NCAA Football Predictions

Predictions from select games this week (rankings are mine):


#1 LSU-52 @ NR Mississippi State-6
#30 Utah-24 @ #31 Oregon State-30 (Potential game of the week and it won't be televised!)
I-AA Appalachian State-6 @ #3 Michigan-35
NR Florida Int'l-0 @ #16 Penn State-42
NR Marshall-7 @ #36 Miami (FL)-24
NR Virginia-17 @ NR Wyoming-18
NR Washington State-10 @ #4 Wisconsin-28
#21 Georgia Tech-21 @ #35 Notre Dame-27
#10 Wake Forest-31 @ #42 Boston College-21
#24 Missouri-23 @ NR Illinois-28 (Upset Special of the Week!)
#39 Houston-24 @ #34 Oregon-45
NR Arizona-21 @ #32 BYU-17
#49 Oklahoma State-16 @ #37 Georgia-25 (Overrated Georgia gets a scare at home.)
#27 Central Michigan-28 @ NR Kansas-20
#26-Tennessee-24 @ #12 California-44
NR Idaho-0 @ #2 USC-52
#33 Florida State-16 @ #23 Clemson-27 (Monday night game)

What's worse, a 30-3 loss or losing 30 straight?

After last Thursday's game in which the O's bullpen blew another game, losing 5-2 to the Twins, I made the comment that they would be lucky to win another game. This team's morale stinks like none other. With young starting pitching and the majors worst bullpen that reeks of a disastrous finish to the season. If any team was capable of losing 3o consecutive games, it would be the Baltimore Orioles. Let's not forget, that miserable finish to the 2002 season. For those of you non-Oriole fans out there, here is what happened.

August 23, 2002: The Orioles are exceeding the expectations of some by reaching a 63-63 record. They had hung around just below .500 for much of the season but it was the first time they reached that mark since early May. Optimism was beginning to grow with the possibility of a winning season. In typical fashion, the O's would very soon wipe away any hope.

With 36 games remaining and a 63-63 record, no one imagined what would happen next. During those final 36 games, the Baltimore Orioles (a Major League Baseball team) produced a 4-32 record to finish the season with a 67-95 record. No doubt, one of the most historic collapses of all time.

Fast forward to 2007, and I see "deja vu all over again." Beginning with the 30-3 debacle, the O's are in the midst of an 8-game losing streak. Sadly we had a chance in most of the games but the bullpen collapsed almost every time. Tuesday night, the 'pen managed to give up 11 runs in one inning to the Devil Rays of all teams. Keep in mind, that even the Rangers did not get 11 in an inning during the 30-3 loss. We are now 58-73, and of our last 31 games, 22 of those come against teams with winning records (including 13 games against the Red Sox and Yankees). Oh yeah, of the 9 games against teams with losing records, 4 of those are at Texas.

So yeah, I could see us losing 30 in a row. Even on the optimistic side I think we only win at the most 10 more games, giving us a final record of 68-94. No surprise that is nearly identical to the 2002 season. Yet another pathetic season for this "increasingly difficult to root for" team.

I know this is a season I will talk about to my grandkids. Not for the O's miserable record, but for something much more important. I will always be able to say "I was there for Cal Ripken's Hall of Fame Induction." Who knows how long it will be before I am as proud to be an Oriole fan as I was during that day. Maybe next year...or next decade.

My Preseason Top 50

Pre-Rank	Team	Last Year
1	LSU	3
2	USC	5
3	Michigan	9
4	Wisconsin	7
5	Oklahoma	8
6	West Virginia	10
7	Rutgers	11
8	Virginia Tech	18
9	Florida	1
10	Wake Forest	15
11	Louisville	4
12	California	21
13	Boise State	6
14	Texas	19
15	Hawai'i	26
16	Penn State	22
17	Nebraska	23
18	TCU	17
19	Arkansas	13
20	Auburn	16
21	Georgia Tech	27
22	Ohio State	2
23	Clemson	44
24	Missouri	37
25	UCLA	34
26	Tennessee	24
27	Central Michigan	38
28	South Carolina	30
29	Ohio	NR
30	Utah	45
31	Oregon State	25
32	BYU	12
33	Florida State	40
34	Oregon	NR
35	Notre Dame	20
36	Miami (FL)	43
37	Georgia	14
38	South Florida	28
39	Houston	33
40	Tulsa	NR
41	Purdue	47
42	Boston College	29
43	Southern Miss.	42
44	Navy	36
45	Texas A&M	32
46	Texas Tech	35
47	Iowa	NR
48	Western Michigan	NR
49	Oklahoma State	NR
50	Arizona State	49

Clarifying yesterday's post

The rankings I posted are not, and will not be, my preseason rankings. I decided to take a different approach to my preseason rankings this year by projecting my 2007 final rankings, then comparing them to my 2006 final rankings from last year. The average of the two will will generally be my preseason rank for each team. I am working on that now and will post it shortly.

2006 Final Rankings

Projected College Football Final Rankings

1. LSU (12-0, 8-0)-->9/8 vs. VT, 10/6 vs. Fla., 10/20 vs. Auburn, 11/3 @ Alabama
   
2. USC (11-1, 8-1)-->9/15 @ Nebr., 10/20 @ ND, 10/27 @ Oregon, 11/10 @ Cal, 12/1 vs. UCLA
   
3. Michigan (11-1, 7-1)-->9/8 vs. Oregon, 9/15 vs. ND, 9/22 vs. PSU, 11/10 @Wisc., 11/17 vs. Ohio St.
   
4. Wisconsin (11-1, 7-1)--->10/13 @ Penn St., 11/3 @ Ohio St., 11/10 vs. Mich.
   
5. Virginia Tech (11-1, 8-0)-->9/8 @ LSU, 10/6 @ Clemson, 11/1 @ GT, 11/10 vs. FSU
   
6. Oklahoma (11-1, 6-1)-->9/8 vs. Miami, 9/21 @ Tulsa, 10/6 @ Texas, 11/3 vs. A&M, 11/17 @ TT
   
7. West Virginia (11-1, 6-1)-->9/28 @ S. Fla., 10/27 @ Rut., 11/8 vs. Louis.
   
8. Rutgers (11-1, 6-1)-->10/18 vs. S. Fla., 10/27 vs. WVU, 11/29 @ Louisville
   
9. Hawaii (12-0, 8-0)-->11/10 vs. Fresno, 11/23 vs. Boise, 12/1 vs. Wash.
   
10. California (10-2, 7-2)-->9/1 vs. Tenn., 9/29 @ Oregon, 10/20 @ UCLA, 11/10 vs. USC
    
11. Wake Forest (10-2, 6-2)-->9/8 vs. Nebr., 10/11 vs. FSU, 11/10 @ Clemson
    
12. Texas (10-2, 7-1)-->9/8 vs. TCU, 10/6 vs. Okla., 10/27 vs. Nebr., 11/23 @ Texas A&M
    
13. Penn State (10-2, 6-2)-->9/8 vs. ND, 9/22 @ Mich., 10/13 vs. Wisc., 10/27 vs. Ohio St.
    
14. Florida (10-2, 7-1)-->9/15 vs. Tenn., 10/6 @ LSU, 11/10 @ S. Car., 11/24 vs. FSU
    
15. Clemson (10-2, 6-2)-->9/3 vs. FSU, 9/29 @ GT, 10/6 vs. VT, 11/10 vs. Wake, 11/24 @ S. Car.
    
16. Nebraska (10-2, 7-1)-->9/8 @ Wake, 9/15 vs. USC, 10/6 @ Mizzou, 10/20 vs. A&M, 10/27 @ TX
    
17. Louisville (10-2, 5-2)-->9/15 @ Kentucky, 10/5 vs. Utah, 11/8 @ WVU, 11/29 vs. Rutgers
    
18. Boise State (11-1, 7-1)-->9/27 vs. So. Miss., 10/26 @ Fresno, 11/23 @ Hawaii
    
19. TCU (10-2, 7-1)-->9/8 @ Texas, 10/18 vs. Utah, 11/8 @ BYU
    
20. Oregon (9-3, 7-2)-->9/8 @ Mich., 9/29 vs. Cal, 10/27 vs. USC, 11/15 @ AZ, 11/24 @ UCLA
    
21. Georgia Tech (9-3, 6-2)-->9/1 @ ND, 9/29 vs. Clem., 10/13 @ Miami, 11/1 vs. VT, 11/24 vs. UGA
    
22. Ohio (11-1, 8-0)-->9/15 @ VT, 9/22 vs. Wyo., 10/20 @ Toledo, 11/7 @ Akron
    
23. Missouri (9-3, 5-3)-->10/6 vs. Nebr., 10/13 @ Okla., 11/10 vs. Tx. A&M
    
24. Arkansas (9-3, 5-3)-->9/15 @ Alabama, 10/13 vs. Auburn, 11/10 @ Tenn., 11/24 @ LSU
    
25. Utah (9-3, 7-1)-->8/30 @ Oregon St., 9/15 vs. UCLA, 10/5 @ Louis., 10/18 @ TCU, 11/24 @ BYU

Projecting out to the Top 50:

26. Auburn (9-3, 5-3) 27. Tulsa (10-2, 8-0) 28. Central Michigan (10-2, 8-0)
29. UCLA (8-4, 6-3) 30. Florida State (8-4, 4-4) 31. Miami (8-4, 5-3)
32. South Carolina (8-4, 5-3) 33. Purdue (8-4, 4-4) 34. Tennessee (8-4, 5-3)
35. Ohio State (8-4, 4-4) 36. Oregon State (8-4, 5-4) 37. Iowa (8-4, 5-3)
38. Houston (9-3, 7-1) 39. Southern Miss. (9-3, 7-1) 40. South Florida (8-4, 4-3)
41. Notre Dame (7-5) 42. Fresno State (8-4, 6-2) 43. BYU (8-4, 6-2)
44. Western Mich. (8-4, 7-1) 45. Boston College (7-5, 4-4) 46. Georgia (7-5, 4-4)
47. Okla. St. (7-5, 4-4) 48. Navy (8-4) 49. Tx. Tech (7-5, 4-4) 50. Tx. A&M (7-5, 4-4)