The 2016 College Football season is sure to be as exciting as ever before. There are always tons of surprises that every season brings that no one would have ever predicted to happen. Whether it be who the Heisman trophy winner will be or who the final four are, these are things that people wonder about, as soon as they finish the previous season. If you have ever watched a season of CFB you are completely aware that anything can happen, and I mean anything. Every season is just as different as the last and things like schedule strength, players and weather, always factor in to who wins on Saturday. Myself, along with the rest of the world have made a few predictions about the upcoming season:
Only one team from the SEC will make the College Football Playoff.
Especially when it comes to the Southeastern Conference, multiple teams will rise up for a spot in the four-team tournament. In 2015, the SEC nearly brought two teams to the playoff and the year before, three teams from the SEC nearly made the playoff. I am not going to rule out the SEC’s dominance but having a playoff where two or more teams are from the same conference would not be exciting for ratings, except in their region. Diversity in the playoff is what makes it exciting to watch because it showcases match ups between teams, you would never see play each other in the regular season. You may be wondering what teams I have predicted to make the playoff, let’s take a look!
Florida State, Oklahoma, Stanford and Alabama will be in the College Football Playoff.
Yes, I do believe the Crimson Tide will battle for the crown for a third straight season. Although the talent in the SEC cannot be ignored, the strength of schedule works out in their favor as long as they win consistently in the months of October and November due to the weekly SEC action. Oklahoma has a low strength of schedule this season and it gets even easier for them as teams like Baylor fall under many possible sanctions and a head coaching change, along with the Longhorns in Texas who cannot seem to recover quickly in recruiting due to TCU, Baylor and Texas A&M having success in their respected conferences. Stanford gets the spot out of the Pac-12. Great coaching, recruiting and defense help this team extremely due to lack of defense throughout the whole conference. Christian McCafferey is a Heisman hopeful as well although Clemson battled Alabama in the championship final in early 2016, Florida State has a more complete returning roster, fantastic coaching and a Heisman hopeful in running back Dalvin Cook.
It’s All About The “U.”
The argument about Mark Richt not being able to win in the SEC is an extremely valid one. He only led the Georgia Bulldogs to one SEC Championship in 2005, which led to his dismissal after the 2015 season. The key factor to note about Richt is his ability to develop relationships with his players and that is a huge upside for him in the recruiting process. No, the Canes will not win the ACC Championship this season but they will make some noise. The recruiting game is simply to win with the talent you have, so you can win with the talent you wish to acquire. If Richt wants to bring the Hurricanes back to prominence, he must win in the recruiting game.
Dalvin Cook will be the 2016 Heisman Trophy Winner.
Most Heisman experts have either Deshaun Watson from Clemson or Leonard Fournette from LSU winning the honor, but I just do not see either of them winning the trophy. In Watson’s case, he is a great quarterback for the Tigers but if Clemson wouldn't have been undefeated in the regular season, his chances of attending the ceremony would have been diminished. Leonard Fournette is going to be a stud in the NFL and should be considered to be the winner. However, the LSU Tigers have not been as dominant since 2011, they have lost three or more games each season since that time. The Heisman Committee looks for how a player shapes their team’s season, LSU would have to make the playoff in order for Fournette to be considered. Dalvin Cook is not considered by many, yet he will explode this season as the Seminoles, as I predicted, will compete in the College Football Playoff. Cook rushed for nearly 1,700 yards and 19 touchdowns last season and I believe he will eclipse those statistics. As long as Florida State makes the playoff and Cook puts up numbers as he did last season, he will be holding the statue.
The Tide will hold its crown.
Does this prediction surprise you? I did not think so. Alabama has to be the most hated team in college football because they have Nick Saban, they are in the SEC and winning four of the last seven championships is not too shabby either. I am not worried at all about a new starting quarterback because they won the championship last season with a first-year leader in Jake Coker. In 2009, 2011 and 2015, to elaborate even further, the Crimson Tide won the gold with a brand new starting quarterback (Greg McElroy, AJ McCarron and Jake Coker). They have also been in the top ten in total defense since 2009. Maybe next season I will predict a different team to win it all, but sometimes you just have to see it to believe it!
