The wait is finally over! We have completed the 8 month fast since Tua Tagivailoa and the Crimson Tide rallied from behind to steal yet another national title from the paws of the Georgia Bulldogs. There are new coaches, current coaches on the hotseat, new Heisman hopefuls, true freshmen who will have instant impacts, programs on the rise, and new title contenders. This article takes some common questions asked to experts on sites like ESPN, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated, and others, as I attempt to answer them. So without further to do...
Which Week 1 Game Has the Largest Playoff Implications?
The game I'm going with is Washington vs Auburn, with the bigger playoff emphasis being on Washington. If Washington clears this hurdle, it will lose no more than 1 game and has a favorable shot to win the Pac-12. The Huskies only other 2 ranked opponents (not including its conference title opponent) are @Oregon and vs Stanford, both games they will be favored to win. On the contrary, Auburn plays one of the nation's toughest schedules, featuring 3 of the top 6 and 5 ranked opponents in total, so a week 1 loss would already put them in an unenviable hole with Alabama, Georgia, LSU, and Mississippi State all still awaiting.
Most Overrated Top 25 Teams
I'm not sold on Miami being the 8th best team in the country. This seems generous for a team that lost its final 3 games and was highly dependent on turnovers to squeak wins out against less talented opponents before the end. Miami defeated UNC, Georgia Tech, Florida State, and Syracuse by a combined 18 points. Those teams had a combined record of 19-29...
A second candidate would be Stanford. Nothing against Bryce Love, but the Cardinal sit 13th and could find themselves unranked by October 1st with a September schedule that includes vs USC, @ Oregon, and @ Notre Dame. I also think teams will stack the box to minimize Love's impact and force Stanford to beat them through the air.
Which unraked team could make some noise?
It seems like a cop out to go with the 2 teams who received the most votes outside the top 25, but I do think South Carolina and Florida are the reasonable answers here. The Gamecocks have a 3rd year starting QB in Jake Bentley and get Deebo Samuel back from injury who is one of the conferences most dynamic players. UF gets a major coaching upgrade in Dan Mullen replacing Jim McElwain and could reap the benefits of the SEC East which excluding Georgia is rather weak.
NC State is another sleeper with arguably the ACC's best QB in Ryan Finley, and a favorable schedule with only 3 ranked opponents and 2 of which are home games.
Which new coach will have the greatest impact?
I think there are a lot of viable answers here so I will address quite a few of them.
Chip Kelly's return to the college game is intriguing. We all remember what he was able to accomplish at Oregon so it will be interesting to see if he can replicate that at UCLA, as well as if his name will be able to lure more recruits in talent-rich Los Angeles.
Scott Frost's turnaround at UCF was amazing, inheriting an 0-12 group and 2 years later making them 13-0 and winning a New Year's Six Bowl. Rebuilding Nebraska in the Big 10 will not happen as quickly, but he's clearly proven himself capable.
Willie Taggart is revamping the culture at FSU, and instituting a new offense and defense there as well. He inherits a team filled with top 5 recruiting classes, and a team that is being overlooked because of last year's record which was largely due to playing a true freshman QB the whole season and a coach who was halfway out the door from October forward. A needed breath of fresh air, a realignment, and a new positivity and swagger could make for a return to national relevance sooner rather than later.
Dan Mullen has done a great job developing QBs, which has been the Achilles heel for UF since the Tebow era. Mullen was responsible for Tebow, Dak Prescott, Nick Fitzgerald, and the first year of Cam Newton as well. If he can recruit and build the defense more similarly to Muschamp than McElwain then UF can be a perennial top 25 team once again in a couple years.
Which teams will have an in-season QB switch?
I have never seen a year where so many playoff contenders are not set at the position, but I think it's almost certainly happening at Clemson with Georgia and Alabama likely playing more than one quarterback as well. Kelly Bryant is the week 1 starter for Clemson, but Trevor Lawrence has the much higher ceiling and I think it's a matter of time before he takes over. Nick Saban will likely play his options based on the game flow, with Tua taking the bulk of the snaps, but Hurts being serviced when Tua isn't up to par. Georgia has a somewhat similar situation to Clemson with Justin Fields, however Fromm is much stronger than Bryant.
Some other ranked teams that could use more than 1 guy are Notre Dame, Florida State, and Texas.
Who wins the Heisman Trophy
The favorite rarely ends up winning, and late night Pac-12 kick offs will be working against him as well, but it's difficult to pick against Bryce Love, who's going to see a massive amount of touches and could have a 2,000 yard year on the ground alone running behind an O-line that returns 4 starters. If you think it's the year for a running back but are hesitant to take Love, then the next best choice is Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor, who has all the same advantages and skillset as Love, but will spend more time in the national spotlight due to Wisconsin's title relevance and more normal kickoff times.
If you think the QB trend continues, Will Grier is the favorite and should torch Big 12 defenses all year. If you don't buy into his hype then Khalil Tate (Arizona) or Justin Herbert (Oregon) should blow up the stat sheet but like Love will have the late night disadvantage.
Who are the playoff teams?
First things first, we will be saying Alabama every year until Nick Saban retires, although Georgia is going to be a real threat to their conference dominance for the next 5 years.
Clemson is a safe bet. They get better at QB, whether it's playing Lawrence, or Bryant doing enough to fend him off, and they have 4 potential first round picks on the defensive line, which may be the best unit in all of college football. It's only ranked regular season opponent is Florida State, and even with 1 loss it would be in playoff discussion, nearly a lock if it wins the conference.
From there it's trickier, but should be some combination of Georgia, Washington, Oklahoma, and the Big 10 Champion (your guess is as good as mine). Ultimately, my last 2 in are Washington and Georgia. I think Washington has a great chance to run the table in the Pac-12, even if it loses to Auburn (and week 1 losses are weighed much less heavily and the committee respects teams who play big non conference games). If Georgia runs the table to Alabama and then loses another competitive game that's still a huge argument for top 4. I don't see Oklahoma returning after losing the Heisman Trophy winner, and while I personally would send the Big 10 Champ, it's easy to see them cannibalizing with 5 top 15 teams (Wisconsin, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State).
Who wins the National Championship?
So let's say seeding wise it goes 1-Alabama, 2-Clemson, 3-Georgia, 4-Washington. Bama/Washington is a rematch from 2 years ago with a similar result, despite a better effort from the Huskies. Clemson/Georgia is the more intriguing game with Clemson winning by a razor thin margin. Thus for the 4th time in as many years the Crimson Tide and Tigers will meet. It's so difficult to pick against Saban, especially in the Natty, but I actually am picking the Tigers. Lawrence will be the starter by then and the ability to move the ball through the air was what Clemson lacked in last year's contest. Also, defense wins championships, and as aforementioned Clemson's front 4 (if healthy) is one of the scariest college football has ever seen.
