But before I get into all that, kudos begrudgingly go to Alabama for being this season's grand prizewinner. Begrudgingly because I'm not even remotely on the Nick Saban bandwagon, and because my forecast of the title game was eerily close to becoming a reality until Colt McCoy got jacked in the back. You laugh, I know, saying, "That was less than halfway through the first quarter!". Conceded. But - at that point Texas was dominant, it's defense slicing through the middle of the Alabama O-line and causing havoc for Greg McElroy (as I anticipated), and McCoy using a mix of short passes to capitalize on Alabama's turnovers (as I also predicted). Then it all came crashing down, and Garrett Gilbert, who will eventually have his day, was left trembling before the fearsome Crimson Tide defense. Imagine his reaction when McCoy jogged off the field, rather casually for someone about to exit the biggest game of his life for good, and leaned over to poor Garrett, saying this in his mesmerizing Texas drawl: "I'm hurtin'. I ain't gonna be able to get it done Garrett. You're up, pardner!" If only we could have seen Gilbert's face, or read his thoughts: "Boy, Colt sure did get licked. But he's tough as a bull, and there ain't no way he's leavin' this game. Look there, he's galloping off the field alright, that's a relief. I guess I'll clean the grass outta my cleats again. This Rose Bowl turf sure is thick. I'm glad I won't be tackled on it. Gotta keep a clean backside for the ladies! Wait, Colt just said something. What was that? Ain't gonna be able to get it done? You're up? What? I ain't done nothing but hold a clipboard all year! I don't even know who the fourth receiver is! This can't be true. Please, don't let it be true! What about my clean backside? Wait, there's Colt on the bench now. Trainer's unbuckling the pads. Oh no. I think I'm going to be sick. Oh no. Oh please no. Yep, I'm definitely gonna hurl. Fettucine alfredo an hour before kickoff was a bad decision." And there went the national championship, and my sweet looking prediction.
And on that note, on to more sweet looking predictions that turned very sour. The way I'll do this is reveal my fearless forecast, explain it if necessary, then award it with one of the following grades: WIN, FAIL, or PUSH. And perhaps make fun of myself for a bit. When that's through, I'll give you my single best and single worst predictions of the season, just for kicks. Here goes.
Forecast #1: Florida Enters Dynasty Mode
Verdict: FAIL
There was no other option here, epic win or epic fail. We all know how it ended up: the Gators plodded through an unspectacular yet undefeated regular season, then Tim Tebow spent the last few minutes of his SEC career in tears as he watched Alabama complete their massacre.
Forecast #2: Heisman Score: Tebow 2, Bradford 1, McCoy 0
Verdict: FAIL
Someone named Mark Ingram swooped in and stole the show. And by the end of the season, Bradford was in a sling, and McCoy and Bradford were only in New York because they were there the year before.
Forecast #3: TCU finally gets a turn to crash the BCS
Verdict: WIN!
Good on ya, me! Too bad Boise also crashed the party (again) and stole the Horned Frogs' thunder.
Forecast #4: The Resurgence of Old Powers...
Those "old powers" being Nebraska (WIN!), Tennessee (FAIL), and Michigan (EPIC FAIL). Nebraska was an updraft away from winning the Big 12 championship, and their defense became one of the most dominant in the country. I claimed Tennessee would "parlay a motherlode of freshman talent into a very good SEC season" - "mediocre" would have been more appropriate. But at least they made a bowl. The Michigan Fail Train crashed again, derailing after a promising 4-0 start. They won only one more game after that, against Delaware State. Awesome.
Forecast #5: ...But Not Notre Dame
Verdict: WIN! Glorious WIN!
And the Irish did even worse than I thought they would, even falling short of a bowl game in a season which a BCS game was all but served to them before the year began.
Forecast #6: Revenge of the Nerds!
Translation: Duke, Stanford, and Baylor would make bowls. That would be FAIL, WIN, FAIL. But it won't be long for Baylor.
Forecast #7: Syracuse - yes, Syracuse - makes a bowl
Verdict: FAIL
Let's just move along and pretend we didn't see any of that.
Forecast #8: The Mountain West Surpasses the Big East
Verdict: WIN (barely)
The Big East looked terrible heading into the year, but that was before Cincinnati turned the corner from rebuilder to reloader and Pitt's Dion Lewis surpassed even the loftiest of expectations. Still, the Mountain West proved it in the bowls, landed their top team higher than the Big East's in the final rankings, and boasted more top 25 teams (3 to the Big East's 2) at year's end. In a photo finish, that gives the Mountain West the slight edge, though the result is under protest.
Forecast #9: The Big 12 Surpasses the SEC
Verdict: FAIL
Big time Fail. It was Texas and the Little 11, though Nebraska would have fit in well in the SEC, which once again proved itself as the mightiest conference in the land. Four straight national titles with no end in sight. Ugh.
Forecast #10: The Big Ten gets an even worse reputation
Verdict: FAIL
Heading into the bowls, this looked to be true. Then the Big Ten remarkably pulled off an all-time first: 4 bowl wins against top 15 opponents by a single conference. Not bad, and proof that perception has not been reality for the stodgy, traditional Midwesterners.
Forecast #11: Oklahoma State, not Ole Miss, is the sleeper national title contender of the year
Verdict: PUSH
I got it half right: Ole Miss indeed was no national title contender. But neither were the Cowboys. Ironically these 2 met in the Cotton Bowl, with Ole Miss winning the battle of failed expectations.
Forecast #12: South Florida finally breaks into the BCS
Verdict: FAIL
Instead of playing January football in Miami or Glendale, the Bulls were awarded with a trip to icy Toronto, which might as well have been called "Cool Runnings 2: Toronto Blitz". And then the only coach the program's ever had got canned for punching one of his players.
Forecast #13: Ten Players you might not know yet, but should
1. Bryce Bowen, RB, Tennessee (FAIL)
2. Greg McElroy, QB, Alabama (WIN!)
3. Detron Lewis, WR, Texas Tech (PUSH)
4. Andre Sexton, LB, Oklahoma State (FAIL)
5. Zac Lee, QB, Nebraska (PUSH)
6. Delone Carter, RB, Syracuse (FAIL)
7. Dion Lewis, RB, Pittsburgh (WIN!)
8. Jewel Hampton, RB, Iowa (N/A - injury)
9. Derrick Moye, WR, Penn State (WIN!)
10. Damion Fletcher, RB, Southern Miss (PUSH)
Forecast #14: The nation's biggest surprise team: Oklahoma State
Verdict: FAIL
Sometimes when you try to shoot the moon, you end up biting it big time. The real biggest surprise team: Cincinnati, who came out of almost nowhere to go undefeated, before being abandoned by their coach.
Forecast #15: The nations's most disappointing team: Purdue
Verdict: FAIL
The Boilermakers turned out to be pretty decent, and took out Rose Bowl champion Ohio State. The real winner of this award would be conference mate Illinois, who went from Rose Bowl to 3-9 in 2 years, with lots of the same players.
For those of you scoring at home, that's 8 WINS, 14 FAILS, 3 PUSHES, and 1 EPIC FAIL (Michigan). Not terrible, but not good either. That's what you get when you try to predict the whole season in one fell swoop.
And finally, my single best and worst picks of the year...
Single Best Pick of the Year!
That would go to my Pac Ten analysis in my preseason conference picks. Here's some of what I wrote:
"This year, in fact, I'm predicting USC to fail to win the Pac-10 crown for the first time in eight seasons. Oregon has a brutal rushing attack and at some point Nike's money will buy them a championship. Watch out for Cal too, as the leash may be growing short for Jeff Tedford and the seasons of unmet expectations and missed opportunities add up. Oregon State is always underrated, and both Arizona and Stanford will challenge to reach the upper echelon. A lot of people expect UCLA to surge this year, but I think they're still at least one year away and have too many question marks."
Not bad, eh? But before it gets to my head...
Single Worst Pick of the Year!
There are lots to choose from here. From predicting South Florida to win the Big East, to labeling Colorado as a sleeper to win the Big 12 North, to tagging Oklahoma State as a national championship game contestant. But the winner is...
I picked Syracuse to go to a bowl game. Yes, THAT Syracuse. Look away Jerry, I'm hideous!
Next week: the top 15 games of the year.
And lest we forget, please do something to help the devastated people of Haiti. Donate money. Find a food or supply packing event in your area. Pray. Click on last week's post for reputable organizations to give to. Thanks.
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