2011 Mid-Season Crystal Ball

Alot can and has changed in seven weeks. SI.com college football analysts Stewart Madel, Andy Staples, Holly Anderson, Austin Murphy, George Schroeder, Cory McCartney, Bill Trocchi, and Mallory Rubin came forth with revised predictions for the rest of the season.

6 of the 8 have Alabama meeting Oklahoma for the National Championship while Austin and Andy have LSU replacing Alabama to take on the Sooners.

I personally take a more open view and say Oklahoma State controls their own fate in the Title picture. I believe the will beat Oklahoma and take on the LSU Tigers.

It's unanimous that Wisconsin will be the Big-10 Rep for the Rose Bowl. Their opponent is a toss up between Stanford and Oregon that leans in favor of the Cardinal 5-3.

I don't see anyone stopping the Offense of the Badgers led by Russell Wilson. The Badgers will cruise to the Big-10 Title and take on the winner of the Pac-12 which will be Heisman Trophy winner Andrew Luck and the Stanford Cardinal.

The Fiesta Bowl is a little more open. Oklahoma State is a unanimous at large pick out of the Big-12. Stewart and Holly have Stanford taking on the Cowboys. Austin, George, Bill and Cory have Oregon and Mallory and Andy say the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will oppose Oklahoma State. I have the Oklahoma Sooners taking on the Oregon Ducks in this one.

I don't see Oklahoma's D having an answer for the Offensive assault the Cowboys bring, The loss sends them here. Likewise the Oregon Defense won't know what hit it when Andrew Luck and the Stanford Cardinal send them reeling out of Palo Alto.

The Sugar Bowl will likely have the loser of the Alabama LSU game as the SEC representitive in this game. The vote falls 6-2 in favor of LSU being the loser of that game and 7-1 the vote that Boise State will oppose the Tigers. The West Virginia Mountaineers recieved the other vote from Bill.

The Alabama Crimson Tide will not be able to topple the LSU tigers if they roll into Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscasloosa. The Tide are a very strong offense with a remarkable running game led by Heisman candidate Trent Richardson, They have a decent passing game and a Defense that has made prior SEC opponents look like High School atheletes. All that being said. LSU is just slightly more powerful offensively with a decent running game and a great passing attack with a defense just as talented as Alabama's. If healthy, The Tigers win and the Tide head to the Sugar Bowl as an at large. Boise State on the other hand has a handful of cupcakes ahead and if they can avoid playing down as they did last year late against Nevada which cost them a BCS bid they should roll over the only competition they will face, The Horned Frogs of TCU. I see the Broncos heading to New Orleans with a 12-0 record.

The Orange Bowl is the pride and joy of the ACC and is a reward that all schools in the Atlantic and Coastal divisions play for a chance to compete and win. The ACC seemed stacked early on with Miami, North Carolina, Florida State, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Maryland all looking competitive. Here we are seven weeks later with Clemson as now not only the conference favorite but a darkhorse to compete for their first National Championship since 1981. Clemson is the unanimous vote to represent the ACC while the 7-1 vote from the Sugar Bowl swings opposite in West Virginias favor while Boise State grabs the remaining vote.

I have said Clemson is a force for several weeks now and stood by while they stumbled out of the gates against Maryland last weekend before reeling off a 56-45 victory. They look very strong to win their first ACC title since 1991 when Ken Hatfield led the Tigers to a 6-0-1 Conference record. They've already beaten Virginia Tech like a drum in Blacksburg and Georgia Tech does not look anywhere near fast enough to do any damage to the Tigers offensively. Unless USF manages to shock West Virginia and run the table on the rest of the Big East Schedule the Mountaineers will roll into the Orange Bowl easily.

The National Champion Vote is also pretty much unanimous unlike many other networks where several teams are picked to win it all,

Alabama recieves 5 votes while LSU recieves 2 and the Sooners of Oklahoma recieve their lone vote from George.

I see the LSU Tigers taking out the Oklahoma State Cowboys in a shoot-out the likes of which I doubt we will see again any time soon.

Surprise Team

The Miami Hurricanes, Kansas State Wildcats, and Oklahoma State Cowboys are the main teams people list when talking about major surprises this year. The Hurricanes are 3-3 with all 3 losses coming late including a heart breaker against the Virginia Tech Hokies. Bill Snyder has led a resurgence in Manhattan and despite a relatively soft schedule has led the Wildcats to their first ranking in years currently #11 in the nation while they won't likely make it past the big boys (Oklahoma, Oklahoma State) they could roll into the bowl season with 8 or 9 wins. No one really saw Oklahoma State as a major BCS threat coming into the season, No one recognized the offense and they were labeled a Top 15 team at best. Quarterback Brandon Weeded and Wide Reciver Justin Blackmon have quickly showed the country what they overlooked. 

Andy and Austin shined some light, Voting for the Washington Huskies. A team that shocked the Cornhuskers of Nebraska last bowl season sending Quarterback Jake Locker off with a huge victory and a 7-6 final record. Many expected the Huskies to silently fade into the cellar of the newly updated Pac-12 The Huskies only loss so far has come at the hands of those same Huskers in a re-match played in September. They've since stunned Utah on the Road and head to Palo Alto this week ranked 25th looking to stun the Stanford Cardinal with a 5-1 record, This team could easily end the regular season with 9 wins and really show people the Pac-12 North Division is a little more open then originally percieved.

Bill shined light on a Notre Dame team Unranked and led by Brian Kelly. They have a pretty soft schedule ahead between now and November 19th they play a dissapointing USC squad and the Naval Academy in back to back home games. They start an ACC challenge of sorts with a trip to Wake followed by two home stints against Maryland and Boston College. This Irish team could realistically head into their November 26th game in Palo Alto with the #8 ranked Cardinal with a 9-2 record. BCS sleeper?

My surprise, and I really am stunned no one has pointed out.
The Arkansas Razorbacks out of the SEC pre-season they Razorbacks were a sleeper to win the conference's west division. Critics said the team was Ryan Mallet and with him back up Tom Brady with the NFL's New England Patriots. They team was destined to slump back into the cellar with Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Mississippi and Mississippi State. Not so fast, With the exception of a drubbing in Tuscaloosa the Hogs have destroyed all competition including a second half explosion in a 42-38 come from behind win over Texas A&M. The only road tests for the Razorbacks as they head into the meat of the conference schedule are back to back trips to Mississippi and Vanderbilt. They host the Gamecocks who look very vulnerable without Marcus Lattimore and look to be 10-1 without contest heading into Death Valley to take on the #1 LSU Tigers the last week of the season. Currently ranked #9 in the BCS this team is very overlooked and poses a threat to any National Title picture.

Heisman Trophy Winner

I agree completely with the majority of the SI.com panel. Andrew Luck is head and shoulders above any and all Heisman competition. He is by far the greatest prospect for the NFL at the Quarterback posistion that I can recall.

Bill and Mallory have hopped aboard the Trent Richardson bandwagon coming out of Tuscaloosa. On the basis that they believe Stanford will trip up against either Oregon or Notre Dame thus exposing a weak schedule and a Quarterback that cannot lead his team past Nationally Ranked competition. 

My only point with Luck is, Anyone saying he cannot beat quality competition. Take a look at the 2010 Orange Bowl against Frank Beamer's Virginia Tech Hokies.

Bold Prediction

Stewart-If my projected BCS lineup stands, Boise State will knock off LSU in the Sugar Bowl, causing a public outcry for AP voters to give the Broncos a share of the title.

Andy-Standford and Wisconsin will each finish undefeated and get shut out of the BCS title game by undefeated teams with better resumes. We'll find out exactly how much the Pac-12 and Big Ten love the Rose Bowl instead of a seeded plus-one system similar to the one the SEC and ACC proposed a few years ago.

Holly-Houston will end the season undefeated but be shut out of BCS bowl games entirely in Case Keenum's final season thanks to strong seasons from AQ conference teams.

Austin-Despite losing his top running back and starting quarterback, the ageless, mirthless Bill Snyder coaches Kansas State to a 10-2 season and wins at least one Coach of the Year Award.

George-Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore, en route to yet another perfect regular season, achieves passing perfection against TCU's suddenly porous defense. Playing almost the whole way -- unlike in so many of the Broncos' blowouts -- Moore completes all 27 passes for 312 yards and four touchdowns. Afterward, the Heisman finalist still goes unrecognized in airports.

Cory-The BCS slate will feature an unprecendented six undefeated teams. The most we've seen in the 13 years of the syster was five in 2009, but with threats in the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC along with Boise State, that record will be broken.

Bill-Sticking to my preseason prediction (with one minor change): After another undefeated regular season, Chris Petersen accepts the job at UCLA but still coaches Boise State in the Orange Bowl against Clemson.

Mallory-After failing to place teams in the national title game and failing to earn two BCS bigs, the stubborn Big Ten and Pac-12 brass will concede change is needed and finally endorse a plus-one.

My prediction is a tad bolder. After six undefeated teams reach BCS Bowls and four get shut out of the National Title game due to 2 teams with better schedules. The BCS finally begins a full scale collapse and within two years, we will have an eight team playoff instilled in place of the current format.