Friday, August 27, 2004
2004 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW
This year, I'm going to do something different for my college football preview.
Instead of doing a preview on every conference and its teams, I will give you my 2004-2005 bowl game projections. When December rolls around, you could look back to this post and see which bowl projections I got right.
Anyways, here it goes (bowls listed from the New Orleans Bowl to the Orange Bowl)
NEW ORLEANS BOWL (Sun Belt #1 vs Conference USA)
North Texas vs Houston
TANGERINE BOWL (ACC #4/5 vs Big 12 #7)
Virginia Tech vs Texas A&M
GMAC BOWL (Conference USA #2 vs at-large/MAC)
TCU vs Boise State
LAS VEGAS BOWL (Pac-10 #5 vs Mountain West #2)
Oregon vs San Diego State
FORT WORTH BOWL (Conference USA #4 vs at-large/Big 12 #8)
Southern Mississippi vs Fresno State
HAWAII BOWL (Conference USA #3 vs WAC)
Memphis vs Hawaii
MOTOR CITY BOWL (MAC vs Big Ten #7)
Toledo vs Michigan State
MPC COMPUTERS BOWL (HumBowl) (WAC vs ACC #6)
UTEP vs North Carolina State
INDEPENDENCE BOWL (Big 12 #5 or #6 vs SEC)
Oklahoma State vs South Carolina
INSIGHT.COM BOWL (Pac-10 #4 vs Big East #2 or #3)
Oregon State vs Connecticut
HOUSTON BOWL (Big 12 #5 or #6 vs SEC)
Nebraska vs Arkansas
ALAMO BOWL (Big 12 #4 vs Big Ten #4)
Kansas State vs Purdue
SILICON VALLEY BOWL (Pac-10 #7 vs WAC #3)
Arizona State vs Tulsa
HOLIDAY BOWL (Pac-10 #2 vs Big 12 #3)
California vs Texas
EMERALD BOWL (Pac-10 #6 vs Mountain West #3)
Washington vs New Mexico
CONTINENTAL TIRE BOWL (ACC #5 vs Big East #3 or #4)
Georgia Tech vs Pittsburgh
PEACH BOWL (ACC vs SEC)
Maryland vs Alabama
LIBERTY BOWL (Conference USA #1 vs Mountain West #1)
Louisville vs Utah
SUN BOWL (Pac-10 #3 vs Big Ten #5)
Washington State vs Iowa
MUSIC CITY BOWL (SEC #6 or #7 vs Big Ten #6)
Mississippi State vs Penn State
CAPITAL ONE BOWL (SEC vs Big Ten #2)
Tennessee vs Minnesota
GATOR BOWL (ACC #2 vs Big East #2)
Clemson vs West Virginia
OUTBACK BOWL (SEC vs Big Ten #3)
Auburn vs Ohio State
COTTON BOWL (SEC vs Big 12 #2)
Florida vs Missouri
ROSE BOWL (BCS vs BCS)
Michigan vs LSU
FIESTA BOWL (BCS vs BCS)
Miami vs Oklahoma
SUGAR BOWL (BCS vs BCS)
Boston College vs Florida State
ORANGE BOWL (BCS #1 vs BCS #2)
USC vs Georgia
--- --- --- --- ---
To sum it all up:
USC -- Pac-10 Champions
Georgia -- SEC Champions
Oklahoma -- Big 12 Champions
Miami -- ACC Champions
Michigan -- Big 10 Champions
Boston College -- Big East Champions
Florida State and LSU -- BCS at-large teams
Texas-El Paso, otherwise known as UTEP, will go bowling this year, to Boise for the MPC Computers Bowl (it is the Humanitarian Bowl). Mike Price will show the college football world how good of a coach he really is this year in El Paso. Remember, he turned around a mediocre Washington State program. I think he can turn around the Miners' fortunes as well.
The Houston Bowl could be the most underrated matchup of the bowl season. Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt was very close to accepting the Nebraska job this past January. He decided to stay in Fayetteville, accepting a new long-term contract. Not a lot of people are expecting the Razorbacks to do much in 2004. But they have Matt Jones at quarterback. He's good for a few wins alone. And watch out for freshman running back Peyton Hillis. The guy is 6'2", 240 and is a beast. SEC defenders, look out.
West Virginia is the most overrated team in the country, book it. And the Big East has no business having a BCS automatic berth.
Mississippi State will go to a bowl game this year. New head coach Sylvester Croom will have the Bulldogs believing they can win. Add to the fact that Ole Miss lost Eli Manning, and I think MSU can definitely overtake the Rebels in the SEC West.
Texas will fire Mack Brown after he loses yet another Holiday Bowl game, this year to Cal. Oh, and the Longhorns will lose once again to Oklahoma.
Finally, I see USC winning the national championship. This time, there will be no question about it. Sure, they lost Mike Williams. But they are quite simply the most talented team in America. Georgia is right up there with the Trojans, but the boys from Southern Cal are just too strong.
The 2004 season kicks off with Virginia Tech vs USC tomorrow night from FedEx Field on ESPN. College football is back. Good freaking deal.
Instead of doing a preview on every conference and its teams, I will give you my 2004-2005 bowl game projections. When December rolls around, you could look back to this post and see which bowl projections I got right.
Anyways, here it goes (bowls listed from the New Orleans Bowl to the Orange Bowl)
NEW ORLEANS BOWL (Sun Belt #1 vs Conference USA)
North Texas vs Houston
TANGERINE BOWL (ACC #4/5 vs Big 12 #7)
Virginia Tech vs Texas A&M
GMAC BOWL (Conference USA #2 vs at-large/MAC)
TCU vs Boise State
LAS VEGAS BOWL (Pac-10 #5 vs Mountain West #2)
Oregon vs San Diego State
FORT WORTH BOWL (Conference USA #4 vs at-large/Big 12 #8)
Southern Mississippi vs Fresno State
HAWAII BOWL (Conference USA #3 vs WAC)
Memphis vs Hawaii
MOTOR CITY BOWL (MAC vs Big Ten #7)
Toledo vs Michigan State
MPC COMPUTERS BOWL (HumBowl) (WAC vs ACC #6)
UTEP vs North Carolina State
INDEPENDENCE BOWL (Big 12 #5 or #6 vs SEC)
Oklahoma State vs South Carolina
INSIGHT.COM BOWL (Pac-10 #4 vs Big East #2 or #3)
Oregon State vs Connecticut
HOUSTON BOWL (Big 12 #5 or #6 vs SEC)
Nebraska vs Arkansas
ALAMO BOWL (Big 12 #4 vs Big Ten #4)
Kansas State vs Purdue
SILICON VALLEY BOWL (Pac-10 #7 vs WAC #3)
Arizona State vs Tulsa
HOLIDAY BOWL (Pac-10 #2 vs Big 12 #3)
California vs Texas
EMERALD BOWL (Pac-10 #6 vs Mountain West #3)
Washington vs New Mexico
CONTINENTAL TIRE BOWL (ACC #5 vs Big East #3 or #4)
Georgia Tech vs Pittsburgh
PEACH BOWL (ACC vs SEC)
Maryland vs Alabama
LIBERTY BOWL (Conference USA #1 vs Mountain West #1)
Louisville vs Utah
SUN BOWL (Pac-10 #3 vs Big Ten #5)
Washington State vs Iowa
MUSIC CITY BOWL (SEC #6 or #7 vs Big Ten #6)
Mississippi State vs Penn State
CAPITAL ONE BOWL (SEC vs Big Ten #2)
Tennessee vs Minnesota
GATOR BOWL (ACC #2 vs Big East #2)
Clemson vs West Virginia
OUTBACK BOWL (SEC vs Big Ten #3)
Auburn vs Ohio State
COTTON BOWL (SEC vs Big 12 #2)
Florida vs Missouri
ROSE BOWL (BCS vs BCS)
Michigan vs LSU
FIESTA BOWL (BCS vs BCS)
Miami vs Oklahoma
SUGAR BOWL (BCS vs BCS)
Boston College vs Florida State
ORANGE BOWL (BCS #1 vs BCS #2)
USC vs Georgia
--- --- --- --- ---
To sum it all up:
USC -- Pac-10 Champions
Georgia -- SEC Champions
Oklahoma -- Big 12 Champions
Miami -- ACC Champions
Michigan -- Big 10 Champions
Boston College -- Big East Champions
Florida State and LSU -- BCS at-large teams
Texas-El Paso, otherwise known as UTEP, will go bowling this year, to Boise for the MPC Computers Bowl (it is the Humanitarian Bowl). Mike Price will show the college football world how good of a coach he really is this year in El Paso. Remember, he turned around a mediocre Washington State program. I think he can turn around the Miners' fortunes as well.
The Houston Bowl could be the most underrated matchup of the bowl season. Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt was very close to accepting the Nebraska job this past January. He decided to stay in Fayetteville, accepting a new long-term contract. Not a lot of people are expecting the Razorbacks to do much in 2004. But they have Matt Jones at quarterback. He's good for a few wins alone. And watch out for freshman running back Peyton Hillis. The guy is 6'2", 240 and is a beast. SEC defenders, look out.
West Virginia is the most overrated team in the country, book it. And the Big East has no business having a BCS automatic berth.
Mississippi State will go to a bowl game this year. New head coach Sylvester Croom will have the Bulldogs believing they can win. Add to the fact that Ole Miss lost Eli Manning, and I think MSU can definitely overtake the Rebels in the SEC West.
Texas will fire Mack Brown after he loses yet another Holiday Bowl game, this year to Cal. Oh, and the Longhorns will lose once again to Oklahoma.
Finally, I see USC winning the national championship. This time, there will be no question about it. Sure, they lost Mike Williams. But they are quite simply the most talented team in America. Georgia is right up there with the Trojans, but the boys from Southern Cal are just too strong.
The 2004 season kicks off with Virginia Tech vs USC tomorrow night from FedEx Field on ESPN. College football is back. Good freaking deal.
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