Who's going to win the NCAA football title this year?

I haven’t been this excited about the start of a new season since 1986. I’m looking forward to watching my beloved Sooners pull off another repeat. Look out Big 12, we’ve got two quarterbacks who can throw and run this year, Rocky Calmus is back, and we’ve still got that corps of receivers that made defensive coordinators want to tender their resignations.

Hi rickety whoop tee doo
Boomer Sooner, Okla U

Who’s everyone else rooting for?

Go Buckeyes!!!

As a Nebraska alum, I’d love to go with my beloved Huskers. But, alas, I cannot. We have too many holes to fill on both sides of the ball, but especially the o-line and backfield. About the only things that give me positive vibes are Crouch and the fact that OU, KSU, and Notre Dame all come to Lincoln. We’ve only lost there once since 1991. But I will admit I cannot see NU getting past ND, KSU, OU, and Colorado 4-0. We just don’t have a team near the level of our mid-90s teams.

As far as I’m concerned, Oklahoma is #1 until someone knocks them off. Many people think it will be Texas, but didn’t they lose to OU by 49 points? I would even go so far as to say the Longhorns are the reason I don’t trust recruiting gurus anymore.

As for the Sooners, I know they have a lot coming back, but Heupel was the heart of that team. In 1996, NU had nearly everyone back except Frazier, so we were almost sure we’d 3-peat. It turned out losing the star QB meant more than we thought (although we did pick it back up and win it in 97). The Big XII will make it tough for OU to repeat. Even though OU ran the table last year, they nearly ran out of gas at the end of the season vs A&M, Tech, and (gasp!) Okie State.

I can’t see Miami winning in Tallahassee, nor can I see Spurrier getting through the SEC unscathed. The two Oregon teams are SI’s flavor of the year, but I’m not fooled.

If I were a betting man, I’d have to go with Florida State. They lose some players, but they do play in a ridiculously easy conference (which, IMHO, is a slap in the face to teams in the Big XII, SEC, Pac-10, and Big Ten). Even though we hear noise from Clemson and Georgia Tech, it would still be a monumental upset for FSU not to get its 8 automatic ACC wins. They get Miami at home, and then can spend the rest of the season vs Duke, Maryland, Wake, etc, getting ready for the Gators in the Swamp.

Then maybe they’ll luck out and get an inexperienced Big East team in the title game (like in '99).

     -Michael

I opened this thread to be faced with the one-two punch: someone rah-rahing about Oklahoma, then someone rooting for Ohio State.

I grew up in Nebraska and now live in Michigan. This is too much for me to take. vomits delicately into her office wastebasket

[sub]It’d be easier if either of “my” teams had a good shot this year.[/sub]

Question: did ANY pollster vote for Oklahoma as #1 at the start of last season. Nope.

Another question: did ANY major poll have Oklahoma in the top 20 at the start of last season? I don’t think so.

So, is the lesson that pollsters (coaches and sportswriters) are idiots? No! They all know way more about football than we do. But the fact is, they CAN’T POSSIBLY KNOW who the best teams are, because there’s been so much turnover, and because they don’t have the time or resources to observe and monitor every team that could possibly be a contender.

So, how do sportswriters and coaches make their guesses (and that’s all they are- guesses)? By either voting for the same “hot” team everyone else seems to be touting, or by voting for a perennial favorite.

I mean, if a sportswriter votes for Florida State or Nebraska as his pre-season favorite, is ANYONE going to call him an idiot? If they stumble early, will people say. “Ha! What a jerk”? No- if you pick one of the usual suspects, you’ll never look foolish. And that’s why most sportswriters do just that.

Alas, I fear no return of Hokie magic this year. So close, close, so close…

I have the same sad realization, plnnr. With Vick and the easy schedule, I think the Hokies would have been a preseason fave to win it all. That “inexperienced” team from the 1999 Sugar Bowl (so close! so close! I was there and thought we had it!) would have had a three-year starting quarterback, the top TD man in the nation, a fast receiving corps and a great defense.

Now we’re looking at a rebuilt OL and a weak QB who has yet to prove he can get the ball to those WRs, and thus letting opposing defenses focus on the top TD man. What a difference one man makes.

I hate to say it, but this just might be Miami’s year.

Yeah, I feel the same way. I’m happy for Vick; he seems like a good kid, and I think he’ll do well in the NFL if he’s given enough time to develop. But still… <forlorn cry>Michael! One more year, man! Would it have killed you?</forlorn cry>

I think if Tech’s OL holds up, they’ll have a pretty decent running game with Suggs and Ferguson. Throw in a pretty good defense and an easy schedule, and they have a good chance of going undefeated until the Miami game. If they beat Miami, and if the top teams lose a game or two, and if…

Oh, hell, who am I kidding here? I say Miami or Florida will win it. The nightmare scenario.

The best thing going for OU this year is the fact that TA&M and K-State are coming here. Manhattan and College station are two of the toughest places in the country to win on the road. Lincoln and Dallas are going to be toughest games this year. I’m sure that the Huskers and Longhorns will be out for blood after being pasted so bad last year.

This is exactly what the analyst on espn.com said. It was physically painful to read.

I can’t predict who will win, but let me say my fear is that if Miami is as good as they say, they just might take it this year.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say Oregon. Not OSU, but Oregon.

Don’t ask me why.

Oh My God! Another Sooners Fan! How the hell are you? I grew up in Oklahoma! I live in Atlanta now. You can be I’ll be in Dallas for the Oklahoma/Texas weekend. Dicks Last Resort at the West End Market Place can just go ahead and reserve me a spot.

I’m going to try and get back to Dallas this year. I turned down tickets last year because I needed to get some things done in OKC, but in hindsight, not as much as I needed to see the fire stomped out of the 'horns. I did manage to get to the NU game, though. I had three tickets for that one (two at the 48yd line in the upper deck and one in the northwest corner), so I sold the pair to a Nebraskite for $500 and enjoyed the game with my cousin in the end zone. I got a much better deal than he did :D. Let’s set up a meet and see if there are any other OklaDopers going (Ginko?) or any Longhorns brave enough to speak up.

PENN STATE!!

GO VOLS!

Yeah, yeah, I know. Not real likely, but I can hope.

I’ve got my money on the Northwest Alaska Polytechnical Community College Mudskippers… unless of course their star kicker loses his right foot to frostbite.

"Why do you insist on kicking barefoot, Rogers? There’s three feet of snow on the ground!"

DeVry Institute looks strong too… they need a mascot though.

But seriously, Go Bucks!

I knew all along that OU would win the NC in 2000!

I also knew that once Kurt Warner replaced Trent Green in 1999, the Rams would win the Super Bowl!

Ackshally, Oregon will be better than Oregon State this year, since the Beavers lost key components of their defensive line and wide receiving corps. Still, both teams are legitimate (though longshot) title contenders, and neither will get enough props in the national media. OSU’s got arguably the best running back in the country, but who’d heard of Ken Simonton before this week’s SI?

I’m admittedly biased, though; my all-time most satisfactory college football viewing experience came last New Years Day when Oregon State ground Notre Dame into a fine crimson mist.

Last year the Ducks and Beavers should’ve had a shot at the title–Division I playoff, anyone?

Spurrier didn’t make it through the SEC unscathed last year. I doubt he’ll have any better luck this year, as Mississippi State’s Defense is as good as ever.

Offense? Um… Can I get back to you on that?

Eight automatic ACC wins? They’ll lose the season opener at
Duke. At least I keep telling myself that. The 0-11 season last year was painful.