College Football Season Outlook

There are two things that for sure happen in fall: school begins, and the college football season. Millions of fans around the country get excited for the opening kickoff for their favorite pro-grams. There is a lot anticipation from the beginning of January to the end of August, as fans wonder how the college football season will go. What teams will make the college football playoff? What team will win it all? Who will win the Heisman? What team will be a sleeper this year?
Through the first three weeks of the college football season, the teams who you’d expect to be at the top of college football, like Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, and Oklahoma, are still there. They Round out the top five. All of those teams have out-standing recruiting and top coaching staff. Also, they have future NFL starting quarterbacks like Trevor Lawerence from Clemson and Tua Tagovailoa from Alabama. Ohio State, Notre Dame, Auburn, Florida, and Utah round out the top 10. Clemson and Alabama look the most likely to go undefeated after facing their most difficult opponents already. A team on the rise is Arizona State, coming off a major upset beating Michigan State 10-7 in week three.
Locally, all Michigan fans were wondering if this is the year they break through and get to the college football playoff. There has been so much pressure on Coach Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines to finally compete for a national title. “ Michigan has had their ups and downs, but by the end of the season I think Harbaugh can turn it around,” Senior, Hunter Tieppo said. After all the talk about losing to ranked teams and big game, all was forgotten when Michigan went on the “Revenge Tour” where they faced teams like Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Penn State last year. But when it came down to the Ohio State game that would decide who was going to the B10 championship game and maybe even a birth in the college foot-ball, they had a historically bad loss. Michigan lost to Ohio State, 62-39.
Their worst lost ever to the Buckeyes. Senior, Joey Wells was much less optimistic about the Wolverines chances. “Jim is a bum and they need to bring in Urban Meyer. He has a losing record against teams in the top 10 and bowl games, I don’t see this season playing out too well.” In the offseason, Michigan added new offensive coordinator Jeff Gattis from Alabama, to help the offense be more consistent. Hoping to get over the hump, Michigan has a long road ahead of the rest of the season.
Michigan State has had their ups and downs for this season. Their current record was 2-1, the one loss being from Arizona State after missing a field goal to tie the game. But they definitely have the opportunity to make a splash in the B10. Michigan State will need to have big wins against tough opponents like Ohio State, Wisconsin, Penn State, and Mich-igan.
Winning two of these games will be a huge success, it is possible with the experienced team they have. “State has an experienced Quarterback in Brian Lewerke and really talented receivers. They also have a great defense and led by a fantastic Coach Mark Dantonio,” Senior, Jacob Hughes said. Michigan State has a very tough schedule ahead, so a 10 win season would be a huge success.
Arguably the most compelling part of college football is the predictions. Out of the Big 10, the Ohio State Buckeyes will come out of the Big 10 East and Wisconsin out of the West. Ohio State will beat Wisconsin and play in the college football playoffs. The rest of the teams in the playoffs will be Alabama, LSU, and Oklahoma. LSU and Alabama will play for the national title. The national champions will be Alabama Crimson Tide.