We’re more than halfway through the college football season so naturally it’s time to revisit some of our preseason predictions. Let’s see where Shane, ‘Bear Down’ Steve, Jon (JB), and I stand through eight weeks:
The Good: JB picking Texas to make the Final Four. Didn’t look so good after Week 1…but since then, that team has been an absolute machine. Otherwise…outside of picking favorites Clemson and Alabama to win their conferences, there’s not much else to like.
The Bad: No one came close to picking Utah as the potential Pac-12 South Champion. I’d be very surprised, the way they are playing now, if they weren’t the South Division’s representative in the Conference Championship Game. None of us chose Tua Tagovailoa as our Heisman winner and three of us picked Clemson to win the National Championship. Yes, the Tigers are undefeated…but the Crimson Tide appear to be the elite team in CFB. And our Fiesta Bowl predictions…yuck!
The Ugly: All four of us predicted UofA to finish 9-3. They’re currently 3-5. And when it came to our disappointing teams this season – Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Michigan were very, VERY poor choices.
Fanatic Guest Picker Standings:
Week 1 – Chris Schubert: 8-2 SU, 7-3 ATS
Week 2 – Wesley Franco: 7-3 SU, 6-4 ATS
Week 3 – Shawn Crespin: 5-5 SU, 5-5 ATS
Week 4 – Jeff Hoodzow: 9-1 SU, 6-4 ATS
Week 5 – Mike Bauer: 8-2 SU, 6-4 ATS
Week 6 – George Sarafin: 5-5 SU, 3-7 ATS
Week 7 – Mike Muraco: 5-5 SU, 4-6 ATS
Week 8 – Randy White: 5-5 SU, 5-5 ATS
For the remainder of the regular season, ‘Producer Wes’, aka Wesley Franco will be our Fanatic guest picker. He’s a diehard ASU fan and did a hell of a job with a 7-3 SU and 6-4 ATS record in Week 2. I’ve made a charge these last several weeks and have a chance to sweep both titles…but we’ll see if the other ‘experts’ have anything to say about that!
| Eric Cohen | Jon Bell | Shane Dale | Steve Malina | (Fanatic Staff Guest Picker) Wesley Franco |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
@eacohen83 |
@koshercoach |
@shanedaleabc15 |
@beardownsteven |
@ProducerWes |
|
| Last Week (SU) | 9-1 | 7-3 | 7-3 | 6-4 | 5-5 |
| Last Week (ATS) | 6-4 | 5-5 | 3-7 | 5-5 | 5-5 |
| Season (SU) | 50-30 | 50-30 | 49-31 | 52-28 | 52-28 |
| Season (ATS) | 42-38 | 37-43 | 40-40 | 35-45 | 42-38 |
| Oregon (-9.5) at Arizona | ORE 38-20 | ORE 34-28 | ORE 38-28 | ORE 41-30 | ORE 52-17 |
| ASU at USC (-6.5) | USC 26-23 | USC 21-10 | ASU 23-20 | USC 31-24 | USC 35-28 |
| Utah (-9.5) at UCLA | UTAH 34-17 | UCLA 31-30 | UTAH 41-24 | UTAH 24-21 | UTAH 45-10 |
| Clemson (-16.5) at Florida State | CLEM 31-16 | CLEM 42-17 | CLEM 31-27 | CLEM 38-17 | CLEM 39-14 |
| Wisconsin (-6.5) at Northwestern | WISC 24-17 | WISC 21-17 | WISC 30-20 | WISC 28-24 | NW 27-24 |
| Florida vs. Georgia (-6.5) in Jacksonville | GA 27-13 | GA 17-14 | GA 28-17 | GA 24-20 | GA 35-24 |
| Iowa at Penn State (-6.5) | PSU 31-24 | IOWA 31-24 | PSU 13-10 | PSU 31-23 | PSU 40-35 |
| Washington (-11.5) at Cal | WASH 28-10 | WASH 24-10 | WASH 27-23 | WASH 34-20 | WASH 42-7 |
| Washington State at Stanford (-2.5) | STAN 27-22 | STAN 34-31 | STAN 34-28 | WSU 31-28 | WSU 35-32 |
| Texas A&M at Mississippi State (-2.5) | MSU 30-23 | A&M 31-14 | A&M 24-13 | A&M 21-20 | A&M 20-10 |
This Week’s Bold Prediction:
EC: I was correct last week that a top-10 team would be shockingly upset…I just didn’t think it would be Ohio State. Considering Florida and Georgia both meet that criteria this week, yet they play each other, I can’t use that prediction once again. So instead I’ll say this…Missouri destroys #12 Kentucky at home, 41-20, to knock the Wildcats all the way out of the top-20.
JB: UCLA has won 2 straight and could find itself atop the Pac 12 South with a win this weekend and some help elsewhere. Surprise? Not to this expert, who picked them to win the South at the beginning of the season, causing much ridicule from none other than Eric Andrew Cohen himself. A difficult test with suddenly scorching Utah awaits, but the Bruins stay hot and pull out the win at the Rose Bowl.
SD: Notre Dame will be pushed to the limit by Navy. The Fighting Irish will win but will NOT cover the three-plus-touchdown spread.
SM: How is Kentucky a touchdown underdog to Missouri despite being ranked 12th? Give me the Wildcats on the road to upset the Tigers.
WF: Washington State finds a way to keep Stanford rushers without any room to run, keeping a team to less than 100 yards for the 2nd straight week.
Cohen’s Weekly College Football Playoff Bowl Forecast:
(Changes from last week in blue)
Peach: Texas vs. Georgia
Fiesta: Florida vs. Central Florida
Rose: Ohio State vs. Washington
Sugar: Oklahoma vs. LSU
Cotton (semifinal): Alabama vs. Michigan
Orange (semifinal): Clemson vs. Notre Dame
National Championship Game Prediction: Alabama over Clemson
For more college football analysis and thoughts, listen to The Daily Blender, weekdays from 1-3pm on 1580TheFanatic. You can tune in here.
Cohen's Corner 