College Preview

Nate’s 9: Playoff Hopefuls in NCAA Football

            I mean this in every sense, when I say that I am like a kid in a candy store.  After years of criticizing and getting mad at the BCS for not correctly picking a true national champion, we finally have a simple and determining factor that will always us to only have 1 NCAA football team standing at the end of the season.  I for one couldn’t be more excited! 

            I still have a heavy heart for the Penn State football team and its university.  I am attempting to do the neutral thing in all sports at all levels (minus the teams I am coaching of course), and with a little bit of the good unfortunate luck, Penn State can’t make the playoffs this year even if they were to go undefeated.  I think that this will be the easiest sport for me to submerge into as there is a ton of good football, and I’ve always admired many a programs in the past (Gators, Hurricanes, Badgers, etc).  Instead of a normal preview as I have done in the past, here are the 9 college football teams that I think have the best chance to play in the first NCAA college football playoff in our history.

#9 – Georgia. While they did finally graduate Aaron Murray to the pros after a great career, the rest of the talent coming back to Athens is absolutely mind-boggling.  They have two of the best running backs in the nation in Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall.  Rumor has it that a third running back (Brendan Douglas) is breaking through as if they need another. Their defense ranks among the SEC’s best, and could probably be considered top 15 nationally.  If they can get through a rough first month with games against South Carolina and Clemson then we very well could see them in the SEC championship with a trip to the playoffs at stake.

#8 – South Carolina.  They are in a pretty similar situation to the Georgia Bulldogs.  Talent at every position, but breaking in a new quarterback.  Their schedule also sets up in a parallel way with games against Georgia and Texas A&M in the first couple of weeks.  Get through that and they could also be playing against the SEC West for a chance to make the first playoff.  This game against Georgia will be huge.  Watch out for RB Mike Davis who could be a Heisman dark house.  Defensively they lost Jadeveon Clowney, but with Sharrod Golightly and Skai Moore they have some talented playmakers on defense that should keep them in enough games to win 10+.

#7- Ohio State.  A lot of people have the Buckeyes as this year’s dark horse to play in the championship, but I think they are still one or two players away on defense to really get there.  Their game against Clemson last season left them a little bit exposed, and it’s hard to ask Braxton Miller to win games on his own.  They do bring back the nation’s best defensive line led by SR Noah Spence.  He is a terror and will certainly be a 1^st round pick whenever he decides to play in the NFL.  Miller has been leading the offense for 2+ years now, and a lot will be expected from him.  If they can win their game in East Lansing against Michigan State plus win the Big Ten championship, they will likely finish inside one of the playoff places.  My guess is they lose one of the two.

#6 – Oregon.  This is a team that I am very excited for, but I think their schedule is just a bit difficult to win every game.  Marcus Mariota is back for another year behind center, and for anyone that followed the Ducks last season, they know that it is a very good thing.  I believe him to be the most NFL ready quarterback in the country, and it’ll likely be between him and Jameis Winston for next year’s #1 pick in the draft.  He does a bit of everything well.  Their running game is also very strong, and their best running back might be the true freshman Royce Freeman.  He is considered to be one of the top two or three backs in the country and cold hold the starting job by the time Pac-12 football begins.  Their defense isn’t as good as it’s been in years past, but they still have some NFL quality on that side in LB Tony Washington and CB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu.  Ekpre-Olomu is especially gifted and could’ve been a 1^st round pick if he had gone pro last season.  If they didn’t see Michigan State, UCLA and Stanford on the schedule, then I believe they could make an undefeated run and qualify for the playoffs.  With those powerhouses on the schedule, it may be too difficult.

#5 – Oklahoma.  Beating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl last season opened up everyone’s eyes as to how good this team has again become.  I’m not sure what happened after the Baylor game (12-41 Loss), but Oklahoma looked great the rest of the season.  They found their quarterback of the future in that game against Alabama in Trevor Knight.  He looked absolutely brilliant in the first half and had me shocked when the Alabama defense couldn’t get to him.  He’s still only a sophomore and should have the starting job locked up.  The player I’m most excited for is true freshman RB Joe Mixon.  (Youtube his highlights) He reminds me of Shaun Alexander the running back previously of the Seattle Seahawks and can do a bit of everything.  Oklahoma also returns a ton of talent at the WR position and they will look to spread teams wide.  Defensively, they will be one of the nation’s best and they may have the nation’s best linebacker in Dominique Alexander.  Their schedule sets up nice for an undefeated season, but I think with the high amount of freshmen and sophomores in their line-up that they slip up once, eliminating themselves from a final four playoff spot.

#4 – UCLA.  I need them to win their game against Oregon for this to happen.  It’s at home and early enough in the season where it won’t be a potential 1 vs. 2 matchup, so they have a few things going in their favor.  I really like what Mora has done with this team in two seasons.  It probably helps that Brett Hundley decided to stay in school for another year.  He could be the most electrifying quarterback in the country.  He’s tough to bring down, throws the intermediate passes very well, and shows a ton of leadership quality.  If this offense gets going early this year, look out. Defensively, Mora loaded up on talent in this year’s recruiting class.  They got 2 of the nation’s best LB’s in Zach Whitley and Kenny Young.  The most impressive thing about both of them is that they come from Texas and Louisiana respectively.  That’s a major coup for a Californian school not called USC.  They will accompany Myles Jack in the Bruins defense this season, and that’s a lot of talent on the football field.  Jack is the first player in NCAA history to be a conference freshman player of the year in both offense and defense.  Look for him to make that major step up now with his focus fully on defense.  I think they win every game, but even if they are not able to, a rematch game against Oregon in the Pac-12 championship could be enough to get them in that coveted final 4.

#3 – Michigan State.  I’m going out on a limb with this pick a little bit, but I didn’t hear anyone picking Auburn after they went 3-9 the year before last.  Michigan State went 13-1 last season and return both their best offensive and defensive players.  Connor Cook did just enough last year to get them to win games.  While not the greatest talent, he did what he had to on offense and let the defense make all the plays.  He will have to step up early and often this year as the Spartans play games against the Oregon Ducks, Ohio St. Buckeyes, Michigan Wolverines and Nebraska Cornhuskers all games they must win if they think they’re going to make the playoffs.  Every other game on their schedule is winnable.  Defensively, they are up there with Florida State and Alabama in terms of talent and statistics.  Last year they were 3^rd nationally in scoring defense and 2^nd nationally in yards given up.  If they can keep close to those numbers and I believe that they will, then they should be in the mix at the end of the season for a playoff place.

#2 – Alabama.  This is one of the few teams in NCAA history that could return just 9 of their 22 starters and still lock up a place in the new national championship game.  They lost quarterback AJ McCarron, defensive back Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and linebacker CJ Mosley just to name a few.  They were all key components of their national championship run in 2013.  It’s not that the talent is there, it’s just we have no idea who they are yet.  They continue to have the nation’s best recruiting classes so it’s just a matter of when, and not if.  Amari Cooper is probably the best WR in the nation and a likely top 10 pick in next year’s NFL draft.  TJ Yeldon is a great RB that can make people miss and is probably the front runner for the Heisman along with Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota.  Look for Derrick Henry to step forward this year and become another Alabama household name at the RB position.  The schedule is easier than in year’s past as they get Auburn, Texas A&M and Mississippi State all at home.  If they can beat LSU in Baton Rouge and win the SEC Championship game, then they should have enough in their basket to make it to the national championship once again.

#1 – Florida State.  It’s almost an easy pick.  When a team wins the national title with an extreme amount of freshmen and sophomores, they are likely good enough to do it again.  The only player of any significance that left who might not be replaceable is Kelvin Benjamin who decided that the game winning catch in the title game was a good way to go out.  They return the nation’s best QB in Jameis Winston.  He has a great grasp of the quarterback position and there were times when the games looked easy to him.  His performance in Clemson may have been the best of the season.  Even in the title game against Auburn, Winston looked in control and made plays even when Auburn were throwing things at him that he had never seen before.  Look for him to be even more improved this season.  They return standout WR Rashad Greene who is probably the best WR in the country after Amari Cooper.  They have three or four talented running backs that all do different things and should all see the field sometime during the season.  Their offensive line is as good as the Hurricanes of the last decade or the Cornhuskers of the 1990’s.  They could have 3 potential All-Americans on that line and Cameron Irving and Tre Jackson should be 1^st round picks in next year’s draft.  Defensively, they were the nation’s best and it could even be better.  Mario Edwards Jr could be the nation’s best defensive player and will need to be double-teamed often.  They have an ungodly amount of talent in the linebacker group and any one of 5 to 6 guys could be a starter.  Jalen Ramsey could be the nation’s best defensive back next season, if he can just stay out of trouble.  He was one of their key performers last year as a true freshman, and is one of the few guys that have a position locked up.  All this and they also have a favorable schedule that sees both Clemson and Notre Dame coming to Tallahassee.  Unless they blow it against Oklahoma State in the first game, the Seminoles should have an easy ticket to repeat street. 

National Champion – Florida State

Heisman Trophy Winner – Jameis Winston

Surprise team – Texas Longhorns (Could win 10+)

Biggest Dropoff – Missouri Tigers (May not win 8)

Players to watch:

QB: Marcus Mariota – Could get that #1 draft pick spot with a great year.

RB: Melvin Gordon – Wisconsin has another beast.

WR: Tyler Boyd – Pitt’s got another Larry Fitzgerald

LB: Eric Striker – Oklahoma’s got two of the nation’s best

LB: Myles Jack – Manti Te’o and Anthony Barr put together.

CB: Kendall Fuller – Could be better than his brother Kyle by his senior year.

Impact Freshmen:

QB: Kyle Allen – A different player than Johnny Football; can he bring a title?

QB: Will Grier – Has that Tom Brady coolness, could bring Gators back.

RB: Leonard Fournette – Whoa!

RB: Joe Mixon – Oklahoma has good backs, he still could be #1 by Thanksgiving.

WR Malachi Dupre – LSU just reloading yo!

DE: Myles Garrett – A&M may also have the nation’s best defensive player too.

LB: Zach Whitley – We may have to rename UCLA – Linebacker University.

DB: Tony Brown – Alabama’s jewel – next in line to be NFL good.

DB: Jalen Tabor – Janoris Jenkins four years later.

Bring on the college football!!