ACC: Florida State
The ACC is a split conference between a handful of good teams like Florida State, Wake Forest, North Carolina, and Clemson. And then there’s the bottom tier teams like Virginia, Virginia Tech, Miami, Boston College, and Georgia Tech. There isn’t much in between. With that being said, I only view three teams as viable options to win the conference: Florida State, North Carolina, and Clemson. For Clemson, they’ve been in an odd state of disarray where they put out a good record, make a bowl game, but just feel underwhelming. In the case of North Carolina, they struggle to close. Last season with only two games left, they were 9-1 and then lost to Georgia Tech and NC State. They would ultimately lose to Clemson in the ACC Championship. While they do have Drake Maye coming back, I don’t see them winning the ACC.
That leaves just one team remaining. The Seminoles aren’t just my pick to win the ACC, they’re my dark horse to win the National Title. Jordan Travis is one of the five best quarterbacks in college and burst on the scene last year. He passed for 3,214 yards and 24 touchdowns while also rushing for 417 yards and 7 scores. He’ll be throwing to his top target from last season, Johnny Wilson, and transfer Keon Coleman who went for 798 yards and 7 scores. To go with an explosive offense, the Noles have the best defender in college football. Jared Verse tallied 47 tackles and 9 sacks in 2022. He sets the tone for Florida States defense and elevates their front seven. The Seminoles are going to win the ACC this year.
SEC: Tennessee
You might think this is a crazy pick, but it’s far from that. I’m predicting that the typical top tier SEC teams are going to have a slight drop off, which helps Tennessee. Georgia may have the nation’s best tight end, but they lost Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Broderick Jones, Darnell Washington, Kelee Ringo, Stetson Bennett, and many other starters. I comprehend that they have a plethora of five stars waiting in the wings, but it’s tough to replace players of that caliber. For Alabama, we’ve seen them begin to trend downwards, which is a 10-2 season and a good one for most teams, but not good enough to win the SEC.
Tennessee has Joe Milton as their starting quarterback and I believe he’s poised to lead the Volunteers to an SEC Championship and a Heisman campaign. Like I mentioned, Georgia is the only team that stands in their way in the SEC East, but they will drop off. With Joe Milton at quarterback and Bru McCoy, Ramel Keyton, and Jaylen Wright as weapons, their offense will be one of the nation’s best.
BIG 10: Michigan
As a diehard Notre Dame fan, it pains me to right this, but the Michigan Wolverines will be just as dominant as they were in 2022. Michigan brings back two of the nation’s top five running backs in Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards along with wideout Cornelius Johnson (Connecticut native) and tight end Coltson Loveland. On top of that, they landed one of the best transfers in the country with Stanford center Drake Nugent. Defensively, they retain linebacker Michael Barrett, nose tackle Mason Graham, and their interception leader from last season, Rod Moore.
With a strong retention of talent, the BIG 10 had a slight drop off. Ohio State lost CJ Stroud, but still has Emeka Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr. It’s unclear how good Kyle McCord will be, so I don’t see the Buckeyes winning the conference. For Penn State, they have an unproven quarterback in Drew Allar so I also don’t see them posing a threat. The conference is Michigan’s to lose and I don’t see any other team in the BIG 10 taking it away from them.
BIG 12: Texas
While I don’t love Texas or their fanbase, the Longhorns have a loaded roster coming into the season. When you factor in that the BIG 12 isn’t a powerful conference and their talent, the road is paved for the Longhorns. Quinn Ewers played well last season, but he needs to stay healthy in order for Texas to have success. At wideout, Texas has one of the nation’s best in Xavier Worthy along with tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders and running back Jonathon Brooks who will replace Bijan Robinson. On defense, they return their sack leader from 2022 with Barryn Sorrell and interception leader Jaylan Ford. Much like Michigan, Texas has returned a boatload of talent.
Even though I love TCU and their story from last year, losing Duggan and Johnston hurts. Kansas State’s best weapon, Deuce Vaughn, got drafted and any new teams don’t stand a chance vs Texas. Going back to the Michigan comparison, the conference is lined up for Texas. It’s theirs to lose, but they can’t drop a game to a team like Kansas or Texas Tech.
PAC 12: Utah
USC this, Oregon that. The team that everyone forgets about in the Pac 12 is Utah. The Utes are consistently a tough and gritty team that punches air raid teams in the mouth. They return linebacker Karene Reid who tallied 5 sacks and 72 tackles last year. Along with Reid, they bring back their tackle leader from 2022, safety Cole Bishop. On offense, Cam Rising, who was very dominant last year, returns. He passed for over 3,000 yards and 26 touchdowns last year. While he did lose his top target in Dalton Kincaid, Utah maintains receivers Vele Devaughn and Money Parks so their passing attack won’t take a hit.
The Pac 12 is a very top-heavy conference and Utah has a tough schedule. They play Florida and Baylor the first two weeks of the year and if they can dominate in those out of conference games, then they’ll be well prepared for teams like Oregon, Oregon State, USC, and Washington. I like the Utes chances of repeating this year and sticking it to the other talented teams in the conference.
