Alright, well we've come to the end of the regular season and the break before the bowl season starts. A good way to review the season is to look back at my predictions from before the season began and see how I did. I called my season preview The Meatrodomus Five Fortune-Telling Truths of the 2008 Season. We'll see how good of fortune I will have.
"1. OU will win its third Big 12 Championship in a row. Unprecedented in the conference, but I just don't see anyone taking down Oklahoma enough to derail them from getting the conference. I believe that the Red River Rivalry will again decide who goes out of the South Division, and I don't think Texas's defense has matured enough to stop the potent OU offense. There is a lot of hype around up-and-coming programs like Missouri or even Texas Tech, but it is a different story for Tech who has not beaten OU in Norman since 1996. Missouri does have a chance to remain undefeated leading up to the Big 12 Championship, but I don't believe their defense will be enough to stop arguable the most balanced offense in college football. I think Nebraska will make a run at the North title this year as bold as a prediction that may seem, but will not be able to overcome Missouri. Kansas will slide a little this year although still making the Kansas-Mizzou game something special again like last year."
CORRECT! OU did end up winning the conference and got to the conference game in a controversial THREE-WAY TIE (more on that later) in the South division and got into the game via the highest BCS ranking the week before the conference game. Mizzou did end up winning the North but was very disappointing to most expectations people had this year. They were actually tied with Nebraska for the division lead but held the tiebreaker since they won against Nebraska. The Kansas-Mizzou game was a very special game this year with Kansas winning on a last second TD pass from Reesing to Meyer in a snowy and fridged Kansas City field.
2. The Heisman Trophy will not go to a sophomore again this year. Sorry folks, unless Sam Bradford or DeMarco Murray break a number of OU or NCAA records this year, I don't see either one of them getting the Heisman. Now, that's not saying either one won't get invited. I do think that Bradford has the greater chance of getting the nod to go to NYC, but I don't see him winning it this year. The sophomore with the best chance to win the Heisman would have to be Knowshon Moreno of Georgia, but even then he would have to have a killer year. My frontrunner is Chris "Beanie" Wells of the Ohio State Buckeyes.
WRONG! Technically I would consider myself right since I said that Bradford would have to be breaking records to get a Heisman, but I couldn't have been more wrong with my statement in bold. Slingin' Sam became the second sophomore to win the Heisman, edging out Texas QB Colt McCoy and '07 winner Florida QB Tim Tebow. Beanie Wells was injured early and taken out of the hunt after a disappointing performance against Southern Cal. Ohio State itself was considered a disappointment.
3. The BCS National Championship Game will be Ohio State vs. Oklahoma. That's right, it'll be storybook. The two teams seeking BCS redemption with their recent disappointments will face off in the championship game. Now, it is a tall order and I do believe both of these teams will not be undefeated going into the game. The Buckeyes will have to defeat an always solid USC team (which I think this will not be the team they will lose to) and Oklahoma is part of the Big 12 South so it goes without saying that there will be a test. My top 5 teams going into the season right now in no particular order is Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio State, USC, and Florida. Those teams would have the best chance to make it but I think it'll be Bucks and Sooners in the finale in a close one. The Meat Life Prediction: Oklahoma 27-20. It'll be redemption time for the Sooners and Stoops will finally get his second national title as a head coach.
WRONG! I'm glad I got the OU part right, but like the previous prediction I couldn't have been more wrong about the Buckeyes. Ohio State dropped the senior starting QB Boeckman in favor of frosh-mega-hype QB Terrelle Pryor after the USC loss. Out of my initial top five, only Oklahoma and Florida have lived up to the hype by clinching their spots in the BCS Championship game. Georgia was a mega disappointment and USC, although has a real legit defense, the loss to Oregon State and the fact that the Pac10 was down this year did not help their case at all. OU still has chance at redemption, and it seems like that's been the theme all year.
4. Conference Winners:
Big East: South Florida. Pieces are in place and West Virginia will fall just short.
WRONG! Cincinnati wins overcoming key injuries at QB position to get to an 11-2 record
Big Ten: Ohio State. Goes without saying, although I do think they will lose to Wisconsin on the road.
WRONG! Penn State ran the table beating Ohio State and was a win away from the title game.
Big 12: Oklahoma. See #1
CORRECT!
Atlantic Coast Conference: Clemson. Personnel looks solid although look for Wake Forest to make a run again.
WRONG! Wrong wrong wrong. Virginia Tech wins another ACC title and Clemson fires Bowden.
Southeastern Conference: Georgia. They will probably be a 2-loss champ like LSU last season.
WRONG! Georgia big disappointment, Tebow wills Florida to win the SEC after the Ole Miss loss.
Pacific 10: USC. As much as I hate them...Oregon would have made a run if QB Nate Costa didn't get injured.
CORRECT! It was close, Oregon State was a win away from a Pac10 title but Oregon spoiled it.
Mountain West: BYU. BCS Buster? Has the offense for it.
WRONG! Almost right, the best non-BCS conference this year has undefeated Utah as champ.
Western Athletic Conference: Fresno State. Other potential BCS Buster.
WRONG! Fresno finished fifth, Boise State remained undefeated and wins another WAC title.
Sun Belt: Florida Atlantic. Go FAU! Beat those Longhorns! HAHAH
WRONG! Troy wins
Conference USA: Tulsa. New era without QB Paul Smith, but still loaded.
WRONG! Tulsa made it to the C-USA championship but lost to early season darlings E. Carolina
Mid-America Conference: Central Michigan. QB Dan Lefevour the real deal.
WRONG! Turner Gill's Buffalo team wins over previously unbeaten Ball State in MAC title game.
5. No team will go undefeated this season. Now, this prediction may be less plausible. And being an Oklahoma fan, I think out of my top 5 OU has the best chance to go undefeated. But in the aftermath of last season it is hard to believe that the rollercoaster ride college football was would change. Then again, we could go in with 3 or 4 teams undefeated and everyone in the press calling for a playoff. Who knows. I just don't think anyone will come out unblemished.
CORRECT! Okay, when it comes to BCS conference teams I am correct. Utah and Boise State are still undefeated going into the bowl season with a difficult task at hand. Utah faces Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, while Boise faces a tough TCU team in the Poinsettia Bowl.
So I didn't do so well in my predictions. I guess that's how it goes. I will say this, in the Big 12 South it was an unbelieveable season.
And now comes my rant.
It seemed like every weekend during conference play there was a marquee matchup and the drama ended in a THREE-WAY TIE for the division lead at the end of the regular season. I capitalize this statement because most people in Texas and in the media seem to forget that there were three teams tied in the lead: OU, Texas, and Texas Tech. Each with 11-1 records, each 7-1 in the conference, each losing one game to each other. OU lost to Texas 45-35. Texas lost to Texas Tech 39-33. Texas Tech lost to OU 65-21.
Tech was automatically dismissed out of the conversation since it was dominated by OU, which is unfair to both Tech and OU. How should Tech be forgotten when they still beat a then-#1 ranked Texas team? And how should OU be penalized for blowing out the then-#2 team in the country. Imagine if OU had only won by about 7 or 10 points. Would that make Tech more relevant and less forgotten?
All I'm trying to say is there was a THREE-WAY TIE, not a two-way tie between Texas and OU like the media or Texas fans would make you think. I find it so annoying to see plans fly over OU games and Texas fans with "45-35" signs. If you didn't lose to Tech, you wouldn't have to whine and complain to try to get BCS points from voters.
If you take that same "head-to-head" argument with Texas and Tech, then Tech deserves to be in a BCS bowl more than Texas does since Tech beat Texas 39-33. I don't think Texas would like that, would they. But that argument never came about because Texas is Texas and Tech is Tech. Reputation goes a long way with these bowl selections. If there were a playoff, Tech wouldn't feel so jobbed right now.
Speaking of playoffs, it's about that time of year again for my brother-in-law and I to have our EA Sports NCAA Football playoff. That's right, we are making our own bracket and playing it out to see who would win. More details to come later. Enjoy the bowl games and BOOMER SOONER!
Jed and Germaine are ready for the bowl season. Are you?
