The College Football Chronicles 8.13.08: 2008 Predictions, Part One

Posted by Blake Lovell on 08.13.2008

The first ever edition of the College Football Chronicles begins the hype for the 2008 season, which is only weeks away. In the first of this three part series, there are predictions galore, as several different hot topics are analyzed. Is Georgia really No.1? Can Ohio State reach the title game for a third straight year? And what about the Irish? All that and more inside!

Welcome to the College Football Chronicles, right here on 411Mania! The first ever edition of the College Football Chronicles is part one of a three part preview series leading up to the start of the regular season in a couple weeks. In this week's edition, we'll take a look at five of my bold (or not-so-bold) predictions for the upcoming season. While I feel strongly about these predictions, and provide evidence as to why I feel this way, I certainly wouldn't bet the house on any of these statements. But it looks to be an exciting season of college football, so let's jump right into predictions one through five.

1. Georgia will NOT win the SEC Championship, let alone the National Championship.

Let's start this off right by looking at the consensus preseason number one, the Georgia Bulldogs. They are loaded with talent pretty much everywhere on the field, although their secondary is a little questionable at this point. They've got a solid quarterback in Matthew Stafford, a Heisman-favorite in running back Knowshon Moreno, and a force on the defensive line in Geno Atkins. They're going to be great on both sides of the football, no question about it. They've got the kicking game too. Despite all of these positive things, however, they still play in the Southeastern Conference. And there are some large obstacles standing in the way of the their quest for a national championship.

First of all, I'm not sold on Matthew Stafford. As I said above, he's a "solid" SEC quarterback. But I'm not sure he's the kind of quarterback that can lead a team to the national championship. Sure, the Bulldogs' attack will primarily be a running attack with the kind of talent they have in the backfield. However, there comes a time where you've gotta throw the ball. Stafford had 19 TD's vs. 10 INT's last season, and there's nothing wrong with that. He didn't seem to make the type of progression they had hoped for though, and unless makes a big stride this year, he's still going to face some trouble when teams load up against the run. You can bet the Bulldog offense will be seeing eight men in the box quite a bit this season. Stafford might be the second best quarterback in the conference this season, but that's not really saying a whole lot, as the talent at quarterback in the league is down considerably from the last few seasons.

Georgia's schedule sets up nicely the first three weeks, with three very winnable games (Ga. Southern, Central Michigan, and South Carolina). But then things really start to get interesting for the Bulldogs. They travel to consensus preseason Top 20 Arizona State for a battle with the Sun Devils, which will not be easy by any means. Georgia then gets four of the top teams in the conference in a span of a little over a month (Sept. 27 vs. Alabama, Oct. 11 vs. Tennessee, Oct. 25 at LSU, and Nov. 1 vs. Florida). The Bulldogs pretty much have to win three of those four games just to make a case for a national championship. Lose two of those four, and your hopes and dreams are dashed with still a couple weeks left in the season.

Remember, we're living in the era of the BCS. Auburn went undefeated several years ago, and still didn't get to play for the national championship. When you lose a game in this era of college football, you've just gotta hope no one runs the table and goes undefeated. Because if they do, they've clearly got the advantage over you. I just can't see this team running the table and going undefeated, especially in a conference that potentially has four of the top teams in the nation. It's just too much to ask for. I don't think we can compare this team to the LSU and Florida teams of the past two seasons. Georgia can only hope that their strength of schedule can lift them into the title game. Because with this schedule, I can't see them losing fewer than two games. Florida has the easier schedule (the Gators get Ole Miss, Arkansas, and LSU out of the SEC West compared to Georgia getting Auburn, Alabama, and LSU), and the better quarterback. They will be your SEC Champions, not Georgia.

2. The winner of USC-Ohio State on September 13 will play for the national championship.

Without question, looking at this game from a preseason standpoint, this is the biggest game on the college football schedule during the regular season. This game has the feel of the regular season game a couple years ago between Texas and Ohio State, when Vince Young led the Longhorns to a victory over the Buckeyes, and eventually a trip to the national championship. Of course, this game doesn't quite have the star power of years ago, but it's still going to involve two of the top five teams in the country, and some of the better players in the country as well.

Since the game is being played in Southern California, let's take a look at what USC brings to the table this season. The quarterback at Southern Cal is usually the first name you think of entering a season, although that may not be the case this year. Mark Sanchez will be the starting QB for the Trojans, although he's a little lesser known than his two previous counterparts when they took over the starting job. But just because he doesn't have the big hype heading into the season doesn't mean that he can't play. Sanchez should have no problem making an impact, as he has some excellent wide receivers, which is nothing new at USC. Despite losing guys like Sedrick Ellis on the defensive side of the ball, the Trojans will still be above average in the pass rush and at the linebacker position. Remember, USC basically created the "we don't rebuild, we reload" motto, and that's evident again this season.

As for Ohio State, they may have there best team in years, which is quite intriguing since they played for a national championship the previous two years. The Buckeyes hope to get over the hump this year, and they've got the talent to do so. OSU really has the total package at the quarterback position, with aerial specialist Todd Boeckman and the speedy newcomer Terrelle Pryor. Boeckman will clearly get the start, but you can bet that Pryor will see some snaps as well in order to utilize his speed. Oh yeah, and the Buckeyes also have a stud at running back for another season, as Chris Wells looks to pick up where he left off last season. Most of the defense returns as well, headlined by arguably the best linebacker in the country, James Laurinaitis.

Any way you look at it, there are All-Americans all over the place for both of these teams. They deserve to be ranked in the top five heading into the season, but after September 13, one of them will be sitting in a much better position as far as the national title picture is concerned. While the loser of this game could still manage to get into the BCS title game, as neither team's schedule is all that difficult, the winner will have an obvious leg up on the rest of the competition. So how will this one shake out? Of course at this point, it's a crap shoot. Ohio State may have the edge in talent, but the game is at USC, so the home field will without question play a factor in this game. Home field does account for a lot in the college game, however, if I had to pick right now, Ohio State 27 USC 21.

3. Missouri will at some point during the season be the number-one ranked team in the land.

I'll go ahead and admit it right now. I was shocked at the way Missouri put a stranglehold on the rest of the country last year, and eventually became the number one team in the country at one point in time. I didn't realize how good they were, and I'm not going to make that same mistake again this year. The Tigers clearly have the talent to not only make a move towards number one during the regular season, but they also have the ability to play for a national championship. Will they do that? That remains to be seen, but there are several reasons why this team should be on your radar screen as a potential national champion.

It all starts at quarterback with Senior leader Chase Daniel, who you've probably heard of by now. He was the Offensive Player of the Year in the Big 12 last season, and is the clear favorite to win that honor once again this season, as well as challenge for the Heisman trophy. They also have a speedster on the outside in wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, who will once again be Daniel's favorite target in the air game. They return most of their defense as well, so look for this Tiger team to be somewhat similar to last year's team as far as style goes.

The schedule is also favorable for the Tigers, although the first game of the season will tell a lot about how this team is going to shape up the rest of the season. They do battle with another breakout team from last season in the Illinois Fighting Illini at a neutral site in St. Louis. Should the Tigers win this game, then it's somewhat smooth sailing until a showdown with Texas in Austin. The only other test comes to end the season against Kansas, which will likely have huge implications on who wins the Big 12 Conference. It would not surprise me at all if you see Missouri in the national title picture as late as conference championship week.

4. Notre Dame will still be an average football team.....at best, and will not make it to a bowl game.....again.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will be better. That's not saying a whole lot though, given the fact that the Irish only won three games last season. It's still going to be a long year for Charlie Weis and his staff, as there are still a lot of holes in the makeup of the Irish. While Weis did pick up a solid top five recruiting class this season, it may be another year or two before Notre Dame becomes a serious contender once again in the grand scheme of things. Sure, they don't have as much drama surrounding the quarterback position as they did last year, as sophomore Jimmy Clausen has secured the starting spot for now. They also have a strong backfield comprised of several guys who will make solid contributions. And besides their defensive backs, everywhere else is pretty much a question mark for this team.

The Irish may have some talent, but until they prove something, I'm not just gonna hand over a bowl-caliber season to them. They will be tested early and often as is the case when you play a Notre Dame schedule. Luckily for them they get Stanford and Syracuse on the schedule, which should be two wins for sure. As for the rest of the schedule, who knows. The season opener against San Diego State is winnable. A game at Michigan State is winnable. At Washington is winnable. And a home game against Navy is winnable. However, I don't see them winning all six of these games. If they do, you can guarantee they'll be in a bowl, even at 6-6, because well.....they're Notre Dame. 5-7 seems about right to me for this team. But have no fear Irish fans, you should be back on the map after this season.

5. The Southeastern Conference will still be the best conference in football.

Georgia. Florida. Auburn. LSU. Tennessee. That's all you need to know right there. So stop trying to convince yourself otherwise that this isn't the best conference. The first four are legitimate top 10 football teams, and the Volunteers are a Top 25 team without question. You can look at it from every different angle that you want to, but this is the best conference in the country. The only conference that could make a claim for being as good as the SEC would be the Big 12, with Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Kansas, and Texas Tech leading the way. But the last two national champions have came from the SEC, and it's very possible we could see another SEC team finish as the best team in the country again this year.

You can argue that the SEC will be down this year, as LSU has seemingly lost a lot of talent. That may be true, but Auburn will be there to pick up the slack in the SEC West, as this could be Auburn's best team since the year they went undefeated and were left out of the national title game. We've already discussed how Georgia and Florida will play into BCS title talk, as both are sure to make a case why they are the best team in the conference throughout the season. And while Tennessee is the same Tennessee team that won the national championship in 1998, they should still be one of the better teams head coach Philip Fulmer has had in recent years. Nick Saban will have Alabama on the way back up once again, although next year is probably a more reasonable year for them to be considered an above average football team.

There's so much talk about the SEC being overrated. Well if that's the case, then someone might want to do something about it, because they've won the national championship in consecutive seasons, and have two teams this year that could seriously contend for another title. Whoever wins the SEC championship (and as mentioned above, my pick is Florida) will likely play for the national title, because they'll have been tested throughout the season against superb competition, and their strength of schedule will boost them into the national title game. Another college season will go by, and once again, the SEC will reign supreme in relation to the other conferences.

THE EXTRA POINT

Clemson is a team that's getting quite a bit of hype heading into the 2008 season. Should you buy into this hype? In a word, YES. Clemson is playing in the ACC, which isn't your grandfather's ACC, as the conference is down quite a bit. The Tigers are without a doubt the deepest team in the league, and are the favorites to win the conference. Their only true challenges will come from Wake Forest and Virginia Tech, although the Tigers don't play Va. Tech in the regular season. They will meet the Demon Deacons October 9 in Winston-Salem. Clemson has always had a knack for imploding at some point during the season. They better hope that doesn't happen this season, because they can surpass being a pretty good team. They can be a great team.

Well that's all for this installment of the College Football Chronicles here on 411Mania. Tune in next Wednesday for five more predictions heading into the season, including a look at Fresno State's chances to play in a BCS bowl, as well my pick for the most overrated team in the country heading into the 2008 season. Be sure to tune in next week!