Who Do You Like?

[BigdaddyQH]

It is very early, but everyone in here should have formed some type of opinion (subject to change because of the usual reasons) as to who will be a contender in the Power 5 Conferences and who will not. Here is my very early opinion:

ACC: Contenders...Clemson. Led by QB Watson, the Tigers are favored to win the ACC. In order to do so, their offense is going to have to score a lot, because they lose a ton of players on defense. Florida State. The exact opposite of Clemson. They will have to depend on their defense. Ga. Tech. For the first time in a while, a team other than VA. Tech has a legitimate shot to win it all in from the Coastal Division. North Carolina. Much like Clemson, ten starters return on offense, but the defense need a lot of work.
Upset Special Teams...Just about every other team in the ACC minus Wake and Virginia. It is quite possible for the eventual ACC Champ to have two losses or more. The ACC is considered to be the weakest conference in the Power 5 by many, so a two loss ACC Champion may have a tough time making the playoffs.

Big 10: Contenders...Ohio State. The defending National Champs are loaded again. Their schedule is Big 10 soft. Hard to see a regular season loss with this group. Michigan State. MSU will have to depend on their defense to keep the opposition off the scoreboard until the offense catches up. The schedule is no help, hosting Oregon, and going to Michigan, Nebraska, and Ohio State.
Upset Special Teams: Wisconsin. Their defense should be vastly improved over last season. They could upset someone in the CC game. Nebraska. Very similar to Wisconsin plus they get the Badgers at home. It will be interesting to see how the new HC's for both teams handle the season.

Big 12: Contenders...Baylor. We know about their offensive talent. What really has hurt Baylor is their terrible defense. That may improve enough this season to get them into the playoffs. Their biggest problem is back to back games at Okie State and TCU. With a schedule as soft as theirs is, any loss could eliminate them from the playoffs. TCU. They return a lot of talent on offense and play Baylor at home. They go to Minnesota and both Oklahoma's. This team certainly has a great chance of making the playoff.
Upset Special Teams: Both Oklahoma's. The Sooners return a lot of talent. The question is one of consistancy for them. They also must forget about off field distractions. Oklahoma State. Okie State finished with a flurry last season and also return a lot of talent. They get Baylor, TCU and OU at home. This team is a great longshot wager to make the playoffs.

PAC 12: Contenders...Oregon in the North. They still have enough talent to rule supreme in this division which is much weaker than it was two years ago. They must go to Michigan State and plays the usual brutal Pac 12 schedule. The Southern California teams. Both UCLA and USC have the talent to defeat any team in the nation on any given day. The problem is the schedule. It is quite possible that the conference winner can have two conference losses.
Upset Special Teams: Any of the rest in the South, minus Colorado. In the North, watch out for Cal. They return 18 out of 22 starters and can score with anyone. It will be very difficult for any team in this Conference to finish up with 0 or 1 loss. This can cause playoff problems.

SEC: Contenders...Alabama. The defense will have to carry the offense at the beginning of the season. The Tide have a relatively tough schedule, and games at Georgia and Auburn could prove their downfall. Auburn. Similar to 'Bama, Auburn also must depend on their defense to carry them until the offense catches up. Auburn hosts Alabama and Georgia and goes to LSU. Georgia. UGA has one of the best running games in the nation. If the defense holds up, they can be tough. Playing both Alabama teams is no easy task.
Upset Special Teams: Tennessee and Ole Miss lead the way. Tennessee returns most of their 2014 starters. May think it is time for Butch Jones to finally come up with a strong contender for the SEC title. They host Oklahoma and Georgia and go to Alabama. Ole Miss also returns a lot of talent. The worry here is how much their terrible finish (2-4) last season will affect this team.

It is quite possible to see two loss teams playing in the playoffs. Only the Big 10 and Big 12 seems to have teams that can run the table, and both can only have one undefeated team. The two most powerful conferences, the Pac 12 and SEC, can easily have a two loss Champion. Don't forget Notre Dame. If things break right, they could end up with just one loss.

 

[CoachCB]

Agree w/ you on Tennessee being an spoiler. But, honestly, I think most of the SEC (not the fans, but the players and coaches) know that Tennessee has turned it around. Now that they've found a (potentially) star QB and they have a veteran OL and DL returning I expect them to win 9 games this season.

I'm curious to see how Oregon comes out of the gate. Is the transfer from the 1AA school expected to start at QB?

I'm also curious to see how FSU comes out of the gate w/ a new QB as well. Fisher has done an OUTSTANDING job w/ his QBs, so I expect they'll be okay. I hope Clemson can give them a challenge. Not sure about the rest of the ACC though.

I don't think Ohio State will have anyone get within 10 points of them all year. I could be wrong, but Meyer built that team to win it all in 2016 (last year was an unexpected bonus).

I think ND will field a very, very good team. They have a great coach (in the "next group not named Meyer or Saban").

 

[1osubucks]

I think the final 4 this year could be in no order :
OSU
USC
Bama - still have more horses in the barn then anyone but coaching must improve

maybe a big 12 or a second sec team, maybe ND ? Who knows
ACC will eat each other up I think unless Clemson goes off on everyone


I m not sold on Baylor or TCU, haven't been ever..Baylor has to step out of conference and play someone. I see a lot of decent teams there next year and they may all beat each other up, can only guess what OU will do

 

[cloverleaf]

*The key for success at Tennessee is keeping the quarterback healthy. Nothing but three incoming freshmen behind him. At Ole Miss, Georgia, Alabama, in particular...its settling on a quarterback.

*I know you Pac 12 guys think I crazy but I like Stanford a lot this year. They may not win the league but will play a major role in who does.

*Don't count Oklahoma out of the Big 12 picture.

*Florida State is still the class of the ACC in my opinion.

*Surprise team in the Big 10...Michigan!

 

[BigdaddyQH]

Clover, we do not agree much at this point of the year. I mentioned OU as a potential sleeper in the Big 12, but Stoops and his players have to get their heads out of their tails. Making a big issue over a 9 second video that some fool made sounds like they are already looking for excuses.

Stanford has an old, stale offense. Losing two in a row to USC is understandable. Losing two in a row to Utah is not.

Florida State needs to find an offense in a hurry. They will have to depend on their defense, which Oregon destroyed in last year's Rose Bowl. My guess this early is that the ACC is odd man out of the playoffs.

Georgia really does not have to worry about a QB. Their running attack should be the best by far in the nation.

 

[groundhog11]

I think it will be....sec team, osu, winner of tcu/Baylor...I don't think acc gets a team this yr...so last spot up for grabs with winner of nd/USC getting it.

 

[BigdaddyQH]

Notre Dame finds itself in a worse spot than a Big 12 team because Notre Dame is not in a conference, despite their deal with the ACC. If it comes down to a Notre Dame/ACC duel for the final spot, then I can see Notre Dame's record against the ACC as playing an important role. If USC loses to Notre Dame, but wins the rest of their games, they will be in the playoff as the Pac 12's representative at 12-1. Notre Dame may eventually be forced to join the ACC. They already play 5 games "in conference"' Not much of a big difference if they add 3 more.

 

[Conan]

*The key for success at Tennessee is keeping the quarterback healthy. Nothing but three incoming freshmen behind him. At Ole Miss, Georgia, Alabama, in particular...its settling on a quarterback.

*I know you Pac 12 guys think I crazy but I like Stanford a lot this year. They may not win the league but will play a major role in who does.

*Don't count Oklahoma out of the Big 12 picture.

*Florida State is still the class of the ACC in my opinion.

*Surprise team in the Big 10...Michigan!

Not much of a longshot from where I stand. Not my favorite however if Shaw can resurrect a defensive
line like the one that just graduated (3 players) they can possibly do a lot more than expected. A LOT.

It could take them a month or two to work out the bugs but if their offense can keep them in games, they
should also be able to come on strong at the end of the year like they did in 2014. Most people don't realize
that Kevin Hogan finished off the season and looked pretty sharp over the last 5 games. They easily won
their bowl game too. Things were clicking on the farm at the end of the year.

 

[cloverleaf]

Conan, I'm being told not to underestimate Stanford.....by some old guys I respect.

Early and who the hell knows........I'm worried about Alabama finding a quarterback.

Damn best here at RX...and Conan your are one of the best!

 

[BigdaddyQH]

We will see exactly what Stanford has to offer real quick. They open the season at Northwestern, then home to UCF, then to L.A. to play USC. They finish the season at home with Oregon, Cal, and Notre Dame. I do not see Stanford surviving that schedule especially when you add games against UCLA, Arizona and Washington into the mix.

 

[Conan]

Conan, I'm being told not to underestimate Stanford.....by some old guys I respect.

Early and who the hell knows........I'm worried about Alabama finding a quarterback.

Damn best here at RX...and Conan your are one of the best!

Thanks CL.

Hopefully I will have the time and good health to do a weekly selections thread this fall.
I don't think I did less than 65% (thereabout) with 70-80 selections per year going back
a several years... except for last year when I was very pinched for time. I've been refining
my "picking style" for about 10 years and the bar I use for posting picks has been raised
higher and higher over the last several seasons at my discretion -- whatever that may be
on a week to week basis. I definitely put my heart into it with my head and my gut guiding
me. It seems to work.

 

[CoachCB]

We will see exactly what Stanford has to offer real quick. They open the season at Northwestern, then home to UCF, then to L.A. to play USC. They finish the season at home with Oregon, Cal, and Notre Dame. I do not see Stanford surviving that schedule especially when you add games against UCLA, Arizona and Washington into the mix.

That is a pretty brutal schedule. If they go 9-3 or better that should be considered a successful season.

 

[BigdaddyQH]

Most of those games are at home, so Stanford does have that advantage. The disadvantage they have is a rather vanilla offense and a HC that chooses to do little about it.