Really, who knows what we are looking at in the next few years. For sure, the two conferences on the left are the major players. I would be very shocked if neither conference went to 18 teams by 2025. As for the other three conferences, it’s a big game of conference chicken right now. I would say the Big XII has the slight upper hand at this point but that could change in an instant. So if you love realignment, ho boy, you must have a raging hard-on right now (and will for the next few years).
OK enough of that disgusting talk. Let’s get to the meat of this post. The Power Five conference predictions. All of them. Don’t lie, you liked all the Group of Five conference (and Independent) predictions in the last post, DIDN’T YOU? So one more time, I will cram as much information down your gullet I possibly can without choking you to death with college football information. Let’s begin.
Let’s start with the….well I can’t call them the undisputed king of conferences anymore because the Big Ten is making a big charge at them. Saying that, I can still call them #1…for now. Here are the predicted SEC standings followed by some grits and chitlins and other weird Southern “delicacies.”
| Conference | Overall | ||||
| East | W | L | W | L | |
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Georgia | 8 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
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Tennessee | 5 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
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Florida | 5 | 3 | 8 | 4 |
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Kentucky | 3 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
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South Carolina | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
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Missouri | 1 | 7 | 4 | 8 |
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Vanderbilt | 0 | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| West | |||||
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Alabama | 8 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
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Texas A&M | 7 | 1 | 11 | 1 |
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Ole Miss | 4 | 4 | 8 | 4 |
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Arkansas | 4 | 4 | 7 | 5 |
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Auburn | 3 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
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LSU | 3 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
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Mississippi State | 2 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
Chitlins…GROSS!
- Who the fuck figured out to eat the large intestine of a hog?
- Yep, two undefeated teams coming from the SEC. Bama and UGA don’t play each other during the regular season. UGA has a relatively easy schedule (in an SEC sense). Yes they have Oregon in a neutral-site game to start the season but they avoid the Tide, Aggies and Ole Miss out of the West. Lucky Dawgs!
- As for the Fighting Nick Sabans, damn near everyone has them running the table, at least during the regular season, and I am going right along with that prediction. Other than their matchup against TAMU (at home) and Ole Miss in Oxford, I can’t foresee any close games all season.
- As for the Aggies and their weird traditions (just watch a Midnight Yell practice…it’s fucking bizarre), I see them ending up one game short of getting to the SEC Championship. Also one game short of the College Football Playoff. Critics of Jimbo Fisher will find a way to make this sound like a failure of a season if they do comfortably make it to the New Year’s Six.
- As per usual, the SEC West is an absolute minefield. The worst team is Mississippi State and they wouldn’t be last in any other conference…not by a long shot. Unfortunately, Bama’s continued dominance and TAMU and Ole Miss not falling at all will mean the rest of the teams are playing for fourth.
- The Tennessee Volunteers are my Drinking The Kool-Aid pick of the year. I’m buying that they will be improved enough to be on the precipice of a double-digit win season. I can see them beating Pitt and South Carolina on the road and being perfect at home. Now watch them go 5-7 and make me look like a dummy.
- Conference Championship prediction: Alabama 38 Georgia 30. Closer than last year’s win by the Tide but still not enough for UGA.
When are they going to change the name of this conference? Just call it the BIG Conference now or something like that. Big Ten. For a conference with sixteen schools. Schools. Educational institutions. And they can’t count. Glorious. Anyway, here are the predictions followed by some BTN After Dark comments:
| Conference | Overall | ||||
| East | W | L | W | L | |
 |
Ohio State | 8 | 1 | 11 | 1 |
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Michigan | 8 | 1 | 11 | 1 |
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Michigan State | 6 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
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Penn State | 6 | 3 | 8 | 4 |
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Maryland | 4 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
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Indiana | 1 | 8 | 3 | 9 |
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Rutgers | 1 | 8 | 3 | 9 |
| West | |||||
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Wisconsin | 6 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
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Minnesota | 6 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
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Purdue | 6 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
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Nebraska | 5 | 4 | 8 | 4 |
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Iowa | 5 | 4 | 8 | 4 |
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Northwestern | 1 | 8 | 4 | 8 |
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Illinois | 0 | 9 | 3 | 9 |
BTN After Dark Comments
- I am so looking forward to Rutgers travelling clear across the country to face UCLA on Big Ten Network starting at 10:30 at night.
- Can The Fighting Ann Arbor Khaki Warriors repeat as Big Ten champs? To be honest, I don’t think they will even repeat as Big Ten East champs. It will come down to their big matchup with tOSU two days after American Thanksgiving. This one is in Columbus so I am giving the nod to the Buckeyes here which will be huge when it comes to what The Committee has to look at.
- You know, considering how good the Terps’ recruiting has been lately, do you think they kind of wish, money aside, that they were back in the ACC? Not saying they could beat Clemson but man, they would look like a really good team there.
- The Big Ten West is going to be ridiculous. I just have this feeling. Five teams within one game of each other. Yes, even Nebraska is in there. In the end, Wisconsin will win some sort of game of Spin The Bottle, except using an ear of corn, and end up getting to the Big Ten Championship where they can scare the Buckeyes for a quarter-and-a-half.
- Conference Championship prediction: Ohio State 32 Wisconsin 10. As I said in the previous point, this will be close well into the second quarter and then the Buckeyes will decide enough’s enough and do away with Wisky on their way to the CFP.
I think that right there tells you all you need to know about what’s going on with the rest of the Power Five. The ACC, at this point, might as well chill since their contract with ESPN lasts for more than another decade and any change would require a hell of a lot more money to leave than what USC and UCLA will have to deal with.
Now, there are rumblings that ESPN is stepping in and trying to broker an ACC/Pac-12 merger of sorts but I can’t see that happening to be perfectly honest with you. As long as the Big Ten or SEC doesn’t decide to poach any of their members (which is still a possibility), they should be fine for the time being. Alright, let’s get to the predictions, followed by a bong hit or five:
| Conference | Overall | ||||
| Atlantic | W | L | W | L | |
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Clemson | 8 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
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NC State | 7 | 1 | 11 | 1 |
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Florida State | 5 | 3 | 8 | 4 |
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Louisville | 5 | 3 | 7 | 5 |
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Wake Forest | 4 | 4 | 8 | 4 |
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Boston College | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
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Syracuse | 1 | 7 | 3 | 9 |
| Coastal | |||||
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Miami | 6 | 2 | 9 | 3 |
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Pittsburgh | 6 | 2 | 9 | 3 |
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Virginia Tech | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
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North Carolina | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
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Virginia | 2 | 6 | 5 | 7 |
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Georgia Tech | 1 | 7 | 2 | 10 |
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Duke | 0 | 8 | 2 | 10 |
Hey Dude
- I’ve honestly thought of going to one of those cannabis shops to see what’s there. It’s basically punishable by death here (in this condo area) to have anything weed-related so I’d have to be super sneaky about it.
- Hey, is Clemson back on top? Sure looks like it although NC State is going to give them a serious run for their money. Both teams look like they are a tier above the rest (sorry Miami and Pitt) and their game on October 1st will probably be for the division title. High stakes for sure.
- Coastal Chaos is…not back. Speaking of the Canes and Panthers, they are also a step above all the other teams in that division. They will battle it out in another important ACC game on American Thanksgiving weekend which might just decide who gets their shit pushed in by the Tigers or Wolfpack.
- I don’t consider this a Kool-Aid pick. Florida State will be better. No stupid upset losses to FCS schools. Just the slow ascent back to, potentially, the top of the ACC. Same goes for Louisville (without the FCS issue).
- I did have Wake also in the ACC title hunt but the news that Sam Hartman will be out for at least a bit is a massive worry in Winston-Salem. He steers the ship and without him, sorry Deacs fans, the offense just doesn’t go like it normally does.
- Remember last year when I had North Carolina bullying their way into the College Football Playoff? Yeah, not falling for that this time, Mack.
- Conference Championship prediction: Clemson 47 Miami 14. Yeah this won’t be close.
OK now we get to the first of the quasi-feuding brothers (sisters? cousins?). The Big XII is adding four teams next season and is pushing hard to get the rest of the Pac-12 teams to join them. It’s almost a certainty Oregon and Washington would rather drop football than join this conference but the rest of the schools remaining could very well be up for grabs, especially the two Arizona schools and the Mountain region schools. Until the next shoe drops, though, it’s another year of the Big XII with X schools. Here are my predictions followed by musings from a pissed off Count Von Count:
| Conference | Overall | ||||
| W | L | W | L | ||
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Baylor | 8 | 1 | 10 | 2 |
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Oklahoma | 8 | 1 | 10 | 2 |
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Texas | 7 | 2 | 9 | 3 |
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Oklahoma State | 7 | 2 | 9 | 3 |
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TCU | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
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Iowa State | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
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Kansas State | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
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West Virginia | 2 | 7 | 4 | 8 |
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Texas Tech | 2 | 7 | 3 | 9 |
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Kansas | 0 | 9 | 2 | 10 |
ZERO! ZERO FUCKS GIVEN! AH AH AH!
- Funny that if things stay as they are, the Big XII will actually get back to twelve teams so at least one conference understands preschool math.
- The bottom of the Big XII looks to be the same. Kansas at the bottom. Texas Tech not far from them. And it always feels like one of West Virginia, Kansas State or TCU ending up in eighth. Will this change with the newcomers? I’m gonna say no.
- Not quite their swan song in the conference but I see the Sooners, despite all the defections, getting back to the Big XII Championship. They are just too deep a team to not contend for, at the very least, a NY6 spot. I expect Baylor to continue to do well under Dave Aranda and join OU at JerryWorld.
- Conference Championship prediction: Baylor 25 Oklahoma 23. Yeah I am predicting the Bears to finish the Big XII Championship State of Oklahoma sweep by beating the Sooners in a very close game.
I remember doing a post eight years ago on my Pac-12 predictions. Here is what I said in that post:
The Pac-12 has become the de facto second best conference in the land and it’s by a long shot as well.
Wow. I mean eight years is a long time but the fall off the cliff of the Pac-12 started not long after this post. It has been a near-disastrous eight years for the Conference of Champions in football and with USC and UCLA leaving for the Big Ten things are looking even worse for the soon-to-be Pac-10.
Look, let’s just get to the predictions before I make Bill Walton cry:
| Conference | Overall | ||||
| North | W | L | W | L | |
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Oregon | 9 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
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Oregon State | 4 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
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Washington | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
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California | 3 | 6 | 5 | 7 |
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Washington State | 3 | 6 | 5 | 7 |
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Stanford | 3 | 6 | 4 | 8 |
| South | |||||
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Utah | 8 | 1 | 10 | 2 |
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UCLA | 7 | 2 | 10 | 2 |
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USC | 6 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
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Arizona State | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
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Arizona | 2 | 7 | 3 | 9 |
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Colorado | 1 | 8 | 1 | 11 |
Bill Walton’s Tears
- Hey remember I had U of A being terrible last year and I was right? Well, this year I am doubling down with the Colorado Buffaloes. I have a feeling Karl Dorrell is going to be taking a lot of ibuprofen this season. And may start drinking if he doesn’t already do so.
- I see a lot of experts saying USC is going to win the Pac-12 South. They will be better, there’s no doubt about it. But win the division after going 4-8 last year? Let’s pump the brakes a bit. I think Lincoln Riley is still a season away from really pushing USC to the heights they were at during the Pete Carroll era.
- So who will win the South Division? I think Utah repeats as South Division champions but it will be UCLA that will give them the toughest time. The Bruins should be really good…like New Year’s Six good. Now watch them go 4-8 and Chip Kelly get fired.
- As for the North Division, Oregon should clinch by Thanksgiving…our Thanksgiving. There is no one close to them.
- Conference Championship prediction: Utah 32 Oregon 20. Closer than last year but this time the Utes will destroy the Ducks’ dreams of the CFP.
There you go! All conference standings predictions complete! Next up I will put it all together and tell you who I think will win the whole thing. Have a great week everyone!
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