Power Five….Power Four? Power THREE?

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
	Georgia	8	0	12	0
	Tennessee	5	3	9	3
	Florida	5	3	8	4
	Kentucky	3	5	7	5
	South Carolina	3	5	6	6
	Missouri	1	7	4	8
	Vanderbilt	0	8	2	10
	West
	Alabama	8	0	12	0
	Texas A&M	7	1	11	1
	Ole Miss	4	4	8	4
	Arkansas	4	4	7	5
	Auburn	3	5	7	5
	LSU	3	5	7	5
	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
	Michigan	8	1	11	1
	Michigan State	6	3	9	3
	Penn State	6	3	8	4
	Maryland	4	5	7	5
	Indiana	1	8	3	9
	Rutgers	1	8	3	9
	West
	Wisconsin	6	3	9	3
	Minnesota	6	3	9	3
	Purdue	6	3	9	3
	Nebraska	5	4	8	4
	Iowa	5	4	8	4
	Northwestern	1	8	4	8
	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
	Clemson	8	0	11	1
	NC State	7	1	11	1
	Florida State	5	3	8	4
	Louisville	5	3	7	5
	Wake Forest	4	4	8	4
	Boston College	3	5	6	6
	Syracuse	1	7	3	9
	Coastal
	Miami	6	2	9	3
	Pittsburgh	6	2	9	3
	Virginia Tech	4	4	6	6
	North Carolina	4	4	6	6
	Virginia	2	6	5	7
	Georgia Tech	1	7	2	10
	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
	Baylor	8	1	10	2
	Oklahoma	8	1	10	2
	Texas	7	2	9	3
	Oklahoma State	7	2	9	3
	TCU	4	5	6	6
	Iowa State	4	5	6	6
	Kansas State	3	6	6	6
	West Virginia	2	7	4	8
	Texas Tech	2	7	3	9
	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
	Oregon	9	0	11	1
	Oregon State	4	5	7	5
	Washington	4	5	6	6
	California	3	6	5	7
	Washington State	3	6	5	7
	Stanford	3	6	4	8
	South
	Utah	8	1	10	2
	UCLA	7	2	10	2
	USC	6	3	9	3
	Arizona State	4	5	6	6
	Arizona	2	7	3	9
	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!

So…..what now? (The Pac-12 Predictions)

Yeah you could say a lot has happened lately in the college football world.  With none of it having to do with the Pac-12.  They watched Texas and Oklahoma not join their conference instead going to the SEC, possibly as early as 2022.  They have to know that ESPN probably had a lot to do with the Texahoma Four (UT, OU, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State) not going to the Pac-12 years ago and a lot to do with the Horns (Down) and Sooners heading to the SEC.  So the Pac-12’s question is….what now?

They have some options, none of them amazing.  They could probably pillage some of the teams from the Wreck of the Edmund FitzBig12.  They almost certainly wouldn’t get Kansas and their lucrative basketball program.  But those few teams would push them into the Central Time Zone which isn’t all bad.  Or they could bring in a Mountain West team or two *COUGH* Boise State *COUGH*.  I’m sure the Pac will not back BYU, no matter how much they claim religious bias.  Or they could take a combination from the two conferences.  Or they could stand pat (for now) at twelve teams.  Again, do any of these options sound amazing?  No.  But they should be on the horn with FOX and probably CBS (or even NBC as well) and determine what their potential TV contract options are since it sounds like it’s the networks, mainly ESPN, that drive all this realignment.  So might as well go straight to the source(s).

A lot will happen even in the next month.  There will be more rumours for sure.  Hell, there is one out there that says all eight remaining Big XII teams are considering merging with the Pac-12.  That sounds insane to me but you never know.  We are headed for a whole new world.  I just hope this new college football world doesn’t contain divisions.

A perfect lead-in to the Pac-12 predictions (which contains divisions unfortunately).  I will follow these with some Mystery Musings:

		Conference		Overall
	North	W	L	W	L
	Washington	8	1	11	1
	Oregon	7	2	10	2
	Stanford	5	4	7	5
	California	5	4	6	6
	Washington State	2	7	4	8
	Oregon State	0	9	3	9
	South
	USC	8	1	10	2
	Utah	7	2	9	3
	Arizona State	6	3	9	3
	UCLA	4	5	6	6
	Colorado	2	7	4	8
	Arizona	0	9	1	11

Mystery Musings

• Is Arizona really that bad?  Look, Jedd Fisch steps into a horrific situation in Tucson.  This team could potentially lay claim to the title of Worst Power Five team for 2021.  It is going to take a lot for them to get more than one win this season.  Luckily they have Northern Arizona on their schedule.  And at home.
• The South Division could be very close…again.  Arizona State could surprise everyone, including myself, and be even better than I predicted but man it’s a mess down there (what in the fuck is wrong with college football in the state of Arizona).  I still think USC is the class team of the Pac-12 South and should outlast the Utes for the division crown.
• Are the Cardinal back?  Wait…Is the Cardinal back?  That also doesn’t sound right.  Anyway, Stanford is slowly making their way back up the North Division ladder.  This won’t be the year they get to the top and to the Pac-12 Championship game but they are trending in the right direction yet again.
• As for the top of the North Division, I am going against the grain and saying Washington will beat Oregon in their meeting at Husky Stadium and claim the division title.  Most have Oregon as a Top 10 team and I see them just outside looking in.
• Oregon State was getting oh so close to getting back to a bowl game.  I see them taking a step back unfortunately as they don’t have the horses to compete with the top 4 in the division.  Poor Beaver fans.
• So for the Pac-12 title game I have USC defeating Washington.  Meaning the Pac-12 would, yet again, miss out on the College Football Playoff.  I am sure they cannot wait until the 12-team playoff begins.
• I see the Pac-12 getting eight bowl teams.  I think I say that pretty much every year and they almost never hit that mark.  Maybe one day I’ll learn.

We are more than three-quarters done the conference prediction posts.  Next is the conference that may be R’ing In P soon, the Big XII.  I almost feel sorry for them but this is the way college football is headed.

So we are exactly one month away from the start of the college football season.  I get it: Week Zero isn’t exactly everyone’s cup of tea and I fully understand.  I get way too excited for it only because it’s the start of the season, not because it has amazing matchups because it almost never does.  As for where these games will go, there are two games on ESPN that day.  Still no word on any semblance of a TSN schedule for the college football season so it wouldn’t surprise me if these go to the specialty pack.  Or if Bell, Rogers, Eastlink and any other cable company with a college football specialty pack of some sort decides they can’t start showing those games because they start their schedule Week 1, then these will appear nowhere in Canada.  Oh well, we can’t win ’em all.  Have a great rest of the week everyone!

Alright let’s look at the Pac-12 and……wait, what?

………………………………………………….what in the fuck?

So a guy in Wisconsin is an avid Arizona Wildcats basketball fan so he made calls, claiming to be an employee of this restaurant Buffalo Phil’s, to get the Pac-12 Network on the restaurant’s cable package so he could go watch the games there.  This is some next level craziness right here.  There was no other way for this guy to get his Arizona basketball fix?  Seriously?  I’m sure he could watch it on his phone but I guess that would be too easy.

Through all of this, it does show what people will do to watch college sports (well, football and basketball at least).  And there are quite a few of us up here in Canada that are like that.  Not like this guy but we love our college football and/or basketball.  So what do we get?  A heaping helping of bullshit most of the time.  I still believe that a package that contains just the college football games would sell very well.  It gives people exactly what they want and nothing more.  Which leads me to the fact that the Pac-12 Network is now available on DAZN.  Remember DAZN?  The people that fucked up Sunday Ticket so bad they basically begged Rogers and Bell to take it back?  Yeah those guys.  I will be honest about DAZN: if they ever get their shit together, they could easily bid on something huge and it would be a big hit to live sports TV watchers in Canada.  It feels like this could happen in the next few years.  I would hate to have to have multiple platforms to watch college football on but if that’s the wave of the future then I guess I better go along for the ride.

Alright enough of that short rant.  Let’s get to the Pac-12 predictions followed by some West Coast Flavour, Bruh:

		Conference		Overall
	North	W	L	W	L
	Washington	9	0	11	1
	Stanford	7	2	9	3
	Oregon	6	3	9	3
	California	3	6	6	6
	Washington State	2	7	5	7
	Oregon State	0	9	1	11
	South
	USC	7	2	9	3
	Utah	6	3	9	3
	Arizona	6	3	9	3
	UCLA	4	5	6	6
	Colorado	3	6	5	7
	Arizona State	1	8	1	11

West Coast Flavour, Bruh

• Could all four California teams go bowling this season?  If I was a betting man (and depending on the day you will get a different answer) I would say yes.  The worst of the bunch is probably Cal and they should be better than Wazzu and OSU in the North.  Same with UCLA who should get a jolt from Chip Kelly’s arrival in Westwood.  USC and Stanford battle for division titles, ho hum.
• USC and Stanford’s main competition will come from Utah and Washington, respectively.  All four of these teams have to be careful though that they all don’t beat each other up and no one gets to the College Football Playoff…again.
• Do not sleep on Oregon in the North.  Even with Mario Cristobal as their new head coach.  Despite the fact FIU had a good season last year, they have to be kicking themselves for shitcanning Super Mario.  His recruiting alone means he won’t be below a coordinator ever again until he retires.
• Khalil Tate is arguably the Pac-12’s top Heisman hopeful.  And with the South being a bit more wide open than usual, don’t be surprised if Kevin Sumlin comes in and bags the Wildcats a division title and a chance at their first ever Rose Bowl.  He’s done it before…comes in with a bang.  Unfortunately his last stop ended in a whimper but we won’t go there…yet.
• Arizona State is going to be awful I think.  The Herm Edwards Experiment is one thing that won’t help.  But their schedule is quite difficult and, other than probably Oregon State, there isn’t a sure win there.  Hell, I even have UTSA beating them.
• So for the Pac-12 title game I have Washington defeating USC.  Do they go to the CFP?  You’ll have to wait and find out after all the conference predictions are complete.  NOTE: I’m an idiot.  I always had Washington losing this game to USC.  Which makes it easy to figure out if the Huskies would go to the CFP (spoiler alert: absolutely not).  Thanks to reader John for pointing that out.
• I see the Pac-12 getting eight bowl teams and perhaps winning more than one this time around.  Think you can do that guys?  Shouldn’t be that difficult.

Next time we hit the halfway mark with the American Conference.  I would argue it is the best Group of Five conference out there and, honestly, if they want to really kickstart this Power Six thing, actually land two (if not four) other big G-5 schools.  Then, at the very least, you are in a tier of your own if not outright pushing yourself into the power schools.

Before I bid you farewell, I want to say that my hot list post doesn’t usually occur until just before the start of the season.  But there is one name I can safely say will be on there: Urban Meyer.  Wow, what a mess he is in now.  Wouldn’t surprise me if they fired him in the next couple weeks after basically knowing one of his assistants, Zach Smith, was a domestic abusing shitbag since the first set of allegations three years ago.  And what did he do about it then?  Nothing.  And he may pay for it now that Smith is again facing charges of domestic violence.  Sorry college football head coaches but you have to be held to a higher standard, especially in the FBS.  Most of you make quite a bit of money and have quite a bit of power and prestige so you better be relatively squeaky-clean as well.  It’s only fair.

Alright, there is one more thing I have to add.  Wyoming-New Mexico State has been sent to ESPN2 on August 25th.  This means that we should get it on the specialty pack (would be the first SP game of the season).  However, last year I found out we didn’t get these Week 0 games.  Why?  Fuck you, that’s why.  At least that’s basically the answer I got.  So I won’t hold my breath that we will be able to see this game but stranger things have happened.  We are 24 days away from Week Zero.  This month, we will have college football.  Everyone rejoice!