15 Bold Predictions for the 2008 College Football Season

Hakeem Nicks and the North Carolina Tar Heels are creating some gridiron buzz on the Chapel Hill campus.

What do Ohio St, Florida, Oklahoma, Southern Cal and Georgia have in common? They'll all be pretty good this year. Iowa St, Duke, Syracuse and Washington St? Not so much.

Charlie Weiss will put four South Bend burger joints out of business, Notre Dame will unjustifiably be ranked in the Top 25 by season's ends despite posting just six wins, and Jimmy Clausen won't be sacked eight times by the Michigan defense this season.

Not ready to declare me Nostradamus just yet? I'd hope not. However, here are some predictions that will warrant praise should they turn out to be correct.

Northwestern will start the season 7-2.

- Is there a more under-appreciated backfield duo in the country than QB C.J. Bacher and RB Tyrell Sutton?

- Before you trash this prediction, look at the schedule. Northwestern’s OOC schedule is a joke, and outside of Michigan St, the Wildcats don’t play another team that even received a vote in the pre-season AP Poll.

Oklahoma and Missouri will both be undefeated when they meet for the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City.

- The Big 12 South is tough, and Oklahoma better not treat TCU and Cincinnati lightly, but there isn’t a team on their schedule that matches up with a healthy Oklahoma team.

- Who is going to beat Missouri? Illinois and Kansas both had superior teams that couldn’t get the job done last year. It doesn’t bode well for Texas that the weak point of their defense is the secondary. The only team that has Missouri’s number is the Sooners, and they wouldn’t meet until the conference championship game.

Boston College and Virginia Tech will combine for just one offensive touchdown in their October 18^th meeting.

- They combined for just one touchdown last season in the first 56 minutes of their game, before ending up with three. This year, however, Virginia Tech has no proven commodity at wide receiver and “Matty Ice” isn’t walking through the door for BC.

South Florida will win more regular season games than Florida.

- Look at the schedules. South Florida won’t be an underdog until their final game of the season. Meanwhile, Florida will have already played two opponents that defeated them last year, along with a game against Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks and a road trip to Knoxville.

Fresno St will score more points against Wisconsin than Ohio St will.

- If the names Tom Brandstater, Ryan Mathews, and Bear Pascoe mean nothing to you, you’ve got some catching up to do. It doesn’t hurt that the Bulldogs draw Wisconsin at home in early September, either.

Southern Cal will win more games than Michigan and UCLA combined.

- Mike Hart is gone. Mario Manningham is gone. Adrian Arrington is gone. The season starts tomorrow, and Michigan still hasn’t named a quarterback. Rick Neuheisel was a good hire for UCLA, but it won’t show as early as this year.

Duke will win four games.

- Duke has won two games in the last three years. A disgraceful OOC slate and home games against Virginia and NC State make four wins an achievable goal, though. 

- Add QB Thaddeus Lewis and WR Eron Riley to the list of under-appreciated duos in college football.

The winner of USC/Ohio St will play the winner of the Big 12 Championship game for the National title.

- Can anyone in their right mind tell me that the USC/Ohio St winner will lose more than once?

- Read #2. The Big 12 Champion might be college football’s only undefeated team this year.

Mississippi St will win more regular season games than Texas.

- Part of being a sleeper team is drawing the right cards. The Bulldogs avoid Georgia, Florida and South Carolina from the East. A bye week before a big showdown with Alabama doesn’t hurt, either.

- Besides losing Jamaal Charles, Limas Sweed and Nate Jones on the offensive side of the ball, Texas will be breaking in a very inexperienced secondary in the most pass happy conference in America. Sam Bradford, Graham Harrell, Chase Daniel and Todd Reesing will be receiving early Christmas presents this year. Oh, and don’t forget about Rusty Smith!

North Carolina will meet Clemson in the ACC Championship game.

- Get on the Tarheel bandwagon, now. Butch Davis has this program going in the right direction, and the offense will be potent this year. Also, the ACC Coastal will be far and away the worst BCS division in college football.

Graham Harrell will be the only quarterback to throw for more yards per game than Nate Davis.

- In his second season, expect Ball St QB Nathan Davis to continue impressing. Darius Hill and Dante Love return to give Davis two excellent options every time he drops back to pass.

Tennessee will finish in the top 15 in total offense among BCS conference teams.

- They were closer to the top 25 than the top 15 last year, but their offensive line remains intact, Lucas Taylor, Gerald Jones and Arian Foster return, and Jonathan Crompton appears more than ready to pick up where Erik Ainge left off.

Jahvid Best will win the Pac 10 rushing crown.

- Joe McKnight and Stafon Johnson will be splitting carries. Neither Jeremiah Johnson nor Keegan Herring will be carrying the full load. Jake Locker could be the biggest challenger to Jahvid Best in terms of rushing the football.

Rutgers will beat West Virginia in Morgantown, beat South Florida at Raymond James Stadium, and then choke away an Orange Bowl bid in their season finale against Louisville.

- With Mike Teel, Kenny Britt, and Tiquan Underwood, Rutgers boasts a passing attack that can give West Virginia and South Florida trouble. But when they meet Louisville, the most dangerous weapon on the field could be Cardinals’ QB Hunter Cantwell. Call it a hunch, if you please.

The Heisman Trophy will not go to a quarterback.

- Seven of the last eight Heisman winners have been quarterbacks (which is what makes this pick bold).

- So who do I like? Chris “Beanie” Wells and Michael Crabtree. If Pittsburgh lives up to the hype, expect to see LeSean McCoy in the running as well.