2017 Bold Predictions As We Wrap Up 2016
Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
A dynasty has fallen in three of the four college football divisions. That’s right, the mighty have fallen and what could be a new era may be beginning. As they did last season, Alabama and Clemson finished the year with one of the best college football games ever. Clemson came out on top in spectacular fashion to claim its first title since 1981, but they weren’t the only ones to pull off upsets.
In the FCS, North Dakota State, winners of five straight titles was stunned by eventual champion James Madison. The Dukes beat Youngstown State 28-14 for their first championship since 2004. While there are few who feel bad that NDSU’s run ended, impressive run over the past six seasons will be talked about for years to come. Oh, and in case you haven’t guess, they probably will be a top ten team again next year.
Division II saw its first back to back champion since 2006 with Northwest Missouri State storming past North Alabama 29-3. Adam Dorrel’s Bearcats now have won three of the last four titles, and have made appearances in eight championship games since 2005. The Bearcats left little doubt by winning with a minimum margin of 15 points in their playoff games, so I guess one “dynasty” did not fall yet.
Division III saw perhaps the most underrated stunner of college football this year. Before this year, only three teams played in the championship game since 2005, and two of them accounted for every title since then. Mount Union and UW-Whitewater shared a dynasty together by winning the last 11 straight titles, but that run was ended in consecutive weeks. Mount Union would lose to eventual champ Mary Hardin-Baylor, while Whitewater would lose to John Carroll, a team that beat Mount Union earlier this year as well. That third team mentioned earlier? Some St. Paul, Minnesota team that focuses on looking good instead of finishing the job. Funny, the last time that team from Collegeville made it to the ‘ship, they came home champs, but that’s none of my business. Also none of my business, those Johnnies beat Mount Union that year after the Purple Raiders won three straight and six of the previous seven championships. Again, not my business, just pointing out dynasty-killing facts.
BOLD PREDICTIONS
Making predictions eight months in advance is difficult to do. Would anyone have guessed that Michigan State, Notre Dame, and UCLA would tank this season? Maybe if you’re a rival fan. Most of the time, bold predictions are even worse than regular predictions, and if you get one right, that’s cause for celebration. Last year, I made four bold predictions for this season. Some more so than others, but I was correct on three of the four I made. You can take a look at the article here.
Let’s now take a look at last year’s predictions and how they turned out.
Alabama will lose twice. First game against USC (neutral), Ole Miss (road), Tennessee (road), and LSU (road) are all possibilities.
I’m not going to take even partial credit for this one. The Tide lost in the national championship to the best team in the country in Clemson. They throttled USC to open the season 52-6. Ole Miss provided a scare, but couldn’t pull the upset and lost 48-43. Tennessee was, once again, overhyped, and I’m not sure if they even showed up to the game as Bama stomped the Vols 49-10. The one time that the Tide struggled to pull away was against LSU. The Tigers held them to 10 points, but unfortunately, LSU didn’t have an offense to speak of, putting up zero points and a whopping 125 yards of total offense. So, it’s safe to say that this prediction was a flop, but the fact that they lost one game made this prediction exciting.
Dakota Prukop and Greyson Lambert will lose their quarterback battles. Prukop came from a 5-6 Montana State team. Lambert struggled after coming from Virginia. Not exactly "cream of the crop" if you ask me.
Prukop won his battle initially, but his lack of experience showed through eventually and his fall was aided by injuries. Just five games into the season, the graduate transfer was pulled and replaced with Justin Herbert. Prukop would only see one more game of action and it was at the end of a blowout loss to USC. Lambert was doomed from the start. With five star recruit Jacob Eason on campus, it was only a matter of time before Lambert was replaced. That time came sooner than expected. Eason was inserted into the game after just three drives, and helped aid the Bulldogs to a thrilling win over North Carolina. Maybe this prediction wasn’t as bold, but calling it eight months ahead of time wasn’t exactly a sure thing either.
Army will beat Navy. Keenan Reynolds is gone, and Army is young and on the rise (in the rivalry).
I picked this because I thought Navy’s lack of returning experience would hurt them, but the Midshipmen proved me wrong. Navy’s team turned out to be better than last year, but injuries hampered them all season, including this game. Army ended Navy’s 14 game winning streak in the series with a thrilling performance. This prediction had me worried all year, since Navy proved it could reload by running the triple option to perfection. But the Black Knights were unfazed and out for revenge, winning for the first time since 2001.
Someone other than Oregon and Stanford will win the Pac-12. USC has a good chance, and the opening game against Alabama will show us how good they are. The Ducks and Cardinal have won the last 8 straight titles.
With where both the Ducks and Cardinal started the year in the rankings, this one seemed to be just as bold as the Alabama prediction. Oregon provided some wiggle room by entering the year ranked 24th by ESPN, but Stanford appeared to have control of the conference being ranked eighth in those same rankings. Three other Pac 12 teams would be ranked between them, but none showed any promise of making this prediction come through. My prediction was close to a reality just five weeks in, as Oregon was 2-3 and Stanford would get demolished by eventual conference champ Washington. Not many were surprised the Huskies made it to the conference championship, but very few also predicted them to make it to the playoff either. In the end, the Ducks and Cardinal’s reign over the Pac 12 ended and both teams are looking to rebound in 2017.
BOLD PREDICTIONS FOR 2017
Gary Rohman-USA TODAY Sports
Texas will win the Big 12. Pretty bold for a team that hasn’t had a winning record in three years. And yes, this probably will come back to bite me, but that's why it's bold. This may come back to bite me, but I like Tom Herman a lot and I think he can turn things around. His stock is sky high right now and that energy will rub off on the Longhorns.
Coaches who will be fired next year in the first half of the season: Texas Tech’s Kliff Kingsbury, Tennessee’s Butch Jones, and Arizona’s Rich Rodriguez. All three have struggled mightily to get things going, and patience is wearing thin for them to produce.
Oregon, Michigan State, and Syracuse will all have winning records next season. As hard as it was to watch these teams play this year, 2017 looks to be better. For the Ducks and Spartans, this shouldn’t have to be a bold prediction, but for the Orange, they are happy to be trending up.
A Group of 5 team will be in the top 10. No team from these conferences has been ranked in the committee’s top ten ever in the three year history. The closest team was Memphis in week 10 of 2015 when the Tigers were given a ranking of 13 by the committee. The team in 2017 may not finish in the top 10, but someone will break ground and be the first team to make it into the rankings. Possible candidates include South Florida, Houston, Wyoming, and Memphis.
