Posted: December 10, 2013

As promised, I will review my preseason picks in an effort to provide you with evidence that I have absolutely no idea what I am talking about! This review will most likely be an utter embarrassment, but unlike the others preseason picks that fade into oblivion, I think I owe it to myself and others to see how I did. So without further ado…

Note that I make my predictions on a conference by conference basis and predict who I think will win each conference. I limit my predictions to the major conferences because although I watch a ton of football (just ask my wife), I do not claim to have in depth knowledge of the Sun Belt Conference. I will stick with what I know well or at least what I think I know well.

SEC
Other than completely missing on the two division winners and having one sixth and the other seventh, I did not do too bad in the SEC.

Prediction Actual
East
1. South Carolina 8-0 1. Missouri 7-1
2. Georgia 7-1 2. South Carolina 6-2
3. Florida 5-3 3. Georgia 5-3
4. Vanderbilt 3-5 4. Vanderbilt 4-4
5. Tennessee 3-5 5. Florida 3-5
6. Missouri 1-7 6. Tennessee 2-6
7. Kentucky 0-8 7. Kentucky 0-8
West
1. Alabama 8-0 1. Auburn 7-1
2. LSU 6-2 2. Alabama 7-1
3. Texas A&M 6-2 3. LSU 5-3
4. Mississippi 5-3 4. Texas A&M 4-4
5. Arkansas 2-6 5. Mississippi State 3-5
6. Mississippi State 2-6 6. Mississippi 3-5
7. Auburn 0-8 7. Arkansas 0-8
Alabama will beat South Carolina for the SEC Championship Auburn defeated Missouri

Big Ten
I did pretty good in the Leaders division. In the Legends, I missed on Michigan thinking they were going to be better than it turned out, and while I did like Michigan State, obviously I did not like them enough. I was also off on Minnesota and Northwestern. I did nail the Leaders division though.

Prediction Actual
Leaders
1. Ohio State 8-0 1. Ohio State 8-0
2. Wisconsin 7-1 2. Wisconsin 6-2
3. Penn State 4-4 3. Penn State 4-4
4. Indiana 3-5 4. Indiana 3-5
5. Purdue 1-7 5. Illinois 1-7
6. Illinois 0-8 6. Purdue 0-8
Legends
1. Michigan 7-1 1.Michigan State 8-0
2. Nebraska 7-1 2. Iowa 5-3
3. Michigan State 5-3 3. Nebraska 5-3
4. Northwestern 4-4 4. Minnesota 4-4
5. Iowa 2-6 5. Michigan 3-5
6. Minnesota 0-8 6. Northwestern 1-7
Ohio State will beat Michigan Michigan State defeated Ohio State

Big 12
I got the Big 12 mostly right, but again missed on the conference champion, which is what really matters. So this is not a success. I feel somewhat validated as my pick of Texas was very much against the grain.

Prediction Actual
1. Texas 8-1 1. Baylor 8-1
2. Oklahoma State 8-1 2. Oklahoma 7-2
3. Oklahoma 7-2 3. Texas 7-2
4. TCU 7-2 4. Oklahoma State 7-2
5. Baylor 5-4 5. Kansas State 5-4
6. Kansas State 4-5 6. Texas Tech 4-5
7. West Virginia 3-6 7. TCU 2-7
8. Texas Tech 2-7 8. West Virginia 2-7
9. Iowa State 1-8 9. Iowa State 2-7
10. Kansas 0-10 10. Kansas 1-8

ACC
I did not do too badly in the ACC, but again whiffed big time on the Coastal champion having Duke at the bottom. Everything else fell into place.

Prediction Actual
Atlantic
1. Florida State 8-0 1. Florida State 8-0
2. Clemson 7-1 2. Clemson 7-1
3. Maryland 4-4 3. Syracuse 4-4
4. NC State 4-4 4. Boston College 4-4
5. Wake Forest 3-5 5. Maryland 3-5
6. Syracuse 2-6 6. Wake Forest 2-6
7. Boston College 0-8 7. NC State 0-8
Coastal
1. Miami 7-1 1. Duke 6-2
2. Virginia Tech 7-1 2. Virginia Tech 5-3
3. North Carolina 6-2 3. Miami 5-3
4. Georgia Tech 4-4 4. Georgia Tech 5-3
5. Virginia 2-6 5. North Carolina 4-4
6. Duke 1-7 6. Pittsburgh 3-5
7. Pittsburgh 1-7 7. Virginia 0-8
Florida State will beat Miami Florida State beat Duke

PAC 12
I was not that far off in the Pac 12 with the good pick of USC bouncing back for a strong year although not as strong as I forecast. It took the firing of Lane Kiffin to jump start the Trojans. I missed with Arizona State winning the South, but it was not a big miss as I had them having a very good year.

Prediction Actual
North
1. Oregon 9-0 1. Stanford 7-2
2. Stanford 8-1 2. Oregon 7-2
3. Oregon State 5-4 3. Washington 5-4
4. Washington 4-5 4. Oregon State 4-5
5. Washington State 1-8 5. Washington State 4-5
6. California 1-8 6. California 0-9
South
1. USC 8-1 1. Arizona State 8-1
2. UCLA 6-3 2. UCLA 6-3
3. Arizona State 6-3 3. USC 6-3
4. Arizona 4-5 4. Arizona 4-5
5. Utah 2-7 5. Utah 2-7
6. Colorado 0-9 6. Colorado 1-8
Oregon will beat USC Stanford beat Arizona State

 

American Athletic Conference
I was within one or two games on each team in this conference, but did not get the champion. But anyone who picked anyone but Louisville preseason is lying to you.

Prediction Actual
1. Louisville 8-0 1. UCF 8-0
2. Cincinnati 7-1 2. Louisville 7-1
3. UCF 6-2 3. Cincinnati 6-2
4. SMU 5-3 4. Houston 5-3
5. Rutgers 4-4 5. SMU 4-4
6. Houston 4-4 6. UConn 3-5
7. UConn 3-5 7. Rutgers 3-5
8. USF 2-6 8. USF 2-6
9. Memphis 1-7 9. Temple 1-7
10. Temple 0-8 10. Memphis 1-7

 

Prediction:
If we were in the format to be used next year, my semifinal match ups would be: Alabama vs. Ohio State
Oregon vs. Florida State
But since we have to live with the BCS for one more year, my BCS Championship game predictions is:Alabama vs. Florida State

Of the ten division and/or conference winners picked at the beginning of the year, I only got 2 correct. This is not good. But my national title prediction of Florida State versus Alabama missed by a hair and for the last quarter of the season was the odds on favorite. I know of no one that had FSU in this game at the start of the season, so at least I can walk away with some measure of satisfaction in that. But as a Gator fan, I wish I messed up on that one as well.



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