As the Bloguin College Football Network continues to grow and college football camps getting underway, the folks at LOHD (Leftover Hot Dog) thought it would be a great idea to get some of us together and do some predictions for the upcoming season.
We are asked to predict the winners of each conference as well as pick the Heisman Trophy Winner and BCS Champion.
Here are our thoughts and at the bottom of this is a link to others on the Bloguin network that participated so go read their thoughts on the same topic. Let’s see who the best prognasticator is.
ACC:
As long as Boston College doesn’t win I’m a happy camper. They’re afraid to play my UConn Huskies. The Virginia Tech Hokies will open up the season with the defending champion Alabama Sooners and no matter what happens there, they should have no problem winning the ACC. The Seminoles should make it to the ACC Championship game but it will be the Hokies garnering the BCS bid from the ACC
Big East:
Pittsburgh is the obvious favorite here but I’m going to be a homer and take my UConn Huskies. They return 16 starters from last season and only lost one player on the offensive line. As the season went on, the Huskies offense looked like they couldn’t be stopped. They lost all of their games last year by a total of 15 points and should have learned from it. As long as the secondary holds up, the Huskies should be tasting the oranges in the hometown of their slain teammate Jasper Howard in what would have been his senior year.
Big Ten:
The Ohio State Buckeyes are the team to beat here. Terrelle Pryor spurned Rich Rodriguez while he was at West Virginia and decided the Horseshoe was where he wanted to play and not at the Big House where Rodriguez has struggled. Penn State’s always tough but Paterno’s boys won’t have enough to keep the Buckeyes from a spot in a BCS game and quite possibly the National Championship Game.
Pac 10:
Southern Cal is no longer part of the equation as Lane Kiffin’s boys are banned from the postseason. The two teams from Oregon appear to be the class of the Pac 10 in 2010 and the race to the BCS will come down to December 4th when Oregon State and Oregon meet at Reser Field in Corvallis. The home crowd will be too much for the Ducks to overcome and it will be the Beavers smelling the roses.
SEC:
Tim Tebow may be gone from Florida but as long as Urban Meyer is the coach, the Gators will be a force. But with the defending champion Alabama Crimson Tide looking strong for 2010, the Crimson Tide will ride the wave to the SEC Crown and BCS Championship Game.
Mountain West:
The TCU Horned Frogs and Utah Utes are the class of the Mountain West but the Horned Frogs will win this conference and maybe even take an at-large bid in the BCS.
MAC:
Al Golden has done a great job of turning the Temple Owls into a top program in the MAC. But Frank Solich has a good club at Ohio that could challenge the Owls for the top spot. In the end though, I think Golden’s Owls win the conference.
Big 12:
Is the reign of the Hook’em Horns over with four-year stud Colt McCoy in the NFL now? You’ve got Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska all sitting in the preseason top 10 before the season even starts. I’m going out on a small limb here but the Cornhuskers will win the conference and then take off to the Big 10 (at least I know that’s happening).
Conference USA:
My Heisman pick, Houston QB Case Keenum, threw for a gazillion yards last year and will probably do at least that this year in the Cougars high powered offense to bring them the conference title.
Sun Belt:
The 2009 race was between Troy and Middle Tennessee State last season and it will be no different. Whoever wins the game between them on October 5th should cruise to the title and with the Troy Trojans holding the home field advantage, I’m going to go with them.
WAC:
They may have a blue field that hurts your eyes when you watch it on television but it will be the Boise State Broncos winning the WAC in 2010. And I’m sure all of the remaining teams left will be glad to see them gone in 2011.
Heisman Trophy Winner:
Mark Ingram of Alabama will get an invite back to New York but he won’t beat out Houston QB Case Keenum who threw for 5,671 yards last season and 44 TDs. This season, I think he’ll get even closer to 6,000 yards and 50 TDs this season and that will help hear his named called as the winner of the Heisman Trophy.
BCS Trophy:
No team has won the title two times in a row since the start of the BCS but this will be the year that someone does Nick Saban’s Alabama squad will take home the trophy over The Ohio State.
Do you agree with my thoughts? Let us know in the comments.
Don’t forget to visit these Bloguin College Football Roundtable Participants –
Subway Domer (Notre Dame)
EyeandEer (WVU and OSU)
Blatant Homerism (Oklahoma)
Bama Sports Report (Alabama)
The North End Zone (Virginia Tech)
All Things Maroon (Mississippi State)
Saturday Night Slant (LSU)
Leftover Hot Dog (South Carolina)
SOX & Dawgs (UConn)
Randall Simon’s Sausages
Our UConn Huskies find themselves in the others receiving votes having gotten 40 votes from the coaches. This places the Huskies as the 33rd ranked team in the country. Their opening week opponent, the Michigan Wolverines, didn’t receive any votes.
Bloguin and the fine folks at 
In what was the closest vote in the history of the Heisman Trophy, University of Alabama Crimson Tide running back Mark Ingram was named the 75th winner of the Heisman Trophy.