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Revisiting PFB’s College Football Predictions

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Last month we revisited the PFB staff’s preseason predictions for Oklahoma State. The crystal ball was apparently a little murky on a few of those.

So for the sake of transparency — and to provide an occasional chuckle — let’s see how true our prognostications for college football on the whole turned out to be.

First off, let’s take a look at our predictions for the Power 5 conference champions.

Big Ten Title
  • Kyle Porter: Ohio State
  • Nick Welch: Ohio State
  • Kyle Boone: Ohio State
  • Hayden Barber: Ohio State
  • Steven Mandeville: Penn State
  • Phillip Slavin: Michigan
  • Kyle Cox: Wisconsin

Result: Ohio State beat previously unbeaten Wisconsin 27-21 in the Big Ten Championship Game, but couldn’t overcome an ugly blowout to a bad Iowa team to reach the playoff.

Pac-12 Title
  • Kyle Porter: Stanford
  • Nick Welch: Washington
  • Kyle Boone: USC
  • Hayden Barber: Washington
  • Steven Mandeville: Washington
  • Phillip Slavin: USC
  • Kyle Cox: USC

Result: While the Pac-12 was somewhat of a dumpster fire from top to bottom, the West Coast fave came out on top. The Trojans bested Stanford 31-28 in a Pac-12 title game that had less impact on the college football playoff discussion than it did on my 3-year old’s mood.

Big 12 Champion
  • Kyle Porter: Oklahoma State
  • Nick Welch: Oklahoma State
  • Kyle Boone: Oklahoma State
  • Hayden Barber: Oklahoma State
  • Steven Mandeville: Kansas State
  • Phillip Slavin: Oklahoma
  • Kyle Cox: Oklahoma State

Result: … was all too familiar. Phillip took a shot of reality while most of us were high on Kool-Aid. I don’t know what Steven was drinking.

ACC Champion
  • Kyle Porter: Florida State
  • Nick Welch: Florida State
  • Kyle Boone: Florida State
  • Hayden Barber: Florida State
  • Steven Mandeville: Clemson
  • Phillip Slavin: Miami
  • Kyle Cox : Florida State

Result: Clemson torched Miami in the ACC title game 38-3, just before getting pulverized by Alabama in the CFP semifinal game. There was lots of Seminole love from PFB. Even with the early loss of Deondre Francois, the Noles took an unexpected nose dive for the first two-thirds of the season.

SEC Champion
  • Kyle Porter: Alabama
  • Nick Welch: Alabama
  • Kyle Boone: Alabama
  • Hayden Barber: Alabama
  • Steven Mandeville: Alabama
  • Phillip Slavin: Alabama
  • Kyle Cox: Alabama

Result: For the first time in four years, Nick Saban and Co. watched the SEC title game from home. But it didn’t matter too much for the Tide as they rolled into the national title game regardless.

College Football Playoff (Four Teams)

Now let’s take a look at our picks for the four-team playoff.

Kyle Porter: No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 4 Florida State

Nick Welch: No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Florida St, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Oklahoma State

Kyle Boone: No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 4 USC

Hayden Barber: No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Washington, No. 4 Florida State

Steven Mandeville: No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Clemson, No. 4 Washington

Phillip Slavin: No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 USC, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Oklahoma

Kyle Cox: No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 USC, No. 3 Florida State No. 4 Wisconsin

Result: No. 1 Clemson, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 Alabama

None of us — and few else — tabbed Georgia as a playoff team during the preseason. Only Steven was a believer that Dabo could pilot his team, sans-Deshaun Watson, into the Final Four for the third-straight year.

National Championship (Two Teams)

Here were our picks for the National Championship contenders. Absolutely, no one predicted that Mike Gundy would be on hand politic for the Big 12 — or get the goods on his next DC.

Kyle Porter: Ohio State over Alabama

Nick Welch: Alabama over Ohio State

Kyle Boone: Alabama vs. Florida State

Hayden Barber: Florida State over Ohio State

Steven Mandeville: Alabama vs. Clemson

Phillip Slavin: Alabama vs. USC

Kyle Cox: Florida State over Alabama

Verdict: Of course, ‘Bama came back in an all-timer and Nick Saban earned his sixth national championship ring. Of course.

Bold Prediction For CFB This Year

Kyle Porter: OU loses three or more games. Bob Stoops, underrated.

Verdict: Thumbs down emoji… I would never blame the results of Bedlam on Kyle Porter, but…

Nick Welch: Wisconsin enters the Big Ten Title Game undefeated and ranked No. 2 in the CFB polls. Their schedule is incredible navigable and they fall just short of the Big Ten Title and playoffs after losing to Ohio St. Also, USC loses to someone they shouldn’t. I can’t pinpoint whom but it could be to Texas or someone like Washington St.

Verdict: If you’ve got an extra spot for a trip to Vegas, you might consider Nick. Wisconsin only rose as high as No. 4 but everything else happened as he predicted.

Hayden Barber: Four teams from both the Pac-12 and Big 10 will finish with more than nine wins. Washington (11-1), Stanford (10-2), USC (10-2) and UCLA (9-3) will represent a highly competitive but not quite elite Pac-12. And Ohio State (12-0), Penn State (11-1), Wisconsin (10-2) and Michigan (9-3) post the best conference lineup in college football history. Flames.

Verdict: Very specific prediction, and very wrong. Four Pac-12 teams did reach nine wins but it was USC, Stanford, Washington and Washington State. Five Big Ten teams actually won at least 10 games, remove Michigan and add in Michigan State and Northwestern.

Steven Mandeville: My Penn State pick is pretty bold – when Ohio State murders OU *grinning ear to ear* and then loses to Penn State 10-7 at the Horseshoe, the Nittany Lions will be all the CFP committee will talk about from week-to-week. Penn State = the new Iowa.

Verdict: Thumbs down. Baker planted a flag and Ohio State took down the Nittany Lions on their way to another Big Ten title.

Phillip Slavin: Is Miami winning the loaded ACC not bold enough? Ok, then how about this: Colorado State is the group-of-5 representative in the New Years Six Bowls, and Oklahoma State faces them. I’m hopping on the hype train after they soundly beat Oregon State last weekend. CSU will lose once, to Alabama.

Verdict: Mike Bobo’s team could not live up to Phillip’s lofty expectations and traded a NY6 bowl for a loss to Marshall in the New Mexico Bowl.

Kyle Cox: Other than Wisconsin winning the Big Ten?

Verdict: Who let me get away with this? I’ll take the double L for being wrong twice.

Heisman Winner

Those of you still suffering from post-Bedlam stress disorder can exit stage left. The rest can enjoy our optimism and an unfortunate and rare correct pick by myself.

Kyle Porter: J.T. Barrett — I picked him last year. I’ll pick him again. Not having big names at RB or WR will help his resume. By the way, Sam Darnold has “I know he just went 7-5 but really, he’s good!” written all over him.

Nick Welch: I think J.T. Barrett has a great chance to win it this year.

Kyle Boone: U already kno

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Hayden Barber: Someone none of us have ever heard of.

Steven Mandeville: Deondre Francois of FSU – when the Noles *upset* Bama, the media will crown the sophomore, dubbing him the next Jameis that Manziel’d Bama.

Phillip Slavin: Either some freshman quarterback no one is talking about or whoever ends up with the most rushing yards at Alabama.

Kyle Cox: Baker Mayfield. Even though Oklahoma doesn’t win the Big 12 and doesn’t make the playoff, Mayfield will put up numbers and have a good year. The narrative will be that with a new head coach and his three NFL weapons gone, Mayfield shouldered more of a burden and carried his team. It’s finally his year.

 

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