Three days until pure football ecstacy. The college season begins Thursday with an interesting showdown between #14 Boise State and #16 Oregon. Very few BCS teams agree to play a regular season game on the blue turf in Boise, so you have to give the Ducks some credit for this one. Chip Kelly makes his head coaching debut for Oregon. The Broncos have too many question marks on the offensive line and in the secondary to hold up to a very talented Ducks squad. Keep an eye on Ducks LB Casey Matthews (son of Clay Matthews) who is going to be a star in the Pac 10 this season. I think the Ducks are going to win, possibly blow out Boise Thursday night.
Let's get these meaningless season predictions out of the way.
SEC East
Florida Gators- Even if the Gators did not have 19 starters returning, there isn't really a close 2nd place in this half of the conference this season.
Georgia Bulldogs
South Carolina Gamecocks
Tennessee Vols
Kentucky Wildcats
Vanderbilt Commodores
SEC West
Ole Miss Rebels - I think LSU might be a more talented team but Ole Miss has a much easier schedule. The Tigers have to play Florida and Georgia out of the East.
LSU Tigers
Alabama Crimson Tide
Auburn Tigers
Arkansas Razorbacks
Mississippi State Bulldogs
SEC Title Game: Florida over Ole Miss: This should be a great rematch of the 1 point upset win of the Rebels last year in the Swamp. Florida will almost assuredly be in this game, but I can see Ole Miss, Bama, or LSU representing the western side.
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Big 12 North
Nebraska Cornhuskers - An improved defensive line will allow Bo Pellini to get more creative defensively. I could easily see Colorado in the top spot.
Colorado Buffaloes
Kansas Jayhawks
Kansas State Wildcats
Missouri Tigers
Iowa State Cyclones
Big 12 South
Texas Longhorns - It's a two horse race with the Sooners that could hinge on the Longhorns being more capable of protecting their QB. The Sooners defense should be improved with a healthy Ryan Reynolds returning at LB.
Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma State Cowboys
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Baylor Bears
Texas A&M Aggies
Big 12 Title Game: Texas over Nebraska
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Big 10
Penn State - An embarrasingly easy schedule sends the Buckeyes to Happy Valley in the most important Big 10 game on the calendar. Sean Lee returns at LB off of a torn ACL and should strengthen a great Penn State front seven.
Ohio State
Michigan State
Iowa
Northwestern
Illinois
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Michigan
Purdue
Indiana
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Pac 10
California - This is the year the men of Troy fall. There will be no jerking of the QB. Kevin Riley has the reigns all year long. Jahvid Best will try to get to New York for the Heisman Trophy. Cal is stronger on both lines than SC and has more experience at LB.
USC
Oregon State
Oregon
Stanford
UCLA
Arizona
Washington
Arizona State
Washington State
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ACC Coastal Division
Virginia Tech - Even with the loss of Darren Evans at RB, the Hokies will be a typical Frank Beamer team: defense, special teams, rinse, repeat.
Georgia Tech
UNC
Miami
Virginia
Duke
ACC Atlantic
Clemson- The Tigers benefit from a down year at Boston College and Wake Forest. CJ Spiller should thrive as the lone RB after sharing the load the last two years with James Davis.
Florida State
NC State
Boston College
Wake Forest
Maryland
ACC Title Game: Virginia Tech over Clemson
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Big East
Pittsburgh Panthers- The Big East does not have a Top 25 team, so it's anyone's guess as to who the conference champ will be.
South Florida
Rutgers
Cincy
West Virginia
UConn
Louisville
Syracuse
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Houston Cougars - I think UH has a shot to go 10-2. The offense could put up historicaly good numbers, and that is saying something considering Houston is the home of "The Run and Shoot." I'll say UH hosts and wins the CUSA title game over Southern Miss.
UTEP
Tulsa
Rice
SMU
Tulane
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