American Athletic Conference (AAC)
My Predictions - Houston over Temple
East
Division
|
West
Division
|
Temple
|
Houston
|
South Florida
|
Navy
|
Cincinnati
|
Memphis
|
Connecticut
|
Tulsa
|
East Carolina
|
SMU
|
Central Florida
|
Tulane
|
Actual Results - Temple over Navy
East
Division
|
West
Division
|
Temple
|
Navy
|
South Florida
|
Tulsa
|
Central Florida
|
Houston
|
Cincinnati
|
Memphis
|
Connecticut
|
SMU
|
East Carolina
|
Tulane
|
- I was pretty accurate on the East Division, picking Temple as the best of the division and South Florida following. Central Florida was much better than I had anticipated them being.
- In the West, I generally had the top teams picked out and was close with picking Houston to win the division, and they were in position to win before sliding down the stretch. I was also correct in picking the bottom of the division.
- I think in general the conference in performing a lot better than they have in recent years, with seven of the twelve teams being bowl eligible. At one point, it looked like Houston could have cracked the top four in the playoffs and Temple and Navy have now put together back-to-back great seasons.
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)
My Predictions - Clemson over Miami
Atlantic
Division
|
Coastal
Division
|
Clemson
|
Miami
|
Florida State
|
North Carolina
|
NC State
|
Pittsburgh
|
Louisville
|
Virginia Tech
|
Boston College
|
Duke
|
Wake Forest
|
Georgia Tech
|
Syracuse
|
Virginia
|
Actual Results - Clemson over Virginia Tech
Atlantic
Division
|
Coastal
Division
|
Clemson
|
Virginia Tech
|
Louisville
|
North Carolina
|
Florida State
|
Miami
|
NC State
|
Pittsburgh
|
Wake Forest
|
Georgia Tech
|
Boston College
|
Duke
|
Syracuse
|
Virginia
|
- I was fairly certain that Clemson was going to win the Atlantic Division and the ACC. I didn't expect Louisville to be a top five team for much of the season and dominate Florida State.
- I thought that Miami would be better than they ended up being and that Virginia Tech was going to struggle much more than they did.
- This conference had perhaps the most depth out of any of the conferences in the country. All but three teams were bowl eligible and the Atlantic Division was one of, if not the best, division in all of football.
Big Ten Conference
My Predictions - Michigan over Iowa
East
Division
|
West
Division
|
Michigan
|
Iowa
|
Ohio State
|
Nebraska
|
Michigan State
|
Wisconsin
|
Penn State
|
Northwestern
|
Indiana
|
Minnesota
|
Maryland
|
Illinois
|
Rutgers
|
Purdue
|
Actual Results - Penn State over Wisconsin
East
Division
|
West
Division
|
Penn State
|
Wisconsin
|
Ohio State
|
Nebraska
|
Michigan
|
Iowa
|
Indiana
|
Minnesota
|
Maryland
|
Northwestern
|
Michigan State
|
Illinois
|
Rutgers
|
Purdue
|
- I definitely thought that Michigan and Ohio State were going to be the class of the East Division and they proved to be that, in a sense. What I never projected, and I doubt anyone seriously could have projected, was Penn State upsetting Ohio State, winning nine in a row to end the season, winning the tiebreaker to get into the Big Ten Championship Game, and then winning that against Wisconsin. As a Penn State fan, I was certainly shocked, and think that their roster should allow them to continue to be more competitive in future seasons. If the ACC Atlantic isn't the best division in football, the Big Ten East is certainly in the running for it. The division has more top end talent than any other division even if it doesn't have the depth.
- In the West I thought that Iowa was going to be even better than they ended up being, which was still quite good. Minnesota surprised me, along with most of the country probably, and Wisconsin had proven again that it continues to be a powerhouse school.
- Ultimately, the Big Ten is made of up of several high end programs in Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin, and numerous good teams, but the basement is really bad. Rutgers, Illinois, and Purdue are really bad and probably won't be much better next season. At least with Michigan State it seems safe to count on 2016 as just being a fluke year.
Big 12 Conference
My Predictions - Conference Winner - Oklahoma
Oklahoma
|
TCU
|
Texas
|
Oklahoma State
|
West Virginia
|
Baylor
|
Kansas State
|
Texas Tech
|
Iowa State
|
Kansas
|
Actual Results - Conference Winner - Oklahoma
Oklahoma
|
West Virginia
|
Oklahoma State
|
Kansas State
|
TCU
|
Baylor
|
Texas
|
Texas Tech
|
Iowa State
|
Kansas
|
- I was correct on Oklahoma winning the conference and Texas Tech, Iowa State, and Kansas bringing up the rear in the conference. I thought that Texas was going to be better than it ended up being. I overvalued the solid recruiting that they have done in recent seasons and thought it would translate onto the field quicker than it did. Ultimately, the slow transition of the team cost Charlie Strong his job, something he may be better off for in the future, because he was treated as a scapegoat and any coaches that go to Texas in the future will also have to deal with their boosters, which are too heavily involved.
Pac 12 Conference
My predictions - Stanford over USC
North
Division
|
South
Division
|
Stanford
|
USC
|
Washington
|
UCLA
|
Oregon
|
Utah
|
California
|
Arizona State
|
Washington State
|
Arizona
|
Oregon State
|
Colorado
|
Actual Results - Washington over Colorado
North
Division
|
South
Division
|
Washington
|
Colorado
|
Washington State
|
USC
|
Stanford
|
Utah
|
California
|
Arizona State
|
Oregon State
|
UCLA
|
Oregon
|
Arizona
|
- Washington came into 2016 with lots of potential and expectations, but I thought Christian McCaffery and Stanford would just be too good for Washington to win the division and the conference. Washington has played well all season long and only lost one game to an excellent USC team and is on their way to the playoff.
- In the South Division, I thought Colorado would finish last in their division, not win it like they ended up doing. I'm not sure if anyone thought that they would have as good of a season as they did, so I don't feel too bad not picking them as division winners. I thought USC would be good but didn't think they would struggle the way they did at the beginning of the season and UCLA was much worse than I thought they would be.
- The Pac 12 in a way flipped itself so that the teams people have been used to winning (Oregon and UCLA) finished near the bottom of the conference and surprises Colorado and Washington State jumped up and were stumbling blocks all season long.
Southeastern Conference (SEC)
My predictions - LSU over Tennessee
East
Division
|
West
Division
|
Tennessee
|
LSU
|
Georgia
|
Ole Miss
|
Florida
|
Alabama
|
Missouri
|
Arkansas
|
South Carolina
|
Texas A&M
|
Kentucky
|
Auburn
|
Vanderbilt
|
Mississippi State
|
Actual Results - Alabama over Florida
East
Division
|
West
Division
|
Florida
|
Alabama
|
Tennessee
|
Auburn
|
Georgia
|
LSU
|
Kentucky
|
Texas A&M
|
South Carolina
|
Arkansas
|
Vanderbilt
|
Mississippi State
|
Missouri
|
Ole Miss
|
- In the East Division, I bought into the hype everyone was creating over Josh Dobbs and Tennessee and thought that they could possibly upset Alabama at home. I was wrong and them losing three games in a row in the middle of their season and losing to Vanderbilt in their last game proved that they weren't as good as was expected. The SEC East in general was underwhelming and only division winner Florida was above .500 in conference play.
- In the West, I should have realized how strong Alabama's defense is and that it could overcome any offensive deficiencies they had. I thought that LSU's Leonard Fournette was going to be enough to propel their offense against any defense they faced, but their lack of consistent quarterback play and Fournette's injuries made life extremely difficult for Fournette all season long. I also expected Ole Miss to be better with Chad Kelly under center, who is one of the better quarterbacks in college football.
Preseason Exercise
- Before the season began, I also posted an article based on an exercise I had heard on ESPN Radio's Russillo & Kanell which looked at the AP Preseason Top Ten and how there have been nine straight college football seasons in which three of the teams in the top ten have finished with four or more losses. I decided to try and guess which teams I thought would finish with four or more losses and came up with Ohio State, Stanford, and Notre Dame. I was wrong on Ohio State as I had predicted that they could lose at Oklahoma, at Wisconsin, at Penn State, at Michigan State, and home against Michigan. The only game I predicted correctly was their loss against Penn State. I was also wrong by picking Stanford, who only lost three games this season. They did however lose to Washington which I thought could happen, but won all of the other games I thought were stumbling blocks. Notre Dame was the only team I picked that finished with four or more losses, actually losing eight games and losing all four games I thought they could lose. Although I was wrong with two of the three teams I predicted to lose at least four games, three teams out of the preseason top ten did lose at least that many games. The preseason top ten was Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma, Florida State, LSU, Ohio State, Michigan, Stanford, Tennessee, and Notre Dame. In addition to Notre Dame, Tennessee and LSU both lost at least four games as well. What's surprising to me is that out of the preseason top ten, six of the teams finished the season in the top ten. This was a fun exercise that I plan on continuing in future seasons.
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