20 Bold Predictions for 2014

Quote:6) An AAC team will be in the playoff hunt come December
The AAC has three really good teams, at least on paper, in Cincinnati, East Carolina and UCF. In the first year of the college football playoff, it is widely assumed only Power Five teams and Notre Dame have a chance. That may not be entirely true. Each of those three teams has multiple non-conference tests that – if aced – would put them in the playoff discussion if the thing isn’t totally rigged.

Cincinnati: Miami, Ohio State
UCF: Penn State, Missouri, BYU
East Carolina: South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia Tech

Here’s my guess: UCF wins all three big non-conference games but loses the season finale at East Carolina. The Power Five conference exhale a $30 million sigh of relief.

Ugh... that actually sounds painful enough to be true.

If that's the case I would call that a successful year. It helps with our rep and means we have a decent qb


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I can't wait to be the surprise team of 2014-15!!

It would be nice if one of our teams is undefeated late in the season and in the conversation for a playoff spot

Would never happen.

Just look at last year. The pundits prior to the Fiesta Bowl were all so f*cking sure that UCF was going to be annihilated by Baylor, despite having beaten Penn State, a #6 team, and barely losing to a Top 10 team.

If these people could barely fathom how UCF could compete in the Fiesta Bowl, they sure as hell won't fathom how a team like UCF could possibly occupy one of the playoff spots. They will do anything and everything to prop up a 2 loss P5 team before lending credibility to an AAC team going to the playoff.

They will have all forgotten about the drumming we laid on BAylor. Trust me.

Don't sleep on Houston.

My prediction: Houston and Cincinnati go into the final week of the season undefeated in conference play.

And Houston wins!

Lost all credibility here:

17) North Carolina will win the ACC
Here’s my working theory: Florida State is going to breeze through the ACC regular season. They will not take UNC in the ACC Title Game seriously, despite like 80,000 UNC fans in the stands. UNC will jump out to an early lead and hang on for dear life in one of the season’s biggest upsets.

Why UNC? Larry Fedora is the real deal as a head coach. Just look at those abs! Actually, Fedora just knows his stuff offensively and it’s his third year with the school, which is when he started kicking it into high gear with Southern Miss. Lastly, I foresee a highly motivated UNC team due to NCAA investigations.

TKT, the post says there would be talk of UCF making the CFP. As in the talk would be, "This isn't going to go over well when we announce a 10-2 Big10 team makes it over UCF". They'll all be relieved when UCF loses and the whole system isn't exposed as a fraud the first year.

However, I agree with you TKT, a non-P5 will never make the playoff as it is today. It was far fetched to think that one of our schools could make the BCS championship game, but the playoffs are a non-starter IMHO. In the old system, the AQ conferences knew they were all guaranteed their big bowl game... a BCS championship slot was gravy. Heck there wasn't all that much of an uproar when 2 SEC teams played.

The playoffs are another thing. The P5's all but expect they'll have a slot year in and year out, except maybe once every 4-5 years when they have a down year. In their words, "5 conferences, 4 slots". Plus there are no outside polls, no computers with quantitative weight, there is only a room of 13 people, with each P5 having an active AD as one of the 13.

(08-01-2014 10:53 AM)JDTulane Wrote:  And Houston wins!

(08-01-2014 10:46 AM)The Knight Time Wrote:  Would never happen.

Just look at last year. The pundits prior to the Fiesta Bowl were all so f*cking sure that UCF was going to be annihilated by Baylor, despite having beaten Penn State, a #6 team, and barely losing to a Top 10 team.

If these people could barely fathom how UCF could compete in the Fiesta Bowl, they sure as hell won't fathom how a team like UCF could possibly occupy one of the playoff spots. They will do anything and everything to prop up a 2 loss P5 team before lending credibility to an AAC team going to the playoff.

They will have all forgotten about the drumming we laid on BAylor. Trust me.

Unfortunately, you guys got 'stuck' with Baylor instead of your more well-known and better respected football program from the Big12. It would have been a bigger story and upset if you guys would have beaten a UT or Oklahoma...or even Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl.

For a lot of folks Baylor is basically the new Kansas from a few years ago, when the Jayhawks had a couple good seasons while UT and OU had a couple down years...but didn't remain in the national spotlight.

If one of those 3 were to somehow go undefeated they would be in the playoff discussion, but it's gonna be really tough for that to happen.

'tf is this? There's no way.

(08-01-2014 12:02 PM)CyberBull Wrote:  

(08-01-2014 10:46 AM)The Knight Time Wrote:  Would never happen.

Just look at last year. The pundits prior to the Fiesta Bowl were all so f*cking sure that UCF was going to be annihilated by Baylor, despite having beaten Penn State, a #6 team, and barely losing to a Top 10 team.

If these people could barely fathom how UCF could compete in the Fiesta Bowl, they sure as hell won't fathom how a team like UCF could possibly occupy one of the playoff spots. They will do anything and everything to prop up a 2 loss P5 team before lending credibility to an AAC team going to the playoff.

They will have all forgotten about the drumming we laid on BAylor. Trust me.

Unfortunately, you guys got 'stuck' with Baylor instead of your more well-known and better respected football program from the Big12. It would have been a bigger story and upset if you guys would have beaten a UT or Oklahoma...or even Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl.

For a lot of folks Baylor is basically the new Kansas from a few years ago, when the Jayhawks had a couple good seasons while UT and OU had a couple down years...but didn't remain in the national spotlight.

What? They were the most prolific offense in college football and were in the national title coversion up until late in the season. They're starting this year ranked as #10. That doesn't sound to me like a flash in the pan forgettable program.

In MHO, think UC will lose 3 games, ECU lose 2 or 3 heartbreakers and UCF loses 2 - That leaves UH who may go undefeated, but lose out in playoffs because of SOS. We'll still get the Access Bowl.

(08-01-2014 12:51 PM)AusTxPony Wrote:  In MHO, think UC will lose 3 games, ECU lose 2 or 3 heartbreakers and UCF loses 2 - That leaves UH who may go undefeated, but lose out in playoffs because of SOS. We'll still get the Access Bowl.

I don't think Houston can visit Cincy in December and fly home with a W. It would be the only probably cold weather game on their slate.

About the playoff, gotta go undefeated and beat good p5 teams ooc. Some of the p5 schools very well could have 2 losses.

(08-01-2014 12:02 PM)CyberBull Wrote:  

(08-01-2014 10:46 AM)The Knight Time Wrote:  Would never happen.

Just look at last year. The pundits prior to the Fiesta Bowl were all so f*cking sure that UCF was going to be annihilated by Baylor, despite having beaten Penn State, a #6 team, and barely losing to a Top 10 team.

If these people could barely fathom how UCF could compete in the Fiesta Bowl, they sure as hell won't fathom how a team like UCF could possibly occupy one of the playoff spots. They will do anything and everything to prop up a 2 loss P5 team before lending credibility to an AAC team going to the playoff.

They will have all forgotten about the drumming we laid on BAylor. Trust me.

Unfortunately, you guys got 'stuck' with Baylor instead of your more well-known and better respected football program from the Big12. It would have been a bigger story and upset if you guys would have beaten a UT or Oklahoma...or even Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl.

For a lot of folks Baylor is basically the new Kansas from a few years ago, when the Jayhawks had a couple good seasons while UT and OU had a couple down years...but didn't remain in the national spotlight.

Baylor is far better than Kansas ever was. They have been rolling up points on everybody for several years now. They had the Heisman trophy winner a couple of years ago which put them in a new stratosphere perception wise.

They have been the media darlings recently, a much better win for UCF and the conference than you give credit for IMO.

Baylor was one of the best teams in the country in 2013, but nobody thinks of them as a blue blooded elite program. The perception is that Texas and Oklahoma are the the Big XII's elite programs while the others rise and fall but rarely finish higher than 3rd.

The Fiesta Bowl win was huge for UCF and the AAC, but if it had been UT or OU in that game instead of Baylor then I bet we get a higher final ranking in 2013 and a higher preseason ranking in 2014. It's not fair, but perception is more important than reality in this sport.

10) The Big 12 will announce expansion plans by NovemberThe league is not getting a playoff spot this year. If strength of schedule truly means something, they may not until Texas gets really good again because the league lacks elite teams. The talking points about no conference championship game are already starting and next year the Big 12 will be the only conference without a title game, including the non-power conferences.

That’s not going to work long-term. Before this season ends, the Big 12 will realize it needs to match the number in its name and will announce such. Who those teams are? I don’t know everything*.

*It’ll be BYU and UCF.