These are the final predictions of the year. After the schedule is set, I’ll start predicting games.

That’s all I really have to say right now.

Edit: Final bowl schedule is up. More to say probably after finals next week.

I’m sure you are all dying to read about how my predictions turned out. Die no more!

“Calvin Johnson has been shut down all year, and Reggie Ball hasn’t done too well without him. Wake Forest hasn’t put up many points either this year. I’m expecting a close defensive struggle. Neither team will score more than thirty points, but it’s impossible to pick the winner. No one seems to want the ACC title this year.”

Once again, Reggie Ball and the Tech offense he “leads” looked awful. The quarterback hit the Johnsons a few times, but most of his passes were not on target. I still can’t figure out why the Yellow Jackets continually called deep shots downfield when Ball kept missing his receivers. Ball’s scrambles seemed impulsive and didn’t produce many yards. I was right about the close defensive struggle, but I should have said the two teams would score less than thirty points combined. This was probably the worst game of the day for those watching TV. Due to the drizzly weather, the fans in the stands probably didn’t have much fun either.

“USC returns to the Rose Bowl nearly eleven months after Vince Young denied them a second straight national championship. UCLA almost upset Notre Dame at home, but USC just smashed Notre Dame, so that doesn’t mean much. The Trojans will win, but I will get my hopes up anyway and spend the entire game yelling at the television.”

I did spend the entire game yelling at the television, but not in vain. UCLA’s defense stepped up in a big way, and the final interception was amazing. I think Vince Young’s spirit was with quarterback Patrick Cowan, whose scampers down the field were just enough to put the Bruin offense in scoring position. The Trojans’ title hopes were destroyed in the Rose Bowl for a second straight season. (Ironically, they might lose in the stadium again in the Rose Bowl [bowl] on New Year’s.)

After the game, Carroll looked dumb-founded, and Booty looked like the pretty-boy quarterback I now expect to see at USC. Seriously, does Carroll recruit his quarterbacks from the sets of soap operas? Here’s my question before I move on to other games: Now can the media stop talking about USC? I doubt it. ESPN has probably already projected the Trojans to win the next ten (if not twenty) national championships.

“You’re going to change the score so we win, right?” “No.”

“Will Arkansas rebound from a close loss to LSU? Will Florida rebound from a string of flat offensive performances? Both will probably happen, making this matchup the best game of the day. I’m pulling for Florida for the sake of BCS controversy, but the Razorbacks will probably be so upset about last week that they’ll win.”

It wasn’t the best game of the day, but this was one of the wildest I saw all season. Chris Leak threw two interceptions and fumbled to himself twice in the nightmare that was the Florida quasi-option offense. Inside his own ten, Arkansas punt returner Reggie Fish attempted to catch a football that even Auburn’s Tre’ Smith would have avoided. The Gator recovery in the end zone, followed by a beautiful touchdown run by Percy Harvin, put the game out of the reach of the Razorbacks. I was wrong about the Arkansas win, but the BCS controversy was right on target.

The Big East might not be on par with the nation’s other top conferences just yet, but it sure can produce a thriller. Last night’s matchup was one of the most exciting games I saw all year. Kicker Jeremy Ito had another chance for glory, but his 52-yard field goal attempt to win the game fell short. I was disappointed when Scarlet Knight quarterback Mike Teel failed to complete the two-point conversion that would have sent the game into a fourth overtime. It has been exciting to see a program like Rutgers come so far (even if their schedule is worthless).

Yesterday was a bittersweet ending to the 2006 college football regular season. It produced some great televised matchups, but now I have to find something else to do with my weekends. I’ll be back later this week to post my Heisman ballot and complain about the final BCS standings.

Well, I’m watching Southern Miss and Houston go at it right now for the C-USA title and I figured, eh, let’s do this.

Noon- Connecticut @ Louisville (ESPN): Whet your palate with this Big East tilt. A UL win here and a Rutgers lost in Morgantown sends UL to a BCS bowl.

1:00- Georgia Tech vs. Wake Forest (ABC): I’ve been asked numerous times this week if I planned on going to Jacksonville. My answer was, and is, no. I have a project due Monday, blah, blah, you don’t care. However, I care greatly about graduating in two weeks….
So what do I think about this game? Well, it’s tough to get a read on it. Obviously, Reggie needs to play better. The main key is whether or not Wake’s misdirection will cause our fast defense to overpersue. We shall see.

2:30- Army vs. Navy (CBS): My Dad is an Army grad (class of ’73), so I feel obligated to say “GO ARMY BEAT NAVY”, despite the fact Army probably doesn’t have a chance. 🙁
Also rooting for former GT head coach Bobby Ross, who during his tenure here won a national title.

3:00- Stanford @ California (FSN): The Big Game isn’t, well, terribly big this year. But did you know that GT’s official fight song, “Up With the White and Gold” (though, of course, “Ramblin Wreck is much more famous”) was stolen from Cal during GT’s trip to the 1929 Rose Bowl (GT won, by the way)? Compare this to this lyrics for “Up With the White and Gold” I posted last week. (Though, of course, I like this Cal song better….)

4:30- USC @ UCLA (ABC): I think we’re all aware what’s on the line here, and I think most of us are also aware UCLA doesn’t have a chance.

6:00- Florida vs. Arkansas (CBS): Well, just down the road from here there’s playing a conference championship game. Arkansas’s situation seems pretty similar to ours, honestly. Both teams are coming off disappointing losses to major rivals. It’ll be interesting to see if either, or both, can recover. UF, meanwhile, is looking to put an impressive game together, but I think it’ll be too little, too late.

7:45- Rutgers @ West Virginia (ESPN): Battle for the Big East! Kind of.

8:00- Nebraska vs. Oklahoma (ABC): Two traditional Big 12 powers! Still surprised OU made it, I mean, they only lost the best RB in the country and all. And I think the most insightful thing one can say about Nebraska is what my Dad said last weekend: “Man, it’s weird to see Nebraska throw the ball all over the place.” Indeed.

12:00am, Sunday- Oregon St. @ Hawaii (ESPN): I love it when BCS teams use a trip to Hawaii as, basically, a bowl game. Thing is, OSU is a decent squad and all (they beat USC), but Hawaii isn’t bad either. If I’m still conscious, I’ll watch.

And that’s it, folks! Have a good weekend, and Go Jackets!

Alabama currently has six more Iron Bowl victories than Auburn. The Tigers have won five in a row and seven of the last ten, so they are clearly dominating the modern series. Let’s say that Auburn wins, on average, three out of every four matches in the next half century. In that case, they would close the gap by two wins every four years and pass Alabama’s win count around 2020. I’ll give them another ten and make it 2030, just in case the ‘Bammers decide to hire one of their secret clones of The Bear.

“Well,” you may be thinking, “It’s great to know that Auburn will eventually own the Iron Bowl series. When will Tommy Tuberville pass Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno as the winningest coach in Division I-A college football history?” Tubbs has 95 wins right now, and JoePa, who will probably pass Bowden (364) in the next year or two, has 362. JoePa is already 79, but I can’t see him retiring until he is at least 90. By that time, Tuberville will be 63. Let’s assume for simplicity’s sake that the two coaches stay even until JoePa retires/dies.

If Tuberville loses more than four games in consecutive years, Auburn alumni would probably kick him out of office. That won’t happen, since Tuberville and Borges are a force that can only be stopped by inept defensive coordinators. Just to be safe, let’s say he only wins eight games a year for the rest of his career. In that case, Tuberville would need 34 years to pass Joe Paterno’s record. So when Tubbs is 97 in 2051, he’ll be the winningest coach ever with over 450 wins. I hope I’m alive to witness the achievement and yell “I told you so!” at passers-by.

They’re up and at the link to your right. I’ll explain my BCS selection process real quick:
Ohio state has locked up a spot in the title game, and if USC wins they weekend like they should, they’ll remain #2 and go to the title game. The Rose gets the first two picks in compensation for losing both their teams. The easy pick is Michigan. The second pick isn’t as easy – they basically have two options:
1) Take Notre Dame, who just lost big to USC and lost big to Michigan already
2) Take a second team from the SEC, like LSU
Honestly, I think both will sell plenty of tickets. LSU fans are high off their win over Arkansas. It’s not exactly every day either ND or a SEC team goes to the Rose – neither set has been there since the 40’s. I hope against hope the Rose tries to produce a good football matchup and takes LSU.
Next is the Sugar, which needs an opponent for the SEC champion (either Arkansas or Florida). I like Notre Dame here if the Rose doesn’t take them.
After that is the Orange, which needs an opponent for the ACC champion. The only teams left to pick at this point are the two remaining auto-bids: the winner of the Big East (either Rutgers or Louisville) and Boise State. The Orange will likely take the Big East champ, leaving Boise State to play the Oklahoma-Nebraska winner in the Fiesta.

The Rose is where this whole thing hinges. If they take Notre Dame (or someone else besides LSU, basically) then the Sugar will probably wind up with the Big East champ, allowing the Orange to take LSU or some such. In any scenario, the Fiesta goes last, meaning they get Boise State. (I’m all for mid-majors getting chances in the BCS, but that Utah team in 2004 was scary good. Boise State, not so much.)

Other games of note:
Cotton: I’m tentatively sending Auburn out here, but the Cotton is always reluctant to pick teams from that far east. They may take Arkansas if they are available (like if Tennessee or Auburn were taken in the Capitol One).
Peach Chick-fil-a: The bowl said last week they’d take the UGA-Tech winner, but at any rate it seems like they want 10-2 Virginia Tech a lot. The ACC title game loser will probably fall to the Gator for the second year of the row, which the Gator people probably isn’t terribly happy about. Look for the ACC title game to move out of Jacksonville in the few years, either further south or back up to the heart of ACC country in Charlotte.
Holiday: This is usually a good game, but this year, the Pac-10 team brings the rushing offense (relatively) and the Big 12 team bring the West Coast style offense? WTF, mate?
Emerald and MPC Computers: FSU and Miami play on a baseball field and the blue turf! My schadenfraude knows no bounds here.

Also, Kansas, Rice, and Kentucky all making bowls? Mama mia, what a year!