2012 College Football Preview
Howdy folks, remember me? Yes, it's been a while. A LONG while, but mid-season baseball and tape-delayed summer Olympics aren't necessarily my bag. But football on the other hand, that's my bag....
I'm giddy, you're giddy - let's just jump into it, shall we. Thoughts, assumptions, predictions and maybe even the occasional hope for the 2012 college football season.
The Love Affair - I must say the one thing I am NOT looking forward to is the media's never-ending love affair with everything SEC. Yes, I know, Alabama and LSU are good, but my gosh, you'd think these guys are the only freaking teams in the country. Good news is we've got some more compelling story lines that may force the talking heads and "writers" at the Mothership (ESPN) to talk about something other than SEC. A guy can hope can't he?
New Look Conferences - Last year it was the Big 10 and Pac 12, this year's it's the Big 12 and SEC. Whereas folks in College Station and Columbia may be excited about their prospects in the "do-know-wrong" golden child conference, the real intrigue and entertainment will be a little north and west in the Big 12 where West Virginia and TCU have an opportunity to really make some noise. In fact, I give the Mountaineers a damn good chance of taking the Big 12 title this year. A lot of folks I converse with regularly seem to think that these two teams will struggle because "now they're in the Big 12 and we're so much better". Whatever, both of these teams can hang. I promise you that. Will be interesting. Meanwhile, Aggie fan can look forward to some fun home games against Florida and LSU - I see them beating Florida, but they simply can't match the speed and athleticism of LSU.
Love It or Hate It... - You gotta start paying attention to USC again. Coming off of two post-season bans, the Trojans are now eligible for all the money and boy do they look good. Scholarship sanctions will take their toll over the next few years so the Trojans are eying this year as their year to make a lot of noise. Offensively they are beyond loaded, and although they've lost a few starters on that defensive front, they're secondary is loaded. Look out SEC homers, the Trojans are the team to beat this year....
Will the Longhorn Offense Continue to be Offensive? - That's the million dollar question because I will promise you this, the defense will be stupid good. I predict at least a couple of shut outs this year with the talent on the defensive side of the ball. However, if there isn't vast improvement from last year's offensive team this Texas team will struggle to win more than 8 games again. Unfortunately, word from spring/summer scrimmages was less than stellar - wide receivers continuing to drop easy balls, non-existent tight end play, and barely adequate quarterback play. The shining spot is that running game which should excel, but if I'm a D-Coordinator I'm stacking about 9 or 10 guys in the box and daring David Ash to throw a pass....any pass. And yes, here's officially predicting that we see very little of Case McCoy this year. (one can hope).
Random Quick Hits...
I'm giddy, you're giddy - let's just jump into it, shall we. Thoughts, assumptions, predictions and maybe even the occasional hope for the 2012 college football season.
The Love Affair - I must say the one thing I am NOT looking forward to is the media's never-ending love affair with everything SEC. Yes, I know, Alabama and LSU are good, but my gosh, you'd think these guys are the only freaking teams in the country. Good news is we've got some more compelling story lines that may force the talking heads and "writers" at the Mothership (ESPN) to talk about something other than SEC. A guy can hope can't he?
New Look Conferences - Last year it was the Big 10 and Pac 12, this year's it's the Big 12 and SEC. Whereas folks in College Station and Columbia may be excited about their prospects in the "do-know-wrong" golden child conference, the real intrigue and entertainment will be a little north and west in the Big 12 where West Virginia and TCU have an opportunity to really make some noise. In fact, I give the Mountaineers a damn good chance of taking the Big 12 title this year. A lot of folks I converse with regularly seem to think that these two teams will struggle because "now they're in the Big 12 and we're so much better". Whatever, both of these teams can hang. I promise you that. Will be interesting. Meanwhile, Aggie fan can look forward to some fun home games against Florida and LSU - I see them beating Florida, but they simply can't match the speed and athleticism of LSU.
Love It or Hate It... - You gotta start paying attention to USC again. Coming off of two post-season bans, the Trojans are now eligible for all the money and boy do they look good. Scholarship sanctions will take their toll over the next few years so the Trojans are eying this year as their year to make a lot of noise. Offensively they are beyond loaded, and although they've lost a few starters on that defensive front, they're secondary is loaded. Look out SEC homers, the Trojans are the team to beat this year....
Will the Longhorn Offense Continue to be Offensive? - That's the million dollar question because I will promise you this, the defense will be stupid good. I predict at least a couple of shut outs this year with the talent on the defensive side of the ball. However, if there isn't vast improvement from last year's offensive team this Texas team will struggle to win more than 8 games again. Unfortunately, word from spring/summer scrimmages was less than stellar - wide receivers continuing to drop easy balls, non-existent tight end play, and barely adequate quarterback play. The shining spot is that running game which should excel, but if I'm a D-Coordinator I'm stacking about 9 or 10 guys in the box and daring David Ash to throw a pass....any pass. And yes, here's officially predicting that we see very little of Case McCoy this year. (one can hope).
Random Quick Hits...
- Lot of talk about the 3-headed monster in Texas' backfield (caveat: we STILL haven't seen Gray take a single snap in big-time college football. So.....) the nation's top rushers will be Marcus Lattimore and Montee Ball. Everyone else is playing for third and beyond.
- Team in the top 10 that finishes out of top 10: Michigan State and Oklahoma
- Team outside of top 10 that finishes highest: Texas (yeah, that's right. I said it...)
- Heisman note - I think Landry Jones will struggle this year. Offensive line has taken a big hit and he's lost his top receiver from a year ago. He's solid, but he'll struggle.
- Another OU note - their defense will be better with the always-hot Mike Stoops back in action. I'm a big believer in Mike Stoops' style.
- Missouri will have a miserable year in the SEC this year. I mean, MISERABLE.
- From the files of "why do we continue to get so high on these guys every pre-season" - Georgia and Florida State. Really? Again? Looks like the Bulldogs learned their lesson and realized they aren't good enough to schedule Oklahoma State and Boise State in September. Non-conference games include Buffalo, Georgia Southern, Florida Atlantic, etc. Outside of a trip to VaTech, Florida State has a favorable schedule as well. So we'll see, but....we've seen this before.
- If there's one thing that works me up more than anything (outside of pre-season polls and heisman favorites) it's the "Boise State is overrated" bullshit. You may be saying that Kellen More is gone and they're breaking in a new QB so they'll struggle. Know this: the last 3 times Boise State has come into a season with a new QB they're 33-2. I'm not saying....I'm just saying.
- As weird as it sounds, if the Gators struggle again this year Will Muschamp will certainly know the meaning of the term "hot seat".
- I don't know about you, but I'm still struggling to understand why in the world Kansas hired Charlie Weiss....and why Charlie Weiss said yes. Weird. I give it one year.
- Oregon's defense will be better than their offense. Odd for a Pac 12 school, but the D will rule in Eugene.
- Here's a prediction for opening weekend for you: Michigan will score more than 17 points on Alabama and will keep the game interesting. Take that to the bank.
posted by The Bearden Wonder at 7:06 PM
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