Predictions for the 2005-2006 season.
(Part 1; BCS conferences)
May 26, 2005
Tim Bond
CFBmedia.com
The hardest thing to get right is projecting how certain teams will finish. Right now, almost everyone agrees that Southern California has to be the clear cut favorites to win the PAC-10 and the national championship, but how certain are we in the month of May?
I’ll go out on the limb and make some predictions. Let me first tell you how I came up with them. First, I used how the team did last year, then looked at what each team lost and gained. I looked at their coaching staff and the experience of the players. I then approached my peers, fans like you, to see what they thought, and trust me, it was not all that good. Some liked the predictions and others basically laughed at me. But that is okay, that is what friends are for, right?
Part 1 of this article is about the BCS Conferences, Part 2, which will be next week will be of the other conferences.
Now then, let’s waste no more time, ON WITH THE PREDICTIONS!!!!!
The ACC:
The newcomers came in and took charge of this conference. The addition of Miami and Virginia Tech has made the ACC more competitive, and I think it will continue to be that way for quite some time. I believe Virginia Tech will defend their ACC title this year. And this is the reason why.
They return 8 on offense, and 6 on defense and their kicker. This team gave Auburn all they wanted, and with a coach like Frank Beamer at the helm, it is hard to say they will not win it this year. Their biggest question mark coming into this year is quarterback, but since the loss of Michael Vick, it seems it has been that way. Marcus Vick, Mike’s little brother, will most likely start the season at QB, though in the spring they had him listed as the #3 QB on the depth chart.
The VT defense will be good again. They were able to add some depth to the DL, that is in desperate need of more, with the walk on of DE Orion Martin. The LB’s are still solid, the DB’s are a big question mark however. And get this, their new punter, is huge. He is 270 pounds and squats a Volkswagen Bus, or 600 pounds. Doesn’t that guy need to be on the OL or DL? Throw in Beamer ball, and you have a good combo to make another run at the ACC title.
The Big East
Welcome to a major conference Louisville. This one is tough to decide who will win it. You have Pittsburgh, the returning champs bring back 19 returning starters. Yet, Louisville has a darn good program. And that is who I think will win this conference. Why?
Though Pitt brings back their entire team, so it seems, they have a new coach. Yes, Dave Wannstedt. He is trying to turn Pitt into the Miami Dolphins, with a power running game. Louisville however, has some holes to fill. But they have proven they can play with the big dawgs and they have been beating up on teams, that are much like in the Big East now, that they have proven to me, they are a formidable foe in football. They return just 12 players, 6 offense and 5 defense, 1 special team. They are loaded at the DL, and return darn near all their OL. They have what appears to be a very good QB in Brian Brohm, so they should be able to recover from the graduation of Stefan LeFors rather quickly. Their Defensive backfields holds something left to be desired however. They are on the rise, and this team should not be taken lightly. Their coach is a good one, Bobby Petrino, and they are out to prove they belong in a BCS conference.
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