2016 Season Look-Ahead

The time is almost here, ladies and gentlemen!  The 2016 college football season is upon us, with "Week 0" kicking things off this weekend.



Last year, I made some preseason predictions in a series of look-ahead posts.  For 2016, I figured I'd consolidate the look-ahead into a single post.  Let's have some fun and see who I've tabbed as winners, losers, and surprises for the season to come.

Surprise of the Year: Texas.  While some might write off their Oklahoma and Baylor wins as flukes last year, I certainly do not.  I think the Longhorns use those wins as momentum and win 9 or 10 games, making things a bit more comfortable for Charlie Strong & crew.

Disappointment of the Year: Ole Miss.  I think many forget just how special that 2013 recruiting class was.  With some of those notable and high-impact players now in the NFL, I think the Rebels fall back to the ranks of the unranked.  They still have talent and should be fine for a bowl, but I predict more of the 7-5 variety and less of the New Year's Six type.

Conference Champs:

• ACC - Clemson over Miami
• SEC - Alabama over Tennessee
• Big Ten - Nebraska over Michigan (upset, folks!)
• PAC 12 - Stanford over Utah
• Big 12 - TCU, with Oklahoma finishing 2nd
• American - South Florida over Houston (G5 upset)
• Mountain West - San Diego State over Boise State (battle of two 11+ win teams)
• MAC - Western Michigan over Ohio
• Conference USA - Southern Miss over Marshall
• Sun Belt - Appalachian State, with Arkansas State 2nd

Playoff Picks:

• 1 Clemson vs 4 Stanford in the Peach Bowl (Clemson wins)
• 2 Alabama vs 3 Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl (Alabama wins)
• Championship Game: Clemson over Alabama (sweet revenge!!)

Other New Year's Six Bowls:

• Rose Bowl: Nebraska vs Washington
• Sugar Bowl: Tennessee vs TCU
• Orange Bowl: Florida State vs Michigan
• Cotton Bowl: San Diego State vs LSU

Seven Random Predictions (1 for each P5 conference, 1 for G5, 1 big-picture):

1. Last year's bowl crisis won't repeat itself, as 2016 will see at least 80 teams at 6-6 or better.
2. The ACC's will NOT go winless vs Notre Dame.  VT or NC State will pull off an upset.  The Irish win out otherwise, however, and still slip into the CFP (Texas, MSU, and Stanford end up being resume-building wins).
3. The Big Ten will come down to the last weekend to determine both championship game participants.
4. We'll see our first instance of a TWO-loss team in the CFP (Stanford).  Stanford's PAC-12 Championship will give it the edge over 1-loss non-champ FSU.
5. The SEC Championship Game sees its first rematch of permanent cross-division rivals.
6. The Big 12 decides to add two teams to the conference, effective 2018: Houston and Cincinnati.
7. The Group of Five race for a New Year's Six bowl will come down to Championship Saturday, with at least two conferences firmly in the hunt.

Just for giggles (and some downright laughter in a few cases), feel free to relive my 2015 season look-ahead.

• I predicted the following power-conference teams to get back to a bowl in 2015, after missing one the previous year:
• Michigan, Kentucky, Wake Forest, Texas Tech, California, Indiana (4/6 right)
• Conversely, I predicted the following P5 teams to miss one, who had gone the year before:
• Miami, Illinois, West Virginia, Washington, Florida, Texas A&M (only 1 right...ouch)
• My picks for the top 3 Group of Five contenders:
• Boise State, Cincinnati, Louisiana-Lafayette.  None won their conference; ULL wasn't even bowl-eligible!
• I did predict UCF would take a step back.  Their 0-12 did that in a big way!
• A couple of surprise picks:
• Minnesota would be the year's big surprise and win the Big Ten West.  Right division, wrong team.  Iowa ended up being that surprise.
• FSU would fail to win the ACC and be a disappointment.  Half-right; although Clemson ended up being the ACC's best, at least the Seminoles went to a New Year's Six bowl.
• My 2015 picks for conference champs (a truly humbling experience):
• Georgia Tech (ACC)...D'OH!!!
• Ohio State (Big Ten)...close, but 11-1 wasn't quite enough to get to Indy.
• TCU (Big 12)...darn injuries and failed 2-point conversion attempt!
• Arizona State (PAC-12)...not as disastrous as GT but still far from a contender
• Georgia (SEC)...so much for being favored over Alabama in Athens...