2022-23 College Football Preview & Predictions

I had mentioned in my profile what a big college football fan and enthusiast I was. 1st year of the college football playoffs I predicted all 4 teams.?

Before my son Cameron arrived into my life, I used to take my college football periodicals and research to the Caribbean / vacation and do my reading either on a white sandy beach or while the wife was readying herself for dinner.?Now I spend evenings after Cameron is in bed with a bourbon and my periodicals.?

All of my posts and articles thus far have been business / industry related.?Since I do not participate on Facebook or Twitter and many of my friends are also people I do business with, I thought I would share some insights into my after work stress relief.

Last year was rough. It was my worst year of predictions ever. Given the fact that so many players had extra eligibility due to COVID, it made handicapping a nightmare. I will be back this year.

Predicted Top 10 teams –

1. Alabama - No surprise here. Alabama continues to lose NFL players and reload. This year they lose Jameson Williams, Brian Robinson, John Mitchie and the Best Offensive Tackle in Evan Neal to the NFL on offense and 4 players on defense. Fear not - Bryce Young is a dynamic sophmore QB who had 47 TD to 7 into ratio as a TRUE freshman. Almost unheard of. The defense is lead by the top player in country (Nagursksi winner last year) in OLB Will Anderson. Anderson notched an incredible 102 tackles, 17.5 sacks and 9 QB hurries in his TRUE sophmore year. Dallas Turner was an All American TRUE frosh OLB who had 8.5 sacks and used mostly on passing downs. The pressure these 2 gents are going to get on opposing QB's will be something for the record books. Jordan Battle is a Junior Safety AA (All American) who roams the secondary. Bama draws Tex A&M, Auburn and Miss St at home. Biggest challenge comes at Arkansas on Oct 1. I look for an undefeated year heading into the SEC Championship game.
2. Ohio St - Has 3 AA (All Americans) at all 3 offensive skill positions. Arguably one of the top 2 - QB (CJ Stroud - Sophmore), RB (Treveon Henderson - Sophmore) and WR Jaxson Smith-Njigba (Sophmore). Couple this with one of the top Offensive Lines (Joe Moore candidate for top offensive line in the country) and you have magic. Ohio State will average a whopping 40 points a game this year. On defense they return 8 starters including one of the top defensive lines in the country. The schedule is challenging - They open the season at home against Notre Dame and need to go on the road to Michigan St, Penn St but get Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan at home. I see Ohio St being undefeated against Michigan in "The Game" for the right to play in the final 4.
3. Georgia - The Champs return 7 players on offense but lost an amazing 9 defensive players to the NFL draft. Stetson Bennett returns for his senior year at QB and has arguably the the top offensive line in the country in front of him. Last years defense yielded an amazing 10.2 points per game on average - legendary numbers. They lose the entire starting defensive line but do return 310 lb DT Jalen Carter who as a redshirt freshman notched 37 tackles, 5.5 sacks and an amazing 30 QB hurries. OLB Nolan Smith (27 QB hurries) is a future NFL 1st or 2nd round pick and turned down the draft to return to the Dawgs this year. The secondary is relatively young but all elite talented players and arguably tops in the country. The Dawgs get Oregon on a neutral field week 1, but avoid Bama and get Auburn and Tennessee at home. Their biggest test comes in Jacksonville against the Gators on Oct 29. I look for Georgia to play Bama in the SEC Championship - the winner gets the better seeding in the final 4.
4. Clemson - Last year I said the Tigers inexperienced offensive line and QB could be trouble and the first game of the year against Georgia would be a big deal. Well it was all true and Clemson finished 9-3 in the regular season. This year QB - DJ Uiagalelei and the offensive line is grown up. They return 75 career starts on the line including Marcus Tate who is 1 of 2 TRUE freshman to start an opener since 1980. Six starters return on defense including the best defensive line in the country. Myles Murphy, Bryan Breese (AA before injury) Xavier Thomas (17 QB hurries) and Ruke Orhorhoro is an elite squad when healthy will oppose their will on offenses. Their biggest challenge in conference comes at Wake Forest on Sept 24 as they get NC State at home. They must travel to Notre Dame on Nov 5th, but should find their way into the final 4 on New Years.
5. Texas A&M - Jimbo Fishers 5th year and one of his best draft classes yet. Max Johnson (son of Brad Johnson) who started as TRUE fresh last year at LSU comes to College Station. The Running-back room is on the best in country and led by explosive Devon Achane. The defensive secondary is one of the best in the country including future top NFL pick Myles Jones. Losses are heavy to the defensive front but they have talented recruits waiting in the wings. Perhaps most importantly their schedule favors a run. They get Arkansas on neutral field, must go to Miss St and Bama on consecutive weeks but get out of conference foe Miami & SEC rival Florida at home.
6. Oklahoma - Last years QB Caleb Williams hit the portal but the Sooners get Dillon Gabriel from UCF. The offensive line returns a whopping 125 career starts and is once again a Joe Moore award candidate. On defense they have to replace nasty pass rushers Isaiah Thomas and Nick Bonito (both NFL picks). But they return one the best linebacker and secondary rooms in the country. They travel to Nebraska, TCU and Iowa St this year but get Oklahoma St at home and Texas on neutral field in the annual Red River Rivalry. The schedule is very favorable as Iowa St and TCU are not the same caliber teams as last year.
7. Iowa - Perhaps the surprise on this list - Coach Ferentz will have this team competing again for top honors. The Hawkeyes return 14 starters including one of the top 10 LB and secondary units in the country. The defensive line returns 3 starters with over 100 tackles last year. This is a sneaky strong experienced team who gets Michigan, Iowa St, Wisconsin and Nebraska at home. They have to travel to Ohio St on Oct 22 and Minnesota on Nov 19. I could easily see this team winning 11 games this year.
8. North Carolina St - The Wolfpack return 17 starters from last year including the best ACC QB in Devin Leary. The offensive line is once again a strength with 95 career starts. The top 5 defensive linesman all posted double digit tackles last year and they are a talented unit. The secondary is one of the most experienced in the country but the linebackers might be the best in country - they have 2 All-ACC LB's. Drake Thomas who had 100 tackles last year turned down the NFL. The biggest game of the year and for the ACC is on Oct 1 when they travel to Clemson. The winner will take the ACC Atlantic. @ Louisville on Nov 19 could also pose a threat but I see this team with 11 wins by years end.
9. Oregon - Bo Nix transfers in from Auburn as the Ducks new QB. The offense returns 8 including an offensive line which was a semi finalist for the Joe Moore award last year and with 86 career starts back will be in the conversation again. On defense the Ducks return 7 including All American LB Noah Sewell who recorded 114 tackles as a TRUE Fresh! The Ducks open on a neutral site against a tough Georgia team, but get non conference BYU at home as well as Stanford, UCLA, Washington and Utah. The toughest conference road game will come the last of the year at the "Civil War" in Corvallis OR when they take on Oregon State.
10. Boise St - Returns 17 starters from last year including All-Mountain West QB Hank Bachmeirer. On defense they return an amazing 20 of the top 22 tacklers from last year. They open the year @ Oregon State which wont be easy, but get Fresno St, SD St, and non conf BYU at home. The MW game of the year will be Boise St at Airforce on Oct 22. If Boise can pull out a win against BYU they will be considered for a New Years 6 bowl bid.

Honorable Mention -

UCLA - Chip Kelly has been doing a fantastic recruiting job in LA. Super star Senior QB Dorian Thompson Robinson leads a vaunted Bruins offense. Zach Carbonet is a 1st team Pac-12 RB but needs to stay healthy because the depth at RB is not there this year. The offensive line returns 84 career starts. The defense goes from 10 returning starters last year to 2. The linebackers are my biggest concern as they lose all 4 starters (include Nickleback). They get Washington, Stanford and USC at home and travel to Oregon and Arizona St. They should roll up the non conference play and have a legit chance at 10 wins this year.

Michigan - The offense is loaded this year as they return 9 starters including Joe Moore award candidate O-Line. They lost 3 high NFL draft picks and only return 4 defensive starters. They have very manageable schedule with Iowa and Ohio State on the road as their biggest challenges. Wouldn't surprise me to see they with 10 wins when season is over.

SMU - That's right I said SMU. They return a whopping 59 lettermen including QB Tanner Mordecai. RB Camar Wheaton will start here and was a top 2 RB recruit at Alabama and a rare transfer to an American Athletic Conference (AAC) team. 7 of the top 8 tacklers are back in the secondary and this is a solid defense. They get TCU at home in non-conference and Cincy and Houston at home in conference. Must travel to UCF and Maryland. This is a strong team and my dark-horse pick to win the AAC and a chance for longshot New Years Day bowl bid.

Kansas State - I have to include this team in the Darkhorse discussion. Electric QB Adrian Martinez transfers here from Nebraska, the Wildcats have 1st team All American RB in Deuce Vaughn and a solid line. On defense the front 3 is elite and disruptive, the linebackers are deep and the secondary returns 2 of the top corners in the Nation in Julius Brents and Ekow Boye-Doe. The schedule is a challenge. They travel to Norman to take on the Sooners on Sept 24th, followed by a trip to Aimes, Iowa St, then TCU and Baylor. They do get Missouri in non-conference and Oklahoma St, Texas all at home. 8 wins is most likely but this team is capable of a couple shockers and it wouldn't surprise me if they beat Oklahoma and/or Baylor and demand a top 6 bowl bid.