2014 Big Ten Conference Preview

No team has more productive players than Michigan State. The consensus favorite to win the Big Ten, MSU is expecting big things from Connor Cook this season en route to a second title. Meanwhile, Ohio State continuously brings in the best recruiting classes in the conference and has athletes to win every game on their schedule. Yet despite all this, I think it is Michigan who as a whole has all the pieces to win the conference. It will surely take some stars aligning just right, and remaining injury free, but without Braxton Miller OSU does not have the offense to overcome Michigan’s defense. MSU will be favored when they meet the Wolverines, but the losses on defense may hurt them more than expected. A couple teams I am very high on are Indiana and Nebraska.

2014 SEC Conference Preview

The SEC once again looks to be the top conference in college football. This season should see familiar schools vying for the top spot in a close competition. Added to the mix, however, are Mississippi and Mississippi State. Both teams are developing the depth and talent to perhaps challenge for the conference title. While in years past the conference was fairly top heavy, the separation between the top and bottom appears to be lessening as more players continue to leave early from the big schools and new coaches appear to be moving things in the right direction from the “smaller” ones.

Pancirco NCAAF final top 15

The national title game was a wild one and it looked like for a while Auburn would come out on top. In the end, it was Florida State who lasted the 60 minutes to come out on top. At the beginning of the season I identified FSU as my No. 2 team and my only uncertainty about them was starting a redshirt freshman at QB. That proved to be the least of things I needed to worry about until the championship game. But with a few minutes left in the first half, Jameis Winston finally turned it on helped spur on his team to victory. Florida State has finished, clearly, as my No. 1 team, but in a slight change from the norm, I’ve put Michigan State as my No. 2 team instead of Auburn. The Tigers played some tough teams and lost a close game against FSU, but my decision to rank the Spartan second has more to do with what they did do and not what Auburn didn’t do. The Spartans played like a team all year, cohesively as one unit, and proved to have the best defense in the country. Quarterback Connor Cook came a long way from their lone-loss against Notre Dame and this team is truly great. Finishing the season with two huge victories, I felt the Spartan deserved to be No. 2. Click “read more” to see the rest of the ranking.

Painful Ohio State loss sobering for fans, beneficial for BCS

My girlfriend’s comments during sports games often go ignored. On a normal Saturday during the fall I have to endure questions about referee signals, comments on stylish matte helmets, and complaints about being in hour 9 of a game day football marathon. To say the least, she’s no Kirk Herbstreit. Apparently however, the many hours she spends on the sofa next to me have not been completely lost on her. Every now and then, she manages to catch me off-guard with a surprisingly intelligent question.

SEC Overrated?

How overrated is the SEC? Is it overrated at all? Or is it so good that even the middle of the road teams are taking down the big dogs? Truthfully, it’s hard to tell. SEC teams don’t typically play tough non-conference games, with the exception of Alabama who opened up with Virginia tech this year, played Michigan last year, Penn State in 2011, Virginia Tech again in 2009, and Clemson in 2008. That’s not to say however that they completely stray away from the other BCS conference schools, other noteworthy non-conference matchups this year included Georgia vs. Clemson, LSU vs. TCU, and Florida vs. Miami.

This is a good conference overall. Auburn is in the middle of a complete turnaround from their 3-9 season last year at 6-1, Tennessee looks much improved under new head coach Butch Jones, and Ole Miss is recruiting some great talent and it’s starting to show.

This isn’t just a good conference. It is likely the best conference.

Projected final top 10 and pre-season top 15

While today is the initiation of the 2013 college football season, I am looking ahead here with how I foresee the final season rankings looking leading into the bowl season. Below is my post-season top 10, which predicts Stanford and Texas to play in the BCS National Championship game. Yes, that means that I think Alabama is going to drop a game at some point during the season. Conventional logic tells you that they’re the best team in the nation, but it also says that winning national titles three years straight is very hard to do, and playing in the SEC, they are a beatable team despite their lighter schedule, Texas A&M did it last year.

Stanford is a great team. If they get past Oregon and Notre Dame, which they are very capable of doing, the rest of the schedule is manageable. On the other hand, Texas is a team that I see similar to Notre Dame of last year — great defense, great offensive line, and a quarterback who while needs improvement, can do enough. Oklahoma, TCU, and Oklahoma State will give them a chance to showcase their talent, win big games and earn their spot in the title game as an undefeated over a one-loss Alabama.

Projecting the ACC

The ACC brings in two new members this year – Syracuse and Pittsburgh. Both schools come in with fairly good teams from last year, but may be in store for a rude awakening this year. While the Atlantic division is going to come down to the clearly two best teams in the conference – Florida State and Clemson – the Coastal division is going to be fun to watch as there are four legitimate teams who could finish first. Miami is receiving a lot of favor, and Al Golden is a fine coach who is doing well with this program, but I like what Virginia Tech, North Carolina, and Georgia Tech present as a whole team more.

Projecting the Big 12

The Big 12 just doesn’t quite feel complete when Texas isn’t at the top, no offense to the rest of the conference, and this year the Longhorns should be back in mix. Last year we saw the emergence of Kansas State under quarterback Colin Klein which was the surprise of the league. Early on, it looked like West Virginia was going to be unstoppable under their own QB Geno Smith, but as they got into conference play we saw that the previous year’s Big East champions had a lot to prove in the Big 12, a conference which does very well in non-conference games. This year the conference championship appears to be between Texas, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State, but will there be another team who breaks out unexpectedly?

Projecting the Pac 12

The Pac 12 has been mostly about Oregon that past several years. Before that it was USC. But it seems that Stanford is announcing that they are here to stay, and people are starting to finally take notice. Now, the middle road of the Pac 12 also seems to be arriving. UCLA, Arizona State, and Oregon State are all on the rise and look for them to give the top three a lot of trouble this year.

PROJECTING THE BIG TEN

The Big Ten brings a little excitement this year to the college football picture as many are projecting Ohio State to make it to the national title game in what is head coach Urban Meyer’s second year at the helm, traditionally a good year for him. Northwestern is also entering the season on a high note after a 10 win season in 2012, look for them to compete for the No. 1 spot in the crowded Legends division. In the Leaders, Wisconsin has new head coach Gary Andersen — a great replacement for Bret Bielema, and Penn State proved they may not be as ruined as believed, accomplishing an 8-4 season in head coach Bill O’Brien’s first year.