Real Life

As usual, real life intervenes when we least expect it.  I likely won’t have anything up for the next few days as I head home to take care of some family stuff.  With any luck I’ll be able to finish the season previews by mid-week (though they will all be horribly blown after the first week I’m sure).  So I encourage everyone to sit back, relax, and enjoy a long weekend of college football.

2008 NCAA Football Preview: Part Eight

This is the eighth in a 12-part series previewing the upcoming college football season. I’m hoping to have this finished by opening day, but it’s probably not going to happen.

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Day Eight: Atlantic Coast Conference

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The ACC has had a bit of a tough run lately. Their teams have put up multiple double-digit win seasons but haven’t been able to put a team in the BCS championship game since Florida State’s three-year run from 1998-2000. Bringing in Virginia Tech and Miami (teams who made the championship game three times while in the Big East) was supposed to provide some depth in the conference, but they have been unable to field a truly dominant title contender. This year could be different. The ACC starts the season with two teams with legitimate title hopes and teams who have struggled in recent years (Wake Forest and North Carolina) are beginning to show signs of life and provide a deeper conference to give those top teams more credibility. Also, I just noticed this, but how lame are the ACC’s division names? Atlantic and Coastal? They couldn’t have just gone with North and South? What’s the difference between the Atlantic and the Coast? Anyway…

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Contenders, Pretenders, and O-fers: Preseason Edition

Each week I will take a look at the five teams in the country with the best national championship hopes, the five teams that are nipping at their heels, and the five teams most likely to lay an egg this season.  These lists will look at past performance as well as future possibilities.  For example, Ohio State starts as the #4 contender because I believe they will lose to USC and, thus, be kept out of the BCS title game.  If, however, they beat USC, they will immediately jump to #1 because there is really no one else on the schedule who can beat them.  For more in-depth analysis of the teams, check out the season previews.

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THE CONTENDERS

#1 – Oklahoma Sooners

#2 – Florida Gators

#3 – USC Trojans

#4 – Ohio State Buckeyes

#5 – West Virginia Mountaineers

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The Pretenders

#6 – Missouri Tigers

#7 – Georgia Bulldogs

#8 – Clemson Tigers

#9 – Auburn Tigers

#10 – Virginia Tech Hokies

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The O-fers

#1 – Florida International Panthers

#2 – Utah State Aggies

#3 – UAB Blazers

#4 – Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

#5 – North Texas Mean Green

2008 NCAA Football Preview: Part Seven

This is the seventh in a 12-part series previewing the upcoming college football season. I’m hoping to have this finished by opening day, but it’s probably not going to happen.

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Day Seven: Big East

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Once Miami, BC, and Virginia Tech vacated to the ACC, many thought the Big East would become the bastard child of the BCS. In fact, a few years ago some BCS conference supporters suggested taking away the Big East’s automatic bowl berth. In 2004, the best record by a team not leaving the conference was 8-4. Since that year, however, the conference has risen quickly, fielding perennial contenders and would have, barring a stunning upset on the last day of last season, put its first team in the BCS championship game since the conference’s reorganization. 6 teams have won 10 or more games in the past three years, matching the ACC, which has four more total teams. There has been some criticism, though. Owing to its eight team setup, the Big East is the only BCS conference that gets to schedule five non-conference games. Additionally, the bottom of the conference had been very weak in recent years. Last year upset the status quo with UCONN, Cincinnati, and USF all putting up spectacular seasons, seemingly from nowhere. This newfound depth should greatly help the conference. If the Big East can limit the cupcakes and still keep good non-conference records, their stock should continue to rise.

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2008 NCAA Football Preview: Part Six

This is the sixth in a 12-part series previewing the upcoming college football season. I’m hoping to have this finished by opening day, but it’s probably not going to happen.

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Day Six: The Independents

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There isn’t much to say about these teams as a group, so let’s just get into it.

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2008 NCAA Football Preview: Part Five

This is the fifth in a 12-part series previewing the upcoming college football season. I’m hoping to have this finished by opening day, but it’s probably not going to happen.

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Day Five: Mountain West Conference

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The MWC looks to be fielding a solid group of competitive teams. More than half of the teams will will finish above .500 and three could reasonably win ten games. BYU is looking to crack the BCS while Utah and TCU will try their best to make sure that doesn’t happen. The bottom half of the conference is weak, though it should be significantly improved over last season.

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2008 NCAA Football Preview: Part Four

This is the fourth in a 12-part series previewing the upcoming college football season. I’m hoping to have this finished by opening day, but it’s probably not going to happen.

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Day Four: Western Athletic Conference

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The WAC perennially puts up a BCS contender and this season will be no different. Two years ago it was Boise’s magical undefeated run. Last season it was Hawai’i’s cupcake induced 12-0 stretch. In 2008 Fresno State looks to take the reins as the WAC’s top dog (pun totally intended) while Boise and Nevada will nip at their heels. The Warriors will try to retain their dominance from a year ago but will find it difficult. This is a conference of haves and have-nots, with the top teams likely to perform very well and the bottom teams likely to be national cellar-dwellers.

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2008 NCAA Football Preview: Part Three

This is the third in a 12-part series previewing the upcoming college football season. I’m hoping to have this finished by opening day, but it’s probably not going to happen.

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Day Three: Conference USA

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Conference USA is another conference that has not been able to have a team hang with the big boys for some time now. In fact, no conference champion currently in the league has finished in the Top 25 since 1999. The losses of TCU and Louisville tremendously hurt the league’s credibility and, though they have had several 10 win seasons lately, few of the teams have made serious runs at the BCS. One team could this season, but it looks to be another mediocre year for the teams of C-USA.

Teams are listed in expected order of finish:

2008 College Football Preview: Part Two

This is the second in a 12-part series previewing the upcoming college football season. I’m hoping to have this finished by opening day, but it’s probably not going to happen.

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Day Two: Mid-American Conference

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The MAC is an anomaly. One would think that after this many seasons as a Division 1-A conference, they would have some success to show for it. Yet, with the exception of Ben Roethlisberger’s Miami squads and the Byron Leftwich-led Marshall team (now gone to C-USA), there hasn’t been much to celebrate lately. While other small conferences (namely the MWC and the WAC) have been able to put up contenders, the MAC has simply become a punching bag for the Big Ten. Can that change this year?

Teams are listed in expected order of finish:

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2008 NCAA Football Preview: Day One

This is the first in a 12-part series previewing the upcoming college football season. I’m hoping to have this finished by opening day, but it’s probably not going to happen.

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Day One: Sun Belt Conference

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I know exactly two things about the Sun Belt. One: Troy was great last season and should have made a bowl game. Two: FAU is better this season and could actually become the league’s first nine game winner. With that said: I am about to make some completely irresponsible predictions based largely on supposition and guesswork.

Teams are listed in expected order of finish:

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