Record On the Season: 2-3 (1 Outright Win)

Last week was not the most excellent start to the year, but Week One is never easy for the underdogs.  For those that picked Georgia State against Tennessee, I applaud you – I was not one of them.  Nonetheless, onward to Week Two, headlined by two huge out of conference matchups: Texas A&M at Clemson and LSU at Texas.  I will be taking the Tigers in both games; while the Aggies look improved, going into Death Valley is a challenge this group has yet to face and Trevor Lawrence looks on a new level for 2019, and LSU was ferocious last weekend – Texas won’t have the players to stop the purple and gold.

As for my Week Two underdog plays:

• Ohio (+4.0) at Pittsburgh
  • The Panthers did not look good in their opener against Virginia. They couldn’t move the ball and looked stunted at every drive.  Meanwhile the Bobcats offense under Nathan Rouke put away Rhode Island in the first half, accounting for three TDs.
• Texas A&M (+16.5) at Clemson
  • The Tigers should win pretty handily against the Aggies, but a line this large is too tempting to pass up. Last year’s matchup was a close one in the fourth and I do expect much the same.  Cannot fathom Clemson winning by more than two touchdowns, and even that is high.
• Colorado (+4.0) v Nebraska
  • The Buffaloes stunned the Huskers last year in Lincoln. Now with the rivalry renewed, and Nebraska coming into town, Colorado will look to get back to back wins over hated competition to start the Mel Tucker era.  They looked great against Colorado State in Denver last weekend while Nebraska created a lot more questions than they answered.  Steven Montez shined last weekend and could be a Pac-12 star in the making.
• Nevada (+24.5) at Oregon
  • The Zoo will be rocking Saturday when the Wolfpack come to town. After a heartbreaking loss to Auburn, the Quack Attack will want to show they are still on top of the west.  But a 24.5 point margin is tough to overcome against a Nevada team that is always a scoring threat.  And to put that 24.5 point margin, Oregon has just 1 win in their last 12 games in which they covered that many points, while Nevada has stayed within the 24.5 point margin in all but 1 of their last 14 games.
• Arkansas (+4.0) at Ole Miss
  • A matchup of SEC bottom feeders is where we will finish this week out. Ole Miss could not move the ball last week in Memphis, accounting for only 173 yards of offense in the loss.  Meanwhile, Arkansas had the offense moving against FCS Portland State, but failed to capitalize.  Still, they should have no problem dealing with the Rebels, who haven’t won since they went into Little Rock last year and beat the Razorbacks.

With Week One in the Books, Here is the Updated Tagline Top 25.

Note, the first few weeks will see teams fluctuate heavily – by Week 5, the algorithm part of this is balanced out.

A new college football season is among us! After a teaser Saturday last weekend with the Battle of the Sunshine State between Florida and Miami, we have a full slate of games to enjoy this weekend.  While I’ll be trekking back to Happy Valley to watch Penn State take on the Idaho Vandals, so many other college football fans will be cheering on their squad for the first time since 2018.  With the start of another season, it is time for my underdog selections:

• Boise State (+6.5) at Florida State
  • Originally slated to be in Jacksonville, this game has been moved to Doak Campbell Stadium due to Hurricane Dorian.  That does give Florida State an edge, but by how much.  Boise State has a good bit of talent to replace, especially on the offensive side, but they return a solid slate on defense that was already ferocious last year.  Meanwhile Florida State is still figuring out the keys to winning – lots of problems plagued their team last year and it didn’t seem like there were big moves made to improve such.  Boise State fights tough and while they may not have the size to contend, they have the talent and should put up a fight against a Seminoles team that needs help.
• James Madison (+6.0) at West Virginia
  • This is as much of a rebuilding year as ever for West Virginia, as they lose almost all the keys to last year, including their head coach.  Neal Brown helped to rebuild Troy, but it still took him a year to get there; meanwhile one of the top schools in the FCS is coming in riding high and ready to pounce – this is a tough out for the Mountaineers and they have a huge chance of falling to the Dukes at home.
• Holy Cross (+21.5) at Navy
  • One of the hottest teams to end the FCS season last year in the Crusaders comes into this battle with the Midshipman with a lot of talent remaining.  They are a high scoring team that loves to play on the road and will spell a challenge for a Navy team that is in rebuild mode.
• Oregon (+3.5) v Auburn
  • Honestly, I’m surprised that Oregon is the underdog here – they are a pre-season favorite to win the Pac-12 and make it to the College Football Playoff, have perhaps the No. 1 Overall Pick at QB, and return a ton of talent.  Meanwhile, Auburn needs to find their identity after an up & down year in 2018 – starting freshman Bo Nix as their QB into what will be a tough environment at Jerry’s World.  In this rematch of the 2011 National Championship, I’ll be going with the Ducks to pull off the upset.
• Fresno State (+13.5) at USC
  • Much like Florida State, USC is coming in off a year where they couldn’t put anything together.  Now they start the year with a tough Fresno State team that will test USC up and down the field.  This will be a low-scoring affair, especially with the Bulldogs defense, giving them the edge in the spread and possibly and edge to pull off the outright upset.

Once again, it is the dawn of a new college football season.  With the memory of Clemson’s route of Alabama in the National Championship still fresh in everyone’s mind, it is time to move towards crowning out next champion.  Unlike the previous few seasons, there was a lot of turnover of the previous leaders; many went to the NFL, while graduated onto the next stages of their careers.  The ferocious Clemson defensive line have gone on to Sundays while the Big Ten’s best QBs found themselves new locations to start under center.  Nonetheless, it is a time to recruit, regroup, and refocus on the task at hand.

With that, yesterday you saw the first ever Tagline Sports Top 25.  Today its time for predictions for the 2019 season.  This spans from conference placings and champions to playoff predictions and bold statements.  And with that here we go!

ACC

Championship Game: Clemson (10-2) over Virginia (9-3)

Biggest Riser: Duke (9-3)

Biggest Dropper: Syracuse (6-6)

Bold Prediction: Clemson will go 0-2 in games inside the state of North Carolina.

American

Championship Game: Houston (9-3) over UCF (10-2)

Biggest Mover: Houston (9-3)

Biggest Dropper: Cincinnati (6-6)

Bold Prediction: UConn will win two in-conference road games.

Big Ten

Championship Game: Penn State (11-1) over Purdue (10-2)

Biggest Mover: Purdue (10-2)

Biggest Dropper: Michigan (7-5)

Bold Prediction: Michigan will fall to Penn State, Notre Dame, and Maryland in consecutive weeks, but will beat Ohio State.

Big 12

Championship Game: Oklahoma (10-2) over TCU (10-2)

Biggest Mover: TCU (10-2)

Biggest Dropper: West Virginia (2-10)

Bold Prediction: Jalen Hurts will make it to NY and capture Oklahoma’s third straight Heisman Trophy, but will not make it three in around 1st-overall draft picks.

C-USA

Championship Game: North Texas (12-0) over Marshall (10-2)

Biggest Mover: Florida Atlantic (9-3)

Biggest Dropper: Louisiana Tech (3-9)

Bold Prediction: North Texas will be the Group of 5 representative in the New Year’s Six.

MAC

Championship Game: Toledo (11-1) over Miami OH (8-4)

Biggest Mover: Bowling Green (8-4)

Biggest Dropper: Buffalo (5-7)

Bold Prediction: The MAC will go 2-0 in their games against Kentucky (Toledo 8/31 and Eastern Michigan 9/7).

Mountain West

Championship Game: Boise State (11-1) over San Diego State (10-2)

Biggest Mover: San Jose State (7-5)

Biggest Dropper: Utah State (7-5)

Bold Prediction: Fresno State will stun USC and Minnesota to open the season.

Pac-12

Championship Game: Arizona State (10-2) over Oregon (9-3)

Biggest Mover: UCLA (8-4)

Biggest Dropper: Utah (6-6)

Bold Prediction: Herm Edwards will win Coach of the Year.

SEC

Championship Game: Alabama (10-2) over Georgia (10-2)

Biggest Mover: Arkansas (6-6)

Biggest Dropper: Florida (6-6)

Bold Prediction: Alabama will lose a big first half lead in the SEC Championship Game, only to win the game on the last drive thanks to an untimely Georgia fumble as they try to close out the game.

Sun Belt

Championship Game: Appalachian State (11-1) over Arkansas State (8-4)

Biggest Mover: Appalachian State (11-1)

Biggest Dropper: Georgia Southern (6-6)

Bold Prediction: App State QB Zac Thomas will be a finalist for the Maxwell Award.

College Football Playoff & New Year’s Six

Fiesta Bowl (Semifinal): (1) Clemson over (4) Oklahoma, 27-10

Peach Bowl (Semifinal): (2) Alabama over (3) Penn State, 28-13

Cotton Bowl:  Oregon over North Texas, 24-19

Orange Bowl: Notre Dame over Virginia, 32-0

Rose Bowl: Arizona State over Purdue, 34-28

Sugar Bowl: Georgia over TCU, 38-7

National Championship: Alabama over Clemson, 45-13

And with that, we are on to the 2019 College Football Season. First up – Florida & Miami this Saturday. College football is back!