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Thursday, August 30, 2007
Projecting the conference champs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The season FINALLY gets underway tonight with four of the Top 25 (No. 2 LSU, No. 16 Rutgers, No. 10 Louisville, and No. 24 Boise State) in action. So before toe meets leather, as the great Al Ciraldo used to say, let’s pick the 11 conference winners for 2007. On Friday I’ll do weekend predictions.
ACC: Florida State Everybody’s picking Virginia Tech but I think Georgia Tech beats the Hokies on Nov. 1 in Atlanta. Toughened by a brutal road schedule, Florida State beats Georgia Tech in Jacksonville for the championship.
SEC: LSU There is a pretty significant talent gap, particularly on defense, between LSU and the rest of the league. Still, this is the most balanced the SEC has been in a long, long time. LSU beats Florida in the SEC championship game.
BIG EAST: West Virginia There is a reason Rick Rodriguez didn’t take the Alabama job. He knew this team was good enough to run the table and reach the BCS championship game.
BIG TEN: Michigan The Wolverines are loaded with QB Chad Henne, RB Michael Hart, and OT Jake Long, who would have all been high NFL Draft picks. If Michigan can beat Ohio State, something the Wolverines haven’t done since 2003, they could push West Virginia out of the big game.
BIG 12: Texas QB Colt McCoy, RB Jamaal Charles, and WR Limas Sweed are all-conference caliber players. The Longhorns will have to beat Oklahoma on Oct. 6 to get to the Big 12 championship game, where they will face Missouri or Nebraska.
PAC-10: Southern Cal The Trojans start the season No. 1 and will stay No. 1. The only potential stumbling block is a Nov. 10 trip to California.
CONFERENCE USA: Southern Miss The Golden Eagles, led by sophomore RB Damion Fletcher, beat Tulsa in the conference championship game.
MID-AMERICAN: Central Michigan: The defending champions lost coach Brian Kelly to Cincinnati, but will win the title again under new coach Butch Jones. QB Dan LeFevour threw for over 3,000 yards as a freshman last season.
MOUNTAIN WEST: TCU The Horned Frogs, who have won 10 or more games in three of the past four seasons, have the BCS on their minds. A Sept. 8 trip to Texas gives them a chance to be this year’s Boise State.
SUN BELT: Troy QB Omar Haugabook will be the league’s offensive player of the year for the second straight season.
WAC: Hawaii: It appears the only thing standing between the Warriors and a 12-0 season is a Nov. 23 home game with Boise State. But with that schedule, an undefeated season will not get Hawaii into the BCS.
