It’s almost that time of the year again: the leaves are changing, the temperature changes to just the right temperature for me. I don’t really enjoy playing golf in 95 + degree weather with 90% humidity ( that’s what you get when living in Nashville for 3 months of the year in case you didn’t know that). That means it is the fall season.
I always look forward to this time of the year: that time of the year where you gather with your friends or family or both for a good tailgate party. Spending time at the stadium or in the comfort of your home or someone else’s home enjoying your favorite tailgate food or drinks with your friends or family. It’s that time of the year when you get to enjoy all of those things. It’s also that time of the year for some good old college football.
Like many other “experts” out there that have taken their stab at predicting their Final Four and champ of the college football world, I figured it would be my turn to predict my Final Four and the Champ that will be crowned in January 2018.
Here we go. Here is who I am liking as my top 4 out of the possible 130 schools that have a chance to call themselves a champion.
The Final Four
#1 Alabama Crimson Tide
Big surprise here, right? Expect Bama to be the same ol same ol from last year and the previous year. Lose a few players do to the draft or graduation, and then reload for the next season without seeming to really lose anybody. Nick Saban seems to go out and recruit kids that are either better or about the same skill level as the kids that he needed to replace. Alabama will be lead by Heisman contending running back Bo Scarbrough, and quarterback Jalen Hurts. As Long as Scarbrough and Hurts can stay healthy year long, expect Bama to cruise on through the season and into the Playoffs come January.
#2 Ohio State Buckeyes
Well, the Buckeyes had quite an embarrassing defeat to Clemson as we all know who would eventually go on to become Champs a few nights later, Look for Ohio State to enter this season with a chip on their shoulder and avenge that loss, and march right into the Playoffs in January. The Buckeyes at returning 15 starters, which is a great thing for them. 8 of those starters are on the offensive side of the ball, including quarterback J.T. Barrett, whom many would have on their Heisman watch list.
I’m sure you can the math on the remaining 7 starters that are on defense who allowed just 297 yards and 16 points, while their offense backed that up with an average of 459 yards and 39 points last year. You can expect that the Buckeyes this year can match that or even improve on those stats from last year. Which makes the Buckeyes a very good threat to the Crimson Tide and Saban to claim another National Title.
#3 USC Trojans
Coming into this season, the Trojans are coming off a great Rose Bowl win from last year, there is no reason to make them a realistic team to reach the Playoffs this upcoming season. One good reason that USC and the USC faithful should be feeling confident in their Trojans is because they have Heisman favorite quarterback Sam Darnold. Many would say that Darnold is the reason for the Trojans turn around after many years of being mediocre at best or irrelevant.
I’m certainly buying into their stock and everyone else should be too. I’m really liking this Trojan team to not only making the Playoffs, but to get into the National Championship game (spoiler alert). The one thing that kind of worries me about USC falling short of the playoffs, other than not staying healthy (which can happen), is the fact the Trojans don’t have a bye week all season long. That’s 12 straight weeks of very little rest or no rest.
#4 Florida State Seminoles
At the #4 spot, I’m very conflicted. I have 3 teams in mind, the other two schools I have in mind are the Oklahoma Sooners and the West Virginia Mountaineers( yeah, if you knew me, you would know that I am a Mountaineer, so you would probably call me biased, but there is good reason I would have the Mountaineers as one of my Final Four). Let’s call the Sooners and Mountaineers my “Dark Horses” shall we.
Out of the three teams I have at #4 would be the Florida State Seminoles, and there is a strong case for them o make he Playoffs this year, easily the strongest of the three I have in mind. Yes, the Seminoles laid the biggest egg last year immediately the first weekend of kickoff with a 63-20 loss to Louisville). The following week, they were really shaken up when they lost their safety Darwin James in which they would lose to UNC in the last seconds 37-35. However, their comeback victory over Miami the following week, they started playing like a championship caliber team. Let’s not forget that the Seminoles have a returning quarterback.
During his first season as a starter, Deondre Francois completed 58.8 percent of his passes for 3,350 yards and 20 touchdowns to just seven interceptions. He also scored five times on the ground while guiding Florida State to a 10-3 record. Expect him to match that if not better.
So there you have it, my Final Four of the 17-18 College Football season. Now here is how I believe the playoffs will turn out.
The Playoffs
#1 Alabama vs #4 Florida State. Winner: Alabama 42- 28
This will be a rematch from week 1 ( in case you didn’t know that) But I believe the same result from week 1 will happen. Alabama returns to the National Championship game.
#2 Ohio State vs #3 USC. Winner: Ohio State 38-35
Ohio State makes the playoffs yet again with a humongous chip on their shoulder, and will win a close one to USC. The experience of their offense and defense will prove too much for USC. One thing that will come out of this for USC, they can feel that they are back in the days of Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush, and they can take that into next season.
Championship Game
#1 Alabama vs #2 Ohio State. Winner: Ohio State 35-30
Alabama is coming into the new season with so much inexperience. Perhaps it’ll show throughout that, and I believe that they won’t face a team with Ohio State’s experience. It’ll be a close one, but Ohio State will come out victorious for their 2nd National Title in the College Football Playoff era.
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