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Post by EvilVodka on May 17, 2017 16:32:56 GMT
We are getting close to wrapping up the end of May, and we'll start having the preseason mags coming out for 2017 college football. Here are my early thoughts on the upcoming season... First off, we have 4 elite teams: Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, and Ohio State. I expect them to be favorites in most of their games, to dominate, and to hang out in the top 10 all year with a chance to make the playoffs. Then you have teams that could be on the rise and challenge:LSU - With a Re-tooled coaching staff, and a local HC, I think LSU is set to start taking advantage of the massive talent flow that goes through Baton Rouge. Miami - Coach Richt year 2. I think the first thing we will see out of Miami is the beginnings of a really aggressive, dominant defense. They had some young guys that looked like future studs last year. If the offense can start coming around, we'll see Miami in the top 10 pretty fast. Penn State - I'll have to look at what they're returning, but I've got a feeling they are returning a lot of people. If so, they'll challenge Ohio State for the Big 10 Title. USC -  Are they going to be good this year, or great?? The media always loves these guys...can they make a splash? Washington - I don't think the Huskies will evaporate....Chris Peterson will build on his success. They might not make the playoffs again this year, but I think you'll see at least a 9 or 10 win season, and see them start becoming a fixture at the top of the PAC 12. Texas - They might be a year away, but the Big XII hasn't exactly been dominant lately...so it might be easier to climb to the top. Herman should have them on their way, and we should start seeing Texas be dominant again Oklahoma State - sneaky team....very sneaky team Georgia - the Bulldogs could start rising soon...the SEC East is up for the taking Teams I would describe as "Where did you go???":Oklahoma - meh....I'm just not high on the Sooners. Stoops has been there a long time now, and they have never been able to return to elitism after the early 2000s. They'll be good, but they are slowly becoming top 25ish good as opposed to Playoff Contender. Auburn - I don't know what's happening with Gus Malzahn and the Tigers anymore....I think they've lost some steam. Can they be competitive in the brutal SEC West still? Texas A&M - Adding the Chief as D. Coordinator sorta helped....but then they fizzled out by the end of the season giving up 54 points to LSU at home for their last game  . Where do they go from here? Are they ever going to realistically challenge for the SEC West?? Ole Miss - Great recruiting classes, and wins over Alabama have led to nothing...Going 5-7 last year, can Freeze bring the Rebels back up again? Michigan - The Wolverines lose just about their entire Senior-laden defense from last year....Harbaugh is a great coach, but he's in college now, and I think you'll see Michigan in rebuilding mode this year. TCU - Another team that has seemingly run out of steam...What does Gary Patterson do to keep them at the top? |
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Post by ajbuckeye on May 19, 2017 16:18:47 GMT
Agree with FSU, Bama, and tOSU.
Clemson has a great coach who has built this program to elite status. But when you lose your top RB, WR, TE, and QB who was amazingly clutch, I think it will be tall order to repeat. As great as the looked in the post season there were times when they looked very mediocre in the regular season. Mediocre this season will haunt them espeically without the playmakers from last season.
USC is my clear cut 4 choice. The played great down the stretch and now they have a very sold QB returning.
In the mix
Penn State Primary components of the offense returning from a Conference Championship Team
Washington has a great coach and now has the success to back it up.
Oklahoma is still the King of the B12. Early game at tOSU will likely again be a set back but if somehow they pull it off they leap frog into the top 4. Also Texas will not be too far behind with Herman running the show.
Clemson will be in the mix in the foreseable future as long as they continue to recruit well and have Dabo at the helm.
SEC has Alabama and then about 6 teams in tier 2 of the SEC. Auburn has a QB that can actually throw the ball and think that will be a difference maker. Florida needs to find an offense. Not sure if I LSU coaching change is a buy. Players seem to love him but what will that translate to. Tennessee has been the over hyped team of the east and yet to deliver. UGA???
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Post by rupturedduck on May 19, 2017 17:16:28 GMT
Repeat!! first week FSU vs Alabama,2nd.week Oklahoma vs Ohio State WOW !!
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Post by tigercpa on May 19, 2017 17:44:36 GMT
I like Swinney's approach to 2017: we aren't defending anything, we have to go out and earn 2017.
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Post by tigercpa on May 19, 2017 17:51:20 GMT
Agree with FSU, Bama, and tOSU. Clemson has a great coach who has built this program to elite status. But when you lose your top RB, WR, TE, and QB who was amazingly clutch, I think it will be tall order to repeat. As great as the looked in the post season there were times when they looked very mediocre in the regular season. Mediocre this season will haunt them espeically without the playmakers from last season. USC is my clear cut 4 choice. The played great down the stretch and now they have a very sold QB returning. In the mix Penn State Primary components of the offense returning from a Conference Championship Team Washington has a great coach and now has the success to back it up. Oklahoma is still the King of the B12. Early game at tOSU will likely again be a set back but if somehow they pull it off they leap frog into the top 4. Also Texas will not be too far behind with Herman running the show. Clemson will be in the mix in the foreseable future as long as they continue to recruit well and have Dabo at the helm. SEC has Alabama and then about 6 teams in tier 2 of the SEC. Auburn has a QB that can actually throw the ball and think that will be a difference maker. Florida needs to find an offense. Not sure if I LSU coaching change is a buy. Players seem to love him but what will that translate to. Tennessee has been the over hyped team of the east and yet to deliver. UGA??? No arguments with any of that assessment.
Clemson will be faced with a potential dropoff in offensive production. WR is still loaded with the returning experienced receiver trio of Cain, Renfrow and McCloud.
Can someone get the ball to them? Bryant has the wheels, and is probably a better pure runner than DW4, but his passing remains iffy.
I think there's a reasonable concensus the offense playcalling was throttled early in 2016. Depending on progression of the QBs, we may see less of a drop off if we’re less conservative.
Or if they’re struggling, more conservative. Too many unknowns.
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sc69er
Junior Member
Posts: 69 
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Post by sc69er on May 20, 2017 19:10:08 GMT
Not much chance for both FSU and Clemson to both be in final 4. For that to happen FSU and Clemson would have to split in two head to head meetings(season game and CCG) with FSU beating Alabama in the season opener, Then Clemson and FSU running the table in all other games, Then two of the other 4 conferences having a 2 loss team as champion. Not going to happen.
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Post by tigercpa on May 21, 2017 1:52:40 GMT
Not much chance for both FSU and Clemson to both be in final 4. For that to happen FSU and Clemson would have to split in two head to head meetings(season game and CCG) with FSU beating Alabama in the season opener, Then Clemson and FSU running the table in all other games, Then two of the other 4 conferences having a 2 loss team as champion. Not going to happen. Who in the media said that?
Clemson and FSU can't meet in the ACCCG (under current rules) - they are in the same division.
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Post by EvilVodka on May 21, 2017 15:45:31 GMT
Agree with FSU, Bama, and tOSU. Clemson has a great coach who has built this program to elite status. But when you lose your top RB, WR, TE, and QB who was amazingly clutch, I think it will be tall order to repeat. As great as the looked in the post season there were times when they looked very mediocre in the regular season. Mediocre this season will haunt them espeically without the playmakers from last season. USC is my clear cut 4 choice. The played great down the stretch and now they have a very sold QB returning. In the mix Penn State Primary components of the offense returning from a Conference Championship Team Washington has a great coach and now has the success to back it up. Oklahoma is still the King of the B12. Early game at tOSU will likely again be a set back but if somehow they pull it off they leap frog into the top 4. Also Texas will not be too far behind with Herman running the show. Clemson will be in the mix in the foreseable future as long as they continue to recruit well and have Dabo at the helm. SEC has Alabama and then about 6 teams in tier 2 of the SEC. Auburn has a QB that can actually throw the ball and think that will be a difference maker. Florida needs to find an offense. Not sure if I LSU coaching change is a buy. Players seem to love him but what will that translate to. Tennessee has been the over hyped team of the east and yet to deliver. UGA??? You don't think Clemson is elite? Just take a look at the talent coming out Clemson headed to the NFL every year Winning a National Championship is always props for future recruiting....Dabo has turned them into a powerhouse. Hell, they've beaten Ohio State twice, Oklahoma twice, FSU twice, and went 1-1 with Alabama.... They are a top dog right now, and the results bare that out |
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Post by GatorGrad on May 22, 2017 12:26:57 GMT
Not much chance for both FSU and Clemson to both be in final 4. For that to happen FSU and Clemson would have to split in two head to head meetings(season game and CCG) with FSU beating Alabama in the season opener, Then Clemson and FSU running the table in all other games, Then two of the other 4 conferences having a 2 loss team as champion. Not going to happen. They can't meet in the CCG as they are in the same division so the odds of it happening actually increase. All that would have to happen is the loser of the FSU-Clemson game run the table to finish 11-1. That would probably be enough to finish in the top four, especially if the 11-1 team is FSU with a neutral site win over Alabama. |
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Post by ajbuckeye on May 24, 2017 16:49:01 GMT
Agree with FSU, Bama, and tOSU. Clemson has a great coach who has built this program to elite status. But when you lose your top RB, WR, TE, and QB who was amazingly clutch, I think it will be tall order to repeat. As great as the looked in the post season there were times when they looked very mediocre in the regular season. Mediocre this season will haunt them espeically without the playmakers from last season. USC is my clear cut 4 choice. The played great down the stretch and now they have a very sold QB returning. In the mix Penn State Primary components of the offense returning from a Conference Championship Team Washington has a great coach and now has the success to back it up. Oklahoma is still the King of the B12. Early game at tOSU will likely again be a set back but if somehow they pull it off they leap frog into the top 4. Also Texas will not be too far behind with Herman running the show. Clemson will be in the mix in the foreseable future as long as they continue to recruit well and have Dabo at the helm. SEC has Alabama and then about 6 teams in tier 2 of the SEC. Auburn has a QB that can actually throw the ball and think that will be a difference maker. Florida needs to find an offense. Not sure if I LSU coaching change is a buy. Players seem to love him but what will that translate to. Tennessee has been the over hyped team of the east and yet to deliver. UGA??? You don't think Clemson is elite? Just take a look at the talent coming out Clemson headed to the NFL every year Winning a National Championship is always props for future recruiting....Dabo has turned them into a powerhouse. Hell, they've beaten Ohio State twice, Oklahoma twice, FSU twice, and went 1-1 with Alabama.... They are a top dog right now, and the results bare that out Ummm... "Clemson has a great coach who has built this program to ELITE status." |
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Post by EvilVodka on May 26, 2017 14:33:12 GMT
You don't think Clemson is elite? Just take a look at the talent coming out Clemson headed to the NFL every year Winning a National Championship is always props for future recruiting....Dabo has turned them into a powerhouse. Hell, they've beaten Ohio State twice, Oklahoma twice, FSU twice, and went 1-1 with Alabama.... They are a top dog right now, and the results bare that out Ummm... "Clemson has a great coach who has built this program to ELITE status." oh, guess I read that too fast! Sorry man lol |
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Post by rupturedduck on May 26, 2017 18:33:58 GMT
Penn state returns 9 on 'O' and 7 on 'D'  |
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Post by bluehen on May 28, 2017 12:51:44 GMT
Penn state returns 9 on 'O' and 7 on 'D' Based on 2016 opening day NFL rosters, Clemson was the 3rd best producer of players from the ACC and 9th nationally. |
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Post by ajbuckeye on Jun 1, 2017 16:10:22 GMT
Ummm... "Clemson has a great coach who has built this program to ELITE status." oh, guess I read that too fast! Sorry man lol No Biggie. Considering that you are my polar opposite on this board it is no surprise to me that even though we both classify Clemson as Elite we still don't agree on the level of eliteness:). That being said Dabo and Clemson essentially made there run with the same core group of players. If he makes a similar run next year with a new core group of players then even you and I won't be able to argue a difference in the level of eliteness. |
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Post by tigercpa on Jun 8, 2017 19:11:29 GMT
ESPN stat:
in the last 10 years, Baylor has played a non-conf game against a P-5 team with a winning record.....1 time.
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Are they going to be good this year, or great?? The media always loves these guys...can they make a splash?
. Where do they go from here? Are they ever going to realistically challenge for the SEC West??
