College football will be here in three days.
WHOO-HOO!!!
In what will be the last year of the Bowl Championship Series (coupled with some conference realignment among the power conferences), this should be the most exciting college football season in recent memory. As far as which conferences will be previewed, I will provide some in-depth analysis of the “Power Five” conferences (ACC, B1G, Big XII, Pac-12 and SEC), with a little mention to the other “Group of Five” conferences. Since most fans do not give a damn about the likes of the American Athletic Conference, Mountain West, MAC, Sun Belt, and Conference USA, neither will I.
So, without further ado…
Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Division
- Clemson
- Florida State
- Wake Forest
- NC State
- Syracuse
- Maryland
- Boston College
Coastal Division
- Miami
- North Carolina
- Georgia Tech
- Virginia Tech
- Duke
- Pittsburgh
- Virginia
Conference Champ: Clemson
Analysis: This should be one of the more exciting seasons in ACC history. The Atlantic will be a two-team race, while the Coastal will be wide-open. Whoever wins that Florida State-Clemson showdown in mid-October will win the conference. I would not be surprised if UNC or Georgia Tech wins the Coastal instead of Miami.
Big Ten
Legends Division
- Michigan
- Northwestern
- Nebraska
- Michigan State
- Iowa
- Minnesota
Leaders Division
- Ohio State
- Wisconsin
- Penn State
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Purdue
Conference Champ: Ohio State
Analysis: The B1G is in the midst of its biggest down years in recent memory. Because of NCAA sanctions, the two teams who played for the conference title gave up 70 points in back-to-back weeks (Nebraska) and played .500 ball in conference play (Wisconsin). I think the B1G is pretty much Ohio State and everybody else. The team to watch is Northwestern.
By the way, I wished the B1G would have used my “Afro” and “Sheen” division names. Oh well…
Big XII
- Oklahoma State
- Kansas State
- Texas
- Oklahoma
- TCU
- West Virginia
- Baylor
- Texas Tech
- Iowa State
- Kansas
Analysis: This should be a two-team race between Oklahoma State and Kansas State. While Texas is the darkhorse, the Longhorns really underachieved last season. I don’t know if Mack Brown will be coaching Texas after this season if it comes up short of expectations again. The question should be how long will Bob Stoops stick around Oklahoma if the Sooners underachieve yet again.
Pac-12
North Division
- Stanford
- Oregon
- Oregon State
- Cal
- Washington
- Washington State
South Division
- UCLA
- USC
- Arizona
- Arizona State
- Utah
- Colorado
Conference Champ: Stanford
Analysis: The Pac-12 is perhaps the only conference who could challenge the SEC in college football. I think Stanford and Oregon are far and away the two best teams in the Pac-12, and could challenge the likes of Alabama, LSU and South Carolina. I think that Stanford will prevail over Oregon and smack UCLA in the conference title game, though I do love the job UCLA coach Jim Mora is doing with the Bruins.
Southeastern Conference, a.k.a. “The Beast”
East Division
- Georgia
- South Carolina
- Florida
- Vanderbilt
- Missouri
- Tennessee
- Kentucky
West Division
- Alabama
- LSU
- Texas A&M
- Mississippi State
- Ole Miss
- Arkansas
- Auburn
Conference Champ: Alabama
Analysis: Aside from Georgia, I do not see ANYONE beating Alabama this season. I was hoping Texas A&M would do a little something, but QB Johnny Manziel is more Lindsey Lohan than college QB these days. LSU would be a good foil, but their offense does not come close to matching its defensive firepower. South Carolina is suffering from the same “LSU disease” (great defense, no offense). Simply put, this is Alabama’s world and the SEC – and the rest of college football – are just living in it.
Best of the Rest
American Athletic Conference (Conference USA 2.0): Louisville (I bet the Cardinals are counting down the days they will escape this train-wreck of a conference)
Mountain West: Boise State (think the Broncos still want to be in the Pac-12?)
Mid-American Conference: Northern Illinois (for all the smack I talked earlier, the MAC is not a bad football conference)
Conference USA: East Carolina
Sun Belt: Arkansas State
Oh yeah, I almost forgot…
National Champion: Alabama (gee that was hard…)
Categories: college football
Good work. College football previews are a daunting task. I hope you’re right about UCLA. I like a changing of the guard in SoCal. Loved the Lindsay Lohan line.
That’s what I am here for ;)…