10 Bold Predictions for 2016 NCAA Football Season – ChicagoNow (blog)

The college football season is coming soon, so here are my ten bold predictions for the coming season.

Feel free to tell me I’m crazy – or, heaven forbid, agree.

1. The Big Ten will have two Heisman Trophy finalists.

This is a fairly bold statement because there are some tremendous candidates out there. The favorite to win the award – and my pick to win it before the season begins – is Clemson QB DeShaun Watson. But after Watson, it’s up for grabs.

Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey was the runner-up last year, but he’ll now have to deal with teams that are targeting him on a weekly basis. LSU RB Leonard Fournette is a beast who, if eligible, could have been a top-5 pick in this year’s NFL Draft. But he, too, will be an emphasis for every defense he faces this season.

USC WR JuJu Smith-Schuster is a stud, but the quarterback throwing him a ball is a question. Miami QB Brad Kaaya is a fantastic player and will excel with Mark Richt taking over as his head coach, but will he do enough to generate hype and win games?

I have two sleepers for the Heisman who I’ll speak about more below: Houston QB Greg Ward, Jr and Tennessee QB Joshua Dobbs.

My picks for the other two finalists are Michigan DB Jabrill Peppers and Ohio State QB JT Barrett. Barrett, when healthy, is as good as it gets and has experience to lead a very good Ohio State team back to the national championship conversation. In the second year of Jim Harbaugh’s tenure at Michigan, the team should improve and Peppers is an athletic freak who draws comparisons to the last Michigan man to win the award, Charles Woodson.

2. Alabama will lose Oct. 15 at Tennessee.

Last year, Bama beat Tennessee only 19-14 at home. A more experienced Tennessee team, led by QB Joshua Dobbs, will be in Knoxville this time around and a lot of the stars from the Tide’s 2015 defense will be playing on Sunday this season. Tennessee RB Jalen Hurd ran for 92 yards and a touchdown at Alabama last season and will look for redemption at home this time around. Circle this one on your calendar.

3. Northwestern will win the Big Ten West. 

Led by LB Anthony Walker, Jr, Northwestern will follow the model Iowa used last season to win their half of the conference this year. The Wildcats’ defense should be elite if they can stay healthy, and sophomore QB Clayton Thorson should be able to lead the offense through a ridiculously tough schedule. Northwestern will play Iowa, Michigan State and Ohio State on the road this season, a test that will prove enormous for Pat Fitzgerald’s squad. Winning two of those three games could be enough to get them to the B1G Championship game.

4. Miami will win the ACC. 

Yes, I already put my money on Clemon’s quarterback to win the Heisman. But looking through the schedule, Miami should at least get to the ACC title game with a very good chance of winning it under first year head coach Mark Richt. The Canes’ biggest game is at Notre Dame on Oct. 29, and they get Florida State at home this year. North Carolina, Duke and Pitt all visit the Canes this season as well. Clemson won’t be an easy out, but The U might be on its way back with Richt in charge.

5. Georgia’s Nick Chubb will lead the nation in rushing. 

Chubb, a junior, missed part of last season because of a knee injury. Before the injury, Chubb averaged 8.1 yards per rush and 149 yards per game over five starts. A full, healthy season for Chubb will give him opportunities to run against Nicholls State, Vanderbilt, Louisiana-Lafayette and Kentucky – four games that could total 800-1,000 yards for him.

6. Washington will win the Pac-12. 

The Huskies finished last year 4-5 and fifth (out of six) in the Pac-12 North. But they had a freshman quarterback learning on the job, and a tough schedule. They come into the 2016 season with arguably the best defense in the conference and QB Jake Browning is now a sophomore. Their biggest games are Stanford – at home – on Sept. 30 and then the regular season finale at Washington State. If they can handle their business against the Cardinal, the momentum could carry them through the back half of their schedule that includes USC and Arizona State coming to them.

7. TCU will win the Big 12 – and get left out of the playoff. 

The Big 12 is a mess right now. In the midst of expansion talks, teams all over the conference have issues. Oklahoma has a good squad but their coach is under the microscope. Texas is a dumpster fire. Baylor is… good Lord. TCU, meanwhile, have a really good squad coming back (preseason #14) and get the benefit of both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State at home. They lost a lot to the NFL, but keep an eye on KaVontae Turpin to emerge as a home run threat this year.

8. Oklahoma will open the season with a loss at Houston.

Bob Stoops will be under fire all year if the Sooners don’t win big, but their season starts with a tough road test. Houston senior QB Greg Ward, Jr is coming off a junior campaign in which he threw for 2,828 yards and 17 touchdowns – and ran for another 1,108 and 21 touchdowns. Ward isn’t a big kid (5-11, 185) but he’s one helluvan athlete; he led Houston to a stunning 38-24 upset of Florida State in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl to finish last season.

9. 2016 will be Bob Stoops’ final season at Oklahoma. 

If my seventh and eighth predictions come true, my ninth is a no-brainer. Like Mark Richt at Georgia, expectations are so high for the Oklahoma program that even a successful, class act like Stoops might not be good enough to overcome anything less than a playoff berth this season. He’s got a good team coming back this year but the road to success isn’t an easy one for the Sooners this season.

10. The college football playoff will include: Washington, Miami, Michigan and LSU. 

I’ve already made the case for Washington and Miami to win the Pac-12 and ACC, respectively. I think Les Miles rides Fournette and his defense to an SEC championship and at least 12 more months of job security. Michigan’s road to the B1G Championship game will include road games at Michigan State (who lost a lot to the NFL), Iowa and Ohio State. They had their hearts broken by Michigan State last year and were embarrassed by Ohio State. We’ll see if a more seasoned Wolverines roster has a long-term memory and their talent comes through.

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