Looking Back

If you have been following this blog from the beginning, you know I made predictions for each conference. You can see those predictions by clicking on the archives (right side of the page) for August. I went back and looked at each conference to see how I did. Some conferences were closer than others but for the most part, I wasn't bad.

Big Ten
11. Indiana 11. Indiana
10. Purdue 10. Michigan
9. Northwestern 9. Illinois
8. Michigan 8. Minnesota
7. Minnesota 7. Purdue
6. Michigan State 6. Michigan State
5. Illinois 5. Wisconsin
4. Wisconsin 4. Northwestern
3. Iowa 3. Penn State
2. Ohio State 2. Iowa
1. Penn State 1. Ohio State

I seriously underestimated Pat Fitzgerald and the Northwestern Wildcats. They managed a fourth place finish, five spots higher than where I put them. I also called for a Penn State title. They never got things completely going and Ohio State deserved this championship. As for disappointments, Illinois and Michigan were atrocius. I called for Michigan to finish 5-7 but I didn't think would look as bad as they did. The heat is officially on Zook and Rodriguez.

SEC East
6. Kentucky 6. Vanderbilt
5. Vanderbilt 5. Kentucky
4. Tennessee 4. South Carolina
3. South Carolina 3. Georgia
2. Georgia 2. Tennessee
1. Florida 1. Florida
SEC West
6. Mississippi State 6. Mississippi State
5. Auburn 5. Auburn
4. Arkansas 4. Arkansas
3. LSU 3. Ole Miss
2. Ole Miss 2. LSU
1. Alabama 1. Alabama

To be fair, no one knew Georgia would play like zombies for most of the season. They were disappointing. Tennessee was a little better than I thought they would be but things shook out like I thought they would. I called for undefeated seasons from Florida and Bama. I also predicted that Ryan Mallett would have the best stats in the conference, I was right. He threw for nearly 700 yards more than anyone and had the most touchdown passes.

I was fairly close on the Big 12 South (minus Oklahoma). I picked Texas to go undefeated and compete in the title game. However, the Big 12 North was a disaster. I had Kansas first, they finished last. This was a really bad year for Mark Mangino! The ACC was also pretty good for me. I picked Clemson and Georgia Tech to win their divisions and they did. I also picked Florida State than anyone else I saw and they finished fourth in the Atlantic. The Pac-10 was pretty ugly for most people who were picking. Who could have predicted the downturn for the Trojans? I had them second but I didn't it would be Oregon to overtake them. I picked Cal and they disappointed me again. As for the Big East: "Brian Kelly is one of the best coaches in America and Tony Pike is one of the better quarterbacks. Cincinnati will go undefeated and represent the Big East in a BCS bowl for the second straight year. Brian Kelly will leave UC for greener pastures after this season." Yeah, I nailed that one.

The Indiana Hoosiers take on North Carolina Central tomorrow night on the Big Ten Network. There is no other way of putting this. Indiana should drill this team early and coast to an easy win. Actually, they should do that in their last three games before Big Ten play. NCC has played a tough schedule and haven't come that close to pulling off any upsets. They lost by ten at Iowa and by nine to Florida Gulf Coast. No analysis needed, just go out and get the win. The goal is to not have anyone get injured and develop some sort of confidence for Tom Pritchard. These are the kinds of teams he dominated last season. If he doesn't play well these next three games, he won't play well all year.

Until next time, have a great weekend and God Bless. Hope you enjoyed Tijan!!!!