Big Nasty’s College Football Season Preview

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College Football | 14 Comments

The 2010 College football season is officially underway with some undercard quality matchups (and Pitt v. Utah) already in progress.  I guess this calls for a preview post.

SEC

Conference Champions: Alabama. Mark Ingram or no Mark Ingram, Alabama is (almost) legally loaded for bear and figures to be the class of a more balanced, Tebow-less SEC.  The pressures of being #1 will make the Tide more susceptible to trap games (like week 7 at South Carolina, or vs. Mississippi State on Nov. 13th), but I would be shocked if this team didn’t at least play in the SEC Championship game for the second year in a row.

SEC Sleeper: Auburn. With much of the general media hopping aboard the Tiger bandwagon, Auburn is turning into less and less of a sleeper.  A team can’t necessarily be a sleeper if everyone says so.  If too many people sing a team’s praises as a sleeper, the team in question is bound to wake up at some point.

The Auburn Tigers have a very favorable schedule with four of their first five games at home.  As Auburn’s schedule gets tougher, as only it can in the not-as-loaded-as-you-think-but-still-pretty-good SEC, team Gene will have the luxury of playing three of their four toughest games at Jordan-Hare stadium.

Don’t be surprised to see this team find itself as a sizeable underdog in the SEC title game should Bama falter.

Big 12

Conference Champion: Oklahoma. Don’t think for one second that Sam Bradfords’ shoulder woes made last season a lost season for the Sooners.  Landry Jones, while impressive overall last season, gained some much needed confidence and experience under center.  Jones and Oklahoma should continue their progress en route to yet another BCS bowl game loss berth for the Sooners.

Big 12 Sleeper:  Texas A&M. I’ll admit, this is a reach.  But Mike Sherman is slowly entering ‘hot seat’ territory while gradually coaching up a potentially dangerous Aggie team.  This will figure to be a down year for the Big 12 with the loss of its two superstar quarterbacks and a more wide open conference than meets the eye.  If nothing else, Texas A&M should overachieve in what figures to be an underachieving conference.

Pac-10

Conference Champion: Stanford. Don’t be fooled by any of the preseason rankings as the Pac-10 received its annual preseason poll shaft despite establishing itself as arguably the deepest conference in college football last season.  Jim Harbaugh’s defensive unit scares me (in a bad way), but Andrew Luck should put up big numbers in his second year as a starter and without that ball hog Toby Gerhart stealing the spotlight.  I am fully aware that I didn’t mention the Oregon Ducks once.

Pac-10 Sleeper: USC. It is been the prevailing school of thought that the Trojans will simply mail in their next two seasons (and beyond) as they have nothing to play for.  However from my standpoint this will make them more dangerous.

The negative intangibles brought on by the bowl ban should surface in hotly contested rivalry games (Notre Dame, @UCLA), but USC as a perennial underdog in the court of public opinion could be a blessing in disguise.  This generation’s Trojans, similar to the Hurricanes of the 80′s, have historically been poor favorites and play their best ball when facing adversity or doubt.  It’s also worth mentioning that Lane Kiffin could be coaching to keep his job this year.

Big Ten

Conference Champion: Ohio State. Terrelle Pryor should have his long awaited breakout year this season.  Tresselball (soft schedule, losing big games early enough to be a non-factor by the time the BCS ratings come out) and a new found confidence after their rare Rose Bowl victory should keep the Buckeyes in the BCS Championship discussion throughout the regular season.   However this could be the year that Rick Rod and Michigan get their revenge.

Big Ten Sleeper:  Iowa. Sure, Michigan will be in a due-or-die year.  But nobody’s really been talking about Iowa despite a hugely successful 2009 campaign as a team on the rise.  I’ve been one of the Hawkeyes’ biggest critics, but this team has been mostly kept in tact and it figures to be a very dangerous obstacle as far as the Buckeyes’ Championship hopes are concerned.  Also, be on the lookout for Michigan State.

Big East

Conference Champion: West Virginia. After an impressive 2009 and 18 starters returning, a West Virginia conference championship should not be a surprise to anyone.

Big East Sleeper: America. This conference is proof that perhaps the Mountain West should be a BCS conference.  But in the spirit of good coaching I’ll take Rutgers.

ACC

Conference Champion: Miami (FL). The U is almost back.  Almost.  An ACC Championship berth should get them there and will be very possible as the Canes are chock full of talent and the Hokies are perennially overrated.  A tough schedule makes me nervous, but an older, wiser Jacory Harris should keep things under control.

ACC Sleeper:  Florida state. Sans Bobby Bowden, plus Jimbo Fisher, and potential Heisman candidate Christian Ponder, the Seminoles’ are expected to boast one of the most potent offenses in the ACC.

Notre Dame: 9 wins.

Boise State: A big, fat, loss to Virginia Tech in week one.

BCS Championship Prediction: Alabama over Oklahoma

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Tags: College football 2010, Rick Rod Revenge, USC Bowl Ban