner in Jared Collins.

Arkansas doesn't have a bad schedule. They have a non-conference game against TCU, but other than TCU they seriously scheduled about the 3 easiest opponents possible. Arkansas draws South Carolina and Missouri from the East. So far I don't see a lot here that says this year will be all that much different than the last 3 under Bielema, most likely 7 to 8 wins.

Predictions:

Aug. 31 Florida A&M (Little Rock): Why would they move this game to Little Rock? W
Sep. 9 TCU: I'm actually going with TCU to upset Arkansas this time around. L
Sep. 23 Texas A&M (Jerryworld): Bielema is 0-4 against Texas A&M, so I will go with Texas A&M. L
Sep. 30 New Mexico State: W
Oct. 7 @ South Carolina: W
Oct. 14 @ Alabama: L
Oct. 21 Auburn: L
Oct. 28 @ Ole Miss: W
Nov. 4 Coastal Carolina: W
Nov. 11 @ LSU: UPSET! W
Nov. 18 Mississippi State: L
Nov. 25 Missouri: W

Predicted Record: 7-5(4-4)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Auburn Tigers

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Preview: Several years ago when Auburn hired Gus Malzahn it seemed like a surefire hit and that Malzahn would consistently be able to challenge Nick Saban for conference titles. After an amazing first year that hasn't happened. Other than a JUCO transfer QB in Nick Marshall, Malzahn hasn't even been able to find a QB to run his offense, and mostly Auburn has disappointed under his watch, Auburn got a little better last year and now the question is can they make their way back to the top?

Last year Auburn opened the year by surprisingly giving Clemson a scare but shuffled every QB on the roster in and out as they couldn't move the ball offensively and lost 19-13. Auburn beat Arkansas State and then once again went nowhere offensively in a 29-16 loss to Texas A&M. Auburn got in a messy wild game against LSU dubbed "The Hot seat bowl" LSU poorly managed the clock and Auburn escaped with a 18-13 win, LSU coach Les Miles was fired after the game and Malzahn survived. Auburn hit a roll after, with blowout wins over UL-Monroe, Mississippi State, Arkansas and Ole Miss. Then offensive struggles came back as Auburn barely beat Vanderbilt, then lost once again to Georgia, beat Alabama A&M and once again got blown out by rival Alabama. Auburn made the Sugar bowl but was pretty much run out of the stadium by Oklahoma.

Auburn's offense briefly hit a midseason stride but other than that they struggled miserably. It didn't help that their QB Sean White who took over as the starter was pretty much hurt for the entirety of the last 4 games. White was solid but Auburn found themselves an upgrade when former Baylor QB Jarrett Stidham fell into their laps, Stidham is a very good passer though he isn't as mobile. Auburn has a very good RB duo returning in Kamryn Pettway and Kerryon Johnson. Auburn didn't get a lot of production out of their receivers last year but perhaps with better QB play they will improve at receiver too. Auburn will have a very good and experienced offensive line though.

Auburn had a very strong defense last year and it kept them in a lot of games. The defensive line was a major strength as it was loaded with a lot of good players, bad news is about half of those players are gone now including perhaps the two best in Carl Lawson and Montravious Adams. Still with some good returnees the line should be good unless injuries hit because depth is more of a concern this year. Auburn returns about every impact linebacker and this is a good group. Deshaun Davis specializes in stopping the run, and there's several other playmakers back as well. Auburn's secondary wasn't as good of a unit last year but the experience they return should help. Auburn loses solid DBs in Joshua Holsey and Jonathan Ford but they have a pair of senior safeties in Tray Matthews and Stephen Roberts returning as well as corner Carlton Davis.

Auburn's schedule has it's challenges, they have a big non-conference road game against Clemson while their other games are against Georgia Southern, Mercer and UL-Monroe. Auburn as usual faces Georgia and they also draw Missouri from the East. Auburn actually looks like they could be pretty good this year but I still don't see them as a viable threat to Alabama.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 Georgia Southern: Auburn should be able to easily take this game. W
Sep. 9 @ Clemson: Clemson's change in offense brings some uncertainty but I think Clemson's defense dominates the Auburn offense and Clemson wins. L
Sep. 16 Mercer: Why do teams from Alabama keep playing this team?? W
Sep. 23 @ Missouri: Auburn's offense will likely have a great day against Missouri and lead them to the win. W
Sep. 30 Mississippi State: W
Oct. 7 Ole Miss: W
Oct. 14 @ LSU: Auburn has not beaten LSU in Baton Rouge since 1999!! I don't see that changing. L
Oct. 21 @ Arkansas: Auburn wins this game easily. W
Nov. 4 @ Texas A&M: Auburn takes advantage of Texas A&M's usual late season slide to win. W
Nov. 11 Georgia: Auburn has only beaten Georgia twice in the past decade, both those Auburn teams went to the national championship. Does Auburn look like a national championship team? No I'll go with Georgia in the upset. L
Nov. 18 UL-Monroe: W
Nov. 25 Alabama: Unfortunately for Auburn this doesn't change either as they lose to Alabama once again. L

Predicted Record: 8-4(5-3)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Florida Gators

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Preview: It's amazing when you think of how Florida has been for almost the past decade now. For several years under Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow Florida was the top program in the country and a threat for the national title each year, but suddenly as soon as Tebow left Florida has been unable to find a QB. You never would have imagined that they could possibly go this long without finding a solution but here we are. Jim McElwain was hired to fix that, he hasn't but at the same time he also has won the SEC east each year that he's been the coach and overall he has a great record, but now this year he will have his own players, what will be the result?

Last year Florida opened with a struggle barely leading UMass 10-7 entering the 4th quarter before pulling away, and then Florida crushed Kentucky and shut down North Texas. Florida then hit their first sign of struggles as Florida took a 21-3 halftime lead on Tennessee and seemed set to beat them once again but Florida then got absolutely crushed in the 2nd half to lose by 10. Florida struggled their way past Vanderbilt, and then blew out Missouri and dominated Georgia before being crushed 31-10 by Arkansas. Florida beat South Carolina, and then upset LSU in a rather controversial game thanks to a hurricane that they avoided playing in. Florida ended the regular season being crushed by Florida State and they were destroyed by Alabama in the SEC championship. Florida did take advantage of facing Iowa in their bowl game and won easily.

Florida once again struggled on offense as they have not been able to solve these issues. Florida has used 4 QBs in the past 4 years but the potential starter is in fact none of those 4 QBs. Notre Dame transfer Malik Zaire is the favorite after transferring in, Zaire is a big name and has very little experience, he had an awesome performance against Texas in 2015 before being hurt for the year the following week, and last year he played Texas again awkwardly swapping series with DeShone Kizer and struggling. If Zaire struggles Florida may turn to freshman Feleipe Franks who was impressive in the spring. RB Jordan Scarlett returns and he on occasion has seen success but it has mostly been against bad opponents. Florida also brings back easily their most talented receiver in Antonio Callaway, he's talented and a threat to score on any play but he's also one of the most frustrating players in college football because of dumb mistakes on the field (such as trying to field punts inside his own 5 yard line against Tennessee) and off the field, the most recent off the field incident has him suspended at least for the opener and possibly longer. In addition Florida returns some experienced targets such as Tight end DeAndre Goolsby and they also have some young talented receivers who could emerge. Florida's offensive line struggled badly last year but injuries and shuffling didn't help, there are 7 experienced returnees so they should be better.

Florida has been very solid defensively for years now, but last year's defense had some cracks. They were dominant against bad offenses but if you had a good offense you were likely going to move the ball well on them. Florida loses a lot of starters on the defensive line, but they bring back 4 experienced defensive ends and 2 experienced defensive tackles, on the inside Florida could be forced to rotate some inexperienced players in. Florida loses their leaders at linebacker in Jarrad Davis and Alex Anzalone but both players missed some games because of injury last year so the replacements will have some experience at least. Florida has quite the task at hand in the secondary though corners Quincy Wilson and Teez Tabor are both gone and so is star safety Marcus Maye and then last month the only other starter back in the other safety Marcell Harris tore his Achilles. Good news is corner Duke Dawson and safety Nick Washington look ready to step up, but any more injuries and some freshmen may be forced into action.

Florida's schedule has something that none of the players on the team have ever seen before, a non-conference game outside the state when Florida opens the year against Michigan, they also take on their rivals Florida State as usual. Florida plays Northern Colorado and UAB as their other non-conference games and play LSU and Texas A&M from the West division. Overall it looks like Florida might not change much, they will likely win the SEC east for an opportunity to get crushed by Alabama again.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 Michigan (Jerryworld): I see Michigan's defense mostly taking this game over, plus Michigan will have a decent amount of success moving the ball on offense. L
Sep. 9 Northern Colorado: W
Sep. 16 Tennessee: I do think Florida goes back to beating Tennessee again this year. W
Sep. 23 @ Kentucky: Always an easy pick. W
Sep. 30 Vanderbilt: UPSET!!! In both meetings between McElwain and Derek Mason the two have gotten in a close low scoring match, Florida has played with fire too many times against Vanderbilt recently and I think they finally get burned in a random loss. L
Oct. 7 LSU: Florida's struggles continue as LSU beats them. L
Oct. 14 Texas A&M: Florida dominates Texas A&M to win. W
Oct. 28 Georgia (Jacksonville): Florida has mostly had Georgia's number lately, and I'll pick that to continue. W
Nov. 4 @ Missouri: W
Nov. 11 @ South Carolina: W
Nov. 18 UAB: W
Nov. 25 Florida State: Florida State dominates Florida once again. L

Predicted Record: 8-4(6-2)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Georgia Bulldogs

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Preview: Georgia found themselves having a rather disappointing season in their first year under Kirby Smart, sure they won 8 games but it's entirely possible that Georgia was one of the worst 8 win teams in the country last year. Seemingly every game was a struggle in its own way. Smart was regarded as a very good coach coming in so now he has to show he can improve on last year. Just how much can Georgia improve?

Last year Georgia opened by taking advantage of North Carolina's week 1 issues and beat them, and then Georgia turned around and darn near did just about everything they could to lose to Nicholls State but ended up winning by 26-24. The next week Georgia once again tempted fate as they trailed late against Missouri only to score a late touchdown to win. Finally the run of thrills came to a close for one game as Georgia was absolutely destroyed by Ole Miss, and then Georgia faced Tennessee and got a long touchdown late to take the lead only for Tennessee to beat them on a hail mary. Georgia beat South Carolina and then managed to lose at home to Vanderbilt before yet another loss to Florida. Georgia ended up hitting a late field goal to beat Kentucky, and then upset Auburn 13-7. Georgia was unimpressive but beat Louisiana-Lafayette before losing to their rivals Georgia Tech in the regular season finale. In their bowl game Georgia was mostly being dominated by TCU early until Kenny Hill started making mistakes and Georgia took full advantage to make a comeback and win.

Georgia's offense struggled a lot of the year and never was consistently good. Part of that is when you have a true freshman QB like Jacon Eason you're likely accepting those struggles. Eason still showed at times that he has good potential, but he's only a sophomore this year and will still make some mistakes. Georgia returns an excellent RB duo in Nick Chubb and Sony Michel who are both good players, and there's even young talents behind them as well. Receiver though is a question mark as most everyone besides Isaiah McKenzie struggled and McKenzie is now gone. Terry Godwin was someone who seems to have the talent to perform well but he mostly struggled last year, sophomores like Riley Ridley and TE Isaac Nauta could play a big role. The offensive line though is a major question mark, it was very bad last year and really hurt the offense a lot, the talent level dropped so as a result Georgia brought some talented players in. At least having more talented but inexperienced starters would mean struggles this year and then success possibly late this year and through next year.

Georgia had a solid defense last year but it was a step down compared to previous year as they did struggle at times. Georgia returns every player from the defensive line, and it will be led by an excellent defensive tackle in Trenton Thompson. Georgia also has all their starters back at linebacker, Davin Bellamy has proven to be a very good pass rusher and the other starters weren't consistent but they have flashed playmaking ability. Georgia returns their starters in the secondary too but a lot of backups are gone. Georgia has a great safety in Dominick Sanders who will lead the unit, but beyond these starters it will almost be completely freshmen behind them. These freshmen are talented but if injuries force them into action it may lead to some glitches in the secondary.

Georgia has challenged themselves a bit with their non-conference schedule as they face Notre Dame and have their usual rivalry game against Georgia Tech, and also take on a tricky Appalachian State. Georgia draws Auburn as usual from the west and they also play Mississippi State. Overall Georgia will have the goal of winning the division, but I'm actually not a big buyer in the hype. I don't think they're in for a massive leap but they should be better.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 Appalachian State: Georgia might struggle a little bit in this game but should win. W
Sep. 9 @ Notre Dame: Georgia gets in a back and forth game but in the end Notre Dame takes them down. L
Sep. 16 Samford: W
Sep. 23 Mississippi State: Georgia should easily win this game. W
Sep. 30 @ Tennessee: Georgia gets upset by Tennessee to continue their losing streak against them. L
Oct. 7 @ Vanderbilt: Georgia's offensive woes continue as they get upset by Vanderbilt once again. L
Oct. 14 Missouri: Georgia barely wins here. W
Oct. 28 Florida (Jacksonville): Georgia loses to Florida once again. L
Nov. 4 South Carolina: Wow this game is much later in the year than usual, Georgia starts to get it together in a win. W
Nov. 11 @ Auburn: Georgia once again continues their dominance over Auburn in a win. W
Nov. 18 Kentucky: Georgia easily wins. W
Nov. 25 Georgia Tech: Georgia gets revenge for last year as they play well to win easily. W

Predicted Record: 8-4(5-3)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Kentucky Wildcats

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Preview: Mark Stoops was on the hot seat entering last year after having mostly struggles with Kentucky and seemingly couldn't get them over the hump and into a bowl game. Finally last year Stoops got things going and now we will see what he has to follow that up.

Last year started good and then didn't. Kentucky was off to a dominant start against Southern Miss taking a 35-10 lead, but then collapsed as they were outscored 34-0 the rest of the game and lost 44-35, Kentucky was then blown out by Florida for an 0-2 start, Kentucky even found themselves tied 35-35 with New Mexico State at halftime in a game they won 62-42. Kentucky beat South Carolina and lost to Alabama. Then Kentucky surged as they won their next 3 games, Kentucky then lost the next two but were close in both losses to Georgia and Tennessee. Kentucky ended the year beating Austin Peay and upsetting rival Louisville to make a bowl game. In that bowl game they were dominated by Georgia Tech.

Kentucky's offense struggled at times but surged late in the year. QB Drew Barker was good then bad against Southern Miss and struggled before getting hurt and opening the job up to Stephen Johnson. Johnson wasn't consistent as a passer but he was a good runner. Johnson is the favorite but if he doesn't improve as a passer, Barker could retake the job. RB Benny Snell Jr was the reason for Kentucky's offensive surge, once he started getting the majority of the carries later in the year the offense improved. Kentucky returns a lot of their top receivers including seniors Garrett Johnson and Dorian Baker, and they also have some really talented freshmen who could join the fold as Stoops hinted recently. Kentucky also has a good tight end in C.J. Conrad. Kentucky's offensive line returns 6 players with a good amount of starting experience and the backups are big and were highly touted.

Kentucky's defense meanwhile struggled at times. Good news is Kentucky returns most of their front 7 including good pass rushers in Denzil Ware and Josh Allen as well as Jordan Jones who is the star of this defense. Kentucky's secondary improved as the year went on and brings back safety Mike Edwards and corners Derrick Baity and Chris Westry. Bad news is Kentucky's run defense got worse as the year went on and they seem to be badly lacking depth in the front 7.

Kentucky's schedule is highlighted by non-conference games at Southern Miss and at home against Louisville, and Kentucky gets one of the better draws from the West division as they get Mississippi State and Ole Miss. Overall this seems maintainable, I think Kentucky can manage a return to a bowl.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 @ Southern Miss: L
Sep. 9 Eastern Kentucky: W
Sep. 16 @ South Carolina: W
Sep. 23 Florida: L
Sep. 30 Eastern Michigan: W
Oct. 7 Missouri: W
Oct. 21 @ Mississippi State: L
Oct. 28 Tennessee: Upset! W
Nov. 4 Ole Miss: W
Nov. 11 @ Vanderbilt: L
Nov. 18 @ Georgia: L
Nov. 25 Louisville: L

Predicted Record: 6-6(4-4)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Louisiana State Tigers

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Preview: The long tenure of Les Miles was an odd and bizarre one filled with all sorts of interesting moments, he won a national championship, ate grass and frustrated fans with conservative offensive play and bad clock management. Just to be sure that things are never boring around here former assistant and USC interim coach Ed Orgeron took over midseason and did help LSU improve, despite some losses he managed to get handed the keys. Orgeron's cajun accent makes him a perfect fit for the job, he struggled in his only other non-interim basis head coaching job but seems to have learned lessons since then, this should be fun.

Last year LSU opened with a loss to Wisconsin they trailed almost the entire game until they took advantage of some Wisconsin mistakes to take the lead but Wisconsin would kick a field goal to take the lead back for good. LSU struggled for a bit against Jacksonville State but pulled away and then won by 3 over Mississippi State. Les Miles had his final edition of poor clock management as LSU lost 18-13 to Auburn. Orgeron took over and LSU won easily over Missouri, Southern Miss and Ole Miss. LSU then held Alabama to a 0-0 tie for a majority of the game before Alabama scored 10 late to win. LSU crushed Arkansas, but then once again struggled with offensive execution in a loss to Florida. LSU did end the season strongly as they blew out Texas A&M and dominated a fading Louisville in their bowl game.

LSU's offense struggle mostly early but later in the year they were able to do well against lesser teams but still couldn't move the ball against better ones. LSU did bring in Matt Canada as their offensive coordinator and he is regarded as one of the better playcallers in college football. LSU brings back QB Danny Etling who can be promising at times but his upside is very limited and he can't make all the throws, he's mediocre at best. It is assumed he will hold on to the job but it is entirely possible that freshman Myles Brennan might get a shot. The top player in this offense is easily RB Derrius Guice who ended up playing a lot last year due to departed star Leonard Fournette's injury. Guice is a major big play threat and LSU has solid backups who can spell him. LSU loses their top 2 receivers in Malachi Duple and Travin Dural, and due to the conservative nature of the offense there's not much experience behind them. D.J Chark played a lot and he showed potential to be a good receiver, it will be interesting to see who else emerges there's a lot of underutilized talent here. LSU's offensive line could actually be a concern, 4 experienced players were set to return but guard Maea Teuhema was suspended indefinitely earlier this month and it's unclear when he will return, beyond these 4 linemen there's talent but not a whole lot of experience.

LSU as usual had a very good defense last year and it's led by a fantastic coordinator in Dave Aranda. LSU loses two starters on the defensive line but they also get one back in Christian LaCouture who was expected to be a breakout player last year only to get injured and miss the entire year, and Greg Gilmore is a great run stuffer at the nose tackle position. LSU loses Duke Riley and Kendall Beckwith at linebacker. They still have talent here, Arden Key is the most talented player on this defense but he had some unknown personal issues this offseason and at the very least he won't be ready for the opener, sooner he returns the better for LSU. LSU's secondary returns solid corners in Kevin Toliver II and Donte Jackson, as well as veteran safeties John Battle and Ed Paris, in what should be a solid starting lineup. There are questions though if anyone gets hurt because beyond these 4 is a lot of inexperienced, young...but talented players..which could mean glitches in coverage.

LSU's schedule isn't as tough this year, instead of Wisconsin they open the year with BYU and their other non-conference games are against Chattanooga, Syracuse and Troy. One thing that does make the schedule tough is they draw both Florida and Tennessee from the east and have to face both teams on the road, and their annual problem game against Alabama is on the road this year. To me LSU looks like they will be the 2nd best team in the SEC, but challenging Bama is a whole different story.

Predictions:

Sep. 2 BYU (Houston): LSU won't have a key defensive player in Arden Key, but I think they'll still roll to win this game. W
Sep. 9 Chattanooga: W
Sep. 16 @ Mississippi State: LSU wins this game easily. W
Sep. 23 Syracuse: W
Sep. 30 Troy: W
Oct. 7 @ Florida: LSU has more success running the ball this year against the Gators and dominates defensively to win. W
Oct. 14 Auburn: Like I said earlier LSU hasn't lost to Auburn at home since 1999. W
Oct. 21 @ Ole Miss: Ole Miss might put in a determined effort but LSU will easily move the ball on Ole Miss' defense. W
Nov. 4 @ Alabama: LSU loses this one, Etling isn't good enough to be able to move the ball on Bama's defense or Brennan would likely make too many mistakes. L
Nov. 11 Arkansas: LSU suffers a hangover upset loss. L
Nov. 18 @ Tennessee: LSU rebounds to beat Tennessee, but wow both teams didn't do scrub week this year...that is an interesting change. W
Nov. 25 Texas A&M: LSU ends with the annual tradition of dominating Texas A&M. W

Predicted Record: 10-2(6-2)