Football season is almost upon us, and the time has come to peer into my Magic 8 Ball to get predictions on how the season is going to go. Here are my predictions for 2010:

1. Alabama will not win the National Championship.

Yes, I know that Alabama is the preseason favorite, and I'd be shocked to see them anywhere but No. 1 in the preseason AP and Coach's Polls.

That, Crimson Tide fans, is the kiss of death.

According to the College Poll Archive Website, the AP No. 1 preseason pick has only finished No. 1 in the final poll ten times since 1950. That's a pathetic 17% for those playing at home.

Oh, and for those curious about what those statistics say about the BCS era (1998 to the present), only 2 out of 12 started and finished on top (17% again!).The average ranking of those ranked No. 1 to start the season at the end of the season in the BCS era? Between No. 3 and No. 4 (3.58 if you were wondering).

The last time it happened was 2004 when USC took the title. But wait, wasn't USC just forced to vacate that National Championship, and didn't Auburn and Utah both go undefeated that year? So with that correction, only Florida State in 1999 was able to start and finish the season on top of the polls in the BCS era (9%).

So what's the average preseason rank of those who do take the title in the end (again, BCS era)? 6.25 (6.73 if you don't count USC's vacated title).

Once again, my condolences to Alabama on such rotten luck.

2. There will be something different about the BCS buster this year.

One of three things will happen this year that have never happened before. They are:

A. Either Boise State or TCU will be the first non-BCS team to play for and perhaps win a nation championship.

B. Boise State or TCU will be the first non-BCS team to go to a BCS game with one loss.

C. We'll get a new addition to the BCS buster group (see my slide-show on possible BCS busters for further illumination on who that might be).

3. Ohio State will disappoint. Again.

Anyone else getting deja-vu from Ohio State's lofty preseason rankings and hype? Yes, they don't completely implode, but they haven't lived up to expectations lately.

And by expectations, I mean national championships.

I'm still not convinced that Terelle Pryor is going to live up to the massive expectations lining up both in Columbus and in the national spotlight.

4. 2010 will be another year of chaos.

Hang on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen, because 2010 is going to be a wild ride! This won't be like 2006, where Ohio State rode on top of the polls before being knocked off in the postseason. Other teams are catching up to the traditional powers that have ruled the top of college football.

We'll see a major upset every week of the season. There will be many changes at No. 1 (my Magic 8 Ball says at least 5) before the dust settles at the end.

5. The BCS will still manage to get it wrong.

Since its conception, there are few years that the BCS crowns an undisputed National Champion.

In 2009, one team finished undefeated besides the National Champion (Boise State).

In 2008, Utah was that one team to go undefeated, yet was not considered for the National Title.

In 2007, four teams got No. 1 votes in the AP at the end: LSU, Georgia, USC, and Kansas.

In 2006, Boise State went undefeated when the National Champion (Florida) did not.

In 2005, well, Texas was the only team to go undefeated. No complaints here.

Need I bring up 2004?

Yes, in 2010 there will be at least one other team with either the same or better record as the National Champion, and will stand, and will protest. The irony is, could a team from a BCS school protest the crowning of a non-BCS team this year?

6. Things are about to get a lot harder for USC.

In the Pete Carroll era, the Trojans turned the Pac-10 into the Pac-1 plus nine other teams.

Those days, like Pete Carroll himself, are gone.

This year, USC doesn't have much to play for. Far from a National Title or a Rose Bowl, USC can't even play in the Vegas Bowl this year (which if history is any indication, BYU will be there again). New recruits to USC are already jumping ship.

Lane Kiffin may wish he would have stayed at Tennessee (I hope that the Volunteers appreciate the irony here).

As if USC needed any more bad news, but the other nine teams in USC have been catching up the last few years (well, maybe everyone except Washington State). The careful observer will note that Oregon, not USC, went to the Rose Bowl this year.

This year, the Pac-10 is anyone's game. However, I'd venture to say that the champion will probably come from the state of Oregon.

7. One of my bold predictions will be wrong (like I said, I'm depending on a Magic 8 Ball). Feel free to discuss which one below.