Picking the Winners
http://www.atomicsportsmedia.com/articles/566/1/Picking-the-Winners/Picking-the-Winners.html
Kevin Ezell
By Kevin Ezell
Published on 09/6/2006
With the start of the college football season, journalists across the country take out their crystal balls and attempt to predict the future. See what ASM College Football analyst Kevin Ezell prognosticates for the 2006 Season.
With the start of the college football season, journalists across the country take out their crystal balls and attempt to predict the future. See what ASM College Football analyst Kevin Ezell prognosticates for the 2006 Season. Picking the Winners
With the start of the college football season, journalists across the country take out their crystal balls and attempt to predict the future. And since I am an aspirng journalist, I figured I would take on the challenge and try to answer some of the many questions as we head toward the start of this new season.
The preseason polls have been released and as has been discussed in various media outlets that there is no clear cut favorite for this year’s national champonship. So the first natural question would be:
Which team is going to win the national championship?
The answer to this question will probably come from the same place it came from last year: the Ohio State-Texas game.
Both teams will come into this contest in the top five, with the Buckeyes at the top spot. The Buckeyes’ explosive offense will be led by Troy Smith. The huge question is with their defense. They will have nine new starters on the defense. Texas will come into this match-up with a few question marks, the main one being, can they replace Vince Young at the quarterback spot?
The winner of this game will be the Buckeyes. I think their defense will be fine and honestly, I think Jim Tressel is the best coach in college football. He will lead this team to the Big Ten title and to the national championship game.
As to what team it will play is a little iffy, but I think it will face the winner of the Notre Dame-USC game (which is at the end of the regular season). Both teams should be undefeated or have only one lose heading into this game; USC because, let’s face it, the Trojans play in the Pac-10 and do not have much competition other than Cal this year. Notre Dame because the Irish have the arm of Brady Quinn.
In the end it will not matter if it’s is a rematch of last year’s Fiesta Bowl (Notre Dame-Ohio State) or USC-Ohio State because I think the Buckeyes are the best team, and they have an outstanding coach who will lead them to another national championship.
Can Notre Dame survive without a strong defense?
Ohio State exposed the very weak defense of the Fighting Irish in the Fiesta Bowl. But there is good news for Irish fans: they will be returning 10 starters. Now I think this a very good thing because they will be experienced and this will lead to fewer mistakes. Charlie Weis has also recruited some players who should be able contribute right away because Weis is not afraid to throw a freshman into a game if he is the best fit for the position.
But the real answer to this questions lies in the offense, because Notre Dame should have the most powerful offense this year. With Quinn at the reins and targets like Jeff Samardzija, this offense should put up huge numbers. The Irish should be able to outscore any team on there schedule and will be in the national-championship hunt at the end of the season. But I would like to add that if Quinn suffers any type of injury, I do not think the Irish could survive with the weakness of their defense.
Will this be the year that the USC dynasty comes to an end?
This is the easiest question to answer: no way! Pete Carrol continues to reload every year bringing the best recruits in the LA area. Who wouldn’t want to rub elbows with Hollywood stars like Matt Leinart or have homes bought for your family -- just ask Reggie Bush.
The Trojans do have some question marks, the first one being the quarterback. John David Booty starts for the Trojans at the start of the season, and with Dwayne Jarrett at the receiving position he should have little trouble. The Trojans will also have to replace Reggie Bush and Lendell White at running back, but I foresee these being holes that will quickly filled by the many blue chippers at the disposal of Pete Carrol.
Though in the eyes of the USC fans this could be considered a down year because I do not think they will be hoisting up the national championship trophy at the end of the year, USC will continue to be a very strong team for years to come and this “reloading” year will prove the strength and depth of this team, when it ends the year with one or two loses.
Will Oklahoma have any chance with the dismissal of Rhett Bomar?
I can not see the Sooners having any legitimate chance at the title. Bomar looked to be another star in the long line of successful Oklahoma quarterbacks, but without him, the Sooners can not even compete for the Big 12 title when they have to beat a team as powerful as Texas. The big problem is that there is no one who can really replace Bomar. The answer now seems to be Paul Thompson. Thompson actually started last year but was replaced by Bomar, and he was not very impressive in time he played.
The Sooners will still a good team though because they can hand the ball to Adrian Peterson all day long if they have to. Peterson, when healthy, is easily the best back in college football. And when you have a coach like Bob Stoops your team will be just fine. But there is no doubt the Sooners will struggle at the quarterback position and because of that they will lose some games.
What other teams will be in the hunt at the end of the season?
Well first I would look at the SEC, which in my opinion is the strongest conference in college football. With teams such as Georgia, Florida, Auburn and LSU it’s tough to argue. Any team that wins the SEC title is a legit contender at the end of the year, especially if they manage to go undefeated in the process.
Another team that could be there at the end of the year is West Virginia. The Mountaineers are a very talented squad but their record might be a little inflated due to the fact they play in the very weak Big East.
There are other teams that could contend are teams such as Florida State or Miami but I don’t really see any of these teams have any serious shot. Miami and Florida State are not real contenders to me because they have struggled with their quarterbacks for the past couple of years. Neither Kyle Wright nor Drew Weatherford have shown enough consistency or poise to make me believe they could lead their respected teams to a national title.
The preseason polls have been released and as has been discussed in various media outlets that there is no clear cut favorite for this year’s national champonship. So the first natural question would be:
Which team is going to win the national championship?
The answer to this question will probably come from the same place it came from last year: the Ohio State-Texas game.
Both teams will come into this contest in the top five, with the Buckeyes at the top spot. The Buckeyes’ explosive offense will be led by Troy Smith. The huge question is with their defense. They will have nine new starters on the defense. Texas will come into this match-up with a few question marks, the main one being, can they replace Vince Young at the quarterback spot?
The winner of this game will be the Buckeyes. I think their defense will be fine and honestly, I think Jim Tressel is the best coach in college football. He will lead this team to the Big Ten title and to the national championship game.
As to what team it will play is a little iffy, but I think it will face the winner of the Notre Dame-USC game (which is at the end of the regular season). Both teams should be undefeated or have only one lose heading into this game; USC because, let’s face it, the Trojans play in the Pac-10 and do not have much competition other than Cal this year. Notre Dame because the Irish have the arm of Brady Quinn.
In the end it will not matter if it’s is a rematch of last year’s Fiesta Bowl (Notre Dame-Ohio State) or USC-Ohio State because I think the Buckeyes are the best team, and they have an outstanding coach who will lead them to another national championship.
Can Notre Dame survive without a strong defense?
Ohio State exposed the very weak defense of the Fighting Irish in the Fiesta Bowl. But there is good news for Irish fans: they will be returning 10 starters. Now I think this a very good thing because they will be experienced and this will lead to fewer mistakes. Charlie Weis has also recruited some players who should be able contribute right away because Weis is not afraid to throw a freshman into a game if he is the best fit for the position.
But the real answer to this questions lies in the offense, because Notre Dame should have the most powerful offense this year. With Quinn at the reins and targets like Jeff Samardzija, this offense should put up huge numbers. The Irish should be able to outscore any team on there schedule and will be in the national-championship hunt at the end of the season. But I would like to add that if Quinn suffers any type of injury, I do not think the Irish could survive with the weakness of their defense.
Will this be the year that the USC dynasty comes to an end?
This is the easiest question to answer: no way! Pete Carrol continues to reload every year bringing the best recruits in the LA area. Who wouldn’t want to rub elbows with Hollywood stars like Matt Leinart or have homes bought for your family -- just ask Reggie Bush.
The Trojans do have some question marks, the first one being the quarterback. John David Booty starts for the Trojans at the start of the season, and with Dwayne Jarrett at the receiving position he should have little trouble. The Trojans will also have to replace Reggie Bush and Lendell White at running back, but I foresee these being holes that will quickly filled by the many blue chippers at the disposal of Pete Carrol.
Though in the eyes of the USC fans this could be considered a down year because I do not think they will be hoisting up the national championship trophy at the end of the year, USC will continue to be a very strong team for years to come and this “reloading” year will prove the strength and depth of this team, when it ends the year with one or two loses.
Will Oklahoma have any chance with the dismissal of Rhett Bomar?
I can not see the Sooners having any legitimate chance at the title. Bomar looked to be another star in the long line of successful Oklahoma quarterbacks, but without him, the Sooners can not even compete for the Big 12 title when they have to beat a team as powerful as Texas. The big problem is that there is no one who can really replace Bomar. The answer now seems to be Paul Thompson. Thompson actually started last year but was replaced by Bomar, and he was not very impressive in time he played.
The Sooners will still a good team though because they can hand the ball to Adrian Peterson all day long if they have to. Peterson, when healthy, is easily the best back in college football. And when you have a coach like Bob Stoops your team will be just fine. But there is no doubt the Sooners will struggle at the quarterback position and because of that they will lose some games.
What other teams will be in the hunt at the end of the season?
Well first I would look at the SEC, which in my opinion is the strongest conference in college football. With teams such as Georgia, Florida, Auburn and LSU it’s tough to argue. Any team that wins the SEC title is a legit contender at the end of the year, especially if they manage to go undefeated in the process.
Another team that could be there at the end of the year is West Virginia. The Mountaineers are a very talented squad but their record might be a little inflated due to the fact they play in the very weak Big East.
There are other teams that could contend are teams such as Florida State or Miami but I don’t really see any of these teams have any serious shot. Miami and Florida State are not real contenders to me because they have struggled with their quarterbacks for the past couple of years. Neither Kyle Wright nor Drew Weatherford have shown enough consistency or poise to make me believe they could lead their respected teams to a national title.