Taking a nod from a recent College Football News column, we know a little bit more about the college football season now that we are a full three weeks in. A lot of people, including myself, made predicitons prior to the season. So, looking at what’s happened so far, what did I get right and what did I get wrong?
Right:
- Notre Dame would be very bad. Even with all the pundits saying the golden domers might have a rebuilding season, only a small handful predicted a dismal season; all those who did received tons of negative response from fans who can’t handle the truth. This has nothing to do with whether Charlie Weis is doing a good job (so please save those comments for another time). I knew going in that the Irish would be lucky to start the season 2-6. The reality is, they will be lucky to win any of there first eight games. Forget about winning, start with the basics- don’t fumble snaps. Even the final four games which would be gimmies for most teams are starting to look more and more uncertain.
- Boston College and Matt Ryan. A lot of people thought Florida State was going to be back with a new coaching staff, and a few picked Clemson. FSU at times looks good, and at times looks exactly like they did last year. Clemson has underachieved in the past with more talented teams and look very inconsistent thus far. Meanwhile, Boston College went under-the-radar for a lot of people. They have all the makings of a great team- good veteran quarterback, solid running game, experienced offensive line, balanced defense that can shut down the run or the pass. I never miss an opportunity to talk about Matt Ryan, and the guy has exceeded even my expectations so far. I know I picked Virginia Tech to win the ACC (and they have not looked great), and the two teams may very well be undefeated when they meet up in the regular season.
Wrong:
- A couple of the OSU’s as sleepers. I picked Oregon State to be a sleeper in the Pac-Ten and Oklahoma State to be a sleeper in the Big-Twelve. Looks like I was wrong. That’s not to say these teams can’t pull off a big upset at some point, but it doesn’t look like either will put together a particularly great season overall. Oregon State stumbled against Cincinnati and can’t figure out it’s quarterback situation. Oklahoma State is 1-2, with it’s only win coming at home against Florida Atlantic. They failed to even submit an upset bid against Georgia and somehow managed to lose to Troy (no disrespect to the Trojans, but come on…).
- Florida’s swift demise. I knew the offense would be fine (I wasn’t one who thought Tebow couldn’t throw the ball), but I didn’t expect it to be this good. I also expected their defense to be in big trouble with almost no experience. After three weeks the Gators look like legitimate contenders. Their first two wins were against lesser teams, but they then proceeded to stomp on Tennessee (who I picked to win the SEC East over the Gators). I still don’t think this is a national championship teams by any mean, but it definitely looks like a top-ten team and the second-best team in the SEC, which I wasn’t so sure about.
With so much of the season left, some of those things could change, and we haven’t seen enough to even guess whether some of my other predictions are right or wrong. College football is as unpredictable as any sport, and it’s impossible to say for sure what is to come until we are looking at it in the past.
One thing that we are looking at in the future, and which I’m very excited about, is the start of the NHL season. The pre-season exhibition games are already underway, and the start of the real deal is only a couple of weeks away. Hockey is the only sport in which my passion rivals that which I have for college football. While it may have moved further away from mainstream attention with the lockout and the ending of the ESPN TV deal, hockey has one of the strongest hardcore fan bases of any sport. In the next week or two I’ll start posting some of my thoughts and predictions for the upcoming season on ice.
Some final thoughts before I go:
- Are the Houston Texans a playoff team? Looks like they might be.
- Is there anyone that would have guessed the Milwaukee Brewers would lead the major leagues in home runs? On a related note, I’m sick of hearing how the AL is so much better than the NL because it’s more offensive and produces more home runs. Four of the five top home-run-hitting teams in baseball are found in the National League. Four of the top ten (almost half) teams in runs scored are NL teams, as are exactly half of the top ten teams in batting average. As far is individual stats go- Six of the top ten batters by average are in the NL and seven of the top ten by home runs are in the NL. There might be a few more hyped names in the AL, but if you look at the numbers, they might not be what you expect.
- Is there anyway that OJ doesn’t see jail time? Then again, the same question was asked last time around. I don’t see him getting a life sentence (which is a possibility), but I don’t see a jury letting him walk this time. I don’t think there is a single potential juror in the country who isn’t aware of the last trial and doesn’t have an opinion on whether OJ got away with murder. They’ll put him in jail this time just for what he got away with last time (don’t pretend the justice system is blind or fair).
Posted in American League, Boston College, Cincinnati, Clemson, College Football, ESPN, Fighting Irish, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Football, Gators, Houston Texans, Matt Ryan, Milwaukee Brewers, NHL, National League, Notre Dame, O.J. Simpson, Oregon State, Pac-10, Pac-Ten, SEC, Seminoles, Tennessee, Tim Tebow, Virginia Tech, Volunteers, baseball, hockey, home runs, national championship, upsets
