LSU comes in with the third best roster talent in the country on our three year talent metric and return one of the best secondary’s in the country, led by Eli Ricks and Jay Ward.
The Tigers are deep at quarterback and should have a really good one, two punch in Myles Brennan and Max Johnson.
Kayshon Bouttle leads a talented group of young wide receivers for LSU and the Tigers return most of their running back production - one that saw 1217 yards and nine touchdowns a year ago.
As you read this piece on the 22nd day of April, we have 134 days until we kick off college football on Labor Day. Lots to do, cover and unpack as we head towards September.
We have already dropped power rankings, a National Champion and win totals for all 129 teams. Team and conference previews to come, but today, we tell you what matchups we think will be in every conference title game, with an established gaming line and a winner. So let’s get to it. All conferences below - Power Five and Group of five predictions.
As we march on towards summer and media days, we will begin dropping conference previews, team previews, articles on coaching, recruiting, quarterbacks and more.
Today we wanted to drop records for all 129 teams. After careful analysis of all 129 team schedules, we like to put our money where our mouth is and predict every teams record almost five months out.
Since 2017, we have pegged all teams within two games of their final outcome 77 percent of the time. Sure we have some misses, and some duds, but we have hit the mark on most days.
t’s been 21 years since the Oklahoma Sooners won the National Championship in college football and a lot has changed since the year 2000. The iPhone wasn’t a thing the last time OU won a national title, neither was social media or Elon Musk - as we know him today.
Oklahoma has been close over the years, with various Heisman Trophy winners, several College Football Playoff appearances, but those have not always been kind.
The Sooners were dusted by Alabama in 2018, 45-34 in the semifinals and suffered the worse loss ever in the short history of the playoff, to the hands of LSU by the tune of 63-28.
There has also been heartbreak like in 2017 in a classic against Georgia at the Rose Bowl - a double overtime loss, 54-48.
2020 was unlike anything any of us had ever seen and hopefully never will again. And for the sports world the same can be said, however, Alabama took a very weird year and turned it into arguably the greatest year for a college football team maybe ever.
The Crimson Tide ran through a 10 game SEC schedule, won a Southeastern Conference Championship and dominated Notre Dame and Ohio State to claim the National Title.
We love to rank college football teams and we love to compare teams in different eras; compare programs as they pertain to decades and more. Who is the best? Is it Alabama of today, or Nebraska of 1995? Who had the better run in college football? Bobby Bowden’s Florida State teams or Pete Carrol’s USC teams?
Today we continue our journey to look at the 66 Power Five Programs and where their “Respective Program” ranks and stacks up against the rest.
Today we continue our journey to look at the 66 Power Five Programs and where their “Respective Program” ranks and stacks up against the rest.
We will look over the last forty years (from 1980 to 2020), and based on multiple criteria we will place every team in different tiers.
The tiers are as follows: Super Elite, First Rate, Top Flight, Passable, Strange, Tolerable, Mediocre, Not good enough, Damaged, Weak, Unsettling and Disturbing.
We look over the last forty years (from 1980 to 2020), and based on multiple criteria we will place every team in different tiers.
The tiers are as follows: Super Elite, First Rate, Top Flight, Passable, Strange, Tolerable, Mediocre, Not good enough, Damaged, Weak, Unsettling and Disturbing.
The criteria we will use is multiple, to give each team a final score in our simple program formula. Number of 6 win seasons, 10 win seasons, Conference Titles, Bowl appearances, Bowl wins, National Championship Appearances, National Championships and Losing Seasons.
We love to rank college football teams and we love to compare teams in different eras; compare programs as they pertain to decades and more. Who is the best? Is it Alabama of today, or Nebraska of 1995? Who had the better run in college football? Bobby Bowden’s Florida State teams or Pete Carrol’s USC teams?
Does the air raid work in the SEC or is it a failure? Time will tell, but Mike Leach needs more players, better pass catchers and some run way before we decide on if his offense can work in college footballs premiere league.
The SEC will now play a 10 game conference only schedule and today we are predicting which two teams, every SEC team will add to their schedules, based on our expanded schedule modeling.
If there is one team that has been on the cusp of breaking into the elite college football party it’s the Oregon Ducks.
Last year this team lost two pivotal games against Auburn and Arizona State, that cost them a birth in the College Football Playoff.
This year, the Ducks will again be faced with key moments that will decide their playoff fate.
2019 was an unreal year for Minnesota, but 2020 could be “the banner year” for the program. P.J. Fleck brings back a ton of talent and has a schedule that is very favorable for this Big 10 team.
Key games at Wisconsin and against Iowa, Michigan and on the road at Nebraska will define this year for Fleck. Will he be above average or a chance for greatness?
Lots of talent return for Virginia Tech in 2020, and key games on the road will determine if Justin Fuente can get this team back to the ACC Championship for the first time in a number of years.
Week two offers a serious litmus test with Penn State coming to Blacksburg.
Alabama looks to return to the College Football Playoff in 2020, but to do so, the Tide must find high level play at quarterback, lean on a very talented backfield and fix some defensive issues that has plagued this team in big games the last two years.
Alabama has a great schedule featuring the likes of USC, Georgia, Texas A&M, LSU and Auburn and if Alabama can stay healthy, this team will again be in the conversation of National Champion in December.
Year two is a pivotal year for Manny Diaz and the Miami Hurricanes. Miami lost four games a year ago, that they were double digit favorites and one thing we have learned is college head coaches are on shorter leashes than ever before.
Miami has a good roster and another transfer quarterback and a schedule that should lead to a nice year.
Expectations are high on the campus of Arizona State in 2020 and they should be. Herm Edwards has built the foundation fast for the Sun Devils and this year they have a schedule that could offer a spring board of sorts in year three of the Edwards campaign.
Don’t be surprised to see this bunch of devils in the PAC 12 championship in 2020.
Nebraska shouldn’t be as bad as Nebraska has been the last few years. The Huskers have lost nine games by a touchdown or less over the last two seasons and 2020 is a pivotal year for Scott Frost and Big Red.
There will be another handful of games for Frost and team this year that come down to the wire. This year, the Huskers need to capitalize in most of these games and punch a bowl ticket.
When you mention the Group of Five, Central Florida football immediately comes to mind. Year three of the Josh Heupel campaign starts in 2020 and if the Knights can knock off North Carolina to start the season, down in Orlando, the playoff chatter may again start for Central Florida.
Dan Mullen has done a great job in bringing Florida back, and now the Gators are looking to make the next step.
The Gators have arguably the best quarterback, back in the SEC in Kyle Trask, and a defense that has been salty.
The question for the Gators is now can they make the plays in the biggest games and if they can do that, they could be headed to the College Football Playoff.
