LOOKING AHEAD AT THE REST OF THE NCAA FOOTBALL SEASON
I am so interested in college football that I almost forget the NFL is in Week 6, or is it Week 7? Or only Week 4 or 5, maybe? Heh! Whatever! Other than keeping track of the Seahawks and watching them here and there, I don't know what else is going on in the National Football League. My mind is way more tuned in to the college game. So...
Thinking as Duck fan who would love to see his team run the table and get a national title, here are what could be some very pivotal games:
10/23 - LSU at Auburn - one of these teams gets their first loss of the year in this game.
10/23 - Oklahoma at Missouri - the Tigers will give the Sooners a tough game.
10/23 - Air Force at TCU - Horned Frogs should win, but Air Force ought to give them a good game.
10/30 - Oregon at USC - I don't know how the Ducks will possibly be able to control the USC passing game, but that's what I thought when Oregon hosted Stanford. The difference here is that this one is a road trip to L.A. I rate the game a toss-up.
10/30 - Michigan State at Iowa - I like to think the Spartans will lose to the Hawkeyes here.
11/6 - Alabama at LSU - If LSU is still undefeated after playing Auburn, the Tigers will get their first loss in this game.
11/6 - TCU at Utah - Utah or TCU will get its only loss for the year in this one.
11/26 - Arizona at Oregon - The Ducks should prevail at home against the Wildcats, but it may not be easy.
11/26 - Boise State at Nevada - BSU plays in a conference of pushovers, and Nevada is that league's second best team. It's a road game, and might provide the Broncos with a test, but I'll count on BSU to roll.
11/26 - Auburn at Alabama - If Auburn is still undefeated at this point, the Tide will give them their first loss.
11/27 - Oklahoma at Oklahoma State - The Sooners have to travel to play their in-state rivalry game... good luck, Stoops! Heh!
11/27 - If LSU is still undefeated by this point, I don't think they will beat Arkansas on the road.
12/4 - Oregon at Oregon State - There ought to be a lot of scoring in this game. If it was going to be in Eugene, I'd go with the Ducks. Because it is in Corvallis, I rate the game another toss-up.
OREGON: I think the Ducks will lose one game this year, and it will be to either the Trojans or the Beavers, and they could possibly lose both... but I will stick with the one-loss thought. Whichever team they lose to is higher-ranked at the end of the year could determine whether the Ducks get to be in a the mix for #2 or not. But I will predict a top ten finish for Oregon.
THE BCS CHAMPIONSHIP: A national title game between Boise State and Utah will be what it takes to finally get the NCAA to institute a playoff system; there will be so much squawking about two teams from "Podunk" playing for the title that measures will be taken to insure that the Alabamas, Oklahomas, Ohio States and other rich, traditionally-great programs of the college football world remain the focus.
Anyway...
Predicted final records:
Boise State 12-0
Utah 12-0
Oregon 11-1
Oklahoma 11-1
TCU 11-1
Auburn 11-1
Iowa 11-1
Michigan State 11-1
Alabama 10-2
Ohio State 10-2
LSU 10-2
Nebraska 10-2
Possible bowl games:
National Championship game (Fiesta Bowl): Boise State vs. Utah - BSU wins
Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Iowa - Oregon wins
Other possible BCS games: Oklahoma vs. TCU (go TCU!), Michigan State vs. Auburn, Ohio State vs. Alabama
Thinking as Duck fan who would love to see his team run the table and get a national title, here are what could be some very pivotal games:
10/23 - LSU at Auburn - one of these teams gets their first loss of the year in this game.
10/23 - Oklahoma at Missouri - the Tigers will give the Sooners a tough game.
10/23 - Air Force at TCU - Horned Frogs should win, but Air Force ought to give them a good game.
10/30 - Oregon at USC - I don't know how the Ducks will possibly be able to control the USC passing game, but that's what I thought when Oregon hosted Stanford. The difference here is that this one is a road trip to L.A. I rate the game a toss-up.
10/30 - Michigan State at Iowa - I like to think the Spartans will lose to the Hawkeyes here.
11/6 - Alabama at LSU - If LSU is still undefeated after playing Auburn, the Tigers will get their first loss in this game.
11/6 - TCU at Utah - Utah or TCU will get its only loss for the year in this one.
11/26 - Arizona at Oregon - The Ducks should prevail at home against the Wildcats, but it may not be easy.
11/26 - Boise State at Nevada - BSU plays in a conference of pushovers, and Nevada is that league's second best team. It's a road game, and might provide the Broncos with a test, but I'll count on BSU to roll.
11/26 - Auburn at Alabama - If Auburn is still undefeated at this point, the Tide will give them their first loss.
11/27 - Oklahoma at Oklahoma State - The Sooners have to travel to play their in-state rivalry game... good luck, Stoops! Heh!
11/27 - If LSU is still undefeated by this point, I don't think they will beat Arkansas on the road.
12/4 - Oregon at Oregon State - There ought to be a lot of scoring in this game. If it was going to be in Eugene, I'd go with the Ducks. Because it is in Corvallis, I rate the game another toss-up.
OREGON: I think the Ducks will lose one game this year, and it will be to either the Trojans or the Beavers, and they could possibly lose both... but I will stick with the one-loss thought. Whichever team they lose to is higher-ranked at the end of the year could determine whether the Ducks get to be in a the mix for #2 or not. But I will predict a top ten finish for Oregon.
THE BCS CHAMPIONSHIP: A national title game between Boise State and Utah will be what it takes to finally get the NCAA to institute a playoff system; there will be so much squawking about two teams from "Podunk" playing for the title that measures will be taken to insure that the Alabamas, Oklahomas, Ohio States and other rich, traditionally-great programs of the college football world remain the focus.
Anyway...
Predicted final records:
Boise State 12-0
Utah 12-0
Oregon 11-1
Oklahoma 11-1
TCU 11-1
Auburn 11-1
Iowa 11-1
Michigan State 11-1
Alabama 10-2
Ohio State 10-2
LSU 10-2
Nebraska 10-2
Possible bowl games:
National Championship game (Fiesta Bowl): Boise State vs. Utah - BSU wins
Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Iowa - Oregon wins
Other possible BCS games: Oklahoma vs. TCU (go TCU!), Michigan State vs. Auburn, Ohio State vs. Alabama
10 Comments:
I would be very happy if either Oregon or the Broncos won the national championship.
I think you're right on Boise St being number one. I see you have Nebraska as 10-2. Who do you think the second loss will be to? They really stunk it up last weekend against Texas.
The Huskers could actually end up 11-1, though it is the upcoming game with Oklahoma State that looks like it could be difficult. So I guess it would be the loss to Texas plus a loss to Okla. St. If they get past Okla. St. then they will have to play Missouri, but that's a home game.
Once they get the next two games out of the way, I think they ought to win the rest by beating Iowa St., Kansas, Texas A&M and Colorado.
Looks like I was wrong about Nebraska and Okla. St! Good job, Huskers.
I would love to see Oregon go undefeated up until the civil war game. Go Beavers! :)
Hey, T.! I think the Beavers will be fine.
They have what ought to be a fairly tough game against Cal coming up this Saturday in Corvallis, but I think they will win that one. They will win at UCLA and then they'll whip WSU at home. They seem to always beat USC in Corvallis, I don't know why this year will be any different.
If I was an OSU fan (and I am, as long as they aren't playing Oregon!), I would believe my toughest games left to play are the last two, at Stanford and then at home against Oregon.
I think OSU will end up losing one of those two games, and going 8-4 overall but 7-2 in the conference, which ought to be good enough for third place. I think Oregon and Stanford will end up both at 8-1 with the Ducks taking the tiebreaker. But Oregon and Stanford AND the Beavers could all end up at 7-2.
Who knows what will happen! The league looks fairly balanced at the top, really. Each of us knows what we would LIKE to see happen, anyway! 8-)
Oregon's next big test (and when you haven't lost yet, EVERY week is a big test) is this weekend in LA vs. USC.
And BTW, dang it, if Riley and the Beavers were ever able to get a season off to a good start, I think they would be national champions. I don't know what's with the "start slow and finish strong" thing, but I swear, it costs them a bit by the end of the season.
Missouri will be the tougher team for Nebraska now they have defeated Oklahoma. Not feeling super confident about this weekend.
Snave, you got that right about the Beavers starting slow and finishing strong. It is frustrating as heck!
At least there were some promising moments in the Blazers opening game against Phoenix last night. Matthews and Johnson are good young additions to the team. Now if we can only get Pryzbilla and Oden back and healthy...
Totally agreed, Paine! And after their second win in as many nights, I'm getting the feeling that the Blazers have a shot at another 50-win season this year.
There will be the expected continued maturity from Aldridge and Roy, and the veteran presence of Miller and Camby. I keep telling people Batum is the next coming of Clyde the Glide, and they don't believe me... but they will see! 8-)
Matthews and Armon look like solid backups. Oberto will help hold the fort underneath until Przybilla and Oden make it back. Fernandez and Cunningham will be helpful.
All in all, it looks like they have some depth this year, and I think it's going to be fun!
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