Matt Brown
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Who will win the national championship? Our staff makes national predictions
Matt Brown via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
It’s part III of our staff predictions series
In LGHL tradition, our staff has voted on our Ohio State specific predictions, and our Big Ten specific predictions. Now, we’ve had a chance to vote on our thoughts on the national college football scene at large. Bookmark these, because I’m sure we’ll be hilariously wrong on at least two of them.
Which team in the preseason AP Poll Top 10 is most likely to disappoint?
Tennessee: 6 votes
Michigan: 5 votes
Notre Dame: 3 votes
Others: 4 votes
It takes a special kind of skepticism to triumph over blind homerism here in the LGHL newsroom, but for whatever reason, Tennessee brings that out from the group. The talent and the experience is there, but the coaching may not be, and it feels like ages since Tennessee has won a big game. Their performance last night...well...it’s making me feel a little better about this pick.
Also, somebody voted for Alabama. That seems...brave.
Which team in the preseason AP Poll 11-25 range do you see as having the best chance of making the playoffs?
TCU: 8 votes
Houston: 3 votes
Others: 8 votes
Washington, Ole Miss, Michigan State, Oregon and UCLA all got love from at least one writer, but TCU was far and away the biggest choice as a possible darkhorse to make the Playoff, and why not? They’ve got the schedule, the experience, and the coaching to make a run.
Which team outside the top 25 do you see a potential sleeper?
Texas: 3 votes
Miami: 3 votes
A bunch of other teams: 13 votes
Others that picked up multiple votes include Washington State, Texas A&M, BYU {NOTE-neither came from me}, Utah and Arizona. Your guess? Well, it’s probably just as good as ours. But chances are, somebody will come out from this group and win 10 games or something.
Which team outside of the Power 5 and Houston do you see as the most dangerous?
Boise State: 6 votes
San Diego State: 3 votes
Everybody else: 7 votes
I left Houston out here, since they’re almost certainly the runaway favorite to be the class of the G5, and some of our writers had trouble coming up with anybody who might challenge for that mantle. Boise State is the name brand team, but don’t sleep on the Aztecs.
Who is the highest profile coach that's going to get axed this year?
Gus Malzahn: 4 votes
Charlie Strong: 3 votes
Other people: 8 votes
A few other coaches got multiple votes, like West Virginia’s Dana Holgorsen, or Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin, but opinions are wide and varied here. The spotlight will certainly be on in Texas, and on the Plains, as well as places like Penn State and LSU.
Who is winning the Heisman Trophy?
Deshaun Watson: 9 votes
Christian McCaffrey: 3 votes
Other people: 6 votes
A little bit of love here for J.T. Barrett, which hey, is possible, but the rest of the group took off the Scarlet and Gray glasses enough to make a perfectly reasonable, if chalk-heavy, pick. If they can stay health, both Watson and McCaffrey should put up monster stats for excellent teams.
Who are your four playoff teams?
Clemson: 14
Ohio State: 12
Alabama: 10
LSU: 8
TCU: 8
Oklahoma: 6
Florida State: 5
Stanford: 3
Michigan: 2
Houston: 2
Oregon: 2
Since it’s probably unlikely two teams from the same conference make it this year, let’s say the consensus picks are Clemson, Ohio State, Alabama and TCU, with lots of love for LSU, Oklahoma and Florida State. Houston and Oregon wold be surprising, but hey, this is a weird sport.
Who is going to win the national title?
Clemson: 8 votes
LSU: 4 votes:
Ohio State: 2 votes
Florida State: 2 votes
Others: 2 votes
Let the record state that there are limits to the homerism of LGHL writers. While Ohio State was a very popular choice to make the playoff, the experience of LSU and Clemson won out, as most writers see one of those two teams carrying home the hardware at the end of the season.
Which, of course, means, Cal is going to beat Indiana for the title this season.
Continue reading...
Matt Brown via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
It’s part III of our staff predictions series
In LGHL tradition, our staff has voted on our Ohio State specific predictions, and our Big Ten specific predictions. Now, we’ve had a chance to vote on our thoughts on the national college football scene at large. Bookmark these, because I’m sure we’ll be hilariously wrong on at least two of them.
Which team in the preseason AP Poll Top 10 is most likely to disappoint?
Tennessee: 6 votes
Michigan: 5 votes
Notre Dame: 3 votes
Others: 4 votes
It takes a special kind of skepticism to triumph over blind homerism here in the LGHL newsroom, but for whatever reason, Tennessee brings that out from the group. The talent and the experience is there, but the coaching may not be, and it feels like ages since Tennessee has won a big game. Their performance last night...well...it’s making me feel a little better about this pick.
Also, somebody voted for Alabama. That seems...brave.
Which team in the preseason AP Poll 11-25 range do you see as having the best chance of making the playoffs?
TCU: 8 votes
Houston: 3 votes
Others: 8 votes
Washington, Ole Miss, Michigan State, Oregon and UCLA all got love from at least one writer, but TCU was far and away the biggest choice as a possible darkhorse to make the Playoff, and why not? They’ve got the schedule, the experience, and the coaching to make a run.
Which team outside the top 25 do you see a potential sleeper?
Texas: 3 votes
Miami: 3 votes
A bunch of other teams: 13 votes
Others that picked up multiple votes include Washington State, Texas A&M, BYU {NOTE-neither came from me}, Utah and Arizona. Your guess? Well, it’s probably just as good as ours. But chances are, somebody will come out from this group and win 10 games or something.
Which team outside of the Power 5 and Houston do you see as the most dangerous?
Boise State: 6 votes
San Diego State: 3 votes
Everybody else: 7 votes
I left Houston out here, since they’re almost certainly the runaway favorite to be the class of the G5, and some of our writers had trouble coming up with anybody who might challenge for that mantle. Boise State is the name brand team, but don’t sleep on the Aztecs.
Who is the highest profile coach that's going to get axed this year?
Gus Malzahn: 4 votes
Charlie Strong: 3 votes
Other people: 8 votes
A few other coaches got multiple votes, like West Virginia’s Dana Holgorsen, or Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin, but opinions are wide and varied here. The spotlight will certainly be on in Texas, and on the Plains, as well as places like Penn State and LSU.
Who is winning the Heisman Trophy?
Deshaun Watson: 9 votes
Christian McCaffrey: 3 votes
Other people: 6 votes
A little bit of love here for J.T. Barrett, which hey, is possible, but the rest of the group took off the Scarlet and Gray glasses enough to make a perfectly reasonable, if chalk-heavy, pick. If they can stay health, both Watson and McCaffrey should put up monster stats for excellent teams.
Who are your four playoff teams?
Clemson: 14
Ohio State: 12
Alabama: 10
LSU: 8
TCU: 8
Oklahoma: 6
Florida State: 5
Stanford: 3
Michigan: 2
Houston: 2
Oregon: 2
Since it’s probably unlikely two teams from the same conference make it this year, let’s say the consensus picks are Clemson, Ohio State, Alabama and TCU, with lots of love for LSU, Oklahoma and Florida State. Houston and Oregon wold be surprising, but hey, this is a weird sport.
Who is going to win the national title?
Clemson: 8 votes
LSU: 4 votes:
Ohio State: 2 votes
Florida State: 2 votes
Others: 2 votes
Let the record state that there are limits to the homerism of LGHL writers. While Ohio State was a very popular choice to make the playoff, the experience of LSU and Clemson won out, as most writers see one of those two teams carrying home the hardware at the end of the season.
Which, of course, means, Cal is going to beat Indiana for the title this season.
Continue reading...