Stupid 2008 Football Predictions

Every year at this time, I sit down and think about what is going to happen in the up coming football year. I think back to the good old days of Woodson, Howard, Henson, and John Cooper and say to myself "I knew those guys were going to be great".


So here are my 2008 predictions and my opportunity to "look like the smartest guy on the Internet or the Dumbest"

• Michigan's Freshman of the year: Michael Shaw
• Michigan Defense will rank in the top 10 all year
• Michigan will win 8 games this year
• Michigan State will lose to CAL and Florida Atlantic before the Big Ten begins (they will beat ND)
• ND will be 6-6
• OSU will lose to USC and it won't be close (Big Ten teams don't travel well to the West Coast with a week to prepare)
• The SEC Champ will have at least 2 losses in conference
• OSU will go 11-1 and won't make it to the BCS Championship game because of the last two years performance
• Ryan Mallett will fumble snaps on the sideline at Arkansas
• Surprise Team of the Year is North Carolina
• Coach of the Year is Butch Davis
• West Virgina will battle Cincinnati for the Big East Title
• This will be Kirk Ferentz last year at Iowa
• App State will hang with LSU for a half and then the Dream Part 2 ends (sequels are never as good)
• Scoring will reach an all time high this year as the Spread has taken over college football
• JoPa will retire after this year due to pressure from alumni and fans after another average year
• We won't understand Lou Holtz at all on College Gameday, but he will predict ND to win 11-12 games and go to a BCS Bowl
• Herbie's hair on Gameday will be perfect
• Brian Kelly will be the "hot candidate" for any opening next year
• The Big Ten Network will cover the games but not as professionally as ABC/ESPN
• Beno Cook will predict that Ron Powlus will win the Heisman this year
• All the Florida teams will improve and be ready to dominate again in 2009
• Someone on Iowa will get arrested
• Central Michigan will upset a BCS school
• Brian Billick will be a head coach of a BCS school next year
• Norm Chow will do wonders at UCLA
• Joe Tiller will throw Michigan "under the bus" during his farewell speech

Boy I miss College Football. Almost 24 hours before kickoff on Thursday!

2008 Heisman Winner Odds

Who do you think will win this year's Heisman? Carlos "Santana" Brown or maybe Sam "the Crime Dog" McGuffie?

betED.com just released it's top Heisman candidates for this year. No real surprises here but worth a look.

1) Tim "the toolman" Tebow: Could this dual threat QB go Archie Griffin and win this for the second time? He is the leader in the clubhouse. I wonder which team beat Tim and the Gators last?

2) Chase "Manhattan" Daniel, Missouri QB: I think there needs to be some type of "Barwis" test before you could win the Heisman, but if he is in shape and has a good year, he is as good a prospect for NYC as anyone.

2B) Chris "don't call me David - it's Beanie" Wells, Ohio State RB: Last seen in Ann Arbor running what seemed to be a marathon. OSU fans had hoped to see more Beanie in New Orleans.

3) Knowshon "I know how to gain yards" Moreno, Georgia RB: Had a good Freshman year but might finds himself in the dreaded "Sophomore Jinx". Either way, not sure the voters would go for a Super Soph for the second year in a row. I think the schedule will be too tough on Mr. Moreno in the SEC.

4) Matthew "JCPenney Suits" Stafford, Georgia QB: Not sure Matt is exciting enough to win the Heisman, maybe Tim can show him the sweet jump pass. Having two candidates on one team won't help either.

5) LeSean "the real" McCoy, Pittsburgh RB: This guy is fast and a I saw him rack up some yards in the Big East last year. But I don't think too many voters are going to be DVR'ing many PITT games this year.

6) Percy "need a GPS?" Harvin, Florida WR: This guy can plan out fly down the football field, but with "tool man" on the same team and with video highlights of Morgan Trent running him down in the Citrus, I think Percy is a long shot.

7) Graham "cracker" Harrell, Texas Tech QB: Who? Since he plays for Texas Tech he must be a QB that puts up some ridiculous numbers.

8) Pat " I wish I was in Ann Arbor" White, West Virginia QB: I think Pat has the best chance at winning and should be ranked right under Beanie. Pat will get the college superstar QB but won't play it in the NFL vote and has a great chance if WVU runs the table.

Cell Block News and Notes: Less Arties more Farties

• Local Michigan artist paints a salute to Michigan football.
• Vance Bedford finds a job with Urban Myer at Florida.
  
• After a terrible 08 recruiting class, MSU 2009 Class is starting off strong. With three instate verbal’s already. Oak Park junior running back Edwin Baker, Detroit Renaissance junior linebacker Christian Norman, and Ypsilanti junior receiver Donald Spencer. As we all know a lot can change in a year, let's just see if all these guys stay committed to the Green and White.
  
• Jim Carty, NFL Insider (not!) says Long and Crable are on the rise in the NFL Draft. The other Wolverines are dropping. If I'm Adrian Arrington, I'm a little concerned about the decision I made to leave school a year early. He is being projected in the 5th or 6th rounds. I'm not sure you leave school early to become a late round draft pick. I don't care who the QB is next year, your upside would have been much higher if you had stayed in school. It can't get any lower then a late round pick anyway. I believe Henne has impressed scouts at the Senior Bowl and the Combine, I think he is a solid second round pick. I have seen some experts rate Chad higher then Brian Brohm from Louisville.
• Fox picks the top 41 non conference games. Yes, OSU vs USC is the top non-conference game. Michigan has two on the board:

  #18. Utah at Michigan, Aug. 30 If you thought Appalachian State was a rough home opener for the Wolverines, wait until they have to deal with Brian Johnson, Darrell Mack and a Utah team that's more than good enough to get the RichRod era off to a resounding thud. It took everything in the bag for Michigan to win 10-7 in 2002 in the only meeting between the two teams. #14. Michigan at Notre Dame, Sept. 13 The Irish have lost the last two to the Wolverines by a combined score of 85-21, but Charlie Weis can quickly start to erase memories of last year's disaster with a big win. Rich Rodriguez can't start off his introduction to this series with a loss, even if his program will need a year or so to get the pieces in place.

A look ahead at the schedule

As I sit here in late February dreaming of Threet bombs to Darryl Stonum for 3 touchdowns against Utah on August 30th. I started thinking about some of the big non-conference games next year. I found there are a number of interesting match-ups to start off next years college football season. The Blue Text is my guess on ABC's Saturday Night Football Match -Up. Let's take a look, shall we?


August 30th:
Southern Cal @ Virginia
Clemson vs. Alabama
Hawaii @ Florida
Michigan State @ Cal
Utah@Michigan


September 6th:
Auburn @ West Virginia
Tennessee @ UCLA
Miami @ Florida
Cincinnati @ Oklahoma
Oregon State @ Penn State


September 13th:
Ohio State @ Southern Cal
Michigan @ Notre Dame
Arkansas @ Texas
Oregon @ Purdue
Kansas @ South Florida
Oklahoma @ Washington


September 20th:
Georgia @ Arizona State
Iowa @ Pitt
Colorado @ Florida State
Miami @ Texas A&M
Boise State @ Oregon
Notre Dame @ Michigan State


September 27th:
Virginia Tech @ Nebraska
West Virginia @ Colorado

Spread and Time?

All I keep hearing from the media is it will take time for the Wolverines to adjust to the spread offense run by Rich Rodriguez. I even read one article that predicted next years Notre Dame would be Michigan as they go through the adjustment period. They predicted Michigan in the Alamo Bowl. Funny how a trip to the Alamo Bowl equals a 3 win season? Anyways, on to the reasons I believe Michigan will preform well next year in the spread:

• Did you watch the Capital One Bowl? Michigan ran a throwing spread and beat the Heisman trophy winner and a top 12 SEC team.


• Michigan has been playing against the spread all year. Ever since App. State and Oregon hit town, everybody has been spreading the Wolverines out. 9 wins doesn't a national championship make but isn't too shabby either.


• What if Pryor doesn't come to Michigan? What if he does? If he does we go more the running option spread, if he doesn't we see a lot of the offense Michigan was in during the Capital One Bowl. If Mallett had stayed he would have been putting up a lot of 300 yard games - instead he can sit out a year. Good decision young man.


• How come it wasn't a factor for Brian Kelly when he took over a Pro Style offense at Cincinnati this year? They did pretty well.


• Auburn put in the spread between their last game and the bowl game and won the game. It wasn't pretty but they had 10 practices with a brand new coach and still won.


• These athletes are ready and willing to learn a new system where they will score a lot of points. They have Spring and Fall practice to learn the basics.

Does Michigan win a national title next year? No

Big Ten Title? Nope

Will they even beat the Top 5 ranked Buckeyes in C-Bus? Probably Not

Will they struggle with the spread? At times.

Will they win 10 games and go to a new years day bowl? Yes

Michigan will end up 10-2 next year with losses to OSU and PSU on the road. (PSU has to win one at some point). Wisconsin and Illinois are at home. The Juice at the Big House will be tough but I like our chances at home.