August 23, 2017

Week 1 College Football Picks

These are in order from my most confident pick to least confident.  Lines are based on the current consensus spreads according to statfox.com.

Florida (+4.0) vs. Michigan – 3:30
Georgia Southern (+35.0) at Auburn- 3:30
Hawaii (+1.5) at UMass- Sat Aug 26 (6:00)
Arizona State (-24.0) vs. New Mexico State- Th (10:30)
Northwestern (-24.0) vs. Nevada- 12:00
Wisconsin (-28.5) vs. Utah State- Fri (9:00)
NC State (-5.5) vs. South Carolina- 3:00
Georgia (-14.0) vs. Appalachian State- 6:15
Boston College (-3.0) at Northern Illinois- Fri (8:00)
Akron (+33.0) at Penn State- 12:00
August 22, 2017

Week 1 College Football Upsets to Watch Out For

These are in order from least shocking to most shocking according to the current consensus lines on statfox.com:

Oregon State (+3.5) at Colorado State- Sat Aug 26 (2:30)
Georgia Tech (+3.5) vs. Tennessee- Mon 8:00
Florida (+4.0) vs. Michigan- 3:30
Middle Tennessee (+5.0) vs. Vandy- 8:00
Colorado State (+6.5) vs. Colorado- Fri (8:00)
Southern Miss (+10.5) vs. Kentucky- 4:00
Brigham Young (+13.0) vs. LSU- 9:30
August 5, 2017

Brad’s 2017 College Football Preview- Heisman Picks

Every summer since 2007 I have created an intricate set of college football predictions for each upcoming season.  This year is no exception, as I will be using my blog over the next few weeks to publish my 11th annual college football preview guide.   For my final post in this preview guide, I am giving you my preseason Heisman Top 10.  Feel free to comment or debate on this post as well as any others included in this preview guide.

Preseason Heisman Top 10
1 Sam Darnold, USC
2 Lamar Jackson, L-ville
3 Jake Browning, Wash.
4 Mason Rudolph, OK St.
5 Baker Mayfield, OKla.
6 Deondre Francois, FSU
7 Nick Chubb, Georgia
8 Luke Falk, Wazzou
9 Jalen Hurts, Alabama
10 J.T. Barret, Ohio State
August 4, 2017

Brad’s 2017 College Football Preview- Bowl Predictions

Every summer since 2007 I have created an intricate set of college football predictions for each upcoming season.  This year is no exception, as I will be using my blog over the next few weeks to publish my 11th annual college football preview guide.  Without further ado, here are my predicted bowl match-ups for the 2016 season.  Note: squads with an asterik by them are predicted 5-7 teams that I still think will gain bowl eligibility based on their APR scores.

Date Bowl Teams Time Channel
16-Dec New Orleans Western Kentucky Appalachian State 1:00 ESPN
16-Dec Cure SMU Georgia Southen 2:30 CBSS
16-Dec Las Vegas San Diego State Colorado 3:30 ABC
16-Dec New Mexico Marshall New Mexico 4:30 ESPN
16-Dec Camellia Northern Illinois South Alabama 8:00 ESPN
19-Dec Boca Raton Tulsa Louisiana Tech 7:00 ESPN
20-Dec Frisco UNLV Arkansas State 8:00 ESPN
21-Dec St. Petersburg UCF Middle Tennessee 8:00 ESPN
22-Dec Bahamas Southern Miss Miami-OH 12:30 ESPN
22-Dec Famous Idaho Potato Ohio Boise State 4:00 ESPN
23-Dec Birmingham Houston Vanderbilt* 12:00 ESPN
23-Dec Armed Forces Brigham Young Army 3:30 ESPN
23-Dec Dollar General Toledo Troy 7:00 ESPN
24-Dec Hawaii Memphis Hawaii 8:30 ESPN
26-Dec Heart of Dallas Baylor UTSA 1:30 ESPN
26-Dec Quick Lane Western Michigan Minnesota 5:15 ESPN
26-Dec Cactus Kansas State Colorado State 9:00 ESPN
27-Dec Independence North Carolina Old Dominion 1:30 ESPN
27-Dec Pinstripe Virginia Tech Michigan State 5:15 ESPN
27-Dec Foster Farms Iowa UCLA 8:30 FOX
27-Dec Texas Texas Tennessee 9:00 ESPN
28-Dec Military Cincinnati Pittsburgh 1:30 ESPN
28-Dec Camping World Notre Dame TCU 5:15 ESPN
28-Dec Holiday Michigan Stanford 9:00 FS1
28-Dec Alamo Oklahoma Washington State 9:00 ESPN
29-Dec Belk NC State Missouri 1:00 ESPN
29-Dec Sun Georgia Tech Oregon 3:00 CBS
29-Dec Music City Northwestern Kentucky 4:30 ESPN
29-Dec Arizona Idaho Wyoming 5:30 CBSS
29-Dec Cotton Penn State Georgia 8:30 ESPN
30-Dec Taxslayer (Gator) Miami-FL LSU 12:00 ESPN
30-Dec Liberty West Virginia Mississippi State 12:30 ABC
30-Dec Fiesta Washington Florida State 4:00 ESPN
30-Dec Orange Louisville Florida 8:00 ESPN
1-Jan Outback Nebraska Arkansas 12:00 ESPN 2
1-Jan Peach South Florida Clemson 12:30 ESPN
1-Jan Citrus Wisconsin Auburn 1:00 ABC
1-Jan Rose- Semifinal Ohio State Southern Cal 5:00 ESPN
1-Jan Sugar- Semifinal Alabama Oklahoma State 8:45 ESPN
9-Jan Championship Game Alabama Ohio State 8:00 ESPN
August 3, 2017

Brad’s 2017 College Football Preview- Disappointment Picks

Every summer since 2007 I have created an intricate set of college football predictions for each upcoming season.  This year is no exception, as I will be using my blog over the next few weeks to publish my 11th annual college football preview guide.  Without further ado, here are the teams I am predicting to disappoint this season.  These teams are ordered in the relative disparity between my picks and the experts average while also taking into account the significance of each pick.

Disappointment teams My Predictions: Experts Predictions:
1 Texas A & M 79th in nation (-51); 7th in SEC West (-3) 28th in nation; 4th in SEC West
2 Utah 87th in nation (-50); 4th in Pac-12 South (-1) 37th in nation; 3rd in Pac-12 South
3 South Carolina 85th in nation (-43); 7th in SEC East (-3) 42nd in nation; 4th in SEC East
4 Indiana 88th in nation (-33); 6th in Big 10 East (-2) 55th in nation; 4th in Big 10 East
5 Texas 44th in nation (-25); 6th in Big 12 (-3) 19th in nation; 3rd in Big 12
6 North Carolina 69th in nation (-28); 5th in ACC Coastal (-1) 41st in nation; 4th in ACC Coastal
7 Duke 96th in nation (-38); 7th in ACC Coastal (-1) 58th in nation; 6th in ACC Coastal
8 Temple 93rd in nation (-16); 4th in AAC East (-2) 77th in nation; 2nd in AAC East
9 Baylor 64th in nation (-30); 7th in Big 12 (-1) 34th in nation; 6th in Big 12
10 Arizona State 94th in nation (-46); 5th in Pac-12 South (-1) 48th in nation; 4th in Pac-12 South
August 2, 2017

Brad’s 2017 College Football Preview- Surprise Picks

Every summer since 2007 I have created an intricate set of college football predictions for each upcoming season.  This year is no exception, as I will be using my blog over the next few weeks to publish my 11th annual college football preview guide.  Without further ado, here are the teams I am predicting to surprise this season.  These teams are ordered in the relative disparity between my picks and the experts average while also taking into account the significance of each pick.

Surprise Teams My Predictions: Experts Predictions:
1 Oklahoma State 4th in nation (+12); 1st in Big 12 (+1) 16th in nation; 2nd in Big 12
2 Arkansas 18th in nation (+14); 2nd in SEC West (+3) 32nd in nation; 5th in SEC West
3 Washington State 13th in nation (+14); 2nd in Pac-12 North (+2) 27th in nation; 4th in Pac-12 North
4 Louisville 5th in nation (+11); 2nd in ACC Atlantic (+1) 16th in nation; 3rd in ACC Atlantic
5 UNLV 74th in nation (+33); 3rd in MWC West (+2) 107th in nation; 5th in MWC West
6 New Mexico 55th in nation (+39); 2nd in MWC Mountain (+2) 94th in nation; 4th in MWC Mountain
7 Army 38th in nation (+41); 79th in nation;
8 Georgia Tech 32nd in nation (+4); 2nd in ACC Coastal (+2) 36th in nation; 4th in ACC Coastal
9 Hawaii 59th in nation (+42); 2nd in MWC West (+1) 101st in nation; 3rd in MWC West
10 Idaho 77th in nation (+34); 5th in Sun Belt (+1) 111th in nation; 6th in Sun Belt
August 1, 2017

Brad’s 2017 College Football Preview- Comprehensive Ranking

Every summer since 2007 I have created an intricate set of college football predictions for each upcoming season.  This year is no exception, as I will be using my blog over the next few weeks to publish my 11th annual college football preview guide.  Here are my rankings of teams 1-130 (UAB and Costal Carolina are new).  The column to the left of each team is my ranking of each squad, and the column to the right of each team is the experts ranking (average of Street & Smith, Mike Desimone, Athlon, ESPN FPI, College Football News, and Phil Steele) for that program.  You will soon see that the teams in which I have the biggest disparities with the experts will be featured in my surprise/disappointment lists in the upcoming days.

Team Experts
1 Alabama 1
2 Ohio State 2
3 Southern California 6
4 Oklahoma State 16
5 Louisville 16
6 Florida 12
7 Washington 7
8 Florida State 3
9 Georgia 15
10 Clemson 5
11 Penn State 8
12 Oklahoma 4
13 Washington State 27
14 South Florida 33
15 Stanford 13
16 Auburn 11
17 Wisconsin 9
18 Arkansas 32
19 Michigan 13
20 Houston 53
21 Miami-FL 18
22 LSU 10
23 TCU 22
24 Oregon 26
25 Tennessee 23
26 Virginia Tech 24
27 UCLA 28
28 Nebraska 46
29 Appalachian State 72
30 Brigham Young 45
31 Notre Dame 20
32 Georgia Tech 36
33 Northwestern 30
34 Pittsburgh 39
35 Toledo 68
36 Kansas State 21
37 UCF 74
38 Army 79
39 San Diego State 60
40 Louisiana Tech 76
41 Western Kentucky 66
42 NC State 25
43 West Virginia 31
44 Texas 19
45 Michigan State 54
46 Cincinnati 84
47 Ohio 86
48 Memphis 49
49 Boise State 50
50 Tulsa 71
51 UTSA 97
52 Miami-OH 82
53 Troy 75
54 Middle Tennessee 86
55 New Mexico 94
56 Wyoming 80
57 Colorado State 61
58 Southern Miss 93
59 Hawaii 101
60 Arkansas State 83
61 Mississippi State 43
62 Kentucky 40
63 Missouri 47
64 Baylor 34
65 Colorado 38
66 Ole Miss 44
67 Minnesota 51
68 Iowa 35
69 North Carolina 41
70 Northern Illinois 94
71 Western Michigan 73
72 SMU 89
73 Marshall 99
74 UNLV 107
75 Old Dominion 90
76 South Alabama 116
77 Idaho 111
78 Georgia Southern 113
79 Texas A & M 28
80 Vanderbilt 52
81 Maryland 63
82 Oregon State 62
83 Syracuse 57
84 Navy 68
85 South Carolina 42
86 Wake Forest 59
87 Utah 37
88 Indiana 55
89 Texas Tech 56
90 Boston College 65
91 Purdue 88
92 Virginia 78
93 Temple 77
94 Arizona State 48
95 Central Michigan 96
96 Duke 58
97 Eastern Michigan 105
98 Arizona 64
99 Akron 106
100 Illinois 84
101 Florida Atlantic 102
102 California 68
103 UL-Lafayette 108
104 Iowa State 67
105 Bowling Green 109
106 Rutgers 91
107 Air Force 81
108 Kansas 97
109 Georgia State 113
110 Florida International 114
111 UMass 122
112 Nevada 104
113 Ball State 110
114 UL-Monroe 121
115 Buffalo 126
116 North Texas 118
117 UConn 117
118 East Carolina 102
119 Utah State 100
120 San Jose State 115
121 Tulane 92
122 Fresno State 112
123 Rice 119
124 Charlotte 129
125 UTEP 127
126 UAB 128
127 Texas State 130
128 Coastal Carolina 120
129 New Mexico State 124
130 Kent State 123