What in the Hell are the Texans Thinking?

This past Labor Day weekend featured one of the more wild trades I have seen go down in the NFL in my lifetime. While it doesn't have the name recognition that the Khalil Mack trade had last year, it was still pretty nuts.

And no, I am not completely talking about the Jadeveon Clowney trade to Seattle. But, I do want to touch on that real quick. This was a very lopsided trade, in favor of the Seahawks. I cannot believe all they had to trade was a few guys that they were going to cut and a third round pick for Clowney. Clowney is a top notch defensive end, and that is such a light return. Clowney is going to make Seattle a solid defense again, and may even make them a possible contender. He doesn't do as much as Mack to the Bears did, but still, the Seahawks got a top tier defensive lineman for next to nothing.

I want to talk about what the Texans did the very next day. This will stick with me for a good while because of how insane a deal they pulled off, in not such a great way. The Texans, one day after trading Clowney for peanuts, gave Miami what seems like a million first round picks for Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills. The amount of picks the Dolphins got for these 2 guys is akin to what the Thunder got this offseason for all the trades they pulled off. I have zero doubt in my mind who won this trade, and it is the Dolphins by a good long mile. Look, Tunsil and Stills are solid players, but they are not worth that amount of picks.

The Texans essentially mortgaged their future because they think they have a window for a title now. They don't. I think the Texans are good, and I like that they got a solid tackle to help protect Deshaun Watson, and another receiving weapon in Stills. These 2 guys will help the Texans do exactly what they did last year. They will win 10 or 11 games, the AFC South, and most likely, have an early-ish exit from the playoffs. The Texans, even with these moves, are still not on the same level as the AFC's top teams. The Patriots are still better. The Chiefs are much, much, much better. I still think the Colts can contend with the Texans in their own division because they have a good, young defense. I think the Ravens are just as good, if not better, than the Texans. And, if they somehow beat the Patriots or Chiefs, and make the Super Bowl, the NFC has so many teams better than them right now. The Rams, Saints, Bears, Vikings, Seahawks and maybe even the Packers, in my opinion, are all better than the current roster the Texans have. I get that they most likely heard the talk last year about how they could not protect Watson, and that Clowney wanted out and wouldn't sign the franchise tender. But these were some poor decisions made by the front office, and Bill O'Brien. This should prove to anyone who may still think that he is a solid coach and evaluator of talent that maybe, they were wrong. Bill O'Brien has not done anything of note really in the NFL, and yet he is given carte blanche by this franchise to make these horrible decisions. Why? What has he shown to them that they trust him so much with the future of this team? I want them to be good because I really like Watson and Deandre Hopkins. But, a guy like O'Brien is just there to seemingly blow it up.

Like I said, I think the Texans will be fine, but not of note now, or in the near future of the NFL. These trades were odd and kind of dumb, but that is Bill O'Brien for you. Oh well.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty usually thinks that NFL trades are some of the most boring and pointless sports things ever. Except for that one time.

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Let Me Calmly Explain Why Bob McNair is a Terrible Person

Keep on taking a knee

Screw you Bob McNair. Screw you you racist asshole. Screw you you fascist pig. Screw you you pile of human garbage. Screw you.

For those of you that do not know who Bob McNair is, he is the owner of the Houston Texans. Yesterday he said, talking about the flag protests in the NFL, "the inmates are running the prison". Think about that for a minute. A rich, white business man, who I am pretty sure supports the current people in our "government", called the players he has had a part in drafting and signing "inmates". I mean, what the hell! This is flat out insane and incredibly racist and horribly rude and just wrong on so many levels. Anyone, and I mean ANYONE that thinks this is okay, you are the problem in this country.

This is abhorrent.

This is wrong.

This is terrifying.

I mean, it is 2017, and a rich white guy thinks that it is okay to call professional football players "inmates". The majority of NFL players have degrees. They went to 4, sometimes 5 years of college. A ton of them provide community service and visit hospitals, government buildings, police stations, anywhere and everywhere they are asked to go. Young children look up to these guys. A lot of kids emulate these professional football players because they want to be like them when they grow up. But, to someone like Bob McNair, they are "inmates". This is troubling. He said this because he believes this. This is not one of those situations where he misspoke. He said exactly the quote I mentioned. There is no way of saying the media spun this, he said it, and he knows it. Today he made some half assed apology, but I do not buy it, and I'm positive he doesn't either. Bob McNair is a racist, plain and simple.

Bob McNair is like the vast majority of NFL owners. He is right up there with Jerry Jones and the owner of the Carolina Panthers and Robert Kraft. They do not look at the players as people, they look at them as property. This is not the 19th century. These players are people with functioning brains that think for themselves. These owners do not own the players, they own the team. This is just ludicrous. The fact that he thinks guys like Deshaun Watson, Lamar Miller, Whitney Mercilus, DeAndre Hopkins, JJ Watt, Jadaveon Clowney, all of whom have participated in a protest, and basically every player on the team, is an "inmate" is appalling. Look at all the great things that these guys have done for Houston, especially after the hurricane. JJ Watt raised over 37 million dollars for hurricane relief, but to Bob McNair, he is an "inmate". Deshaun Watson gave his first game check to employees at the stadium that had their homes effected by the hurricanes, but to Bob McNair, he is an "inmate". DeAndre Hopkins has played his heart out and stuck with this team through thick and thin, never complaining once to the front office, but to Bob McNair, he is an "inmate". Lamar Miller came to this team for a second chance, has used the most of it, been a consummate professional, but to Bob McNair, he is an "inmate". Whitney Mercilus was an All Big Ten player and for academics, has been an excellent D lineman and plays hard all the time, but to Bob McNair, he is an "inmate". Jadeveon Clowney has fought through harsh criticism from the outside media, fought through injuries, but the last season and a half has been an absolute terror on the field, that has only gotten better every year, but to Bob McNair, he is an "inmate". I mean, I could go on and on and on with this Texans roster that is filled with mostly decent human beings, but Bob McNair thinks they are all "inmates". Absolutely ridiculous.

Also, these players that protest are more American than their cowardly asshole of an owner. I'm sure he was a draft dodger. I'm sure he only cares about himself and his bank account. I'm sure he hates himself. I'm sure he is a total dickhead to be around. I'm sure he is the worst, and his only "friends" are these other racist and fascist owners in the NFL. I just read that DeAndre Hopkins skipped practice today after hearing the quote, and I hope many, many more players follow his lead. These players are people too. I cannot stress that enough.

So for some dickhead owner that knows nothing about football to call the players "inmates", I say one final time, as loudly as I can, SCREW YOU YOU RACIST ASSHOLE! I hope, although I do not think it will happen, that Bob McNair gets reprimanded and black balled from the league for these horrific comments. He should be fined and banned from any and all NFL activities for, at least, the rest of this season. I hope he is forced to sell the team, because if I were a Texans player right now, I would not want anything to do with this stupid and mean and racist owner. Bob McNair is a pig and I hope he gets all the bad things coming his way that he deserves. He is the problem, not his players. The fact that he thought it was okay to say what he said is so troubling and so upsetting. This is a very, very bad look for the Texans and the NFL. Now lets see how Roger Goodell handles it. Hopefully he does the right thing.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. 

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Clemson Comes out on Top in a Classic College Football Sequel

I was going to write about something different today, but that will have to wait until tomorrow, because the College Football Playoff Championship last night was absolutely incredible. We got Alabama-Clemson part 2, and I think the sequel may have been better than the original. Don't get me wrong, last year's title game was great, but last night's title game was on a whole other level. For about 3 quarters, it was kind of boring, and was going as expected, but the fourth quarter made this game an instant classic.

In the first three quarters, Alabama dominated the pace and tempo of the game. They were able to run on Clemson, and when they gave them the ball, Alabama's defense was able to control, and even rattle Clemson and Deshaun Watson. At the end of the third, the score was 17-14, Alabama. When the fourth quarter started, Alabama had the ball, and Jalen Hurts, who had a horrific passing game, found OJ Howard wide open and he ran 68 yards for a score to put Alabama up 24-14. I figured that was the end for Clemson. I figured Alabama's defense would put the clamps on the Clemson offense, like they had almost all game, and the offense would be able to salt the game away by running the ball.

Deshaun Watson would not let that happen. Right after the Crimson Tide took that 10 point lead, Watson seemed to wake up, and he immediately drove his team down the field. Aided by a late hit call, Watson took off on a designed QB run, and had one of the best non TD runs that I have ever seen. He went to the corner of the field, looked like he was going to step out of bounds, but instead turned the ball up field and dove for the goal line. He was definitely pushed out of bounds before he got in, but on the very next play, Wayne Gallman ran the ball in easily. Clemson was now within 3 points, and it seemed like they grabbed all the momentum. Alabama then got the ball back, did nothing with it and punted. Clemson got it back, did nothing with it as well, and punted. Then, same thing for a third time with Alabama.

After all the punting back, Clemson and Deshaun Watson took over the game. He drove that team down the field, making precise throws, and picking the perfect spots to run, when it was needed. On the eighth play of the drive, Watson found Williams for a 4 yard strike, and for the first time all year, Alabama was on the ropes. Clemson took the lead in the title game, scoring 14 unanswered points against the vaunted Alabama defense. Some have said, I'm sure I was one of those people at times this year as well, that this Alabama defense was one of the best of all time, but Clemson ran roughshot over them halfway through the fourth quarter.

Alabama would not be silenced so easily. After Clemson took the lead with just over 4 minutes left, Alabama got the ball back, and Steve Sarkisian finally opened up the playbook. They ran one of the better wide receiver pass plays that I have seen. It was perfectly executed. Earlier in the drive, Alabama also converted a crucial fourth and one with a bruising run from Damien Harris. Then, facing a second and medium, in the face of the blitz, Jalen Hurts did what he does best. He saw that Clemson had brought all their linebackers, and he took off. He proceeded to go 30 yards untouched on his way to the end zone, giving Alabama the lead with just under 2 minutes left. All the joy that the Clemson fans had was gone.

With Alabama in the lead late in the fourth, the cameras panned to Watson. He had a look of "I'm not going out like this". He looked confident. The fear from early in the game was gone. He was in the "zone", as it were. On the kickoff, Clemson's returner almost looked like he was going to go the distance, but he got tripped up at about the 35. This was when Watson took over. He was zipping the ball into very small windows to receivers that were covered very well. On one play, his tight end stretched as far as his body would let him, and he pulled the ball in. Mike Williams, who is awesome, was beating the Alabama secondary with relative ease, and Watson was finding him on this last drive.

Clemson drove it all the way down to the 6 yard line, and with 6 seconds left, they went for the win. The announcers were saying that they thought that they should kick the field goal and play for overtime, but I loved the call to go for the win. The ball was snapped and Watson rolled to his right. Clemson ran a "rub" play, Alabama fans I'm sure thought it was a pick play(it actually looked like it may have been a pick play, but this is one opinion from a guy that had no skin in the game), and his small slot receiver, Hunter Renfrow, was WIDE OPEN. Watson hit him in the chest and Renfrow crossed the goal line with one second left on the clock. The extra point was good and Clemson had a 35-31 lead. The Tigers then proceeded to do an "onside" kick, and they recovered and Watson came out and kneeled on the ball, and the game was over.

My heart was racing, and I DIDN'T EVEN CARE WHO WON! This was an incredible title game. I think Deshaun Watson proved all his doubters wrong. People said he was overrated and inconsistent all year, but when it was a big game, Watson played his best. I am still flabbergasted that he did not win the Heisman. I also do not understand how he is not the best available QB in the upcoming draft. He is so much better than Deshon Kizer, Mitch Trubisky or any other QB that is going to be draft eligible. I'd take Watson if I needed a QB without any hesitation. Watson proved last night that he was the best player in college football. He looked phenomenal last night, when he needed to be phenomenal. Alabama's vaunted defense looked tired and shocked. They could not stop Watson last night, and he played even better last night than he did last year. They just flat out could not do anything to slow him down. They looked awesome for 3 quarters, Alabama's defense that is, but when it mattered most, they got exposed.

Games like these are why I love college football so much. It was kind of boring for a bit, but when it came down to crunch time, this game more than lived up to the hype. Also, quick shout out to Dabo Swinney for giving Colin Cowherd the business in his post game press conference. I loved it, and I'm so glad whenever anyone can point out how stupid Colin Cowherd truly is. Anyway, congrats Clemson. you were the better team last night and you had the best player on the field. Deshaun Watson will rightfully go down as one of the better college QB's of all time. He played so great last night, and for his entire career. He seems a bit underrated to me, but I think he will finally gets the credit he deserves. What a game and what an ending to the college football season. Just incredible.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He never thought Clemson was a fraud, he picked them to win at the beginning of the season. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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The SeedSing 2016 College Football Playoffs, Important Bowls, and Heisman Predictions

The College Football Playoff is set, for better or worse. We have the four teams, counting down from 4 to 1, Washington, The University of Ohio State(I know what I wrote), Clemson and Alabama.

First off, the University of Ohio State does not belong in this field. They got beat by Penn State, who I will talk about later, needed overtime to beat Wisconsin and got a tremendous amount of help from the refs against Michigan, who I will also touch on later. They are strictly there because the playoff committee and the TV stations have a disturbing love affair with Urban Meyer. This University of Ohio State team is not as good as they have been in the past. They are still decent, but not the third best team in the country.

With all that being said, they have a shot to beat Clemson. Clemson does belong in this field. They did everything they needed to do to get in the playoff. They have been incredibly inconsistent all year long, but when they show up, they are very, very hard to beat. They have a great D line, a great defensive coordinator, Brent Venables, they have great skill guys like Wyatt Gallman and Mike Williams, and they have Deshaun Watson. This team is loaded, it is just a matter of them showing up, which they have for important games this year. If the team that showed up against Louisville and FSU shows up, they will blow the doors off the University of Ohio State. But, if the Clemson team that showed up against NC State or Pittsburgh shows up, they will be in trouble. I assume the team that played Louisville and FSU shows up, and Clemson beats the University of Ohio State in a decent game. If I had to pick a score, I'd say Clemson 38, the University of Ohio State 24.

The other matchup is going to look a lot like last year's Alabama-Michigan State game. Good for you Washington. You won the Pac 12 title game convincingly, but your butter soft out of conference schedule is going to rear its ugly head. The only time Washington faced a legit defense all year, USC, they got completely smothered. Alabama is better than USC. Hell, Alabama beat USC by 44 points in the first game of the season. If Washington had a hard time moving the ball on USC, they will not be able to move the ball at all against Alabama. Even their coach seems nervous about this matchup. There was an interview yesterday, and Petersen sounded like he was already preparing for next year. Jake Browning is good, and Washington has good skill players, but they have not faced a team nearly as good as Alabama. Alabama's defense is historically good. They are suffocating. They have stopped everyone that has come their way. Their defense and special teams are so good, they had -7 total offensive yards in the SEC title game after the first quarter, and they were still winning 16-9. Alabama is incredible, even if their offense is not great. Alabama is going to cruise over Washington to the tune of something like 35-7.

That would leave us with a rematch of last year's title game, but this time, it will not be a shootout. Alabama, and their defense, will shut Clemson down. Watson is great, but Alabama's defense is so much better. This is one of the most dominant and clinical teams that I have ever seen on a college football field. They are like a machine. If Alabama does not win the title this year, it will be a bigger upset than Cleveland beating Golden State in the NBA Finals last year. Alabama is clearly the best team in college football, and it is by a wide margin. Those are my predictions for the playoff.

As far as some other bowls go, I do not really care for anything else outside of the playoff and the New Year's 6 Bowl games. I could care less about a Nebraska-Tennessee matchup or a Navy-Louisiana Tech matchup or a Iowa-Florida matchup. None of those sound appealing to me. But, when it comes to the New Year's 6, obviously I have a huge interest in the Orange Bowl. Michigan is playing FSU. If Michigan shows up, and is not deflated by not making the playoff, they should roll. They have a great run defense, and all FSU can do is run. Dalvin Cook is incredible, but if Michigan can slow him down and hold him to below 100 yards, there is not much else FSU can do on offense. Michigan's offense should be able to control the ball as well. Michigan is a better team than FSU, and they should win the Orange Bowl.

The Rose Bowl is going to be a blood bath. Penn State is not the fifth best team in the country. But, before I go on about this game, I need to address what Gus Johnson said about Penn State winning the Big Ten title being a "milestone" in the "healing process" for what happened under Joe Paterno. This was a terrible oversight. What happened for 2 plus decades under Paterno's watch is despicable, disgusting, disturbing and Penn State's football program should have been shut down. The vile and heinous acts committed by the old staff were horrific and upsetting. The fact that the main media wants to gloss over this is troubling. No football win is any kind of "milestone", nor does it help anyone heal from what happened. Those people that were abused have to live with that everyday. Football games do not change what happened to them. Shame on Gus Johnson, Mark May, Kirk Herbstreit and any other media person that tries to shove the terrible tragedy at Penn State aside and only focus on football. Penn State should not have a football team.

With that being said, they will be exposed by a USC team that has only gotten better and better every week. They will shut down anything that Penn State will try and do, and they will move the ball on Penn State with ease. This is a very low level game for the Rose Bowl. We have a 2 and 3 loss teams playing for the Rose Bowl. That is not great. Anyway, USC will win by 10 plus.

The Cotton Bowl is going to expose Western Michigan. Good for them and PJ Fleck. You guys finished the regular season undefeated. Only you and Alabama can say that. But, when your 2 best wins are against a 6-6 Northwestern team and a 3-9 Illinois team, that speaks volumes to the level of competition they faced all year. Wisconsin is going to dismantle Western Michigan. I'd love to be proven wrong, both for my dislike to the Badgers and the fact that I would love to see Western Michigan finish the year undefeated, but it will not happen. WMU is playing a big time team now, and it will show. I would not be surprised if Wisconsin wins by 3 touchdowns or more.

The Sugar Bowl features Oklahoma and Auburn. Oklahoma should win this going away. They play super up-tempo offense and Auburn is decimated by injury. Auburn has a good defense, but Oklahoma's offense is fantastic. Oklahoma does not play defense, but they won't have to play too much defense in this game because Auburn is not nearly as lethal running the ball, due to all the injuries. I say Oklahoma by 2 touchdowns.

I have Alabama winning the title, Michigan winning the Orange Bowl, USC winning the Rose Bowl, Wisconsin winning the Cotton Bowl and Oklahoma winning the Sugar Bowl.

As far as the Heisman goes, first off, the list of players they are sending to New York is a real head scratcher. Obviously Lamar Jackson and Deshaun Watson belong, but Jabrill Peppers, Baker Mayfield and Dede Westbrook? What the hell? I love Jabrill Peppers. He was so much fun to watch this year. I literally thought he could score anytime he had his hands on the ball, but he wasn't even the best defender on his team. That goes to Jourdan Lewis, Taco Charlton and Chris Wormley. Peppers is great, just not Heisman great. Then 2 guys from Oklahoma, give me a break. If you want someone from the Big 12, send D'Onta Foreman. He rushed for over 2,000 yards this year, and that is with every team gearing up to stop him. And if you wanted another QB, send Jake Browning from Washington. He had an incredible year, and it would be a nice consolation for him since his team, and himself, are going to get hammered by Alabama. This is a very odd group of players selected to go to New York. Since it is only a 2 man race, they should have only sent Jackson and Watson.

I'm going to stick with my preseason pick, and say Deshaun Watson wins the Heisman. His last 5 games have been very impressive, and even though his numbers aren't like Jackson's numbers, the lasting impressions should count. Jackson had big time stumbles against Houston and Kentucky, where Watson showed up for the ACC title, and has been unstoppable the last 5 games.

So there you have it, my final predictions for the college football season. I will recap everything after the year is over, but this is what I see happening over the next month or so. Enjoy bowl season everyone. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial man Podcast. He aspires to go to the Rose Bowl one day. Maybe he will be the Grand Marshall. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty's Midseason College Football Redo

As I did yesterday with the NFL, today I'm going to look at college football at the mid way point. Also, much like the NFL, I got some things right, but more things wrong. That's how it goes when you are in the business of making predictions. No one is perfect, and I'm far from it myself. Anyway, let's get into what I got right and wrong, update my predictions and make some more changes.

First, let's look at the SEC, my least favorite conference. Alabama is the clear cut favorite. I think that everyone expected this. Alabama is clearly the best team in the SEC, and the nation. They have a historically great defense. They have scored 12 non offensive touchdowns, and they have only given up 12 touchdowns all year. They are elite. Their offense is just fine as well. They have a read option style QB, who is not a great passer, but an exceptional runner. He runs the read option to perfection, and, when he has an open man, he usually hits them in stride. Their offense, while not great, is just fine. Alabama is a cut above the rest in the SEC. As far as some teams that may present a "challenge", you have Auburn, Florida and Texas A&M. Some may say, you left out Tennessee, but Alabama recently beat them by 39 points. They also, just last week, beat A&M by 19 points, so they may not be much of a threat. Florida has a very good defense, but they were exposed against Tennessee in the second half of that game. Alabama is much, much better than Tennessee. Auburn may be the only team that can truly threaten Alabama, but their strength is running the ball, and Alabama's strength is stopping the run. Auburn has looked very good since Rhett Lashley took over the offense, but they will run into a buzz saw when they face Alabama's front seven. LSU could possibly pose a threat, the game is at night and in Baton Rouge, but they, much like Auburn, love to run the ball and Alabama is nearly impossible to run against. I will say, I was right about Tennessee. They are paper tigers. They should have been beaten a few times already, pulled some games out of nowhere, but have been brought back down to Earth the last two weeks. Anyway, at the midway point, Alabama is still the team to beat in the SEC.

Let's move to the Pac 12, which has been an absolute disaster thus far, minus one team. I was way, way off about Stanford. I thought that Christian McCaffrey would be dominant and lead this team to the playoff. I thought their defense would be great. I thought the lack of a decent QB would not matter. I was wrong on all three aspects. McCaffrey, while still putting up decent numbers, is literally the only threat they have, and he has missed parts of, or full games. He will not be making a return trip to New York for the Heisman ceremony. Their defense has been fine, but they have been on the field way, way too much. The lack of a good QB has crushed this team. Their passing game is no threat, so teams just load the box to stop the run, and it has worked thus far. UCLA has been incredibly underwhelming and Josh Rosen isn't even playing right now. USC, after getting crushed in their first 2 games, has looked better, but they are still 4-3. Utah is good, they have a great running game and an okay defense. They have a huge matchup this weekend, but I'll get to their opponent in a few. Oregon is atrocious, especially on defense. They cannot stop anyone and they can't settle on a QB. Oregon State is no good, Washington State is fine, but terrible at defense, Arizona State is average, Arizona is mediocre, which leaves us with one good team. That team is Washington. I was wrong about this team. I thought it was all talk, but they have lived up to the hype and then some. They are clearly the best team in the Pac 12. They have an elite offense and a very good defense. Jake Browning is putting up monster numbers, and if they get past Utah this weekend, they should have a clear path to the playoff. They are the Pac 12's only hope.

The Big 12, on the other hand, may not send a single team to the playoff. I was convinced that Oklahoma was going to have a breakthrough this year, but Bob Stoops reared his ugly head during week one. Houston trounced them, then 2 weeks later, in Norman, Ohio State throttled them. They have rebounded a bit, but they are no threat to be in the playoff. Texas started strong, but are limping to the finish line. Charlie Strong is all but done with his tenure there. TCU has been very up and down. Kansas State is in rebuild mode. Baylor is undefeated, but it is all for naught because none of this will matter because of the atrocities that they did off the field. They are going to get the death knell from the NCAA, hopefully. West Virginia, very surprisingly, has been the class of the Big 12. They have a very good offense, and in a league that thinks defense is optional, WVU actually plays really good defense. They have shut down both Texas Tech and TCU in consecutive weeks, and both those teams have great offenses. WVU is the team to beat in the Big 12, at this moment.

The ACC is still Clemson's to lose. Louisville has come out of nowhere, at least to me, but Clemson did beat them already. But, Louisville has been impressive thus far. Lamar Jackson is the front runner for the Heisman. He is putting up video game numbers, and no one, not even Clemson, truly stopped him. Florida State is average, Their QB is too young and inconsistent. Their defense is very mediocre. Dalvin Cook is very good, but he is their only threat. They have a big game against Clemson this weekend, and that game should show their true colors. Miami started out great, but they have fallen back to Earth the last three weeks. As far as some other challengers, there isn't any. NC State is average, and should have beaten Clemson, UNC has a great offense, but a terrible defense, Virginia Tech is fine, but not world beaters. This conference is Clemson's to lose. They are still undefeated, they play excellent defense and they still have Deshaun Watson, who is incredible. Until this team gets beat, I will stick with them. This weekend poses their last real threat, and if they get past FSU, they should roll to the playoff.

Now, for my conference, the Big 10. This is still a 2 team race. Ohio State, coming off their inexplicable loss to Penn State, is still a real playoff possibility. They have looked vulnerable the last 2 weeks, especially on offense, but they can go off at any time. JT Barrett is a very good QB, but he has gotten very little help from the rest of his teammates. The O line is shaky, the running game, outside of him, has been up and down, and they have no go to receiver. Their defense is awesome though. They can shut teams down. Ohio State has no room for error after last week, but if things break their way, they could sneak into the playoff. Michigan is playing incredible defense right now. They have shut down everyone that they have faced. It's hard to run on this team, and even harder to pass on them. Jim Harbaugh, Don Brown and Greg Mattison have a very, very good defense. The offense has been serviceable, but they are going to need to get better when they play better teams. Wilton Speight is still inconsistent with the long ball. Jehu Chesson and Amara Darboh have not had their breakout games yet. Jake Butt has been fine, but not All American level yet. The running game has feasted on lesser opponents, but not so much on the better teams they've faced. I love their defense, but their offense needs to step it up. And, I do not care what their record is, they better be prepared for a very, very tough test this weekend at Michigan State. That team will bring their A game this weekend. As far as the rest of the Big 10, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and more recently, Penn State have looked good. Wisconsin has an incredible defense, but, much like Michigan, their offense leaves a lot to be desired. They also faced Michigan and Ohio State already, and both teams beat them. Nebraska may be the shakiest team in all of the top 10 rankings. They should have lost to Indiana and Oregon, but escaped with wins. They will probably get beat this weekend, when they face Wisconsin, but who knows, they could pull out another amazing win. Penn State has looked a lot better, but their offense is still a work in progress, and I do not trust them to be a real threat. Iowa has been underwhelming. Northwestern has looked good at times, but bad at times. Michigan State cannot seem to put it together. They can't pick a QB, and their defense is not as great as it usually is. Minnesota has 5 wins, but they have not looked impressive, and they tried everything to lose to Rutgers last week. The rest of the conference is below average. This conference is Michigan's to lose now. They have very high expectations for the first time in 10 years, so lets see how they react. This team has not been in this position for a long time, so let's see how these kids respond.

As far as other teams like Notre Dame, Houston, Western Michigan and Navy, only 2 of them have a say in being in a New Years 6 bowl. Notre Dame has been abysmal, and it all starts with their head coach. He has blamed everyone but himself, but he is the reason this team could miss out on a bowl game. They are 2-5 at the moment, so that means they need to finish the year 4-1, just to be considered for a bowl game. That will tough for this team. Houston was riding high with their opening season win at Oklahoma, but they have lost 2 of their last 3, and are out of the rankings. Western Michigan has looked great, owns 2 wins over Big 10 teams, and should rip through the MAC. They could find their way into an important bowl game by seasons end. And then there is Navy. They have played hard and played well pretty much all season long. They run that option to perfection, and they have looked really good all season. They were the first team to beat Houston I might add. I'm a Michigan fan through and through, but I have always liked Navy for some unexplained reason. It's good to see them play well.

As far as playoff teams go, right now for me, I have, from 4-1, Washington, Clemson, Michigan and Alabama. That is the exact order of the AP poll right now. I do not see that changing, unless one of these teams get upset, which could happen as soon as this weekend. So, that would pit Alabama-Washington and Michigan-Clemson in the semifinal games. Alabama will steam roll Washington and, as much as I would love to pick Michigan, Clemson has been there before and Michigan's offense is not nearly as good as Clemson's offense, so I'm going with the rematch. And, just like last season, I think Alabama will repeat. Clemson couldn't beat them last year, and Alabama's defense is way better than last year. I do not want Alabama to win, but they are leaps and bounds above everyone in college football. They are the Patriots of college football. I'm going to stick with Deshaun Watson has my Heisman winner though. He has already beaten Lamar Jackson head to head, and I think he will explode this weekend against FSU, which will solidify his place in New York.

There you have it, my mid season college football redux, redo, whatever you want to call it. College football has been so much better than the pros, so this piece was much easier and more fun to write than yesterday. Go watch some college games, they are way more fun, and quite frankly, better than the NFL, by a wide margin.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Test Ty's predictions by listening to the Mini X Millennial Man all about the upcoming NBA season. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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College Football Proved in Week One Why it is the Best

The first weekend of the college football season is officially in the books, and I have some quick thoughts about what we saw this past weekend.

First off, isn't it great to have football to watch again? Look, I like baseball, but nothing, not even basketball, compares to my love for football season. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. I spent my entire Saturday watching college football games.

My first main takeaway, RD was right and I was way wrong on Oklahoma. I assumed that they had the firepower and talent to overcome their head coach ineptness. Well, Houston made me look stupid, and made RD look right. When they got out to an 11 point lead, Oklahoma that is, I thought that they'd cruise from there. That was not the case. Houston took the first punch, then punched back way more than Oklahoma could handle. The 109 field miss return was the icing on the crap cake that has become Bob Stoops' calling card. Oklahoma could not recover, and they have a big hill to climb if they want in the playoff at the end of the year. They can still do it, but their chances are very, very slim. And how good did Houston and Greg Ward Jr look? They are truly a team worth watching, and they could definitely crash the playoff this year. Their last 2 wins, Florida State last year in the bowl game, and Oklahoma to open this season, are legit, and so is Houston.

The Thursday before, the games were mediocre. The only "marquee" team was Tennessee, and they struggled. Appalachian State is an okay team, and they will forever haunt me for what they did to the Wolverines all those years ago, but Tennessee was supposed to crush them, especially at home. Well, that did not happen. They needed a fourth quarter comeback, and had it not been for a miracle play from their running back, they would have fumbled away their win. Tennessee may not be as good as some thought they would be. But, it is only week one. 

Friday night had some good games, most notably Stanford-Kansas State. This game was closer than I thought, but we still got to see some great running by McCaffery. He made great cuts and zipped through holes and ran over tacklers. That kid is good. Michigan State looked a bit disjointed in their game against Furman on Friday night, but they won. It was sloppy, but it goes down as a W. 

Saturday was the real kickoff. I mentioned the Houston-Oklahoma game, but there were a lot of other things I saw in those early games. The Big Ten, save for Northwestern, looked pretty good. Ohio State and JT Barrett absolutely pummeled Bowling Green. Michigan crushed Hawaii. Iowa ran all over Miami of Ohio. The mid to lower level teams, like Maryland, Illinois, Indiana and Nebraska pummeled their opponents. Nebraska also did a fantastic tribute to their fallen punter. It was moving. Yeah, Northwestern got beat, but don't sleep on Western Michigan. They are a good football team. And as far as Rutgers goes, they stink.

The biggest win for the Big Ten came in the afternoon games, when Wisconsin beat LSU. LSU was supposed to be the second, or first overall team in the SEC. They have a great, great running back that was going to run all over Wisconsin. Wisconsin was also coming off an okay season, but they were breaking in a new QB, and their running back was coming off injury. Well, Wisconsin completely controlled every facet of that game. They "held" Fournette to under 150 yards, and forced LSU's QB to try and win the game, which he did not, throwing one of the most errant interceptions I have ever seen. But, I don't put this loss solely on Brandon Harris, I put it on Les Miles. He has become so vanilla. His offense is so predictable, and when you can get them out of their comfort zone, you have a great chance at beating them. The game was ugly, but it was exactly what Wisconsin wanted it to be, and they won. LSU is still a ways away from competing big time in the SEC.

In some other afternoon games, the competition looked good. UNC-Georgia was a very good game. I think I may have been a little low on Georgia in fact. If Nick Chubb can stay healthy, Georgia can be a very good team. Maybe they become the team that challenges Alabama in the SEC. Washington looked good, absolutely crushing Rutgers, Rutgers is not good. But, Washington looked pretty good. UCLA laid an egg against Texas A&M. They had no flow and Josh Rosen looked like he may have taken a step back. A&M won, but I don't think they are great either. Trevor Knight does not appear to be an elite QB, but that is the best they have. And, as I said, they got the win. Other ranked teams, like TCU, Oregon and Oklahoma State crushed their opponents, but TCU and Oregon both gave up more points than they should have against their opponents.

The night games on Saturday, one was great, the other, not so much. Alabama let USC stay in the game for one quarter, then realized that they are Alabama, and dismantled USC. That was an old fashioned whooping. USC looked like a very overmatched JV team against a very young, inexperienced Alabama team. As much as I loathe Nick Saban and Alabama, that team is great, and he is a great college coach. The Clemson-Auburn game was sloppy, but entertaining. Clemson won, but it was a dogfight, and Auburn had a chance at the end. Deshaun Watson did more than enough, at least in my eyes, to prove why he is the best player in college football. The game was also played at Auburn, which is a tough spot for any team, and Clemson still pulled out the victory.

 Sunday featured one game, Notre Dame-Texas, and that game was incredible. I fervently despise both teams, but that game was great. There was little to no defense played, but it was fun. Brian Kelly lost that game for Notre Dame. And, before you call me out for being a Notre Dame hater they would have won if he kept Deshon Kizer in at QB. But, he kept taking him out, and Kizer was unstoppable. So were the 2 Texas QB's. The freshman was more of a threat to throw, but Swoopes, man did he look good running the ball. And their running game was awesome. The way it ended, in double overtime, was excellent. That was a great, great game.

Last night, FSU came back and beat Ole Miss. For as bad as FSU looked in the first half, they looked great in the second half. The freshman QB calmed down, and the o line started to open holes for Dalvin Cook. Ole Miss is overrated. They came out guns blazing, but after the second quarter, they looked gassed, and it seemed that FSU figured them out. This game went as it was supposed to go.

There were a lot of good games, and this was a very good opening week. I don't like that they called the Oklahoma-Houston, Wisconsin-LSU and FSU-Ole Miss games, "neutral" site games. Houston got to play in Houston, Wisconsin got to play in Green Bay and FSU got to play in Orlando. Those are all home games. That was an unfair advantage for Oklahoma, LSU and Ole Miss, but that is just a nit picky thing of mine. Other than that, this season is off to a very promising start. I cannot wait for this Saturday to come so I can watch some more football. The best sport is finally back.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He can breathe easier this weekend because the Wolverines did not have their regular Rodriguez / Hoke bad loss in week one. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty's 2016 College Preview and Predicitions

For my final preseason football preview, I'm going to talk about my favorite sport, college football. I love college football. There is nothing better than waking up on Saturday's in the fall and wasting an entire day watching college football. It is my drug of choice. For my preview I will talk about the 5 major conferences, the Big Ten, the SEC, the ACC, the Big 12 and the Pac 12. I will also throw a few independents in there, and I may talk about a few other teams that might strike my fancy. Enough chit chat, let's get to it.

I will start with the SEC, because it is my least favorite conference of all. They get so much deserved, but also undeserved love from all major media outlets. Yeah, I realize the SEC is good because I have eyes of my own and I can see, I don't need Paul Finebaum's punk ass telling me how great it is every god damn week. That guy is a total waste of time. Anyway, it will be much of the same with the SEC this year. It's Alabama, most people's preseason number one pick and defending champs, then everyone else. I know Alabama has lost a lot of players, but Alabama doesn't rebuild, they reload. They will find a serviceable running back, just like they did when Mark Ingram, TJ Yeldon and now Derrick Henry left. They will also find a QB. I'm sure they have a couple of blue chips sitting on the bench, waiting their turn. They will also find some new wideouts. They have all this stuff, and then some, just waiting for their turn. And as far as their o line, they are the best in college football. The coaches, and officers of the law for that matter, don't care if the best lineman in college football steals guns, he won't miss one single second because all the charges were dropped. The rest of the o line is huge and dominant. Their defense is always good. Yeah, Kirby Smart left for Georgia, but that won't matter, they will field 11 blue chip recruits that will play just as good as their predecessors. Alabama is loaded from top to bottom.

A few teams that may challenge are LSU, Georgia, Tennessee and Auburn. I don't buy the hype on Tennessee. They were supposed to be great last year, and I believe they finished with 7 or 8 wins. Butch Jones is also a piece of human garbage. Georgia is good, but they have a lot of holes to fill, and they don't have the roster that Alabama has. I also feel like they let Mark Richt go too soon. I don't think Kirby Smart will consistently lead that team to double digit wins every year. Auburn is fine, but Gus Malzahn is not a top of the line head coach. He has had a ton of problems finding a good QB since Cam Newton left, and he doesn't take enough time working with the defense. Auburn lets much lesser opponents stay in games way too long. LSU has a great running back in Leonard Fournette, and they have a very good defense, but the college game may have passed Les Miles a few years ago, and who will play QB, and who will that QB throw to? This team may be a one trick pony, but that pony is incredible.

I know I didn't mention Florida or Ole Miss. Florida played way out of their heads last year, and they will regress, especially on offense. Ole Miss may have to forfeit a bunch of games for cheating, and they lost almost everyone of importance from that team the last two years. They are on the decline as well. Once again, it is Alabama as your SEC champs. They have the best roster, and their players can get away with anything, as long as they are good.

Next, I will go to the ACC. The ACC has only 2 really good teams, and then a few okay teams, but the bottom half is garbage. The two good teams are Clemson and Florida State. Clemson was in the title game last year, and they had a chance to win it. Deshaun Watson is back, and that team is loaded with players at the skill positions. They will be a very lethal offense. Which is good for their defense, because the defense is very middle of the road. Clemson could, and may well, go undefeated this year, and they could do it while averaging 45 to 50 points a game, but also giving up 25-30. Florida State is due to bounce back from a "down" year, where they only won 10 games. They have a great running back, very good wideouts and they will pick a good QB. They also have a stout defense, even though they lost Jalen Ramsey to the pros. Florida State is incredibly good on both sides of the ball, and they are so balanced, it's hard to pick a good defense to go with when playing them. FSU will be very good this year.

The teams that are lurking, but not there yet, are Miami and Virginia Tech. Frank Beamer left VT after a very stellar career, so it will take time to build that team back up, but they play tough no matter what. Miami hired Mark Richt, which is huge, and I think within a year or two, he will have them highly competitive again. These things just take time and he needs to recruit his type of guys, but he is an excellent coach, and he is back at his alma mater. The days of Duke and Georgia Tech and teams like them being hyper competitive are long gone. The ACC is a two team race, and I like Clemson.

The Pac 12 may be taking the biggest nose dive as a whole conference. This conference was once feared and adored, but they look to have fallen on hard times. Sure, Oregon, UCLA, USC, Stanford and Washington are good, but when was the last time they were great? Oregon was not the same team last year. They played little to no defense, and they never really found a rhythm on offense. The super up tempo play just didn't have its desired effect last year. They will be decent, but they are going the route of transfer QB again, and even though I think Brady Hoke has a good defensive mind, he is not the answer they need to shore up that unit. UCLA has a great QB, but other than that, there is not a ton of weapons. Josh Rosen is also a sophomore, so he is either going to be better, or he will have that slump. He started off last year on fire, but as UCLA played better teams, people figured him and their offense out, and they weren't putting up huge numbers anymore. Their defense is very ho hum. Every year I hear that this is the year USC turns it all around, but they still haven't been that dominant team that they were in the early 21st century. The QB's aren't as good, neither are the backs. They have had some good receivers, but otherwise on offense, they are very average. The defense is fine, but they spend a ton of time on the field, and that is no good for any defense. Washington is another team that people say is "just a year away", but I've been hearing that since Steve Sarkisian was the coach. How many more 7 win seasons will it take before people realize that that is all Washington is, an average college football team.

The cream of the Pac 12 crop is Stanford. They have probably the second best back in all of football in Christian McCaffery, but that is where the threat begins and ends. They need a new QB, some new receivers and some one else to spell McCaffery out of the backfield. They are a lot like LSU, except their coach is better, but their defense isn't as good. Stanford should easily win the Pac 12 this year, regardless of who they put in at QB and receiver.

The Big 12 is another conference that used to be really competitive, but if Oklahoma doesn't cruise, it will de a disappointment. Yeah, TCU is decent and they have a decent transfer QB in Kenny Hill, but they lost Josh Docston and Trevoyne Boykin to the pros. They will have a good defense, but it is not as good as it once was. Who in the hell knows with Oklahoma State. Last year they were supposed to regress, but they played pretty well. I assume they are supposed to be decent this year, but that means they will probably take a step back. West Virginia is not the threat they once were. KU is a laughing stock. Kansas State needs to rebuild. Texas still doesn't have the players they need to compete. And Baylor, with all the problems they have going on right now, they may get the death penalty from the NCAA. Oklahoma has the best players and the best team, by a wide margin, in the Big 12. They will win it with ease.

Finally, as far as major conferences go, I have my favorite, the Big 10. The Big 10 has turned a corner over the past couple of seasons. They aren't as big joke anymore. They field good, high scoring and well defending teams. The Big 10 is good again.

The Big 10 is not all great, they do have teams that are not good and some that sit in the middle. Teams like Maryland, a long way away from competing, Illinois, hired Lovie Smith, but still a VERY long way away from competing, Purdue, who just isn't good and Minnesota, they play tough but blow games, are not great. The middling teams are getting better. As much as I may dislike Northwestern, they are always a tough game for anyone they play. Those kids are smart and they play smart football, for the most part. Indiana, who doesn't play a lick of defense, has a great offense that is capable of putting up 50 points on any given night. Nebraska always fields a very tough team. I know they had a losing record last year, but they got beat in some gut wrenching ways, and they crushed UCLA in their bowl game. Penn State always has a good run game and a decent defense, but their coach is holding them back. And Wisconsin will have a great running game, but not much else. That will still be good enough for 8 wins though.

The upper level of the Big 10 is scary good. Iowa is a very solid football team that plays very well technique football. They do not make mistakes. They are well coached and run their offense and defense as it should be run. Last year was an anomaly, I think they only lost 1 game, but they will still be very good. Michigan State lost a lot of important players from their team, but they are a tough team no matter what. They are also very, very dirty. They will have some rebuilding to do, but East Lansing is a tough place to play, and they will win some games that they shouldn't. Ohio State lost a lot to the draft as well, but JT Barrett is back, and so is Urban Meyer. This team is like Alabama. They don't rebuild, they reload. I'm sure they have some players that have been waiting to bust out, and now is their time. I HATE this team, but you have to give respect where it is due.

Then, there is my Michigan Wolverines. They surprised everyone last year, me included, by winning 10 games, but now, there's expectations. This team returns 14 starters from last year. They have an incredible defense, led by their defensive line. Jabrill Peppers is one of the best playmakers in the game. They have great receivers and tight ends and running backs on offense. But, they need to pick a QB, and the o line still needs some work. They also have to travel to Iowa, Columbus and East Lansing this season. Those will be tough road games. Michigan is better, but I think they are 1 year away from being a playoff threat.

As far as who I think wins the Big 10, I am going to have to pick the much hated Buckeyes once again. JT Barrett is really good, and Michigan is a year away and Iowa played out of their minds last year, and MSU lost too much to the pros.

I can't do a college football preview without mentioning Notre Dame. People seem to think they will be great, but I just think they will be good. They have to settle on a QB, and they lost a lot of skill players to the pros. Their defense is very far from elite too. I could see them winning 9, maybe even 10 games, but they are no threat to make the playoff.

Outside of the major conferences and the big names, the one team to watch out for this year is Houston. They were awesome last year, they beat FSU in a New Year's 6 bowl game, and they have almost everyone back from that team. Houston has a very good football team once again. They are making Rodney Peete proud.

I guess what it all comes down to is, who do I think will be in the playoff and who will face off for the title. Well, I think the 4 playoff teams will be Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma and Stanford. Alabama will find its way, they always do. Clemson will outscore everyone by 100 points to return. Oklahoma will cruise through the very weak Big 12, and I think an early season victory over Houston will help, and Stanford is going to be so much better than any team in the Pac 12, and I think they can go undefeated this year. My ranking of the teams, from 4 to 1 would be, Stanford, Alabama, Oklahoma and Clemson. So that means Clemson and Stanford would play each other, with Oklahoma and Alabama squaring off in the other matchup. I like Clemson and Oklahoma in those games. And, I'm going to go ahead and pick Clemson to win the 2017 National Title. They had their chance last year, but much like the Panthers in the NFL, I think they got better and will make up for what they missed out on last year.

As far as the Heisman goes, I think names will pop up all year. Guys like McCaffery, Fournette, Baker Mayfield, JT Barrett, Greg Ward, they will all get talked about, but I think Deshaun Watson will win it. He finished third last year, but I think he takes it home this season, both the Heisman and the title.

That does it for all of my football previews. I will check in at midseason on both, but for now, that is how I see things shaping up. Now please, bring on some real football games.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. What happens when Ty and RD stop being polite, and talk about reality television. Listen to the new X Millennial Man Podcast where reality television is given its time to shine. Download for free tomorrow. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik. 

Ty Previews College Football's Final Four Teams

How about one more game of catch with old orangie

The final college football playoff rankings came out yesterday. The final four was revealed and there were no surprises.

At number one you have Clemson, the team that's been number one most of the season. Number two, Alabama, with a great running game and a very good defense. Three, Michigan State, probably the luckiest team in all of college football this year. And number four is Oklahoma, maybe the hottest team in college football right now. If I was on the committee the only difference I'd have would be Oklahoma at 3 and Michigan State at four.

When looking back at my preseason preview, I got two of the top four correct with MSU and Alabama. In my midseason rewrite, I only got one team correct and that was Clemson. TCU fell apart due to injuries and a porous defense and Ohio State lost late to a team in the final four pushing them out. I also put LSU in at one point, but they have no QB and they got beat three times. Stanford was in there too, but Oregon beat them late in the year and they didn't do enough at the end to leapfrog the three teams ahead of them. So, at two different points, I got three of the final four correct. Sorry Oklahoma, I had no faith in you and your coach, but you have proven me wrong. I thought after Texas beat you guys, you'd blow a couple more games, but you stepped it up on offense and your defense came alive. Like I said earlier, Oklahoma is the hottest team in football right now.

So, let's get into it and look at the matchups.

The one versus four matchup pits Clemson against Oklahoma. This should be a pretty high scoring affair. Both offenses are very good and play very fast. Their defenses, on the other hand, they tend to give up big plays and have a hard time shutting down quality opponents. Both QB's, Baker Mayfield at Oklahoma and Deshaun Watson at Clemson are Heisman candidates, Watson more so than Mayfield. Deshaun Watson runs the Clemson team exquisitely. He is a precision passer and a deadly runner. He throws a great deep ball and runs the read option very well. He has weapons all over the field and spreads the ball to all of those weapons evenly. Watson has had a spectacular season and he could very well be the determining factor in this game. Baker Mayfield has had a very good season too. He transferred away from Texas Tech to Oklahoma this season and has thrived in the Sooner offense. He too is a good runner, but not on the same level as Deshaun Watson. He throws a good short to intermediate ball, but Oklahoma doesn't take too many deep shots, that's not their offense. Oklahoma has a lot of great weapons as well and they have a better running back in Semaji Perrine than Clemson has. He is a bruising yet explosive runner. He, much like Watson, could be the determining factor for Oklahoma. This game really comes down to the QB that plays better. As I said before, the defenses won't really stop either team, so the QB that leads his team better will help his team win. I really wanted to pick Oklahoma to win this game, but Clemson, and more importantly, Deshaun Watson, are having a magical season, and that will continue in the Orange Bowl with a close, high scoring win. The final score will be something like 42-38 in Clemson's favor.

In the Cotton Bowl we couldn't have gotten a more opposite matchup than the Orange Bowl in number two Alabama versus number three Michigan State. Both these teams are predicated on defense and running the ball. Running wasn't Michigan State's strong suit until Connor Cook got hurt a month ago, but they've taken to the run since then and its greatly benefitted them. LJ Scott has been a revelation and he doesn't play like a freshman. He gets stronger as the game goes on and he wants the ball in critical moments, take last weeks Big Ten Title as an example. He willed that team to a victory and a spot in the playoff. Connor Cook is clearly hurt and I don't know if he'll be any more healthy for the game and that sucks for MSU because they will not beat Alabama by simply running the ball. Alabama's defense is absolutely suffocating. I don't know how any team expects to run for any kind of yards against their front seven. They are faster, quicker, stronger, smarter and deeper than any other front seven in all of college football. Their secondary is equally as good. They cover better than everyone else and they're just flat out better than everyone. On offense, Alabama has the presumptive Heisman favorite in Derrick Henry at running back. Ever since their game against LSU, when he looked better than Leonard Fournette, he's been on an absolute tear, averaging 200 plus yards of rushing per game. He, much like their defense, is better, faster, quicker, stronger and smarter than every other running back in football. He's an absolute beast. Their offensive line is massive and blows people off the line, opening all those holes for Henry to run through. The problem lies with their QB and receivers. They don't have a receiving threat like Julio Jones or Amari Cooper anymore. The receivers are good, not great. Their QB is a fine game manager, but he's no real threat. He throws a subpar deep ball and he gets hit way more than he should. He holds the ball way too much. This game will come down to who can run the ball better and that's a HUGE plus in Alabama's favor. They have the better offensive line and they have the MUCH better running back. MSU may hang with Alabama for a half, but the Crimson Tide will cruise to an easy 28-10 victory in the Cotton Bowl. This was MSU's last real shot to win a title, but Connor cook is too banged up and, while their defense has played better as of late, they will not be able to stop Alabama and they won't be able to move the ball that much on Alabama. Alabama is the superior team.

So that leaves us with Clemson playing Alabama in the title game on January 11th. Number one versus number two. Two completely different style teams. Clemson is a spread team with a ton of quickness and scores in bunches. Alabama is a pro style team that beats you into submission on both the offensive and defensive lines and they want to chew up as much clock as possible by running 50 times a game if they have to. I like this matchup a lot and I will be rooting for Clemson, I hate Nick Saban and he's the biggest curmudgeon in all of sports, but Alabama is too good. They're just as fast as Clemson and they are much, much bigger. After they got beat by Ole Miss early in the season I thought Alabama was done, but they figured it out, of course, and they look just as good now as they did when they beat LSU in the BCS title game a few years ago. Alabama will beat Clemson pretty handily in the title game with a final score of 35-13. They're the best of this final four bunch.

So, Alabama will be your 2016 National Champs.

I'll also give one more Heisman prediction to keep some continuity and two big coaching changes that I think will take place. I think, as every other major publication does, that Derrick Henry will win the Heisman. Since the LSU game he's been on fire. He's broken Herschel Walker records. That's pretty god damn impressive. But, don't be surprised if Christian McCaffery, Stanford's running back, whose broken some of Barry Sanders records, gets some Heisman love. I think he's finish a narrow second to Henry. And the two big coaching moves you ask. I think both Urban Meyer and Nick Saban jump to the pros. In Meyer's case, he's won multiple titles at multiple schools in college, he's losing coordinators left and right, some kind of recruiting violations will almost assuredly be coming his way and the Cleveland Browns will stupidly(do they do anything smart) pay him a humongous amount of money to not only coach, but give him a say in player personnel. He will fail spectacularly if he makes the jump, but the amount of money will be too much to pass up. In Saban's case, and I'm really going out on a limb with this prediction, he failed once in the NFL and a la Pete Carroll, I think that he thinks he can win a Super Bowl. He can't, he's a much better fit for the college game, but his ego is so big, he thinks he will now succeed in the NFL. He's a better fit for college because he is the boss, he makes the most money, but in the pros, the coach is low man on the totem poll and that won't work well for Saban. But, I think his pride and ego and the fact that he's also losing coordinators left and right will give him the "confidence" that he will now succeed in the NFL where he previously failed. He won't, but I think he thinks he's ready to make that leap. So, two major college football programs will be looking for new coaches this summer.

There you have it, my final college football blog of the year. Tell me why I'm right or wrong in the comment section and lets enjoy the bowl season. I'm happy that my Wolverines are playing on New Years day, and I think this final four is a very good and competitive final four. The committee got it right this year and the playoff should be good.

At least, I hope so.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He expects Meyer to leave Ohio State because the coach is afraid of what Harbaugh is bringing to Ann Arbor. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.