WEEK 4 REVIEW AND CONFERENCE CHECK IN!!

Another great week in the books, setting up a major weekend of college football to come! Possibly a new challenger arises for Alabama, USC and Oregon continue to slide in the PAC 12, and the end of an era in the SEC. A third of the way through the season and the contenders are starting to reveal themselves. I’ll take a look at each Power 5 conference, and also look ahead to a monster Week 5 which includes THREE top ten matchups! But first…

End of an Area

Les Miles was fired Sunday afternoon from LSU. This decision may appear a year late, as I thought he should’ve been gone at the end of last year. Les was unable to develop a quarterback, and was too loyal to Cam Cameron, refusing to reinvigorate a boring offense that proved to be non-competitive in the SEC, despite the wealth of talent he had on campus. Crazy thing, LSU was literally ONE SECOND away from winning Saturday. Fittingly, a clock management issue caused LSU to snap the ball late, as quarterback Danny Etling fired a game-winning touchdown pass to DJ Clark with no time remaining. That is until the officials reviewed the play and determined the snap came after all the time ran off the clock. So there it was. Gus Malzahn was the winner of the first “losing coach gets fired” game of the year. The decision had to be made now. If you wait, and LSU ends the year 9-4 or something in that realm, and the alumni was behind him, it’d be tough to fire Les who was in his 12 year in Baton Rouge. That’s why the decision was made now! I don’t see Les sitting out for long. This man literally ate, slept, and breathed football. He’ll be back at a different program for the 2017-2018 season, hopefully refreshed and ready to give us more quotes. As for LSU, this is a top 5 job in America and there’s no doubt we’ll see a ton of big names thrown in the hat! I’ll give my favorites in the next post!

Conference Check-In

ACC

So far, it seems like the ACC is one of the top leagues in the country. Louisville has made a major splash as it’s jumped into the top 5 and deservedly so. They have the leading Heisman candidate in Lamar Jackson, and an offensive genius in Bobby Petrino at the helm. Clemson looks to be hitting their stride, and despite a lopsided loss to Louisville, Florida State should still be taken very seriously. The ACC Coastal looks like a race being Miami, and North Carolina but Duke coming off of beating Notre Dame is likely to have tons of confidence the rest of the way! Again, I’m a Miami fan so I think they have what it takes to win this division but it all starts this weekend against Georgia Tech.

BIG 10

Or is this the best conference in America. Seems to be pretty impressive so far, as multiple teams look to be contenders who can represent the league in the playoff. Ohio State is the class of the league to me. People were worried about them, as they lost over 15 starters from last year’s team but Ohio State lead by top 3 coach in America Urban Meyer, has proven to be a program that truly reloads each year! Michigan has been dominant for the most part this year but I expect Wisconsin to challenge them in all phases this weekend. I expect Michigan State to bounce back from the beating the Badgers gave them last week and look good going forward. Nebraska beat Oregon showing they could handle a major challenge from the Pac 12, even though Oregon kinda beat themselves by continuously going for 2 on every touchdown and losing by just 3 but a wins a win! North Dakota State is a really good football team so I won’t crush Iowa for taking that loss there and I expect them to also be solid. We will again a little more clarity on Saturday when Wisconsin travels to the Big House to faceoff with Michigan in a major top 10 matchup. Ohio State though, is my choice to win the league!

BIG 12

I don’t expect much from the BIG 12 as a whole. I have very little respect for the Baylor program but o well, their 4-0 and that’s all that matters. I expect Oklahoma to continue to struggle, and if Texas Tech had any kind of defense I might give them as chance as they are capable to putting up 40 against anyone. I guess, by default, my choice to win the league would be TCU. I expect Kenny Hill to continue to make plays and the defense to get better as the year goes on.

PAC 12

Another top 10 matchup this Friday features Stanford and Washington! This should be a great contest as the winner of this game probably becomes the favorite to win the PAC 12 this year. The PAC 12 is probably the deepest league in the country. I mean when Oregon and USC are in last place in their respective divisions that’s something as both of those teams don’t lack for talent at all. I honestly don’t think there’s a truly bad team in the league, which is definitely not what I could say for the other conferences. Colorado is proving to be a young up and coming team and Utah and others continue to improve. I mean UCLA has 2 losses, but one is to a good Texas A&M team in overtime, and the other was a late loss to Stanford. Arizona has 2 losses but the latest was an overtime loss to Washington. Ok, I’ll say it. The PAC 12 is the best conference in the country.

SEC

The SEC is probably the 3^rd or 4^th best conference right now to me. The East looks like Tennessee’s to lose right now, and Florida hasn’t beat a single good team yet. Alabama continues to not only run the SEC West, but they run college football and that’s continued to hold the league up for years. I will say that Ole Miss is probably the best 2 loss team in the country though. I mean they have 2 losses and were up by more than 20 points in each game! Their talent is crazy, I mean did you see how they beat down Georgia this weekend? A&M has been impressive, specifically their defense and the ability to stop the run! They still have a tough schedule ahead so they must continue to improve. Arkansas showed a lot of toughness in the loss to A&M , specifically the quarterback Austin Allen but they still loss by 3 touchdowns so I’m still not taking them serious in the West. I’m interested in seeing what Ed Orgeron does as the interim head coach for LSU but as I said before, Alabama runs college football until someone says otherwise.

Week 4 picks

We went 3/6 last week with picks and I just can’t forgive Florida and UCLA for blowing leads and messing up my averages! Hopefully this week goes much better.

Stanford (7) VS Washington (10)

A game featuring the PAC 12’s top defenses should make for a great Friday night. I am really looking forward to this game. Arizona challenged Washington with skill and flash, but Stanford will challenge them physically and I really want to see how they respond. All eyes will be on Christian McCaffrey as he gets a big stage game to put on an early show for Heisman voters. Those eyes include that defense of Washington’s who’s sure to be ready. Stanford quarterback Ryan Burns has shown he can make good throws but Washington has playmakers in the secondary such as Budda Baker and Sidney Jones. Washington leads the nation in takeaways so Burns should be very careful with his decision making. I’m going with the upset.

Washington 31

Stanford 27

Miami (14) VS Georgia Tech

“Now it gets real” said Miami quarterback Brad Kaaya as the Hurricanes begin conference play against Georgia Tech. Luckily for Miami, new coach Mark Richt is no stranger to the Georgia tech triple option offense they’ll face Saturday, As Georgia’ coach, he saw that every year and will surely come up with a plan to neutralize it. That combined with Miami having Kaaya, as well as a great running game make me lean their way for this contest.

Miami 30

Georgia Tech 17

Wisconsin (8) VS Michigan (4)

Michigan has looked great so far, having only been tested by Colorado. Wisconsin has passed both of their early season tests with flying colors. This is truly Michigan’s first “big  game” of the year while the Badgers have already faced off with LSU and destroyed Michigan State in East Lansing so I have no doubt they will be ready. I think that confidence will carry them in this game. Michigan has shown major talent and great team speed but I think Wisconsin will control the line of scrimmage and in that, control the game.

Wisconsin 31

Michigan 20

Oklahoma VS TCU (15)

Oklahoma really can’t afford another loss as they have started the year 1-2 but I think TCU hands them number 3 this week. I’m just not high on the talent of the Sooners this year as they’ve been exposed on both sides of the ball this year. Teams having even more film on Baker Mayfield have been able to control him somewhat this year as well. Kenny Hill will make plays down the field and lead TCU to a victory

TCU 37

Oklahoma 27

Tennessee (11) VS Georgia (25)

I don’t care that Tennessee impressed me by coming back to beat Florida this week. I will NEVER pick Tennessee to win anything because I’ve done it the last 2 years and they’ve let me down! So until they win the SEC East division, I just can’t do it! Georgia just got rolled by Ole Miss so hopefully they come back hungry this week. I think they’re a year away from actually being a contender in the division by I think them being at home gives them a slight edge.

Georgia 24

Tennessee 23

Louisville (3) VS Clemson (5)

Now for the biggest game of the night. This might be the best game of the year. 2 entertaining teams, 2 Heisman contenders in Deshaun Watson and Lamar Jackson who is running away with the award at this point. Louisville put the world on notice when it annihilated Florida State at home but this game will be in Death Valley, AT NIGHT! Not sure why I put that in all caps but it always seems to make a difference! The defending ACC champs at home, are not wanting to lose their crowns just yet. Louisville’s defense is fast and talented and they are definitely full of weapons on offense starting with Jackson. I mean if he’s able to do what he’s been doing so far this year then you might as well have the Heisman waiting for him in the locker room. However, Clemson’s defensive line has proven to be one of the top units in the conference and I think it’ll get him plenty of problems. In a showdown with 2 bigtime quarterbacks, it’ll come down to who makes more plays and at the end of the night, I expect Watson to make one more play than Jackson.

Clemson 34

Louisville 26

So wow, what a week 4 this should be! Big game after big game as teams look to continue to separate themselves. As we all know, in college football every week is a playoff. 3 top ten matchups are almost elimination games! Obviously a lot can happen between now and the end of the season but it all starts now! One of my great friends is getting married right at the kick of the Louisville and Clemson game. I really hope he doesn’t mind me utilizing the WatchESPN app on my phone, I just hope I remember to turn the sound off. 

WEEK 3 REVIEW AND WEEK 4 PICKS!!!!

Well if that wasn’t Statement Saturday, I don’t know what else to call it. Multiple ranked vs ranked matchups and games going down to the wire except in Louisville! Statements were made by both teams and players and we are finally starting to learn who might be there in the end and who definitely won’t be!

Statement #1

Louisville

This was easy! Gotta welcome Bobby Petrino back to the top of college football, showing his offensive genius is still very much alive and well. He has team loaded with weapons, and a defensive that plays fast and physical. They completely DISMANTLED the number 2 team in the country Florida State 63-20 and honestly that scores deceptive. It wasn’t that close. I had questions about Florida State’s offensive line before this game and Louisville capitalized in every way. Freshman Deondre Francois looked shaky in his first road test and Dalvin Cook was again held in check in the run game.

Statement 1A

Lamar Jackson

As of right now, the Heisman race is pretty much Lamar Jackson and no one else. Noone else is impacting his team the way he is. I mean 18 touchdowns in 3 games…wow! He’s running like Michael Vick out here! His passing game reminds me of Cam Newton’s actually, very similar footwork and the way they get rid of the ball. He is literally toying with top tier athletes and it’s been AMAZING to watch! A major test still awaits in 2 weeks when Louisville travels to Clemson, but for now, its Jacksons world and we’re just visiting.

Statement #3

Ohio State

I’ll say this. This was more so of a statement to the sports world, than myself. I knew Ohio State would be a REALLY REALLY good team. I know Oklahoma wouldn’t be as a good. As you saw in last week’s blog, I picked this game to be a blowout, and that’s exactly what it was. Oklahoma lost their best weapon on offense when Sterling Sheperd went to the NFL last year, and several members on defense. Also, I was never blown away with Baker Mayfield. Of course, the dis to the Buckeye defense by BACKUP quarterback Austin Kendall didn’t help! Ohio State is just full of playmakers, a fast defense, a playmaking quarterback who keeps getting better and a top 3 coach in the country! I fully expect to see them in the playoff.

Statement #4

Michigan State

Now, I picked Michigan State to win this game but not to the level where they would completely dominate Notre Dame. The final score definitely doesn’t indicate how it all went down. Unfortunately they stopped being aggressive when they were up but they controlled the game. This was supposed to be a “down” year for them but they’re a team who I can see challenging Ohio State for the Big 10 title.

Who’s out?

Of course, there comes a time where teams we thought would be contenders will eliminate themselves from playoff contention and a few already have even though it’s only week 3!

Florida State: You can’t lose by 50 and consider yourself a playoff team

Oklahoma: 2 L’s before October and you don’t have a chance

Notre Dame: See above

USC: That program is falling, in every way…2 L’s before October doesn’t help

Ole Miss: Ole Miss might be the 2^nd best team in the SEC!! But 2 collapses and 2 L’s gets you on the “Out” list.

Week 4 Picks:

So we went 4 for 6 last week, making up 10 for 16 on the year! Hope we can continue the upward swing!

Wisconsin (11) VS Michigan State (8)

Major game for Wisconsin! You gotta wonder if they were looking ahead to this game when they struggled to beat Georgia State last week. Wisconsin already has a win against a solid LSU team but Michigan State is a different animal. They showed last week against Notre Dame that they could beat a team by scoring with a balanced attack and a smothering defense. Wisconsin better be ready!

Michigan State 27

Wisconsin 17

Georgia (12) VS Ole Miss (23)

Ole Miss hasn’t benefitted much from a tough schedule early. They had an all-time collapse against Florida State when they were up 28-6, and also were up 24-3 against Alabama and lost both games! Chad Kelly has been up and down and Ole Miss needs a more consistent Chad Kelly to challenge for the SEC West. They’re defensive front 7 has been good, but they’re secondary has struggled mightily while dealing with injuries. I still don’t know what Georgia is. They still don’t seem to have settled on a quarterback and the defense has been bending but luckily not always breaking. I think this is just the game OIe Miss needed to attempt to turn their season around.

Ole Miss 37

Georgia 27

Florida (19) VS Tennessee (14)

This one’s easy! We don’t pick Tennessee to win anything anymore. Florida may be without starting quarterback Luke Del Rio, but they won’t be without that GREAT defense of theirs.

Florida 20

Tennessee 10

Arkansas (17) VS Texas A&M (10)

I am REALLY anticipating this matchup! Arkansas’s offense has been very solid to start the year while A&M’s defense has been great so far! Trevor Knight is still trying to get the offense going and that should continue to improve as he has weapons. Kevin Sumlin’s team might have the best wide receiving corps in the country, much less the SEC. The speed and size of these guys will likely give Arkansas lots of trouble and A&M has the best secondary in the SEC in my opinion.

Texas A&M 37

Arkansas 23

Stanford (7) VS UCLA

UPSET SPECIAL!!!!! This is my pick for the upset of the week! UCLA is solid and has a quarterback who one day will be a good NFL starter. Yea, Stanford destroyed USC, but USC is terrible. Somebody has to get upset and this is my pick. Even though I respect David Shaw, I think they slip up on the road this week.

UCLA 29

Stanford 23

Clemson (5) VS Georgia Tech

Thursday nights have been an upset alert game for years and tonight is no different. Clemson coming off a beating of South Carolina State goes against the triple option attack of Georgia Tech. I think Clemson’s offense got some confidence back after a blowout win last week. They should be ready to beat a solid, yet not very talented Georgia Tech team. It’ll be closer than some may think however, and I hope Clemson isn’t looking ahead to the showdown in 2 weeks with Louisville.

Clemson 31

Georgia Tech 17

So there we have it! College football just keeps better and here’s another week for the contenders to separate themselves from the pretenders! Who will make statements in week 4? Will anybody come close to challenging Lamar Jackson for the Heisman? So many questions that need answers!

WHAT STOOD OUT IN WEEK 2 AND A LOOK AHEAD TO WEEK 3

I warned in the previous post that the days where it seems like there are no MAJOR games, have proven to be some of the best college football Saturdays of all, and this last Saturday was no exception! For the 1st week in years, there were zero games that featured ranked opponents. But none of that mattered. From a game winning play that shouldn’t have counted, to a double overtime thriller, college football fans had to be truly satisfied! With plenty of good, you must have plenty of bad and we definitely saw both sides this weekend.

MOST IMPRESSIVE

LOUISVILLE

We all thought an ACC quarterback would be at the top of the Heisman race, but I don’t think many of us thought it would be Lamar Jackson. After scoring 13 touchdowns in the first 2 games of the season, he clearly leaped to the head of the list. He has been nothing short of spectacular, proven by being only the 2^nd player EVER to win back to back Walter Camp player of the week awards. His passing is much improved and he has had no issues spreading the ball to a talented group of receivers. Bobby Petrino continues to show he is an OFFENSIVE GENIUS as Louisville continues to pile up points. Both he and Lamar Jackson will have a chance to show they are a true contender this weekend when College Gameday and Florida State comes to town.  Speaking of Petrino…

ARKANSAS

Regardless of living in Arkansas, I am in NO WAY a fan of the Razorbacks but a road win against a team many picked to win the BIG 12 can’t go unnoticed. Of course it looked like they would blow a 13 point lead when TCU came back and took the lead in the 4^th quarter, but Arkansas was able to block a field goal after a TCU touchdown was overturned and force overtime. Now I thought TCU should have went for it on 4^th down in the 2^nd overtime as Kenny Hill had pretty much done what he wanted in the 2^nd half, but they didn’t and it came back to haunt them when Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen scored on a keeper on 3^rd and goal. A play here or there and this game goes a different way, but these are the kind of games you expect Arkansas to lose. However they showed some major toughness down the stretch and for that, I was impressed.

TENNESSEE

I’ll still never pick Tennessee to do anything positive but I won’t lie, I was impressed by this win! On a HUGE stage playing in front of the biggest crowd college football has ever seen, they showed up against Virginia Tech. After a slow start and being down after the 1^st quarter, they dominated the rest of the game in every way. This was the team that many people picked to win the SEC East. Joshua Dobbs bounced back to score 5 touchdowns and the defense played fast and aggressive, forcing turnovers to turn the game around.

LEAST IMPRESSIVE

CLEMSON

What the hell is up with Clemson?? Specifically their offense. This was a team lead by a guy many picked to not only win the Heisman, but also be the 1^st quarterback drafted in the 2017 NFL draft. Clearly, their offensive line has had some struggles, but you still expect them to be able to move the ball consistently. They’ve struggled for 2 weeks straight trying to get the ground game going and Deshaun Watson has made some questionable decisions with the ball. His receivers not attempting to make plays sometimes definitely doesn’t help him out. The defense has been solid but they allowed Troy to score 2 touchdowns in 5 minutes in the 4^th quarter on Saturday. This terrible showing caused them to drop from 2 to 5 in the latest AP poll. They must shape up quick as the competition will only get stronger.

GEORGIA

After an impressive win against North Carolina in Week 1, most thought Georgia would only improve upon that showing. However, they appeared to take a step back against Nicholls State only winning 26-24. Jacob Eason played very well against UNC but also took a step back as he was replaced by Greyson Lambert late in the game. Despite all of their talent, it didn’t show itself on the field a lot Saturday. They didn’t dominate the line of scrimmage as expected and Nick Chubb was contained. If Georgia wants to make a move to win the East, they need to show considerable improvement right away as they open SEC play this Saturday.

TEXAS TECH

I’m convinced that Texas Tech doesn’t practice defense. They allowed 68 points and allowed ONE player to score 8 touchdowns. Now Kellen Ballage is good, but I don’t think he’s 8 touchdowns in one game good! Texas Tech has the offense to beat any team in the country but when your defense gives up touchdowns like open layups, it’s tough to do. I feel sorry for Patrick Mahomes. When I watch him, I remember how great Johnny Manziel was his last year at A&M. He was phenomenal but his defense cost them game after game. Mahomes is CLEARLY of the best football players in the country and no matter what he does, he can’t get his defense to equal what he does on offense. As much respect as I have for what Kliff Kingsbury has done at Texas Tech, he needs to get his defense together or otherwise go be a coordinator somewhere else.

WEEK 3 PICKS

After going 5/6 last week, we only went 1/4 in week 2. With a HUGE week upcoming, I’m excited to not only pick these games but watch them play out.

MICHIGAN STATE (12) VS NOTRE DAME (18)

After losing to Texas, this is a must win game for Notre Dame if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive. They bounced back nicely against Nevada after realizing that Deshone Kizer is the best quarterback for them. We don’t much about Michigan State at all, with the exception that they had a rather unimpressive opening win against Furman. A bye week helps them correct some errors as they have to travel to Notre Dame Saturday. This game could really go either way but if Michigan State wants to keep pace in the BIG 10 race they have to win this game and it starts on defense.

MICHIGAN STATE 27

NOTRE DAME 23

TEXAS A&M (17) VS AUBURN

With all the big games Saturday, I think this one flies under the radar. An important game for two teams needing big wins. Texas A&M already has a good win on the road against UCLA, and Auburn played well against Clemson in week 1. Both of these coaches have been rumored to be on the hot seat unless some major improvements happen this year. They were both impressive in their week 2 wins and Auburns defense will have to be ready for the offensive firepower that the Aggies will present. It seems Coach Malzahn has finally settled on a quarterback in Sean White who has shown he could make accurate throws downfield. Texas A&M brings in one of the best secondary’s in the SEC which will make his job tough. This game could honestly go either way and even though it’s in Auburn, I think Texas A&M simply has more playmakers.

TEXAS A&M 34

AUBURN 24

OREGON (22) VS NEBRASKA

Both teams enter this contest 2-0 and needing a big win before conference play starts. This win would do a lot for Nebraska, who’s lead by former Oregon State coach Mike Riley. He has a lot of history with the Ducks, though it’s not actually good history as his Oregon State teams lost 7 straight to Oregon. Now he comes in with a team full of weapons that he feels is more ready to compete. Oregon’s defense is again struggling this season and will need to correct itself in this one, specifically on stopping the run. The offense has been bigtime as usual. Royce Freeman and Dakota Prukop have played great football so far and I expect it to continue against Nebraska. It’s against my beliefs to ever pick a team lead by Tommie Armstrong to win a game.

OREGON 38

NEBRASKA 20

OHIO STATE (3) VS OKLAHOMA (14)

One of the marquee matchups of the day! Ohio State travels to Oklahoma in what should be a very exciting game. However, I don’t think it will live up to the hype! For one, I think Baker Mayfield is overrated. He’s good, but I think he’s been exposed in big games. Oklahoma NEEDS this win. They could win the BIG 12, but a 2 loss BIG 12 champion probably won’t make the playoff. Why does Oklahoma need this win so much? They already lost. Who ‘d they lose to? Houston. Who’s Houston’s coach? Tom Herman. Tom Herman came from Ohio State. Do you not think Tom Herman didn’t give his boy Urban Meyer a call and give him alllll the inside info he could handle? Come on now! Not only is Ohio State the better team, but they have the best player on the field in JT Barrett. Unfortunately this one won’t be as close as you might think.

OHIO STATE 37

OKLAHOMA 17

FLORIDA STATE (2) VS LOUISVILLE (10)

This should be an exciting game featuring a lot of points. A Louisville victory would definitely put them on the map and let the rest of the country know they are contenders. It would also bring Bobby Petrino back to the national spotlight! A place he’s craved since the motorcycle scandal that ended his tenure at Arkansas. Florida State may have the most talent in the conference, but going against this bigtime offense without their top safety Derwin James will be a major challenge. Lamar Jackson has been unstoppable so far this season, so FSU’s defense will need to be very disciplined against him. Deondre Francois has been good so far for the Seminoles, but I have major questions about their offensive line, and this will be a MAJOR road test for him.

LOUISVILLE 41

FLORIDA STATE 39

ALABAMA (1) VS OLE MISS (19)

It’s crazy to think with how dominant Alabama has been over the last 7 years, that they are on the verge of being beaten by one team for the 3^rd straight year. Huge Freeze has seemed to have Nick Saban’s number lately and he looks to keep it going. Ole Miss has seemed to relish the challenge of going up against Alabama. They have the talent and the quarterback in Chad Kelly who can help them do it again. Their defensive line is one of the best in the SEC and will surely test Alabama quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Blake Barnett. Alabama is striving for perfection this year and the last time they had a highly anticipated game was week1 against USC. The result was a 52-6 beating. I don’t expect that this week as Ole Miss needs to recover from the mistakes they made after blowing a big lead against Florida State. I have no idea why, but I think they can.

OLE MISS 31

ALABAMA 27

So here we have another one of those “stay on your couch” days in college football! Big games all day, and plenty of excitement to come. It’s always crazy making these picks so early on because most of these teams are major unknowns right now! Obviously, I don’t care about that. I love dissecting what I think a team can be and watching them on Saturday to see it unfold! And this Saturday should be another eye opening weekend in college football!

WEEK 1 REVIEW AND WEEK 2 PICKS

What a great first weekend in college football! Anyone who took my advice to not leave the couch all weekend can send me thank you notes in the mail. Great game after great game, the “Best Opening Weekend Ever” did not disappoint. There were definitely a few things I wanted to touch on in this week’s blog. Unfortunately, Week 2 doesn’t provide a ton of bigtime matchups but over the years that’s when you might see some of the best games.

THE SEC

Look, this is not a quick reaction or situation where I didn’t take a couple of days to think about it, but I’ve been saying this for years. The SEC isn’t where it once was. I know this may be a shocker to all the SEC fans out there, but they play football in the rest of the country as well and it showed large in Week 1. Before I get to the weekend that was, I’ll state my stance on the SEC. This league is Alabama and then several solid to mediocre teams. The SEC depends heavily on Alabama to be great and without it, it would be the freakin MAC! But since it does have Alabama, I have to take that into consideration. I think top to bottom, the PAC 12, ACC, and BIG 10 are right there with the SEC. I would probably rank the conferences right now…

PAC 12

SEC

ACC

BIG 10

BIG 12

Now this could change by years end but that’s where I have them right now. I wanted to touch on a couple teams in the SEC real quick.

LSU

When is Les Miles going to get fired? It blows my mind that he hasn’t developed an offense in years. Yes, Brandon Harris is still trash but that’s not his fault. LSU is trying to run a pro-style offense without a pro style quarterback and that typically doesn’t work. I respect Les for being loyal to Cam Cameron but it’s time to bring in a new guy to let LSU’s athletes get the ball and make plays. It’s boring and disheartening to watch LSU not get any better. As much I respect les Miles, it’s time for him to go.

AUBURN

What. The. Hell. Was. That.? Pick a quarterback!!! My goodness! How do you have FIVE different guys take snaps in a game? That’s insane. Gus Malzahn was known early in his career as an offensive genius but watching Auburn Saturday against Clemson was just offensive! Now they did get catch Clemson’s offense get off to a slow start to the season and stayed in the game but Malzahn needs to make a decision. John Franklin played the best of  the guys to me, but it’s tough to stay in a rhythm when you’re constantly getting pulled. Auburn opens the SEC schedule with Texas A&M and LSU. They NEED to win those games or I would seriously start to worry about Malzahn’s job security.

PICK A QUARTERBACK

Look, I haven’t been in a college football coaches meeting room before. I don’t know how those conversations go but I don’t understand how you can go all offseason without identifying the best person to lead your team. I can’t stress this enough. It is very difficult to establish and maintain a rhythm when you’re constantly getting pulled for another quarterback. Now this didn’t hurt Texas, as they found a way to get arguably their biggest win in years by upsetting Notre Dame. True freshman Shane Buechele played a great game but did miss a few throws. One has to wonder, was it because his rhythm was off due to being subbed out for Tyrone Swoopes? Luckily it didn’t hurt Texas but I firmly believe it hurt Notre Dame. Deshone Kizer is and has clearly been the best quarterback for Notre Dame, but Brian Kelly just had to give Maliik Zaire a shot. That might have cost Notre Dame the win. Georgia got off to a slow start trying to start Grayson Lambert when Jacob Eason was CLEARLY the better option. I could continue with teams being unable to pick a quarterback but I think with the outcomes of most of these teams, they realized the error of their ways and will rely on ONE guy the rest of the way.

WEEK 2 PICKS

So, we went 5/6 on picks last week! Would have been perfect if Ole Miss didn’t collapse in the 2^nd half but not bad for a week of major matchups! So here we go!

PITTSBURGH VS PENN STATE

Welcome back James Conner! So amazing seeing someone who overcame cancer and returned to the field. Even though it’s an in state rivalry, this game should not be very fun to watch. Two teams that rely on defense to win games. Pittsburgh’s is a little better so I expect them to set the tone for the game from the beginning! I expect it to go down to the wire.

PITTSBURGH 23

PENN STATE 13

TEXAS TECH VS ARIZONA STATE

Should be great game here with a lot of points. My BIG 12 player of the year, Patrick Mahommes is coming off a great game where he threw for almost 500 yards and 6 touchdowns. He will be tough to stop for an Arizona State secondary that is simply not very good. Arizona State has some offensive weapons and are led by new quarterback Manny Watkins and receiver Tim White. Texas Tech just has the best player on the field, so I’ll go with them.

TEXAS TECH 45

ARIZONA STATE 33

ARKANSAS VS TCU

TCU comes in as 6 point favorites in a slow week that makes this the biggest game of the day. Both teams struggled in their week 1 matchups but at least TCU was able to score. The Arkansas offense, despite several weapons only managed 21 points against Louisiana Tech. TCU ‘s quarterback Kenny Hill has some experience beating Arkansas as he did while a member of Texas A&M 2 years ago and coming off a performance where he threw for over 430 yards and scored 5 total touchdowns he looks poised to do it again. JUCO transfer Taj Williams has provided Hill with an elite option at receiver who looks to expose the Arkansas secondary. This should be a really good game as I expect TCU’s defense to look better than it did last week, but the Razorbacks will provide a great test.

TCU 34

ARKANSAS 26

TENNESSEE (23) VS VIRGINIA TECH

The best thing about this game is that it’s being played at Bristol Speedway! Should provide a great venue and 150,000 fans to watch an exciting matchup. As I mentioned before, I’m not buying any of the Tennessee hype this year. I might pick them to lose every game. New Hokies head coach Justin Fuente could use a signature win and to get one against a team from the “mighty SEC” would definitely be a good look. I expect Virginia Tech to load up against the run and force Josh Dobbs to beat them, and he probably won’t be able to. Meanwhile, Hokies quarterback Jerod Evans should be able to make some plays downfield.

VIRGINIA TECH 27

TENNESSEE 17

WEEK 1 PREDICTIONS AND MY HEISMAN CANDIDATES

Finally!!! After 7 months of sadness, college football finally returns. And boy, does it return!! This might be is the BEST OPENING WEEKEND EVER. Honestly, if I leave from in front of my television at any time Saturday, I’m doing it wrong. From 11:00 AM CST, and day long, we get to watch bigtime matchup after bigtime matchup and I couldn’t be more excited. I’m even planning on getting up early and watching all THREE hours of College Gameday (You should too). Not to mention this but we have a primetime matchup on Labor Day! My week 1 predictions are just that predictions. With this being week 1, how much do we REALLY know about these teams yet? Not much, but I’ll do my best.

OKLAHOMA (3) VS HOUSTON (15)

Right off the bat we get to see a Heisman candidate in Baker Mayfield go up against a tough Houston team which is ready to take the next step. Tom Herman turned down multiple opportunities to stay at Houston so it’s clear he believes this team can continue their rise, coming off of knocking off Florida State in last year’s bowl game. Greg Ward Jr. is a guy who like Mayfield, can make plays all over the field and Houston’s defense is a problem! Oklahoma clearly returns some talent but as I mentioned before, I think they take a step back this year.

HOUSTON 26

OKLAHOMA 21

UCLA (16) VS TEXAS A&M

Even though there’s a HUGE buyout for Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin, there’s been a lot of talk about him being on the hot seat so of course this is a pretty big season for his team. UCLA should provide enough of a challenge for him to show what the Aggies are capable of this season! UCLA brings in a bigtime quarterback looking to build off an up and down freshman year in Josh Rosen but I think he’ll have some troubles. While I still think A&M may struggle against the run this year, they should have a VERY GOOD secondary led by Armani Watts, Donovan Wilson, and Justin Evans. Making his first start for Texas A&M will be OU transfer Trevor Knight. If he can get back to playing how he did a couple of years ago and the Aggies defense hold up, I see them getting this win.

TEXAS A&M 30

UCLA 20

GEORGIA (18) VS NORTH CAROLINA (22)

We still don’t know the who new head coach Kirby Smart will start at quarterback for Georgia, but we know Nick Chubb will finally make his return. Before his torn ACL injury last year, Chubb looked like a top 3 running back in the country and now he’s back to prove it. Georgia should boast a pretty good defense this year and whoever wins the quarterback job should have plenty of weapons at his disposal. As I stated in my last blog, I see UNC taking a step back this year but they have a good opportunity to get off to a good start even though they’re replacing a few guys at key positions including quarterback.

GEORGIA 27

NORTH CAROLINA 17

USC (20) VS ALABAMA (1)

Max Browne gets his intro to starting for a major college football program this Saturday at Cowboys stadium. And it’s against Alabama…..yea, good luck with that! Alabama head coach Saban hasn’t yet determined who will start but the starting quarterback for Alabama typically doesn’t seem to matter. Lane Kiffin has been a stable force at the OC position and I look for him to make whoever work out well for the Tide. Now USC does have talent on the offensive line which should help Browne out some, and also 2 GREAT weapons in Juju Smith-Shuster, and Adoree’ Jackson. I expect USC to compete…for a half.

ALABAMA 33

USC 19

CLEMSON (2) VS AUBURN

Deshaun Watson starts his Heisman campaign again Saturday night against an SEC team NEEDING a huge win. Guz Malzahn has been rumored to be on the hot seat this year and a win against Clemson would go a long way towards cooling it off. That’s very unlikely considering Clemson’s offense should be one of the best we’ve seen in a few years. As great as they were last year featuring Watson as the first quarterback to pass for 4,000 yards and run for 1,000, Wayne Galman who rushed for 1500 yards last year, they are expected to be even better with the return of receiver Mike Williams. I like Malzahn but in this matchup, I just don’t see them having enough weapons to compete. Sean White should be solid at quarterback but Auburn’s receivers last year couldn’t catch a cold and without a huge addition in the offseason, I don’t see that changing much.

CLEMSON 41

AUBURN 17

OLE MISS (11) VS FLORIDA STATE (4)

Should be a GREAT matchup Monday night between 2 teams with championship aspirations that meet up in Orlando. Ole Miss despite some controversy off the field brings in a talented roster led by Chad Kelly, and FSU does the same with the best running back in the country in Dalvin Cook. Florida State starts a redshirt freshman at quarterback in Deondre Francois, but head coach Jimbo Fisher believes he’s ready for the challenge. These are clearly 2 of the most talented teams in the country so I expect this game goes down to the wire.

OLE MISS 34

FLORIDA STATE 31

Wow, writing all of that has even more excited than I was when I began! One thing jumps out to me though. SEC fans think they’re the best conference in America, so they get a chance to start the year trying to prove it. Ole Miss/Florida State, Georgia/UNC, Auburn/Clemson, Texas A&M/UCLA all give themselves a chance to make an initial statement for one league or another.

I can’t wait to sit on the couch all weekend and watch it all play out!

PRESEASON HEISMAN CANDIDATES

Deshaun Watson

Dalvin Cook

Chad Kelly 

Royce Freman