Alright, so looking ahead to college football next year here are my early thoughts. I think the purple and gold Tigers take a step back and finish 9-3 in the regular season as we build towards making another run at the title in 2021. Without our Tigers in the playoff picture, this is how I see it playing out.
PAC 12 will once again be left out of the playoff because they will have no dominant team. Oregon and Utah both lose a lot, and I just don't think USC is ready to take that next step.
Oklahoma will take a big step back, and I think Texas will be the frontrunner in the Big 12 next year. I think they will be "back" but still lose 2 games to end up missing the playoffs.
I don't think Notre Dame is good enough to make the playoffs, so that leaves three conferences to produce the four teams.
I'll take Clemson from the ACC as a shoe-in along with Ohio State from the Big Ten. Both teams are just too talented for their respective conferences and end up with 1 loss max, which will be good enough to get in.
The SEC will be very interesting next year with a lot of teams rebuilding. I actually think Florida will have a breakout season and win the conference for the first time in a while and represent the SEC in the playoffs. I don't see any other SEC team finishing with 0 or 1 losses, so I'm heading back to the Big Ten where I think Penn State will finish with only the 1 loss to Ohio State and give the Big Ten two representatives in the playoffs.
Clemson will beat Penn State in one semifinal while Florida beats Ohio State in the other. We have yet another Clemson vs SEC championship game, and this time the orange Tigers win it all.
PAC 12 will once again be left out of the playoff because they will have no dominant team. Oregon and Utah both lose a lot, and I just don't think USC is ready to take that next step.
Oklahoma will take a big step back, and I think Texas will be the frontrunner in the Big 12 next year. I think they will be "back" but still lose 2 games to end up missing the playoffs.
I don't think Notre Dame is good enough to make the playoffs, so that leaves three conferences to produce the four teams.
I'll take Clemson from the ACC as a shoe-in along with Ohio State from the Big Ten. Both teams are just too talented for their respective conferences and end up with 1 loss max, which will be good enough to get in.
The SEC will be very interesting next year with a lot of teams rebuilding. I actually think Florida will have a breakout season and win the conference for the first time in a while and represent the SEC in the playoffs. I don't see any other SEC team finishing with 0 or 1 losses, so I'm heading back to the Big Ten where I think Penn State will finish with only the 1 loss to Ohio State and give the Big Ten two representatives in the playoffs.
Clemson will beat Penn State in one semifinal while Florida beats Ohio State in the other. We have yet another Clemson vs SEC championship game, and this time the orange Tigers win it all.
