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College Football 2015: FSU Stung, Utah In Serious Trouble
enlightenedbum
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Registered User regular
2015 predictions are not fearless enough for me to record.
Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
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8/30 Appalachian State - W. Michigan fans' emotional state: even more depressed than usual, having had to watch highlights of THE HORROR on loop for a week or more. Unless Dave Brandon is tarred and feathered at half time.
9/6 at Notre Dame - L. Michigan fans' emotional state: fugue.
9/13 Miami (Not that Miami) - W. MFES: Woooo we beat a shitty MAC team!
9/20 Utah - W. MFES: Hooray? Meh.
9/27 Minnesota - W MFES: 1-0 Big Ten! We can do this!
10/4 at Rutgers - W MFES: What the fuck is Rutgers doing in the Big Ten again?
10/11 Penn State - W MFES: Drunk
10/25 at Michigan State - L MFES: When's basketball season?
11/1 Indiana - W MFES: POINTS POINTS POINTS
11/8 at Northwestern - W MFES: Man, I wish we had Venric Mark
11/22 Maryland - W MFES: If we can pull off an upset, maybe this season won't suck
11/29 at Ohio State - L MFES: GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
Outback Bowl vs. SEC #4 or whatever - L MFES: Sadness. But then we watch basketball and get happy!
Theme: Oh God, we're Michigan State.
Big Ten predictions:
East champion is the OSU/MSU winner obviously. Which is in East Lansing, at night. So we'll go with State. Gross.
West champion is Wisconsin. Duh.
Full standings!
East
MSU (11-1, 8-0)
OSU (11-1, 7-1)
Michigan (9-3, 6-2)
Penn State (8-4, 5-3)
Indiana (6-6, 3-5)
Maryland (5-7, 2-6) (brutal schedule for them: OSU, Iowa, at Wisconsin, at Penn State, MSU, at Michigan in six straight games; two byes though I guess?)
Rutgers (2-10, 0-8)
West
Wisconsin (11-1, 8-0)
Iowa (10-2, 6-2) (honestly, they could start 10-0, easily: UNI, Ball State, Iowa State, at Pitt, at Purdue, Indiana, at Maryland, Northwestern, at Minnesota, at Illinois before closing with Wisconsin and Nebraska at home; I think they drop one of those first six Big Ten games, maybe at the Gophers)
Nebraska (9-3, 5-3)
Minnesota (7-5, 4-4)
Northwestern (5-7, 2-6)
Illinois (5-7, 2-6)
Purdue (3-9, 1-7)
(I think that all works out with schedules)
Obviously random upsets will happen and make me look dumb, but still.
Wisconsin beats MSU to win the conference. Get horribly crushed as the #4 seed in the playoff to probably Alabama, because why not, really.
8/30 - UCF (in Ireland) - Win: Yes, PSU lost at home last year. But UCF no longer has Blake Bortles and possibly more importantly, Storm Johnson. UCF reverts to form, and PSU wins by two scores.
9/6 - Akron - Win: In a game that will probably be far, far closer than it should be, people will be calling for Franklins head when PSU trails at half time before Hackenberg lights up the Zips in the third quarter for three touchdowns to pull ahead for good.
9/13 - @ Big Ten Powerhouse Rutgers - Win: Honestly, Akron scares me more than Rutgers does.
9/20 - Massachusetts - Win: Did you know UMass was an FBS team? Neither did I.
9/27 - Northwestern - Win: It is Homecoming against Northwestern. That math adds up to a Penn State win, most likely after trailing going into the 4th quarter.
10/4 - BYE - Win: We managed to handle BYE well enough both times last year, but they still pose a looming threat. PSU pulls out a tight win.
10/11 - @ Michigan - Win: I am unconvinced that Michigan has learned how to run the ball yet, and until they do, they will not be able to control the game enough to put it out of reach of Hackenberg.
10/18 - BYE - Loss: This is a trap game for Penn State. Coming off a very emotional Michigan win, and looking ahead to a White Out against Ohio State, PSU will overlook the BYE after having beat it once already this year, and wind up having to split the series 1-1.
10/25 - Ohio State - Loss: Hopefully we can keep it within 21 this year.
11/1 - Maryland - Win: Half of Maryland's team commits to Penn State at half time.
11/8 - @ Indiana - Loss: PSU should beat Indiana. But reduced scholarships, and Kevin Wilson knowing how to score points will make this another loss. I will likely be very drunk and depressed following said loss.
11/15 - Temple - Win: It's Temple, and Al Golden isn't the coach.
11/22 - @ Illinois - Loss: Injuries and a lack of depth take their toll, and PSU keeps Beckman employed for another year.
11/29 - Michigan State - Loss: Hackenberg gives the vaunted MSU defense fits, but ultimately PSU can't slow down the MSU ground attack enough for it to matter.
No Bowl, NCAA will not remove the bowl ban this year.
Theme: Meet the new team, same as the old team.
Big Ten predictions:
East champion: Michigan State goes undefeated.
West champion: Minnesota in a darkhorse upset.
Big 10 Champion: Michigan State.
Full standings!
East
MSU (12-0, 8-0)
OSU (11-1, 7-1)
Michigan (7-5, 4-4)
Indiana (7-5, 4-4)
Penn State (8-4, 4-4)
Maryland (5-7, 3-5)
Rutgers (3-9, 1-7)
West
Minnesota (10-2, 7-1)
Iowa (10-2, 6-2)
Nebraska (9-3, 5-3)
Wisconsin (7-5, 4-4)
Northwestern (6-6, 2-6)
Illinois (4-8, 1-7)
Purdue (2-10, 0-8)
pleasepaypreacher.net
How the heck did you get that? Have you seen Wisconsin's schedule? They play absolutely no one. No Michigan, no OSU, no one. The only game that is a questionable win is the opener in Houston against LSU. That said, my prediction for the Badgers:
@Houston for LSU - lose
Western Illinois - Win
Bowling Green - Win
Central Florida - Win
@Northwestern - Win
Illinois - Win
Maryland - Win
@Rutgers - Win
@Purdue - Win
Nebraska - Win (Ok, they may lose this one)
@Iowa - Win
Minnesota - Win
That puts them into the championship against OSU where they lose and probably go to the Outback bowl where they also lose because a fucking cupcake schedule does the team no favors.
Fuck I hate this schedule, just looking at it puts me in a bad mood.
And minnesota is my surprise team of the big 10. They play tough football. Iowa for team that totally shits the bed amid high expectations.
So, just like last year.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
at Navy: W - The usual this is upset material at the half but it's a blowout by the end.
Virginia Tech: W - Easy win. Not the team it used to be.
Kent State: W - Annual win against the MAC.
Cincinnati: W - Another upset at the half but comfortable win.
at Maryland: W - "Welcome to the Big Ten!" blowout.
Rutgers: W - See above.
at Penn State: W - I hate playing here and it's a night game. Could be a loss but they'll pull out a close one.
Illinois: W - Home night game. Taking care of business.
at Michigan State: L - Starting to hate these guys more than Michigan...
at Minnesota: W - Bounce back steamroll? Nah. Close through most of the game but 10+ point win.
Indiana: W - Tune up game much like Alabama before Auburn and Florida before Florida State.
Michigan: W - DESTROY.
Fiesta Bowl because it's practically home away from home.
Barely qualify for a bowl? Unbridled optimism!
pleasepaypreacher.net
(stars indicate redshirts)
Three different captions for this image:
1) Fuck you, Rich Rodriguez
2) Why Michigan could struggle this year, despite a joke of a schedule
3) Why my goal for the season is for Gardner to be walking upright at Christmas time
Yeah, Rodriguez really fucked you guys over. Hence why I am questioning if you guys will in fact be able to run the ball this year.
I do think the defense will be quite solid. Especially the secondary.
I wish my school had football.
I'll drop some predictions when I'm not half asleep.
You guys, Ohio State, the aforementioned team with no upperclassmen guards/tackles, a team with severely limited scholarships and a new coach, a team with an antimatter defense, Maryland, and Rutgers.
It's kind of hard to not predict you'll do well.
Ohio State:
Navy (in Baltimore): W, but closer than we think
Virginia Tech: W
Kent State: W, but this game and the next game are huge trap games
Cincinnati: W...with a huge caveat that this is game scares the daylights out of me
At Maryland: W
Rutgers: W
At Penn State: W, but not a blow out
Illinois: W
At Michigan State: W. Urban will have his team howling for blood
At Minnesota: W, but I think this game is close going into the 4th quarter
Indiana: W
Michigan: W
Big Ten Title Game: Vs. Wisconsin, W. Tough, close game.
Big Ten East:
OSU
MSU
Michigan
Penn State
Indiana
Maryland
Rutgers
Big Ten West:
Wisconsin
Iowa
Nebraska
Minnesota
Northwestern
Purdue
Illinois
Other Power 5 conferences:
ACC title game: FSU vs. Va. Tech or Miami
Big 12 champ: Oklahoma
Pac 12 title game: Oregon vs. UCLA
SEC: South Carolina vs. Alabama
Playoffs:
Alabama vs. Ohio State
FSU vs. Oklahoma
Title Game: Alabama vs. Florida State.
Champs: Florida State
@ Hawaii - W
This had better not be close. Well be missing our presumed starting QB on suspension but better not have needed him for a full half anyway.
Eastern Washington - W
Newsflash: scheduling D2 title level teams is a bad idea even if you 'should' win most of the time. This game makes me nervous.
Illinois - W
Another bad team, at home, with two previous tune ups. Better win.
Georgia State - W
They finished 0-for-all in the Sun Belt last year, didn't exist before 2010, and have fewer wins in program history than we did last year. Expect ugliness.
Stanford - W
I like our chances here. We typically play them tough, match up well with what they like to do, get them at home after finding a groove (where we beat them two years ago when they were much better and we were worse), and probably would have beat them on the road last year if our special teams unit wasn't coached by a roast chicken.
@ Cal - W
Might actually somehow be the worst team in the conference.
@ Oregon - L
I feel like every year I'm tempted to think '..but what are the odds they win 11 in a row?' While the truth is once the previous 10 are in the books its the exact same as the odds they win this one. And the odds the Ducks beat us at home while we're running out a new QB and replacing most of our playmakers are very, very, very good.
ASU - W
While they arent a bad team I'm just not convinced ASU is ever actually any good. This is a tossup game to me, since that's also pretty much how I'd describe UW. But we're consistently better at home so...what the hell.
@ Colorado - W
They weren't good last year and lost their two best players. Good luck with that.
UCLA - L
They're overrated as playoff conte ders but they are conference title types and should beat us in a relatively close game.
@ Arizona - L
Oh look, another middling team o n the road. Mark this one down as our 'WTF was that?' road upset this year since even decidedly average 'zona is probably the best not-Oregon team we play on the road this season.
Oregon State - W
OSU late season after whatever coach wizardry takes place their has had time to take effect is terrifying to me, but we're better and at home so...just once I'd like to play OSU in the early season 'losing to Sacramento State' phase and not the late season 'coached up and dangerous' phase.
@ WSU - W
Nope, not licking a loss to a rival when they aren't very good. Sure they aren't particularly bad either but nope, not going to pick a loss.
Overall that's 10-3, which is a lot more about the schedule than us (three of the best teams on the schedule at home and the one on the road we were going to lose anyway) since I think we still end up third in the division with three conference losses. I'll say Oregon beats UCLA in the conference title game.
pleasepaypreacher.net
We lost quite a few good players to graduation/the Draft (Martin, Niklas, Nix, Tuitt, Watt, Shembo, Jones, Calabrese, Fox, etc).
New DC Brian VanGorder's taking us back to a 4-3, which I personally prefer to a 3-4, but I dunno how well current personnel fits in.
Should be good to have Everett Golson back, but after being out a whole year I'm suspicious. Malik Zaire's been impressive in camp and the Blue & Gold Game; I'm interested in seeing him.
Anyway, predictions...
vs Rice - W
Rice? Rice.
vs Michigan - L
Last game vs Michigan (hopefully only for a while [sadface]), under the lights at ND stadium, love to win it, but the Wolverines seem to have ND's number so often (and/or ND just falls apart toward the end of the game).
vs Purdue (@ Lucas Oil Stadium) - W
Again: poor, poor Purdue.
at Syracuse - W
I'm expecting this to end up being a game where ND is looking a week ahead too early and have to pull it together toward the end of the game.
vs Stanford - L
A beating from the Cardinal again.
vs North Carolina - W
I expect this to go kinda like the Syracuse game; too close because we're looking ahead a week.
at FSU - L
I worry I may have to cover my eyes while watching this game.
vs Navy (@ FedEx Field) - W
The option's always "fun" to defend, and it's a total crap-shoot whether the new D figures it out. I still remember a Weis team being BLASTED by a Navy fullback all. game. long.
at AZ St. - W
Meh.
vs Northwestern - W
Northwestern seems to randomly become nearly unstoppable, but then they Northwestern themselves.
vs Louisville - W
Freddie's dead. Teddy's gone.
at USC - W
Trojans still don't have it together.
9-3, we'll attend some half-decent bowl-game and hopefully not suck.
Florida Atlantic - poor FAU - W
McNeese St - Former ksu qb daniel sams plays here. He will be dangerous but we have Randy Gregory - W
Fresno State - this one scares me because Miami heads to towdm the next week but - W
Miami - an average team but with good talent. Nebraska seems to play worse at home and I think the U takes it - L
Illinois - meh - W
Michigan State - I think it will be close but turnovers lose it - L
Northwestern - close but no hail mary needed - W
Rutgers - dont know much about rutgers but - W
Wisconsin - wiscy should be good but neb will be ready. close game - W
Purdue - poor purdue - W
Minnesota - these guys are tough as nails but I don't think they do it twice in a row - W
Iowa - same as minn except I think Iowa is in full shit the bed mode after high preseason expectations. - W
Neb to the big10 title game where they get embarassed by osu again. 10-3 regular season
pleasepaypreacher.net
Let the razing of the so-called mid-majors commence!
A significant chunk of our 2011-13 recruiting classes have left the program, including last year's starting QB. So that's fun. The 2014 class was pretty good (for our standards) and the 2015 class is looking alright, though one of the better players is in the hospital with a broken skull after an ATV accident.
No major staff changes, but between the soft schedule and general malaise of the last few seasons, Paul Johnson is sitting on a pretty warm seat. Many people think he needs 8 wins, including one out of the VT/Miami/Clemson/UGA games to keep a firm hold of the job going into 2015.
Wofford - W
at Tulane - This is a 2-for-1 to open their new stadium, and a fun matchup of original SEC members. But Tulane sucks, so W
Georgia Southern - Last seen beating a terrible Florida team, but new coach, losing their QB, etc, means it should be another easy W
at VT - A team you always want to catch early...but L
Miami - Duke Johnson is really good. L
Duke - Nope. W
at UNC - Who knows with them. No one does less with more than UNC Football. W
at Pitt - ...Maybe? W
UVA - Still bad. W
at NCST - See above. W
Clemson - Nope. L
at UGA -
So total is 8-4, but with none of the "good" wins that the fanbase wants. Probably good enough to keep PJ around, at least until next year when NCST and GaSo are replaced with FSU and ND and we go 6-6 at best.
ACC Predictions:
Atlantic:
FSU (12-0, 8-0)
Clemson (9-3, 6-2)
Louisville (8-4, 4-4)
Syracuse (7-5, 4-4)
BC (5-7, 3-5)
NCST (4-8, 2-6)
Wake Forest (2-10, 0-8)
Coastal:
Miami (8-4, 5-3)
VT (8-4, 5-3)
GT (8-4, 5-3)
Duke (7-5, 4-4)
UNC (7-5, 4-4)
Pitt (7-5, 4-4)
UVA (3-9, 1-7)
I know the conference wins don't add up, but I seriously have no fucking idea what is going to happen in the Coastal. Any of those top 6 could win it, and any of them could go 2-6.
Yeah. Anyone who says they know for certain what will happen in the Coastal is a god-damn liar.
Games will be played. Somebody will stumble into the least interesting conference championship game. They will still be considered a power conference.
The above applies to all of the conferences.
I question if you can call what we play in the Big Ten these days actual games.
It's still checkers even if you eat the board and stick the pieces up your nose.