Preseason college football polls are awful. They always have been, and they make for mass confusion at the end of the season. But I finally know why they exist.
Preseason polls are created so the voters can see how their predictions held up at the end of the season.
I'm finding out that the best part of making predictions is going back at the end of the year and finding out just how good (or bad) you did. My first year of college football predictions actually went pretty well. Here's the look-back. (My preseason picks are in red (wrong) and green (correct))
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Heisman Trophy Winner: Colt McCoy, Texas
Actual: Mark Ingram, Alabama
ACC Champion: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
I'm very proud of this one...GT had its' best season since the '50's and I rode the triple-option train all year long.
Big Ten Champion: Penn State Nittany Lions
Actual: Ohio State Buckeyes
It's quite funny, actually, if you know anything about the recent history of Ohio State football, it seems like the Buckeye fan base loses faith in the team after they perennially lose to USC. It was the same story this year. OSU loses to Southern Cal and to Purdue, the season is seemingly lost, and then they run the table to get to their first Rose Bowl in forever. It's about time the state of Ohio had a better-than-disappointing football team (the Bengals' great season coupled with Cincy's BCS berth gives Ohio THREE postseason teams...is the apocalypse coming?)
Big East Champion: South Florida Bulls
Actual: Cincinnati Bearcats
It may look like a horrible pick, but USF was crushed by injuries, and both Cincinnati and South Florida were talented and unranked at the start of the season (how ridiculous does THAT sound for Cincy?).
Big Twelve Champion: Texas Longhorns
There was never any doubt. This pick was really too easy.
Pac-10 Champion: Oregon Ducks
I'm most proud of my Oregon pick. For as much as I was on the GT train all year, I was driving the Oregon bandwagon from day one (yes, even after they got dismantled on the blue turf at Boise). UO's win over Arizona was one of my favorite games of the year, and, as always, Oregon's jerseys never disappointed.
SEC Champion: Florida Gators
Actual: Alabama Crimson Tide
Very glad this pick didn't come true. Alabama was clearly the better team in the SEC Championship game (and all year, for that matter), but if Florida would have won the SEC, Tebow would have been in serious talk for the Heisman, and as I've said before, that would have been a travesty.
MAC Champion: Central Michigan Chippewas
Mountain West Champion: TCU Horned Frogs
WAC Champion: Boise State Blue Fields
These three were no-brainers from the beginning.
Conference USA Champion: Houston Cougars
Actual: East Carolina Pirates
I'm legitimately upset about Houston not winning C-USA. ECU needed OT to upset the Cougs in the title game, and you probably didn't even think about reading about how it happened, because it's C-USA, right? You saw the headline and glanced over it to read about how Tiger had an affair with Joan Rivers or someone (too soon?), but I lost my mind when I heard. Case Keenum isn't a "Rick", but he was "Rick-diculous" in 2009, routinely throwing for over 500 yards in single games. East Carolina, prepare to enter my doghouse, effective immediately.
Sun Belt Champion: Florida International Golden Panthers
Actual: Troy Trojans
It was a shot in the dark, ok? I had no realistic chance at getting this one right.
Do they matter anymore?
Notre Dame: 7-5
Actual: 6-6
Michigan: 6-6
Actual: 5-7
BCS Bowl Predictions:
BCS National Championship Game: Tim Tebow's vs. Colt 45's
Rose Bowl (of course, presented by Citi): Oregon Ducks vs. Penn State Nittany Lions
Sugar Bowl: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets vs. Boise State Blue Fields
Orange Bowl: South Florida Bulls vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys
Fiesta Bowl: Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Southern California Trojans
Missed on: TCU, Iowa, Cincinnati
Season picks: 48-25 (wow, not bad for a first year)
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Now that we've recapped the season, complained about the BCS and watched Tebow get knocked out for the ump-teenth time (the song is the best part of that video), we can go bowling. I'll give you today's picks, and then get the rest of them out there in a day or two.
New Mexico: Fresno State - 33; Wyoming - 14
St. Petersburg: Rutgers - 24; UCF - 23
Thanks for reading.
p.s. I've gotten a bunch of inquiries about the Winter Olympics Competition, and my answer is still the same...I have no idea whether I won or not. Hopefully I'll be finding out in the next few days, but I can't say enough how much I appreciate the support I got from all of you. If you voted for me or told me you read my writing, even if I don't personally know you, I can't thank you enough. Even if I don't win, seeing all the support I got from everyone in my life will be the silver lining.
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