By Ethan Moore, Sports Editor.
I’m not a boastful person, I prefer to stay in the background and let my work speak for itself. With sports, however, this is not the case. I know what I’m talking about, and these 10 facts are money in the bank. Let’s get rich, kids.
- Michigan State will exceed expectations this year, barely: The over/under in Vegas for the Spartans is 7.5 wins. They will definitely regress this year, but you can sleep easy at night knowing they’ll get at least 8.
- A quarterback will win the Heisman Trophy: The narrative for the season has been the consistency and talent at running back around the league, however, the quarterback is still the engine of the team and we should see one of them rise above the rest to claim the 6th QB heisman in the last 7 years.
- Alabama is going to miss Kirby Smart more than he misses them: Everybody keeps talking about the question marks on offense for the ‘Tide, but with their first defensive coordinator change in the Saban era, the transition may be rockier than you expect.
- Stanford will be the Pac-12’s only hope of reaching the playoff…again: The other California schools should beat each other up, and Oregon is due for a rebuilding year. All aboard the Cardinal express.
- The Big 12’s inability to play defense will cost them in out of conference games: Oklahoma showed an inability to keep Clemson out of the end zone in their playoff game last year and in their opener against Houston. I think the Big 12 is playing a different game from everyone else, and it’s not good.
- LSU will continue to lose to Alabama: Death, Taxes, and Saban crushing his former teams.
- Multiple two loss teams will make the playoff this year: Big Ten winner will have two losses, Pac-12 winner will, heck even the SEC could. Lots of parity will create the tightest race yet.
- Ohio State will win the Big Ten: I’m sorry Michigan fans, I believe that Harbaugh is one of the best coaches in college football, but his team is still mostly Brady Hoke recruits. Ohio State’s conference schedule is much easier (no Iowa), so for now it’s their division to lose.
- Michigan will finish with two losses: They will be much improved and close to what people are predicting. Beating two out of three of MSU, Iowa, and OSU should win them the conference, but I have a hard time believing they can.
- This year’s playoff teams will be: Clemson, Ohio State, Houston, and Alabama: Clemson has the schedule to run the table, (although I don’t think they will), Ohio State should get in as the Big Ten champ, Houston will run the table and be the first non power five conference team to make the playoff, and Alabama will continue to roll through an SEC that is the weakest that it’s been in the past few years.
There you have it, enough hot takes to last you through the early parts of the season. If you would like to talk sports, argue any of my points above or just want to call me an idiot, you can email me at ethanmoore2@delta.edu, or on twitter @EthanMooreDC.