Looking Back At My College Football Predictions

I know I haven't made any posts in a month, and I know that my picks have been nonexistent lately, but I wanted to look at some of the picks that I did make. Look at what I picked right and what I picked wrong. Here is the post with the majority of these predictions.
Let's start with the mistakes.

The Bad



I severely overrated Matt Barkley
We all make mistakes, and this was probably my biggest one. He was not nearly as effective as I anticipated and will certainly not win the Heisman. His performance also left the Trojans well short of the National Title Game. I was blinded by the fact that he is a good Christian guy, but I still am a fan. There was no way for me to know that the school would purposefully deflate balls to help Barkley. Shame on USC, but Barkley is still a likeable guy.

Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech are not top 20 teams
If Barkley wasn't my worst pick, this clearly was. However, it looks like Georgia Tech will be playing FSU for the title and they look pretty good lately. Don't be surprised if they give the Georgia Bulldogs a game next week.

Oklahoma is not the top team in the Big 12
Who really saw Kansas State coming though?

Mark Richt will not be Coach of the Year
This one is not Richt's fault though. Even if Kansas State collapses though at this point, Bill Snyder has to be Coach of the year. Well, maybe Notre Dame has something to say about that, but I still go with Snyder.

The Big 10 is not that great a conference
I was expecting the Big 10 to be much better. I especially thought that Michigan would be pretty darn good. Instead, a sanction riddled Penn State team competed with everyone in the conference despite losing to ACC bottom feeder UVA.

UVA was not a contender

Auburn and Arkansas are not very good. In fact the whole SEC is severely overrated this year. Louisiana Lafayette and Louisiana Monroe looked like they belonged this year. Arkansas was an embarrassment. Before the year I had them winning 8 games, but said they would be worse than that due to a poor coaching hire. Even I thought they'd beat Louisiana Monroe though.

Notre Dame is way better than I thought they would be. I didn't even have the Irish in my preseason top 25. Instead, they may end up playing Kansas State in the most surprising title matchup of all-time. Or maybe it gets complicated even more.

The Good

Duke is bowl eligible

This is a prediction that was not made by many, but I was sure it was right. I was positive that Duke would make a bowl appearance and that they were not the worst team in the ACC. I was right on both accounts. Let's not get into that Duke-Stanford prediction though.



Florida State is back!
They may not be in the driver's seat for the National Title like they should be, but FSU is 1 pt away from being there. Even still the Noles look like they are perhaps the best team with one loss in the country. If it weren't for that controversial 1 point loss to NC State, the Noles might be #1 in the country right now.

Georgia is the top team in the SEC East
They may get in that National Championship still too.

Rutgers will be the class of the Big East
It isn't official yet, but Rutgers could easily finish exactly where I had them and win the Big East. They are a legit team.

If Oregon loses it will be to USC
Well turns out I was half right. Because even the Trojans couldn't beat the Ducks. It looks like the Ducks will perhaps be playing for the title still. The loss to Stanford sets them back, but Oregon has looked the most impressive of all the teams in the country. Except for against Stanford.

There is a lot more to be decided especially with Kansas State looking like they could get beat here tonight. College Football is a crazy game, and I think I did a pretty good job all things considered. All I will say is that now I know to never trust a USC QB again haha. Should have known before.
I will try to get back to posting once a week and will post a couple times during my time off this week from school.

-Noland

College Football Picks For Today

More ACC, SEC, and Interesting Game Picks. I missed on one game last week, but had a very solid first week. I even hit on my upset special. Here are some more picks...

Kansas State over Miami

Miami wasn't that impressive in a win over a BC team that isn't that good. Kansas State has better athletes and will win the game at home.

 

NC State over UConn

The Wolfpack should get back on track against an unimpressive UCONN team.

 

Temple over Maryland

I told you that Maryland was the worst team in the ACC and could lose to William & Mary. They almost did, and they will lose tonight.

 

UVA over Penn State

The Cavs are going to be good this year. Penn State is not going to be good. This one could get rather ugly.

Auburn over Mississippi State

One of the games of the week. I expect Auburn to bounce back after a loss to a very good Clemson team, that could easily compete for a national title. Auburn could still affect the title picture and will win a tough game today.

 

South Carolina over East Carolina

Clemson over Ball State

BC over Maine

Virginia Tech over Austin Peay

 

UNC over Wake

If Maryland is the worst team in the ACC, Wake isn't that far behind this year it seems. Wake looked pathetic against Liberty last week. If they are going to upset the Tar Heels a lot has to change. Based on last week and talent on their rosters, UNC wins in a route. As a big Jim Grobe fan, I hope I am wrong and Wake pulls it out.

 

Alabama over Western Kentucky

 

Michigan over Air Force

Michigan burned me last week. There is a chance they will do it again. Depending on how much hangover there is about last week's beatdown, Michigan could easily lose to Air Force. I expect Brady Hoke to bounce back against the service academy though.

 

Notre Dame over Purdue

The Irish looked impressive last week. This team could get to the BCS if they build off last week. Will there be hangover from a long trip though against a good Purdue team?

 

Texas A&M over Florida

A & M will impress in their SEC debut. Florida looked horrible in their opening game last week. It is all setting up for the Aggies.

 

Tennessee over Georgia State

 

FSU over Savannah State

Lots of people have been giving the Noles flack over this opponent. However, consider that it was supposed to be West Virginia and then the Mountaineers bailed. With West Virginia on the docket the Noles had 3 legit out of conference opponents. Without them it doesn't look as well, but when an opponent bails we are left with who we can get. So in comes the huge underdog Savannah State who will get thrashed this week.

LSU over Washington

Arkansas over Louisiana Monroe

Georgia Tech over Presbyterian

 

Army over San Diego State

The black knights will get it done in this one. This team will get close to bowl eligible, not sure they get there, but they get on track today.

 

Kentucky over Kent State

 

Georgia over Missouri

This one makes me nervous. The four suspensions on defense for the Bulldogs could cause them problems given that this is Missouri's SEC debut and they will look to impress at home. However, these guys have to much talent to lose this one.

 

Upset Special

Duke over Stanford

Some wouldn't call this an upset, but Stanford is ranked and Duke is not. Also most people still expect Duke to lose all the time. It will take a while for that perception to change. I will have said numerous times that Duke is no longer the ACC doormat. I also believe they get to bowl eligible this year. Today these guys prove it.

 



The Guys @ Warchant Question Barron's Statement

I will not post the whole article here, because I encourage you to check out warchant. I will post some major ideas though. I will also say that Gene Williams picked Barron's statement apart. This conference expansion thing hasn't gone away after all.

Williams says that the information given by Barron on third tier rights is misleading. He argues that FSU not being rewarded by the ACC for their brand name is a major problem with the current deal. It is not really fair that Wake Forest gets the same cut as FSU for football. The argument about travel is misleading according to Williams. He says that the difference right now is 2.9 million as Barron said, but it will increase with FSU leaving for the Big 12. If FSU and Clemson, VT, or Miami leave for the Big 12 that difference grows. After the re-negotiated deal, there could be a 6 or 7 million gap. Imagine if all four leave like I had originally proposed. The Big 12 deal would be huge.

The final argument Williams makes against the statement is about academic perception. Williams says the academic perception of FSU leaving shouldn't matter. It is interesting the argument he gave as it is the same as booster president Andy Haggard. When a person gets a degree from FSU they don't think gee I am glad I got a degree from a school in the same conference as Duke and UVA. FSU students get a degree from FSU. Why do we care if Texas or Duke are in our conference? Does it really affect our academic perception if we are in Duke's conference?

My favorite point is the one about exit fees. It seems to be the most relevant to the discussion. This idea about exit fees is probably going to be the main issue for FSU leaving or staying. Williams points out that the Big 12 paid 1/2 of WVU's exit fee. Why wouldn't they do the same for FSU and say VT who would bring more of a brand name? This is a complicated issue and may take some more time to play out.

-Noland