Ty's 2023 College Football Preview
/
Wrapping up my football previews, today I have my NCAA football preseason prediction and preview for you all. This is my favorite sport to watch. I live for college football. I love spending my Saturdays in the fall watching college football and trail running. Those are the two things outside my family that fill me with joy. This is my version of Christmas. For my preview I will cover the power 5 conferences, the last time I can do that, and give you some independent teams and group of 5 teams I like. I will give you all my CFP teams, my title game matchup and my Heisman winner. Here we go.
We will start with the Pac 12 since this is the last year of the Pac 12.
College football fans know all about this, so I will go on my merry way giving you my final Pac 12 preview ever. This conference is loaded with talented QB's. This may be the year they get a team back in the CFP. The top teams will score a ton of points. The Pac 12 should be very exciting to watch. The top of the conference features USC, Oregon and Washington. USC has returning Heisman winner Caleb Williams Their offense is absolutely stacked. The defense isn't great, but USC could average upwards of 45 points per game. Oregon has its own Heisman hopeful in Bo Nix. He thrived last year and he is even more experienced. The Ducks also have some of the fastest players in the country on their offense. Michael Penix Jr thrived in Washington's offense last season. He has turned himself into a first round NFL draft prospect. Washington may have the best defense of these top three teams. Utah is still here and still very sound on both sides of the ball. Colorado has amassed the biggest transfer class of all time and Deion Sanders is their new head coach. They will be better than expected. Oregon State got DJ Ugaglei to transfer there and he seems happy and poised to have a good season. UCLA has gotten better every year under Chip Kelly and they should be a bowl team again. The rest of the conference is very blah, but these teams will scrap and fight every week. I have not watched the Pac 12 closely in a few years, but I will this year. I am excited to see how lethal these offenses can get. I think USC and Washington will play in the Pac 12 title game and USC will win the conference for the second straight season.
Let's move to the ACC.
The ACC is still the weakest of the power 5 conferences in my opinion, but there are some teams that could make a push for the CFP. Clemson is coming off a "down" year, and they look to be back. Cade Klubinik will take over at QB and this defense is going to be better this year. Clemson has become a legit college football powerhouse. Florida State looks to be back. Jordan Travis is a very good QB and this defense is loaded with talent. They seemed to have figured something out and they are going to be Clemson's main threat all season long. UNC has Drake Maye and if college football has taught us anything it is that a star QB can win a ton of games. Maye is good and should be in the Heisman talk all year, but this defense is very bad and they won't win as many games as they should. I am curious about Miami. They were very bad last season, but they trimmed some fat out of their coaching staff and they had a very solid recruiting class. This season will be very telling for the Hurricanes moving forward and for Mario Cristobal. They should be better than last season at the very least. Wake Forest has a good run game that can control the clock. Pitt seems to disappoint more often than not, but they are a decent team on paper. Louisville alwast has an explosive offense. And Duke can be stingy. I think this conference will come down to Clemson and FSU. I'll take FSU since they have the more experienced QB and a much better defense.
Up next, the Big 12.
This conference will look different next year, but we are not there yet. I have a few concerns about the top this season though. Is Texas back? Are they finally going to live up to the hype? Is Quinn Ewers legit, or are they going to have to turn to Arch Manning? What about Oklahoma? Are they going to rebound from an off year? Has the coaching staff gotten better? Is General Booty the answer at QB? How about KU? Are they going to be the team we saw for the first six weeks of last season or the last six weeks? Is West Virginia ever going to get over the hump? Is Baylor going to be dominant or disappointing? How will Cincinnati, Houston, BYU and UCF fare in their first season in a power 5 conference? Was TCU just a feel good story last year or are they building something special over there? There are far too many questions that have no real answers right now and may not have an answer all season long. I feel like it will come down to Texas and Oklahoma, each team's last season in the Big 12, and I do think Texas will win the conference. But don't count out Cincy, KU and Baylor. These teams could surprise a lot of people like TCU did last season.
Now the SEC.
This is the dominant conference in college football. They own the CFP. They have the most Heisman winners since the CFP was introduced. They have the best coaches and the best overall rosters. It is a gauntlet and the games are almost always a must watch. Georgia is back and reloaded. The names may be different but the results should be the same. Georgia is currently having one of the best runs we have seen in college football in quite some time. But there are threats. Alabama is always going to be here. They have the best staff. They have the most talented players. They are the definition of a team that just reloads. Alabama is going to be tough. LSU has Heisman hopeful Jayden Daniels and a much improved defense. The Tigers are going to be a very formidable threat all season long. Auburn has a new staff under the much scrutinized Hugh Freeze, and they will welcome in a bunch of transfers. But they will still be a tough out and their home games are always rough for their opponents. Tennessee is going to be very, very good on offense. They will challenge the numbers USC is going to put up. I'm thrilled for Joe Milton that he is getting a real shot to play and he is my darkhorse pick for the Heisman. The defense is blah, but that offense is very fast and incredibly productive. Florida should be better in year two under Billy Napier. They will have to replace Anthony Richardson, which will be tough, but they should be improved as a team overall. Arkansas has a returning QB and a good offense. They will be a bowl team and give a scare to a few of the top teams. I wonder if Texas A&M will actually live up to preseason hype? Or maybe Jimbo Fisher is just overrated. Missouri will have a very up tempo offense and could shock a few teams. Ole Miss has a wonderfully sound run game, but they leave a lot more to be desired everywhere else. Kentucky will be a bear as well. The SEC is awesome. There is a reason they are always the best conference and have the most titles in the CFP era. I am going to pick Georgia to win the conference again, but I do think they will face Tennessee in the title game and Tennessee will give them a good matchup.
Wrapping up the power 5 conferences we are going to the conference I watch the most, the Big 10.
The top of the Big 10 goes through the university of Ohio State and Michigan. It is good to have these two powerhouses on a level playing field. The university of Ohio State has some productivity to replace, but they will be just fine. Marvin Harrison Jr is still on this team and I feel like I could throw him TD passes. He is the most pro ready kid in all of college football. The new QB is his high school teammate as well. They have production everywhere and they should have a top five offense. The questions lie with their defense. They need to limit big plays. They have given up far too many lately. Michigan is finally back to being very relevant. Jim Harbaugh has done almost everything he has strived to do since he took this job. Michigan's offense is slow and plodding and productive as hell. This team loves to run the ball. They would run it every time if they could I feel. And why wouldn't you with Donovan Edwards and Blake Corum? They may have the best backfield in all of college football. Their o line is also amazing. They have won the best o line two years in a row. They may make it three this season. Their defense is also very sound most of the time. They stuff the run and make it tough for QB's to throw on their secondary. The questions here lie with the receivers, QB and coaching staff. JJ McCarthy needs to be able to let it rip through the air and the coaches need to let that happen from time to time. The receivers need to have one guy step up and be "the man". They haven't had a number 1 guy in a while. And the head coach is suspended for the first three games and the oc for the first game. The suspensions were levied by the school, but it is still an inconvenience I wish they didn't have to deal with. Penn State will be very good and they also have an elite running game. Their defense is stingy as hell too. Wisconsin hired Cincy's coach in the best move of the offseason and they will be much improved. They are going to throw the ball more than they ever have too. Michigan State lost some transfers, but they seem to thrive when no one expects anything from them, they have a good defense and always find someone to run the ball for them that is productive. Nebraska hired a new head coach as well, and while they will be improved, they still need a little more time to get back to relevance. Purdue went defensive minded with their head coach hire. They should be much better on that side of the ball, but they have a ton of offensive production to replace. Illinois is building a special defense, and even though their DC got a much deserved head coaching job, the Illini defense should still be one of the best in the country. Maryland has Taulia Tagovailoa for another year and they have a very explosive offense. They will be a threat to every team they play. Iowa is like Diet Michigan. They have their former starting QB and tight end. They also want to run and play dynamite defense, which they do very well. The rest of the conference is rough. The conference will come down to the Ohio State-Michigan game. Iowa will most likely win their division and go to the Big 10 title game. Michigan should win their final game. It is in Ann Arbor, they have won two in a row and they have a better team. But that was the case for the university of Ohio State last season and Michigan rolled them. I fear that will happen this season. I'm, unfortunately, picking the university of Ohio State to win the Big 10 this season.
As far as teams outside the power 5 that I like, first off, Notre Dame looked dominant in Ireland last week. Sam Hatmann is legit. Tulane should build upon a very good year last year. Louisiana has been getting better and better every year the last three years. Coastal Carolina has some staying power now. Boise State looks like they may be back to being relevant. And UTSA should build off another solid season. No group of 5 will break through the CFP this year, but some will win double digit games and be a pain in the butt in their bowl games.
Now for the CFP. This is tough for me. On one hand I could see the Big 10 getting multiple teams, but on the other hand I can see the SEC doing something unheard of and getting three teams in it this year. I'd love to see the Pac 12 get a team in there as well. If I had to pick right now, I'd go Georgia at 1, the university of Ohio State at 2, USC at 3 and Tennessee at 4. That means no Alabama, no Michigan, no Texas, no Oregon. This one is tough for me. As for the title game, I have Georgia rolling Tennessee this time and USC beating the university of Ohio State. As for the championship, I'm going with Georgia for a third straight year. Boring? Yep. But they are just so dominant and so terrifying. They are the class of college football in this era. As for my Heisman pick, I'd love to go with Caleb Williams winning it again, but I mentioned Joe Milton earlier as a darkhorse and I want to see him win it. So I'm picking Joe Milton to win the Heisman.
Okay, my football preview and predictions for the 2023 season are done. I cannot wait to dive into college football this weekend. It is going to rule. To everyone else, enjoy the season. It should be fun.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.
Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.
Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.
SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.