5 Crazy But Possible College Football Predictions
Western Michigan will make it to a New Year's Six Bowl Game
The Job that P.J. Fleck has done at WMU has been remarkable. In his first year as head coach in 2013, the Broncos managed only one win. However, in the three years since, he has compiled an impressive 23-10 record, culminating in the current 7-0 mark WMU holds as they head into this weekend's clash with in-state rival Eastern Michigan. Red Shirt senior QB Zach Terrell is having one of the best 2016 campaigns of any quarterback in the nation. He is completing over 70% of his passes and tossed 17 touchdowns without recording a single INT so far this year. Junior running back Jarvion Franklin has racked up 6 rushing touchdowns and is fresh off a 281 yard effort on the ground against Akron. Senior WR Corey Davis is among the best in the country at his position and should be a high NFL draft pick next year. He has hauled in 10 TD catches already this year and now has 43 in his career. Their strength of schedule will never be top notch, but road wins over Northwestern and Illinois have proven they are more than just a dominant team in their conference. While they will need some help from Boise State and Houston to get the automatic Group of 5 bid, they should be undefeated by the end of the year and should make a strong case for a New Year's Bowl appearance.
The Big 10 Will Have Two Teams in The College Football Playoff
It's crazy to think just how far we have come. Just a few seasons ago, we were debating whether an undefeated Big 10 school would have enough on their resume to warrant a spot in the all important college football final four. This year however, both Ohio State and Michigan are undefeated and will most likely stay that way leading into their November 26th showdown. Obviously that will be a huge game and would determine the champion of the Big 10 Conference. But its significance may be watered down slightly because they could both have already earned a spot in the playoff. The SEC champion will probably be undefeated and take one spot and the other 3 spots will be Michigan, Ohio State and then a bunch of teams looking to sneak into the 4th spot. Clemson has shown an inability to put away good teams. Washington has a dismal non-conference strength of schedule and a weakening conference schedule. Louisville lost its luster after a loss to Clemson and the fact that their game against Houston will no longer be a top 5 match up. It may be hard to believe, but a 2-team representation from the Big 10 seems very possible come January.
Texas will win nine games
It has been a less than stellar defensive performance in first half of the season for the Longhorns. But unfortunately for the rest of the Big 12 conference, it seems they may be at least getting closer to becoming an average defense. That could be trouble for the remaining teams on their schedule. They managed to hold an Iowa State team to only 6 points. That may not sound like much on the surface, but that same Cyclones offense scored 42 points against Baylor and 31 points against Oklahoma State. Charlie Strong has a very young team that is slowly improving every week, especially on offense. True freshmen QB Shane Buechele has completed 64% of his passes and holds a very strong 13 TD to only 5 INT ratio through six games this year. The Longhorns have their toughest games (Baylor, West Virginia, TCU) all at home down the stretch and could very realistically win five out of their six games to end the year (and then a bowl game) and thus save Strong's ever warming coaching seat.
Washington State will win the Pac-12
Jake Browning and their in-state rivals the Huskies are getting all of the national attention, but the Washington State Cougars are quietly looking better and better. Winning not only by flinging the ball around Mike Leach's air raid offense, but by even playing a little bit of defense. The Cougars have allowed an uncharacteristically stingy 19 points per game during their current four game winning streak which includes wins over Oregon, UCLA and on the road at Stanford. The average margin of victory in those three conference games? An amazing 17 PPG. But let's not forget about Luke Falk and that offense. Falk has an identical 72% completion percentage this year to Jake Browning. Could make for a huge game on November 25th.
Tom Herman will stay at Houston for another year
Yes, I know this may be the most unlikely of all the scenarios I have presented so far after the Big 12 decided not to expand. The University of Houston is in a non power 5 conference and may be there for quite sometime. But I still see a chance Herman could run it back for one more year. First, the only top tier jobs that will for sure be available would be LSU and USC. Both schools could offer strong football lineage and big payday for Herman, but they would also come with immense pressure. After the way Les Miles was run out of town in Baton Rouge, it could give Herman pause to accepting the reigns to a program that expects a championship every year. And though he is from California, USC is not the glamorous job that it was 5-10 years ago. The only job I could see Herman jumping ship for this next year would be Texas if they get rid of Charlie Strong. But seeing as I predicted a Texas trunaround (See above), I see Herman taking a big pay raise to roll with his maturing recruiting classes at Houston for at least another year.
