Hilda's College Football Primer

[Chase]

In honor of the only reason I backed the now-deceased sports forum.

Hilda's Preseason Top-25 (NCAA Division I Football)

1. TCU

2. Ohio State

3. Michigan State

4. Georgia

5. Baylor

6. LSU

7. Alabama

8. Oregon

9. Clemson

10. USC

11. Arizona State

12. Mississippi State

13. Brigham Young (BYU)

14. Western Michigan

15. UCLA

16. Wisconsin

17. Tennessee

18. Boise State

19. Oklahoma

20. Arizona

21. Utah

22. Notre Dame

23. FLORIDA STATE

24. Georgia Tech

25. Nebraska

Predicted Final Four - TCU, Ohio State, Georgia, USC

Predicted National Championship Matchup - Texas Christian v. Georgia

Predicted Winner - Georgia.

Outside the Top 25 Dark Horses: Oklahoma State, Louisville, Kentucky, Penn State, West Virginia, Washington

This year, I have hope that the Big 12 poses enough of a top-heavy conference to where they get a team in this year. TCU survives a tough game against Oklahoma and blows the doors off of Baylor in Fort Worth on Black Friday to secure the number one spot (or if they take a loss a play-off birth.)

This year, Alabama draws a HARD cross-divisional straw in Georgia and Tennessee, and loses Amari Cooper.

This year, Ohio State plays an easy schedule, save for playing Virginia Tech on the road. The Hokies beat the Buckeyes at home last season.

This year, Michigan plays like some guy named Jim Harbaugh is coaching 'em, playing the Buckeyes tight in the Big House.

LSU's RB Leonard Fournette wins the Heisman as the NCAA is seemingly down on talented Quarterbacks this season.

[Avatar of Grima]

In honor of the only reason I backed the now-deceased sports forum.

Hilda's Preseason Top-25 (NCAA Division I Football)

1. TCU

2. Ohio State

3. Michigan State

4. Georgia

5. Baylor

6. LSU

7. Alabama

8. Oregon

9. Clemson

10. USC

11. Arizona State

12. Mississippi State

13. Brigham Young (BYU)

14. Western Michigan

15. UCLA

16. Wisconsin

17. Tennessee

18. Boise State

19. Oklahoma

20. Arizona

21. Utah

22. Notre Dame

23. FLORIDA STATE

24. Georgia Tech

25. Nebraska

Predicted Final Four - TCU, Ohio State, Georgia, USC

Predicted National Championship Matchup - Texas Christian v. Georgia

Predicted Winner - Georgia.

Outside the Top 25 Dark Horses: Oklahoma State, Louisville, Kentucky, Penn State, West Virginia, Washington

This year, I have hope that the Big 12 poses enough of a top-heavy conference to where they get a team in this year. TCU survives a tough game against Oklahoma and blows the doors off of Baylor in Fort Worth on Black Friday to secure the number one spot (or if they take a loss a play-off birth.)

This year, Alabama draws a HARD cross-divisional straw in Georgia and Tennessee, and loses Amari Cooper.

This year, Ohio State plays an easy schedule, save for playing Virginia Tech on the road. The Hokies beat the Buckeyes at home last season.

This year, Michigan plays like some guy named Jim Harbaugh is coaching 'em, playing the Buckeyes tight in the Big House.

LSU's RB Leonard Fournette wins the Heisman as the NCAA is seemingly down on talented Quarterbacks this season.

Oregon I doubt will stay top 10 with the loss of Marcus Mariota and many other seniors... UW is going to be ranked for a while but get no higher than 20th then they will be knocked out even if they do play well.

[Chase]

I'm....down on the Ducks too. It's very possible they don't drop off too far at all, but the new QB won't be Marcus Mariota grade fantastic, and Helfrich is no Chip Kelly. This is a year they rebuild.

This is the year the Pac-12 South takes by storm. USC is fully loaded again and the state of Arizona will see some big games often.

Oregon's BIGGEST problem. This year they get Michigan State in East Lansing. Without Mariota.

[Red_Chaos]

plz tell me you live in Georgia...cuz there is no way in hell Georgia makes it out of the east...

[Shamitako]

Hildra no, you're going to interest me in football, or at least the OSU football that I haven't paid attention to in like two years QQ

But more seriously, I do find this sorta interesting since I like statistics and stuff. I almost wish I had the time to actually look into this. Almost (TBH, if I was gonna look into a sport purely for statistics I'd probs go for baseball anyways)

My main curiosity here, why do you have USC at ten in the standings but predict them in the top four? Is that something to do with the scoring system (which I know next to nothing about)? Or do you expect them to pick up their game late in the season for some reason?

[Nanami's-Egg]

In honor of the only reason I backed the now-deceased sports forum.

Hilda's Preseason Top-25 (NCAA Division I Football)

1. TCU

2. Ohio State

3. Michigan State

4. Georgia

5. Baylor

6. LSU

7. Alabama

8. Oregon

9. Clemson

10. USC

11. Arizona State

12. Mississippi State

13. Brigham Young (BYU)

14. Western Michigan

15. UCLA

16. Wisconsin

17. Tennessee

18. Boise State

19. Oklahoma

20. Arizona

21. Utah

22. Notre Dame

23. FLORIDA STATE

24. Georgia Tech

25. Nebraska

Predicted Final Four - TCU, Ohio State, Georgia, USC

Predicted National Championship Matchup - Texas Christian v. Georgia

Predicted Winner - Georgia.

Outside the Top 25 Dark Horses: Oklahoma State, Louisville, Kentucky, Penn State, West Virginia, Washington

This year, I have hope that the Big 12 poses enough of a top-heavy conference to where they get a team in this year. TCU survives a tough game against Oklahoma and blows the doors off of Baylor in Fort Worth on Black Friday to secure the number one spot (or if they take a loss a play-off birth.)

This year, Alabama draws a HARD cross-divisional straw in Georgia and Tennessee, and loses Amari Cooper.

This year, Ohio State plays an easy schedule, save for playing Virginia Tech on the road. The Hokies beat the Buckeyes at home last season.

This year, Michigan plays like some guy named Jim Harbaugh is coaching 'em, playing the Buckeyes tight in the Big House.

LSU's RB Leonard Fournette wins the Heisman as the NCAA is seemingly down on talented Quarterbacks this season.

I like these rankings! However, I'm not sold on Georgia being able to make it out of the SEC unscathed, despite their talent. The Bulldogs are never quite able to make the whole season without injuries, suspensions or losing games they shouldn't. Playing Alabama doesn't help either.

I'd like to see a Big 12 team in the playoff too. Let's hope the selection committee feels the same way, unlike last year!

I would say it's safe to assume Oregon isn't a contender for the playoff with all the players they have lost, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Ducks could do it based on the based on talent and coaching alone. The game at MSU will be a test to see if they are a Playoff contender, or just a solid Pac-12 team. Even if the Ducks are rebuilding, I don't see them losing more than one game in conference play. The Pac-12 North is improving, but even a rebuilding Oregon is still better the rest of the North. (I went to Oregon State, so it pains me to say Oregon will win the North like usual, but I can't deny the obvious.)

As for the Pac-12 South, it will be interesting to see who wins it to face (more than likely) Oregon in the championship game. If the whole division lives up to the hype, it could be one of the most competitive divisions in all of college football, and I could see the Pac-12 South winner having two losses in conference. I think Arizona and USC have the best shot to win the South. However, ASU gets to play Oregon, Arizona and USC all at home, so they could make some noise as well.

Edited August 5, 2015 by Nanami's-Egg

[Avatar of Grima]

I'm....down on the Ducks too. It's very possible they don't drop off too far at all, but the new QB won't be Marcus Mariota grade fantastic, and Helfrich is no Chip Kelly. This is a year they rebuild.

This is the year the Pac-12 South takes by storm. USC is fully loaded again and the state of Arizona will see some big games often.

Oregon's BIGGEST problem. This year they get Michigan State in East Lansing. Without Mariota.

USC is going to do well then come up to play Washington and fall flat on their faces. Like always

[Chase]

Lexi.

The poll i have is a PRE SEASON poll. I have USC starting lower than they will eventually climb to. My prediction there is that USC will climb into the playoff race.

I do NOT live in GA. I don't think anyone in the east is good enough to beat them. South Carolina and Tennessee pose the biggest threats in the division to the Dawgs.

Two straight Sugar Bowl losses. Losses to Auburn and Ole Miss on the road. NO. AMARI. COOPER. I'm not currently sold on Alabama, and UGA is a legitimate threat out of the east.

[Red_Chaos]

Lexi.

The poll i have is a PRE SEASON poll. I have USC starting lower than they will eventually climb to. My prediction there is that USC will climb into the playoff race.

I do NOT live in GA. I don't think anyone in the east is good enough to beat them. South Carolina and Tennessee pose the biggest threats in the division to the Dawgs.

Two straight Sugar Bowl losses. Losses to Auburn and Ole Miss on the road. NO. AMARI. COOPER. I'm not currently sold on Alabama, and UGA is a legitimate threat out of the east.

So totally forget about Mizzo and their two back-to-back east championships? Not to mention who gives a damn if they lost on the road, winning on the road is very very hard to do and its not like they were terrible loses. And lastly do you remember who Georgia's coach and his records ?

[Chase]

Yes - Richt.

Yes - Missouri has played exceptionally well and is a decent little East team.

Yes - Richt has been on the hot seat for underwhelming records.

Georgia simply has the talent on the roster.

[CJwilson33]

If Alabama quarterback shines you can predict they will be in the national title picture.

[Red_Chaos]

talent doesn't always win football games

[Chase]

Theres nothing in the SEC East that poses an "immediate" threat to UGA. Yes, SCAR, Tenn, Mizzou are decent or trending, but there is a REASON Georgia is inflated every single year.

[Shamitako]

*Statistics urge twitches* Down sword hand!

Ohok, so basically the second thing except in sports terms that I don't fully understand Thanks for explaining ^^

[Chase]

Favorite Teams

Oklahoma (Big XII)

Biggest Looming Issues: No definitive answer at quarterback, reliable secondary wide-receiver, secondary being too soft despite being dubbed "Defensive Back University." by many.

Returning Strengths: Halfbacks, WR Sterling Shepard, Defensive Line, KR Alex Ross.

Out of Conference Showcase: @ Tennessee

Biggest Game of the year: VS Texas Christian

"Trap" Games: Texas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State

The Underdog Game: @ Baylor

The Sooners are coming off a disappointing season in which they accumulated five losses for only the second time in Bob Stoops' gig as head coach - after being picked to represent the Big XII in the college football playoff in the pre-season. Oklahoma faced a bit of off-the-field adversity in losing Frank Shannon from the defense due to the university's title IX battle with him in court over alleged sexual assault charges and freshman phenom RB Joe Mixon to a bar altercation. BOTH will be return, providing the Sooners with a shiftier, supposedly really talented fast back to accompany last years break-out freshman running back Samaje Perine, as well as put some more experience back on a growing group opposite side of the ball.

Aside from getting blown out in Norman by the Baylor Bears and not even showing up to Orlando for the Russell Athletic Bowl, the Sooners were in every game until the final whistle, and a 11-2 finish for a team ranked 4th would not nearly be as much of a disparagement as Oklahoma has gotten in the off-season. 8-5 however is actually below fan-base expectation, and resultingly brought about the hiring of of a co-defensive coordinator and new offensive coordinator in Lincoln Riley, who looks to bring the Sooners' offense back to the explosive level of play that got them into the 2008 national championship game - the 'Air Raid' offense. Riley's East Carolina Pirates had one of the most effective pass attacks in college football last season.

There is currently a quarterback battle going on between Juniors Trevor Knight - the Quarterback that burst onto last years Heisman scene by knocking off Alabama in the 2014 Sugar Bowl as a freshman - and Baker Mayfield, who after said Sugar Bowl took off from a poor situation from Texas Tech. Neither Quarterback has established himself as better than the other - but Stoops is reportedly looking closely for which quarterback 'makes the least mistakes' before naming his starting field general.

Oklahoma has the potential to go 7-6 this season if things truly haven't gotten better, but the Sooners should be feeling very optimistic as Stoops knows how to give his team the underdog card. In 2013 it seemed like the Sooners were not going anywhere special, but a Bedlam upset over Oklahoma State earned OU the right to play the illustrious Crimson Tide in the Sugar - cementing a season in which only Baylor was a real disappointment. That OU team beat 'Bama too - meaning Oklahoma could be one of college football's sleeping giants and if the cards fall just right, the Sooners could be right in the thick of the play-off race. Many leaders from that Sugar Bowl team are still wearing Crimson and Creme.

[Avatar of Grima]

Ooo fancy.

Favorite team: Washington

Biggest Game: Washington State

Other than that don't care, all I care about now is the Huskies winning the Apple Cup