2016 College Football Predictions

Here are my predictions on how the college football season will play out.

American Athletic Conference
The AAC has some decent teams just like last season. Led by quarterback Greg Ward Jr and head coach Tom Herman, Houston is the clear favorite to take home the conference championship and the clear favorite of the Group Of 5 teams to play in a New Years Six Bowl game. I also wouldn't sleep on teams such as Temple, Cincinnati, South Florida in the East Divison.

- East
1. Temple
2. Cincinnati
3. South Florida
4. Connecticut
5. East Carolina
6. UCF

- West
1. Houston
2. Navy
3. Memphis
4. Tulsa
5. Tulane
6. SMU

Conference Championship: Houston over Temple

Atlantic Coastal Conference
The ACC is going to be fun to watch this season for sure, especially at the top of the Atlantic Division. Clemson led by Hiesman Trophy hopeful DeShaun Watson is the team to beat here and Florida State, led by star running back Dalvin Cook will be fighting for a spot in the College Football Playoff, but don't sleep on Louisville, who has a favorable schedule and can play spoiler. The Coastal Division is pretty deep this season with six teams that can make bowl games.

- Atlantic
1. Clemson
2. Florida State
3. Louisville
4. North Carolina State
5. Wake Forest
6. Boston College
7. Syracuse

- Coastal
1. Miami (FL)
2. Pittsburgh
3. North Carolina
4. Georgia Tech
5. Duke
6. Virginia Tech
7. Virginia

Big Ten
The Big Ten is very intriguing this season. The top three teams in the East Division have a realistic shot at making the College Football Playoff. Ohio State has a bunch of young kids coming in but Urban Myer is one of the best in the business and JT Barrett is still around. Michigan has a lot of talent returning and Jim Harbaugh is just awesome. Michigan State will still be in the mix because their schedule is favorable and Mark D'Antonio is a great coach as well. Iowa out in the West Division has a shot too because of the schedule in their favor and all the returning pieces they have.

- East
1. Ohio State
2. Michigan
3. Michigan State
4. Penn State
5. Indiana
6. Rutgers
7. Maryland

- West
1. Iowa
2. Northwestern
3. Nebraska
4. Wisconsin
5. Minnesota
6. Illinois
7. Purdue

Conference Championship: Ohio State over Iowa

Big-12
The talk of the Big-12 of late is expansion and rightfully so, but we'll save that topic for another day. Oklahoma looks like the team to beat in the Big-12 led by quarterback and Heisman hopeful Baker Mayfield. Oklahoma State should be in the mix after having a breakthrough last season. Baylor is such a big wild card considering their tumultuous offseason. TCU should still be good, but don't sleep on West Virginia and Texas either because their schedules are favorable and are capable of pilling off upsets.

1. Oklahoma
2. Oklahoma State
3. Baylor
4. West Virginia
5. TCU
6. Texas
7. Kansas State
8. Texas Tech
9. Iowa State
10. Kansas

Conference-USA
This should be an interesting conference to watch. Southern Miss has a lot of returning players so they should be the conference favorites after a breakthrough last season. Marshall should be back in the mix as well with talent on both ends of the ball. Middle Tennessee could have a breakthrough led by quarterback Brent Stockstill. Western Kentucky has the players in place but losing Brandon
Doughty could mean a step back.

- East
1. Marshall
2. Middle Tennessee
3. Western Kentucky
4. Florida Atlantic
5. Old Dominion
6. FIU
7. Charlotte

- West
1. Southern Miss
2. Louisiana Tech
3. Rice
4. UTEP
5. North Texas
6. UTSA

Conference Championship: Southern Miss over Marshall

Independents
The Independents should be interesting although Notre Dame is the only team with a realistic shot at a National Championship. Don't sleep on BYU though because they can sneak up on some teams.

1. Notre Dame
2. BYU
3. Massachusetts
4. Army

Mid-American Conference
The MAC should be interesting this season. PJ Fleck's squad is poised to have a breakthrough, so Western Michigan is my pick to win this conference. Northern Illinois returns twelve starters and Toledo lost head coach Matt Campbell to Iowa State, but both those squads in the West should be solid as well. Don't sleep on Ohio in the East division because they quietly had a good year last year and their schedule is in their favor this year.

- East
1. Ohio
2. Bowling Green
3. Buffalo
4. Akron
5. Kent State
6. Miami (OH)

- West
1. Western Michigan
2. Toledo
3. Northern Illinois
4. Central Michigan
5. Eastern Michigan
6. Ball State

Conference Championship: Western Michigan over Ohio

Mountain West Conference
This conference should be interesting too. San Diego State and Boise State are the favorites to win this conference and are sleepers to make a New Years Six Bowl as one of the Group Of 5 representatives. The Mountain Division is the deeper division of the two and don't sleep on Air Force, who can sneak up on teams.

- Mountain
1. Boise State
2. Air Force
3. Colorado State
4. New Mexico
5. Utah State
6. Wyoming

- West
1. San Diego State
2. Nevada
3. San Jose State
4. UNLV
5. Fresno State
6. Hawaii

Conference Championship: San Diego State over Boise State

Pac-12
The Pac-12 is one of the best and deepest conferences in the country, but will the fact that there's so much parody within the conference mean that the Pac-12 will be left out of the College Football Playoff? That's in play. Stanford should be the favorites in the conference led by Christian McCaffrey, who should have won last years Heisman Trophy. Expectations are high for Washington and they should be decent. Don't sleep on Oregon just because they lost Vernon Adams Jr, their still a decent team. I like UCLA to come out of the South Divison led by Josh Rosen, who is the best quarterback in the conference. Don't sleep on Utah, either who has a great defense, is awesome at home, and their schedule is in their favor. USC has the talent to win the South, but their schedule is very difficult.

- North
1. Stanford
2. Oregon
3. Washington
4. Washington State
5. California
6. Oregon State

- South
1. UCLA
2. Utah
3. USC
4. Arizona
5. Arizona State
6. Colorado

Conference Championship: Stanford over UCLA

Southeastern Conference
The SEC is still the best conference in the country from a talent standpoint. Alabama is still the team to beat because their the reigning National Champions and Nick Saban is just a flat out winner. LSU and Ole Miss are still very good teams that should be in the conversation. In the East, Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida are all very good teams and are the most likely candidates to win that division.

- East
1. Georgia
2. Tennessee
3. Florida
4. Missouri
5. Kentucky
6. Vanderbilt
7. South Carolina

- West
1. Alabama
2. Ole Miss
3. LSU
4. Mississippi State
5. Texas A&M
6. Auburn
7. Arkansas

Conference Championship: Alabama over Georgia

Sun Belt
The Sun Belt isn't as bad as it was in years past and as many as six teams from this conference can conceivably make a bowl game. Appalachian State is the team to beat here with their schedule in their favor and they have a lot of returning starters on defense. Arkansas State and Georgia Southern should still be solid, but don't sleep on South Alabama, who made a bowl game last season and who's schedule is favorable.

1. Appalachian State
2. Arkansas State
3. South Alabama
4. Georgia Southern
5. Georgia State
6. Louisiana-Lafayette
7. Louisiana-Monroe
8. Texas State
9. Idaho
10. Troy
11. New Mexico State

College Football Playoff
Chick Fil-A Peach Bowl: (1) Clemson vs (4) Ohio State- This is a very intriguing matchup featuring two awesome quarterbacks in DeShaun Watson and JT Barrett. This should be a great game and Clemson will be the pick here because of their experience.
Pick: Clemson

BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl: (2) Alabama vs (3) Oklahoma- This should be a very fun game between two great teams. This was a tough call, but it is very tough to beg against Nick Saban in a big game.
Pick: Alabama

National Championship
(1) Clemson vs (2) Alabama- These are perhaps the two best teams in the country and both are good bets to reach this point to form a rematch of last years National Championship. As I said, Nick Saban is tough to beat in big games, but DeShaun Watson will be the difference here.
Pick: Clemson