I was not going to do predictions for this year, but after watching a few games today, I figured I might as well give it a shot. I mean, if the Sun Belt is willing to play football, then I can risk making awful predictions.
So before we begin, I should mention that I totally understand that the players want to play and that it is incredibly difficult decision for schools to make on whether or not to play football. I honestly have no clue what the right answer is. Please, I do not need any comments about how they should not be playing or how the Big Ten was stupid for canceling. Anyways, enough ranting, on to the bad picks!
Clemson
Notre Dame
Virginia
UNC
Florida State
Pitt
Virginia Tech
Miami
Wake Forest
Louisville
Syracuse
Boston College
Georgia Tech
NC State
Duke
Yeah, it’s Clemson. It does not matter if they get rid of divisions and add Notre Dame, Clemson will dominate.
| East | West |
| Ohio State | Minnesota |
| Michigan | Nebraska |
| Penn State | Wisconsin |
| Michigan State | Iowa |
| Indiana | Purdue |
| Maryland | Northwestern |
| Rutgers | Illinois |
If this were a normal year, I would have had Penn State higher. Without Parsons, that defense goes from great to just very good and I honestly do not know if they will be able to stop an Ohio State without a playmaker like him.
Oklahoma
Texas
Kansas State
Baylor
Oklahoma State
West Virginia
TCU
Iowa State
Texas Tech
Kansas
I do not think Oklahoma has much competition this year. The other teams are all two/three loss teams. The Sooners win the conference with maybe a loss.
| South | North |
| USC | Washington |
| Utah | California |
| Arizona State | Oregon |
| UCLA | Stanford |
| Arizona | Washington State |
| Colorado | Oregon State |
Honestly, this one is tough for me. I have no clue what will happen. It looks like they are going to try get their season started (I read an article about how they are partnering with a lab to do rapid testing). Like the Big Ten, there are so many questions about whether or not teams will be ready, who will play or opt out, and will Pac-12 fans complain again about not being in the college football playoff conversation?
| West | East |
| Alabama | Georgia |
| LSU | Florida |
| Texas A&M | South Carolina |
| Auburn | Tennessee |
| Mississippi | Kentucky |
| Mississippi State | Vanderbilt |
| Arkansas | Missouri |
Here is the true test for LSU. They lost a ton of players and if they want to be at the Alabama level, they need to reload and be just as good as last year. The East is pretty cool. They have a bunch of teams that will probably be okay. Georgia and Florida are good, but the rest are meh.
UCF
Navy
SMU
Memphis
Cincinnati
Temple
South Florida
Tulane
Houston
East Carolina
Tulsa
UConn
I should get UConn right, since they cancelled football this year. I am cheating a bit here. I watched SMU and Memphis today, neither one looked that impressive. I will probably be very wrong about them.
| East | West |
| Marshall | LA Tech |
| FAU | UAB |
| Charlotte | North Texas |
| Western Kentucky | Southern Miss |
| FIU | UTSA |
| Middle Tennessee | Rice |
| Old Dominion | UTEP |
Marshall looks pretty good so far. I would like to see them have a big year.
| East | West |
| Ohio | Northern Illinois |
| Miami OH | Central Michigan |
| Kent State | Ball State |
| Buffalo | Western Michigan |
| Akron | Eastern Michigan |
| Bowling Green | Toledo |
| MW West | MW Mountain |
| San Diego State | Boise State |
| Nevada | Utah State |
| Hawaii | Air Force |
| Fresno State | Wyoming |
| UNLV | Colorado State |
| San Jose State | New Mexico |
The MAC and Mountain West cancelled their season and they considering a spring start, but something tells me if they do not start up in late fall, they may just scrap their seasons.
| Group A | Group B |
| Appalachian State | Arkansas State |
| Georgia State | LA-Lafayette |
| Troy | Texas State |
| Georgia Southern | LA-Monroe |
| Coastal Carolina | South Alabama |
I still think App State is a cut above the rest of the conference. They should have a little test to start the year with Charlotte and Marshall. I do not think they are going to run the table this year, but I think they win the conference with one loss.
PLAYOFFS
How the heck is this going to work? I guess if they just go with the teams that are playing now, then the top four will probably look like this:
1. Clemson
2. Oklahoma
3. Alabama
4. LSU
Yep, two SEC teams. I think this ends up being another Clemson championship though. Yuck.
