Today wraps up my two weeks of football previews. I did the NFL but today is all about college football. College football is my favorite sport of all time. I love watching it. I spend a full Saturday just watching game after game. It is a problem for sure, but I love this sport that much. And I get how problematic of a sport it is. I fully understand. This NCAA football preview is going to be like every other season. I'll cover the power 5 conferences and name a few group of 5 teams I like. I will also pick the four playoff teams and the winner of it all. I will also pick the Heisman winner too. Enough preamble, let's get to it.
I'm starting with the ACC as I feel it is the weakest of the power 5 conferences. The ACC has three or four teams that are very solid. The rest of the conference is average to mediocre. Duke has been down for a bit. Syracuse has potential, but they seem to find ways to blow it. Louisville looks like they could be dynamic or give up 50 points a game. Boston College has .500 written all over them. Georgia Tech has done nothing of note lately. UNC took a major step back last season. Virginia and Virginia Tech are very, very average. What it all boils down to is Clemson, NC State, Miami and Pitt. Wake looked like a solid team until their QB went out. And FSU has not been able to figure it out since Jimbo Fisher left. NC State is going to be solid. Miami has every coach they could want and look to be good to great. Pitt is always a tough out. And then there is Clemson. Clemson is going to be better this season, and playing in the ACC makes their schedule pretty easy to navigate. I think it will come down to Miami and Clemson and Clemson will win the ACC.
On to the Pac 12. The Pac 12 is interesting. I never fully know what to expect from this conference. But what they always seem to do is find a way to blow it when it matters most. Cal is very, very bad. They were better last season, but they are still not good. Washington State is dealing with a disgruntled ex coach. Washington took a humongous step back last season. Arizona State has a big problem with their coaching staff. Arizona is rebuilding yet again. Oregon State is getting better, but still not ready to compete. Stanford is dealing with a few down years. Colorado is trying to refigure stuff out. UCLA has a very good QB and running back, but they don't have much else outside of that. Then we have Utah, USC and Oregon. Utah has a great run game and defense. USC played college football free agency and won big time. And Oregon has talent at every single level. That is why I'm picking them to win the Pac 12. I'm sure I'll regret this, but I think Oregon is going to be very, very good this season.
Now for the Big 12. The Big 12 is fascinating because there are only ten teams, and only three are even that good. TCU is still trying to figure stuff out after letting Gary Patterson go. Texas Tech can light it up on offense, but they cannot stop anyone, and I mean ANYONE on defense. Kansas State has a great run game, but the rest of their offense is very blah. Kansas is Kansas. Iowa State had their shot the last two years and now they are rebuilding. West Virginia is very mediocre. Then we have Baylor, Oklahoma State, Texas and Oklahoma. I'm tired of hearing that Texas is back every year. They need to put up or shut up. Oklahoma State is fine, but they do not scare me at all. Baylor has a great, great coach, and should be in the thick of it all season. Then we have Oklahoma. They have a new coach, a full new team and a bunch of guys that have not played a whole bunch yet. I do love the Brent Venables hire and I feel like they are going to win the Big 12 because their defense will be better and the offense will still put up points.
Now for the SEC. This is the varsity conference. This is the best conference in college football by a wide, wide margin. This conference is loaded. Even the bottom level teams are competitive. Vanderbilt has a decent defense. Missouri got some super high profile recruits. Florida got a new head coach and things are looking up in Gainesville. South Carolina got Spencer Rattler to commit as a transfer and he will up their team. Kentucky has a good defense and solid run game. Auburn has a dick of a head coach, but they should have a better season this year. Ole Miss is going to put up, maybe, more points than any other team in the country. Mississippi State will also score a ton of points. Tennessee is definitely in a much better situation than I thought they'd be right now. Josh Heupel was a good hire. LSU should be better too, even though I despise Brian Kelly. Then we have Arkansas, Texas A&M, Georgia and Alabama. Arkansas had a great season last year, returns a ton of the players and has a great head coach. Texas A&M had one of the best recruiting classes in the country and beat Alabama last season. They should be very good this season. Georgia is the defending champs and they do not rebuild, they reload. Then there is Alabama. I mean, they have Bryce Young back. Will Anderson is back. And talk about a team that reloads, that is the definition of Alabama. They are the best team in the SEC and maybe the best team in the country. They will win a heavily contested SEC.
Closing out the power 5 conferences I have my favorite, the Big 10. The Big 10 is the second best conference in the country, and that is not even close. Illinois and Northwestern are going to be super tough outs all season long. Indiana got a humongous recruit and they should be much better this season. Minnesota has one of the top running backs in the country coming back, and they always have a good defense. Purdue is like a Big 12 team trapped in the Big 10. They score a whole heap of points. Nebraska is weird. They always look good on paper, but they have not shown that on the field in a bit. Maybe that changes this season. Penn State will be breaking some new players in, but they have their starting QB back. That always helps. Rutgers has been playing much better as of late as well. And Maryland has the potential to have a truly wonderful offense. Then we have Iowa, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Michigan and the university of Ohio State. Iowa is always a good team that plays extra well at home. They will be tough as always. Michigan State is playing the transfer portal game, and while they are not as successful as USC was this offseason, MSU has a good team. Wisconsin found a running back and a very good defense last season. That will only get better. Michigan has a ton to replace on defense. That worries me as a fan. Truly. But what doesn't worry me is the offense. It has a chance to be really, really special. They have playmakers all over the field. And the university of Ohio State is going to absolutely maul people on offense. They might have the best offense in the country. And their defense will be much improved this season. As much as it pains me, the university of Ohio State is going to be on a mission this season. They will win the Big 10.
As far as group of 5 teams, Cincinnati is going to be very good once again. Houston has a ton of talent and potential. BYU has that look of a team that will surprise a ton of people. UCF will most likely be very good. And I feel like Boise State is just due to be very good once again. But I do not see a group of 5 team making the playoff this season. There is just too much talent in the power 5 conferences.
So I have Clemson winning the ACC, Oregon the Pac 12, Oklahoma the Big 12, Alabama the SEC and the university of Ohio State the Big 10. As for the four playoff teams, as chalk as this sounds, I have, from 1-4, Alabama, the university of Ohio State, Georgia and Oregon. I have Alabama beating Oregon and the university of Ohio State beating Georgia. That means I have Alabama and the university of Ohio State in the title game. I am going with Alabama to win it all this season. They are just too good of a team to blow it again.
As for the Heisman I have Bryce Young going back to back. He is so, so, so good at football. He will win his second Heisman and be the number one pick in the 2023 NFL draft.
There it is, my 2022 NCAA football preview. Games start tomorrow and really get into it September 3rd. I am so very excited to watch some college football. Let's get to it.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.
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