Its College Football Time!

Now that the World Cup and the Lebronathon are over, it is finely time to write about my favorite sport, football.  This upcoming season of college football should be incredibly exciting.  Here are some random thoughts about the upcoming season:

-  This could be the year the ACC pulls even with the SEC.  That statement sounds ridiculous at first, but it definitely could happen.  North Carolina has a great opportunity to beat LSU in Atlanta at the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic.  UNC basically has an NFL defense and LSU really hasn't been the same since the last of Saban's recruits left.  Plus, all of the SEC's elite teams are rife with question marks.  Arkansas cannot play defense.  Florida has to replace football Jesus.  Even Alabama only returns two defensive starters.  On the other side, the ACC is full of teams capable of competing for a conference title (and if the cards break the right way, a national title as well).  Whether you believe me or not, FSU football is back.  Christian Ponder is a legit Heisman contender and the Noles' defense is much improved.  Virginia Tech is always dangerous and has an experienced quarterback in Tyrod Taylor.  Georgia Tech is in a similar position and Anthony Allen should ensure that there is no drop-off from Jonathon Dwyer's departure.  UNC's defense has 5 future NFL first rounders and their entire defense could one day play in the pros.  And even though I don't believe it, Miami is supposed to be back as well.  While Alabama is still the class of both conferences, the ACC should be the deeper and better southern conference this season.

-  Terrell Pryor's entire career has been exactly like Vince Young's and that trend will continue this year.  Pryor and Young are both absurdly athletic and mobile quarterbacks.  Both were incredibly hyped coming out of high school and both struggled their first 2 years in college.  Specifically, they both struggled because their coaches tried to fit them into a system rather than letting their talents develop.  Then, both players were allowed to open their games up at the end of their sophomore seasons and they both flourished.  Specially, they both had monster games in the Rose Bowl.  This is where the comparison ends since Pryor is just beginning his junior season.  During his junior year, Vince Young led Texas to an undefeated season, finished second in Heisman voting to an undeserving Reggie Bush, and willed his team to an amazing victory over one of the most talented teams of all time in USC.  If history is any indication, this upcoming season should be a great one for Pryor and Ohio State.

-  This will be the year that a non-BCS team wins the national title.  Let me write that again.  This will be the year that a non-BCS team wins the national title.  Boise State is going to beat Virginia Tech in DC on Labor Day and then roll through the rest of their schedule all the way to the BCS Title Game.  And then they are going to upset whatever team the BCS decides to throw at them.  The Broncos return 21 of 22 starters from last year's undefeated team and they are the best team in the country.  They will win the national title next January and they will have earned it.

-  USC was down last year and they will stay down this year.  USC's fall last year was a combination of their own decline and the rise of the rest of their conference.  They have only gotten worse and the rest of the Pac-10 has only gotten better.  USC lost their elite coach and replaced him with the biggest punk in American sports, Lane Kiffin.  Coupled with the sanctions the NCAA finally placed on USC for paying Reggie Bush and OJ Mayo to play there, a dark period in Trojan football is about to begin.  Meanwhile, the power of the rest of the conference is rising.  Washington and Stanford have Heisman contenders at quarterback and great young coaches on the sidelines.  Mike Stoops has quietly built a very strong program at Arizona and Oregon State was good last year and will only get better behind the Rodgers brothers.  It should be a very exciting race out west and there is a very good chance USC won't be a part of it.

-  Here are my predictions for the conference champions for the upcoming season:
ACC - Florida State Seminoles
Big East - Pittsburgh Panthers
Big 10 - Ohio State Buckeyes
Big 12 - Nebraska Cornhuskers
Pac-10 - Oregon State Beavers
SEC - Alabama Crimson Tide