In 2014 we correctly predicted all four Playoff teams, and it was a clean-cut set of four conference champions with the Big 12 being left out. Last season, we also thought it'd be four conference champions but this year we have a new scenario.
We feel that the Pac-12 champion will finish with 2 losses; South champion USC opens and closes with top 10 matchups with Alabama and Notre Dame while North champion Washington plays Stanford, Oregon, Washington State, and Utah. They actually play each other in the regular season and this would be a rematch in the title game. The Pac-12 is extremely deep and competitive with very few easy weeks. Next we cancelled out the Big 12. Predicted champion Oklahoma has some major spots to fill, and really should have lost at Tennessee and TCU last year. TCU themselves have an elite defense but several questions on offense keep them out of the discussion here. We also see Notre Dame losing 2 of these 4 games: Miami, Stanford, Michigan State, and USC. So we have 4 spots for 3 conferences, and feel this will be the year that a conference gets a second team in. ALABAMA has had the #1 recruiting class each of the past 5 seasons, and no one reloads better than Nick Saban. They were an easy pick to win the SEC and claim the first Playoff spot. In the same way that Alabama reloads, Urban Meyer has shown the same capabilities. OHIO STATE ranks #2 in our weighted average recruiting ranking, and even if they lose an early season game, I expect the young team to grow stronger and stronger each week loading up to beat both Michigan rivals in the final two weeks. CLEMSON has the best player in the nation, and 9 offensive starters back around him (and the return of 1st rounder Mike Williams from injury). With three spots taken, we looked at runner-ups in the Big Ten, ACC, and SEC. We feel Michigan is still a year away from serious Playoff discussion. The decision came down to Florida State, LSU, or Tennessee. TENNESSEE had Oklahoma beat but blew a 4th quarter lead, gave up a 4th & 14 touchdown in the final minute to Florida, and led Alabama in the 4th quarter. With 18 starters returning, we feel this is Tennessee's breakthrough year and those close losses will reverse as they host Florida and Alabama. The SEC title game will be a rematch with Alabama, and we assume they will run the 11 other games and split the Alabama series. The next line of contenders are teams that are one win away from taking these four teams places. One swing game can spring these teams into the Final Four: Florida State, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma. Some darkhorse teams to keep an eye on: Washington, TCU, Miami, USC.
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2016 PREVIEW
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