Back again for another season of prognostication excellence as we strive for a fourth straight season of 10 wins.
LSU v. TCU Total Points = 50. Under
Last season: 10-4
Friday, August 30, 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
2013 Projected Ratings
Well, if everything happens as I predict in the regular season (fat chance), here's what the ratings will look like. Enjoy the season!
Strength Of Schedule
Strength Of Schedule
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
2013 Bowl Projections
Bowl projections are a crapshoot made public for page views. Especially
this year. I had a hard time figuring out the at-large BCS teams,
mainly because (fortunately) I can't think like the BCS selectors.
With that said, enjoy these bowl projections!
With that said, enjoy these bowl projections!
Monday, August 26, 2013
2013 Predictions - The SEC
12 bowl eligible teams is no easy feat, no matter how you slice it.
Florida defeats Georgia in the Cocktail Party which gives them the tiebreaker for the trip to Atlanta. The thing with Florida, can the defense carry the load again. It's a slim margin between division winners and 6-6 when the offense is inert.
The West will be won in College Station this year. A lot has been made of the fact Alabama has to replace most of its offensive line. I think they'll be fine, as A&M's defense is also replacing quite a bit. It's pretty straight-forward for the Tide from there. Maybe the game at Auburn is difficult if Malzahn works a whole lot of magic. Maybe.
I don't sense this is a vintage year for the conference, where the three or four top teams in the conference were elite. Alabama is, LSU will be the best 3-loss team in the country, but the three top teams in the East have lost a great deal of talent that needs to be replaced. The Vandy @ Florida game could be interesting, and could lead to Vandy being in the mix.
Florida defeats Georgia in the Cocktail Party which gives them the tiebreaker for the trip to Atlanta. The thing with Florida, can the defense carry the load again. It's a slim margin between division winners and 6-6 when the offense is inert.
The West will be won in College Station this year. A lot has been made of the fact Alabama has to replace most of its offensive line. I think they'll be fine, as A&M's defense is also replacing quite a bit. It's pretty straight-forward for the Tide from there. Maybe the game at Auburn is difficult if Malzahn works a whole lot of magic. Maybe.
I don't sense this is a vintage year for the conference, where the three or four top teams in the conference were elite. Alabama is, LSU will be the best 3-loss team in the country, but the three top teams in the East have lost a great deal of talent that needs to be replaced. The Vandy @ Florida game could be interesting, and could lead to Vandy being in the mix.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
2013 Predictions - The Pac-12
2-team league again. The real conference championship game will be Oregon @ Stanford on November 7th.
Stanford over UCLA in the official championship game. UCLA is becoming the Buffalo Bills of the Pac-12 South.
Probably low on both Washington school, especially Wazoo. Maybe Cal too. The rest of the predictions feel right to me.
Stanford over UCLA in the official championship game. UCLA is becoming the Buffalo Bills of the Pac-12 South.
Probably low on both Washington school, especially Wazoo. Maybe Cal too. The rest of the predictions feel right to me.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
2013 Predictions - The Big 12
I was looking at my bowl predictions last year and they were worth a chuckle. I've decided to share them here: http://pittsfieldindex.blogspot.com/2013/01/2012-predictions-revisited.html Just click on the bowl tab.
The Big 12 is my favorite conference, and not just because I live in Big 12 country. You definitely get your money's worth throughout the season.
It's a low confidence pick. When you have a league where the 8th and 9th-place teams are dangerous at home, it makes things really difficult. I'm probably low on K-State and Iowa State. Oklahoma seems low, but their defense is a wreck on paper and they have the second-toughest schedule in the country according to my projections.
Success in this conference has a lot to do with your schedule, which is why I don't have Texas winning things. They will be a more complete team this year, but with trips to TCU, Iowa State, West Virginia and Baylor, and an early season trip to BYU, there are a ton of landmines there and I'm not sure their better performance will equal a better record.
Picking Baylor to win 10 games...it will happen if the defense can get out of the offense's way. Oklahoma State's defense is already there, and that gives them the edge for the conference crown.
The Big 12 is my favorite conference, and not just because I live in Big 12 country. You definitely get your money's worth throughout the season.
It's a low confidence pick. When you have a league where the 8th and 9th-place teams are dangerous at home, it makes things really difficult. I'm probably low on K-State and Iowa State. Oklahoma seems low, but their defense is a wreck on paper and they have the second-toughest schedule in the country according to my projections.
Success in this conference has a lot to do with your schedule, which is why I don't have Texas winning things. They will be a more complete team this year, but with trips to TCU, Iowa State, West Virginia and Baylor, and an early season trip to BYU, there are a ton of landmines there and I'm not sure their better performance will equal a better record.
Picking Baylor to win 10 games...it will happen if the defense can get out of the offense's way. Oklahoma State's defense is already there, and that gives them the edge for the conference crown.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
2013 Predictions - The Big 10
One last go around with Legends and Leaders. If you need to wipe your eyes, I'll wait.
Ah yes, the Big Ten. The land where no offense dares to tread. A conference where wide-open spread offenses perform at 2/3 the pace of Woody Hayes' 1969 team (in fairness, that team ran a ludicrous 92.1 plays per game). Before the move to geographic divisions, a cynical play to preserve sanctity of The Game and re-establish intra-conference hegemony (you can read more here: http://pittsfieldindex.blogspot.com/2013/04/delany-and-competition.html), will we all have to live through the gushing about not one, but two Michigan-Ohio State games in 7 days?
No, we won't. Michigan loses a crazy game in Evanston to lose the tiebreaker. Ohio State wins with ease in the title game.
I think this conference will be poor again this season and the teams with superb records will flatter to deceive. I have Ohio State losing to a not-very-good Cal team (OSU secondary v. Bear Raid? Advantage: Cal) and then waltzing through the conference. Michigan wouldn't get to double-digit regular season wins if they played a QB other than Tommy Rees in week 2. Michigan State is going to win games like Florida did last year without any sort of offense, bludgeoning teams (and viewers) to death. Gary Andersen strikes me as an 8-win coach in the Big Ten. I see a lot of the bottom-feeders losing to the MAC teams they play, which is Northern Illinois and Ball State in a few cases.
7 bowl-eligible teams, and one of them is Indiana. Sums it up, I think.
Ah yes, the Big Ten. The land where no offense dares to tread. A conference where wide-open spread offenses perform at 2/3 the pace of Woody Hayes' 1969 team (in fairness, that team ran a ludicrous 92.1 plays per game). Before the move to geographic divisions, a cynical play to preserve sanctity of The Game and re-establish intra-conference hegemony (you can read more here: http://pittsfieldindex.blogspot.com/2013/04/delany-and-competition.html), will we all have to live through the gushing about not one, but two Michigan-Ohio State games in 7 days?
No, we won't. Michigan loses a crazy game in Evanston to lose the tiebreaker. Ohio State wins with ease in the title game.
I think this conference will be poor again this season and the teams with superb records will flatter to deceive. I have Ohio State losing to a not-very-good Cal team (OSU secondary v. Bear Raid? Advantage: Cal) and then waltzing through the conference. Michigan wouldn't get to double-digit regular season wins if they played a QB other than Tommy Rees in week 2. Michigan State is going to win games like Florida did last year without any sort of offense, bludgeoning teams (and viewers) to death. Gary Andersen strikes me as an 8-win coach in the Big Ten. I see a lot of the bottom-feeders losing to the MAC teams they play, which is Northern Illinois and Ball State in a few cases.
7 bowl-eligible teams, and one of them is Indiana. Sums it up, I think.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
2013 Predictions - The Non-Power 5
Let's not pretend that the American is equal to the rest of the BCS in 2013 when C-USA and MWC wasn't equal to the BCS in 2012. If you're curious about MACtion and the have-nots of the college football world, read on.
I'm lower on Louisville than most.
Middle Tennessee State ensures they get to a bowl game this year defeating Tulsa in the title game.
Only in the MAC can a 9-3 team make the conference title game ahead of two 11-1 teams, but that's how the tiebreakers work out. That team, Toledo, will win the conference over Ohio.
Boise won't be the darlings of the world like most of the last decade, but they will win the conference over San Jose State.
Bobby Petrino is the David Shaw of the Sun Belt.
I normally automatically pick 1-A teams over 1-AA teams but this was the first year I didn't do that. Idaho and Georgia State are indeed that bad.
I'm lower on Louisville than most.
Middle Tennessee State ensures they get to a bowl game this year defeating Tulsa in the title game.
Only in the MAC can a 9-3 team make the conference title game ahead of two 11-1 teams, but that's how the tiebreakers work out. That team, Toledo, will win the conference over Ohio.
Boise won't be the darlings of the world like most of the last decade, but they will win the conference over San Jose State.
Bobby Petrino is the David Shaw of the Sun Belt.
I normally automatically pick 1-A teams over 1-AA teams but this was the first year I didn't do that. Idaho and Georgia State are indeed that bad.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
2013 Predictions - ACC
Hey, it's that time of the year again. With two weeks to go until kickoff, today is an ideal time to begin posting prognostications for the upcoming 2013 season. Let's see if these go better than last year. I actually like how everything played out.
If I interpreted the tiebreaker rules right, I have Miami winning the division and likely the conference over Clemson since I still can't bet on Clemson, although I do think they beat Georgia.
This is always a tough conference to predict due to the mediocre parity it exudes. I'm probably too high on the Tobacco Road schools and Miami and too low on my projected cellar-dwellers in the Coastal.
If I interpreted the tiebreaker rules right, I have Miami winning the division and likely the conference over Clemson since I still can't bet on Clemson, although I do think they beat Georgia.
This is always a tough conference to predict due to the mediocre parity it exudes. I'm probably too high on the Tobacco Road schools and Miami and too low on my projected cellar-dwellers in the Coastal.
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