FORT STEWART, Ga. - OK, we're now two weeks away until toe meets leather on the college football field and three weeks away from the NFL beginning.
The NFL pre-season has already begun, but who is paying attention to that? Most of the colleges were wrapping up their training camps while many high schools are just getting started as they gear up for the beginning of the high school season.
With all of that being said, it’s time for me to make some bold predictions.
After studying the teams over the past few weeks, I have come to some conclusion about the upcoming college and NFL seasons. I know you are eager to hear my predictions because I’m almost always usually sometimes correct.
Keep in mind that my predictions are only for fun, please don’t take any of my predictions to a betting house.
I don’t know if you are aware of this, but this is the last college football season that will end with the Bowl Championship Series, otherwise known as the college football national championship. In 2015, college football will go to a four-team playoff system to decide a national champion.
By the way, before I go any further, did you know that college football is the only sport that the NCAA doesn't officially award a champion?
They have always allowed outside sources such as the Associated Press, a coaches’ poll and the BCS to crown a champion. By the way, that would have been item number one in my things that may only interest me section.
OK, back to my predictions. There are 34 college bowl games this year. I’m not going to predict every bowl participant, but I will guess who will make the five major bowl games.
Those major bowls are the Rose, Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and the national championship game, which will be played in Pasadena, Calif., Jan. 6, 2014.
My college bowl predictions:
Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Alabama
Orange Bowl: Clemson vs. Louisville
Sugar Bowl: Texas A &M vs. Florida State
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Michigan
National championship: Stanford vs. Ohio State
And, the 2014 national champion will be the Buckeyes. I know what you're thinking. Did you know our new commanding general is also a Buckeye? Welcome aboard, sir!
As for the NFL, I see it going down like this:
AFC East: New England Patriots
AFC North: Cincinnati Bengals
AFC South: Houston Texans
AFC West: Denver Broncos
Wildcard teams: Kansas City Chiefs and Indianapolis Colts
AFC Championship game: Broncos vs. Texans
NFC East: New York Giants
NFC North: Detroit Lions
NFC South: Atlanta Falcons
NFC West: San Francisco 49ers
Wildcard teams: Green bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys
NFC Championship game: Falcons vs. Giants
Super Bowl XLVIII, MetLife Stadium, New York-New Jersey: Broncos vs. Falcons.
The Super Bowl Champion will be the Falcons.
Things that may only interest me:
Did you know that former Hall of Fall wide receiver Jerry Rice is the only player in the history of the NFL to have at least one receiving yard at the age 40 or older? He has 2,509 yards.
Speaking of records and numbers, check out the following numbers.
750. Lions QB Matthew Stafford threw the ball 727 times last season. Will he or another QB surpass 750 attempts this season?
600. Norm Van Brocklin threw for 554 yards in a game in 1951. Could we see someone throw for 600 or more in a game?
80. The record for most pass attempts in a game currently sits at 70 by Drew Bledsoe in 1994. I can see Tom Brady or Stafford or Drew Brees breaking this record. Someone’s arm would be very tired.
2000. Calvin Johnson broke the record last season at 1,964 yards. I think he has a chip on his shoulder about going any higher and will find a way to break the 2,000 yard mark this year.
300. Adrian Peterson holds the record at 296 yards. It would be good for my fantasy team if the Texans RB Chris Johnson reached this mark.