The current BCS system has undoubtedly been a complete flop. Throughout
the years, it has enraged people with its maddening calculations to
determine - based off of coaches polls, margin of victory, strength of
schedule, opponents strength of schedule, and other factors - which
teams should be playing in the major bowl games and in the all-coveted
BCS National Championship game. While it created much debate and talk, which in a sense I guess kept it relevant, it was often times more wrong than right. This
led too much national debate over whether or not the system actually
works. In the end, the only rational conclusion and the only true way
of determining who should play in the BCS National Championship game is
to have a playoff. Well, now we have it, and in 2014, all will be right in the world, mostly....
So here it finally is, Mr. Armchair’s 2012 College Football Preview.
1. Alabama
– The SEC has had a team in the BCS National Championship game the last
6 years, and I’m banking that they are going to make it 7. I have a
rule for each sport to never bet against a certain player or coach no
matter the circumstance or situation. In college football, it's too never bet against Saban. While they lost a lot of star power to the NFL Draft on defense, Alabama never rebuilds, they reload with better. Senior
FS Robert Lester and Junior LB C.J. Mosley will lead the Bama defense
this year, and with Junior QB AJ McCarron and Senior OC Barrett Jones
returning on offense, Bama looks to be as strong as ever to defense
their Championship.
2. LSU
– Yeah LSU may have just dismissed last year’s Heisman Trophy finalist,
Junior DB Tyrann Mathieu, but when you can let a player of his caliber
go and have your defense still be considered tops in the nation, you
know you have talent on that side of the ball; and LSU does. Their
defense may be better than last years, featuring a stout D-line with
Junior DE’s Sam Montgomery and my favorite player to watch this year,
Barkevious Mingo. Throw in the fact that LSU may have the best
offense it's ever had under Head Coach Les Miles, which will finally
feature a true pocket-passing QB in Junior Zach Mettenberger.
3. USC – Let me get my bias rant out of the way here. USC,
blah, blah, blah…Matt Barkely, woo-hoo, woo-hoo…Fight On, Fight On,
Victory, Victory, yeah, yeah, yeah we get it. Ok, now that I got that
out, USC has 14 returning starters (8 offensive, 6 defensive) and the
favorite to win the Heisman Trophy and be the #1 pick in next year's NFL
Draft in Senior QB Matt Barkley. While he is no Andrew
Luck, Barkley is great in his own right and with WR’s Robert Woods and
Marqise Lee, he should put up some godly numbers. They
still have concerns at the RB position, as none of the RB’s they’ve
recruited (minus Silas Redd) has any official NCAA carries. And of
course, Lane Kiffin is still there Head Coach.
4. Florida St. – People are really under-selling FSU this year. They could very easily make it to the BCS National Championship game. Schedule-wise,
FSU has one of the easiest paths to the BCS National Championship game,
as their only real tough road game is against Va. Tech. If
Senior QB EJ Manuel can finally somehow put it all together like we've
been waiting for him to do and lead this offense to score some points,
FSU’s defense is right up there with Bama and LSU and could vault them
into the National Championship game. Senior DE Brandon
Jenkins and Junior DE Bjoern Werner are as good of a combo as any and
don’t forget #1 national recruit DE Mario Edwards.
5. Oregon – For either Oregon or USC to make the BCS National Championship game, they’ll have to beat each other twice. When you talk about Oregon, you are talking about speed, speed, and more speed. They
may have the fastest player in the country in Sophomore RB D’Anthony
Thomas, and of course are returning Senior RB Kenjon Barner. A lot of weight though bears on the shoulders of redshirt Freshman QB Marcus Mariota. Their
schedule is very light to start, as their first 6 games are in Eugene,
so Mariota will have some time to adapt to playing the position and
learning the pistol-spread offense Head Coach Chip Kelly loves to run.
6. Oklahoma – Like USC, the Sooners have their stud, Heisman candidate QB returning for his senior year in Landry Jones. First
making his mark as a freshman when QB Sam Bradford went down with a
season-ending shoulder injury in the first game of the 2009 season,
Jones has blossomed into a first-round caliber NFL QB. With
Mike Stoops returning to Oklahoma to serve as defensive coordinator,
the same position he held at Oklahoma in the early 2000’s, Sooner fans
are hoping for the same returning stud defense they were used too when
he was there.
7. South
Carolina – The dark horse to win the SEC Conference, this could be the
best team that head coach Steve Spurrier has ever had at S. Carolina. They
have a 5-game brutal stretch of games starting at home against Georgia,
at LSU, at Florida, home against Tennessee, and home against Arkansas,
but they don’t face Alabama this season. Junior QB Connor
Shaw will be the starting QB week 1 and won’t have to worry about
dope-head Stephen Garcia infringing on his playing time. And of course, they are returning Heisman candidate RB, Senior Marcus Lattimore.
8. Wisconsin
– Every year it seems like all Wisconsin does is find themselves in the
Big Ten Championship game, and somehow every year make the Rose Bowl. There is no reason why Wisconsin can’t do the same this year and make it to a third Rose Bowl appearance. Their
schedule is very favorable, as they don’t play Michigan during the
regular season and have home games against Michigan St. and Ohio St. They
are returning Heisman candidate Senior RB Montee Ball, who last season
only led the nation in rushing yards (1,923) and only scored 39 TD’s.
9. Georgia – I don’t think I’ve seen an easier SEC schedule in my life than the one Georgia gets to play this season. No Alabama, no Arkansas, and no LSU. Seriously!! Their only tough games are at S. Carolina and at Auburn. The
loss of Sophomore RB Isaiah Crowell (dismissed from team) will hurt
Georgia, but a lot still will hinge on the play of Junior QB Andy
Murray, who has thrown for more than 3,000 yards the last two seasons,
and Georgia’s defense, which is returning 10 starters. If the stars align, Georgia could easily waltz into the SEC Championship game.
10. Michigan
– Well, they’re guaranteed to start the season with a lost, as they
open up the year in Dallas playing against defending National Champions
Alabama. In head coach Brady Hoke’s first season, he
definitely made an impression, finishing the year with a record of 11-2
and making a BCS Bowl Game, defeating Va. Tech in the Sugar Bowl. They
are returning one of the most exciting players in the country in Senior
QB Denard Robinson, who if he continues to improve his all-around game,
will find himself in New York at the Sports Museum of America
(Heisman).
11. Arkansas – Arkansas has a lot of offensive fire-power returning to its team. Talented
QB Tyler Wilson is returning for his senior season and the Razorbacks
are getting back the SEC’s leading rusher from 2010 in Junior RB Knile
Davis. Davis missed all of last season with a knee injury. While
scoring points won’t be the issue in theory, many will still be
watching to see how this team’s play on the field will be effected by
all of the off-season issues they had to endure with their former head
coach Bobby Petrino.
12. Michigan St. – Their defense is good. Really good!!! The
defense is returning 8 starters and it’s led by All-American Defensive
End William Gholston, who has NFL first-round talent written all over
him. But the big question mark will be on offense, where they only return 4 starters, one of them being new Junior QB Andrew Maxwell. A
backup for the past two seasons behind Kirk Cousins, he is now in
command and if he were smart, he would lean heavily on Junior RB Le’Veon
Bell. Like Maxwell, he too is finally being given the chance to start full-time.
13. Stanford
– After losing probably the most-talented QB of our generation in
Andrew Luck to the NFL Draft (#1 pick overall), Stanford is bound to
take a step or two back this season. However, they still
have a lot of talent at the skilled positions and their defense is
underrated, led by Senior LB Chase Thomas. Stanford will
try to break in Luck’s replacement, Junior QB Josh Nunes, and a big key
to that will be Senior RB Stepfan Taylor, who will be getting a lot of
work this season. Sophomore WR Ty Montgomery is very talented and primed for a breakout season.
14. Va.
Tech – For Va. Tech to win this season they will rely heavily on Beamer
Ball, as Va. Tech is returning 9 starters on defense. While the defense looks to be intact, it’s the offensive side of the ball which everyone will be anxious to see. The
offense lost last season’s ACC Offensive Player of the Year in RB David
Wilson to the NFL Draft, but with all that being said and only
returning 3 starters, no one seems to be worried. That is
because Va. Tech is returning starting Junior QB Logan Thomas, who is
supposedly better than Michael Vick was at Va. Tech.
15. W.
Virginia – W. Virginia is returning 15 starters (8 offensive, 7
defensive), none more important than returning seniors, QB Geno Smith
and WR Tavon Austin. In 2011, Smith threw for 4,335 yards and 31 TD’s and Austin lead the nation in all-purpose yards. But
all of this was done last season in the Big East Conference; a
conference many would argue is sub-par when compared to the powerful Big
12 Conference W. Virginia will be playing in this season. It will be very interesting to see how all this speed will hold up in the Big 12.
National Championship Winner: Alabama over USC
Heisman Winner: Matt Barkley, QB USC (very close second – Montee Ball, RB Wisconsin)
