2016 College Football Preseason Top-10

A lot of you guys don't follow me on twitter (@K_Mart10), but I did a preseason top 10 countdown for the last week and a half leading up to the first Saturday of the college football season (last Saturday). I've consolidated the complete list into this blog for your viewing pleasure.

No. 1 Alabama

• More of legacy pick than anything. Stacked at OL & RB, so mediocre QB play should be enough.
• Tide's defense will be great as always. We'll see if anyone can beat them. I think they make the playoffs again. #No1Alabama

No. 2 Clemson

•  Hesiman front-runner Deshaun Watson leads a offense full of studs. Gallman, Legget, Scott, Cain, Renfrow, Mcloud, etc.
• Tigers return top-notch OL along w/ #1 WR, Mike Williams. Defense lost some key pieces, but returns top-tier DL. Need some guys to step up.
• Season comes down to @Florida State, but game vs. Louisville scares me. Breakout players: WR Cain & DE Ferrell. #Clemson
• Tigers have best player on the field w/ Watson. Special season in store for CU. Think they make playoff for 2nd straight yr. #No2Clemson

No. 3 Florida State

• Dalvin Cook is the best RB in the nation, & returns behind a GREAT OL to go along w/ a top-tier WR Corp. #Seminoles
• I think Francois should be the Seminoles guy at QB. Think he's a player. Defense is really good, as always. Bunch of werewolves everywhere.
• Tough to start vs Ole Miss (neutral site) w/ a new QB, & @Louisville & @Miami are tough, but season comes down to 10/29 vs. Clemson. #Noles
• Think they lose to the Tigers, but still have a great shot to make the playoffs w/ 1 loss. Cook & Francois are that good. #No3FloridaState

No. 4 Ohio State

• Dual-threat QB J.T. Barrett will lead this O, & RB Mike Weber & WR Noah Brown will be household names by end of the year.
• Buckeyes have to replace a lot, but have been stacking talent. They have some guys on defense I really like in DB Conley & SS Hooker. #tOSU 
• We'll find out what they have in week 3 @Oklahoma. Schedule isn't terrible after that, play @Wis mid-season then finish @MSU & vs Michigan.
• I really like this Buckeyes team. Think they're flying under the radar. I've got Meyer, Barret, & Co. making the playoff. #No4OhioState

No. 5 Oklahoma

• QB Baker Mayfield & RBs Samaje Perine & Joe Mixon make for one of the most explosive backfields in the nation. #BoomerSooner
• Sooners need some guys to step up at O-Line & WR. Defense will be solid, & secondary led by J. Thomas, Parker, & A. Thomas is superb.
• Schedule starts off with 3 marquee games in 1st 4 weeks, w/ Houston (neutral site), vs. Ohio State, & @TCU. Boomer could easily lose 2.
• Not as high on OU as most. Always seem to underperform when picked high. I think Mayfield & crew will have a rough 1st month. #No5Oklahoma

No. 6 Notre Dame

• Irish offense should be really good. Have 2 above average QBs in Zaire & Kizer, & to be honest, idk who I would start.
• Folston & Adams at RB are good players to go along with talent at WR, but they've got a lot to replace on the O-Line w/ 3 new starters.
• Defense has a lot to replace. Recent loss of Redfield is big, & they need Rochell to step up production. D needs to increase sacks & TOs.
• Schedule is ridiculous with only 3 true road games. Irish have a good chance to win 10+ games & maybe make a run at playoff. #No6NotreDame

No. 7 Michigan

• Harbaugh's 2nd yr in Ann Arbor has the potential to be a big one. Have to find a QB, but WRs are deep & return 4 O-Lineman.
• The Wolverines defense will be salty, led by do-it-all sensation Jabrill Peppers. Were 4th overall in total D last season & could be better.
• Schedule is pretty easy, just @ Michigan State in late October then @ Ohio State to end the season. Could slip up @ Iowa, but doubtful.
• I'm not as high on this team as a lot of people. I don't believe in their QB & offense as a whole. Still think they win 10+. #No7Michigan

No. 8 Houston

• QB Greg Ward Jr. is the real deal. One of the most exciting players in college football, he led his squad to 13-1 last year.
• The Cougars have athletes all over the field on offense to help Ward. The O avgd 40.4 ppg last year, & there's no reason they won't repeat.
• Defensive front 7 is nasty & absolutely shut down then run. (see Dalvin Cook: 33 yds on 18 carries in the Peach Bowl win by the Cougars.)
• Secondary is shaky & has to replace a lot. Have a HUGE game vs. OU to open then late vs UL (both neutral sites), rest of sched is cake.
• If the Cougars somehow run the table, they may be able 2 sneak into the playoff. Expecting a huge season from Hermann & Ward Jr. #No8Houston

No. 9 LSU

• RB Leonard Fournette is a stud, & their defense will be really, really good under Dave Aranda's 3-4 scheme. #Salty
• Fournette, WRs Malachi Dupre & Travin Dural, & a solid OL could make for a great O, BUT they've got to get more out of QB Brandon Harris.
• Schedule isn't terrible for the Tigers, only tough stretch is vs Ole Miss, vs Alabama, & @Arkansas towards the end of the season.
• I don't think Harris will be good enough for them to win a title, but Fournette will still carry them to a top-10 season. #No9LSU

No. 10 Stanford

• Heisman Finalist RB McCaffrey is one of the best players in the country, and he'll make it easier on an inexperienced QB and OL.
• The Cardinal D should be REALLY good at all 3 levels, anchored by stud DL Solomon Thomas. If they can hold teams < 25, have a good shot.
• Schedule worries me, w/ USC, @UCLA, @Washington, Washington State, & @Notre Dame all in a row. Add in @Oregon at the end, & that's TOUGH.   
• This Cardinal team goes as far as Christian McCaffrey takes them, & I think they've got a great shot to win the Pac-12. #No10Stanford 

A few sleeper teams:

•      UNC-High powered O & TJ Logan 
•      Texas Tech-Love Kingsbury & my boy Pat Mahomes #Heisman 
•      Okla State-Rudolph is a star

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A First Glance at Clemson's 2014 Schedule

The ACC released the 2014 football schedule this past Wednesday afternoon, which was a lot sooner than usual. The schedule usually isn't released until sometime in February, so Swofford was really on the ball this year. It's clear the reason the schedules used to take so long to come out was Maryland, who is now leaving the conference to go to the B1G. God, Maryland I hate you so much go away. I'm glad those Terp clowns are leaving, good riddance. Anyway, I digress. Here's a few quick thoughts on the 2014 Clemson Tiger Football Schedule:

August 30th at Georgia
-Two teams with new quarterbacks, should be a good one. Personally, I'm looking forward to heading down to Athens for the first time.

September 6th vs. South Carolina State
-Can't wait to hear their band again.

September 20th at Florida State
-Great to have a bye before the Seminoles, but they have one the week before too, so I don't know how much it will help. I'm ready to head back down to TallaNasty though, I already hear Bullwinkles calling my name. ($10 all you can drink FYI). *Also, going Athens and Tallahassee within a month of each other is going to be a hell of a lot of fun.

September 27th vs. North Carolina
-This game looks really tricky coming off of the FSU contest. I am excited to see T.J. Logan come to town.

October 4th vs. N.C. State
-Second home game in a row. Should be starting to cool down some by this game so hopefully it won't be scorching.

October 11th vs. Louisville
-First contest against the new conference foe. Bobby Petrino's offense scares me, but luckily they lost Teddy Bridgewater and hired Todd Grantham to coach the defense.

October 18th at Boston College
-I have heard it's a fun trip, but I doubt I'll be making it this year. I think Steve Addazio has this team going in the right direction.

October 25th vs. Syracuse
-Man, I hate these guys so much already. I hope we curb stomp them in the Valley and Dabo puts Shafer's sorry a** in a Crippler Crossface at midfield after the game.

November 6th at Wake Forest
-Thursday night game that could be a little tricky. However, the Demon Deacons have been severely lacking in the talent department the past few years so they should be no problem. (HA! that reminds me of the line in Angels in the Outfield where Danny Glover says, "There's a thing called talent, they don't have it!")

November 15th at Georgia Tech
-Screw the triple option.

November 22nd vs. Georgia State
-Ho hum, another snoozer. It's also probably going to be freezing at this point in the year.

November 29th vs. South Carolina
-There's nothing to be said. I'm already excited for this one.


Overall, I think this is as good of a schedule that Clemson could've hoped for. Bye week before FSU, ten days to prepare for GT, and a cupcake before the Gamecocks. Should be good season, I can't wait for August. Spot the damn ball.

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Clembarrassing, Hater Hotline, the Snake Pit, & More.

Clemson vs. Florida State

Wow. What a train wreck. From the very first play when Stanton Seckinger fumbled, it was all bad. I mean, I knew the Seminoles were good, I just didn't know they were that good. Those boys are the real deal. Granted, I don't think they're 37 points better than the Tigers, but I do think they're better. Florida State played an 'A' game, while Clemson played a 'F' game. We had chances to get back into it, after the TD pass to Sammy Watkins, Breeland had a pick and we got the ball around midfield down only 17-7. However, the drive stalled and the Tigers punted. They pinned FSU deep in their own territory and forced a 3-and-out and again got the ball around midfield only down 10. The drive moved into 'Nole territory before having to punt once more, and then a long FSU touchdown pass occurred and that was all she wrote. Let me say this as well, Famous Jameis Winston is the real deal, the kid looked amazing. I really wasn't even that mad after the game, it was almost comical. I wanted to be mad at their guys for beating us, but after seeing some of the things they said/did, it became very hard to do so. I loved Jameis saying, "I told them we weren't worried 'bout the noise, 'cause we gone bring the noise," and damnit he was right. I love that swagger/cockiness. Also, I was a huge fan of #5, Reggie Northrup I think it was, doing the robot and then hitting the TerRio "Ooh Kill 'Em" on the sideline. I busted out laughing when I saw that after the game. Here is a video of that -->

South Carolina @ Missouri 

The Gamecocks are going to win. I don't know why, but they just are. I've got that feeling. They're coming off a tough loss to Rocky Top and Mizzou is undefeated and #5 in the country, and no one is expecting the 'Cocks to win, so naturally they will. Clowney looked REALLY good last week against future NFLer "Tiny" Richardson, so maybe he's starting to turn it on. The Tigers are starting freshman Maty Mauck who is in line for only his second start so anything can happen. Connor Shaw is out, so I expect a heavy dose of Mike Davis this week. By the way, I was 100% wrong about Mike Davis. Coming out of high school, I said that he wasn't that good and that I didn't want him at Clemson, but now, that kid is a stud. I would love to have him on my team, so I apologize Mike for doubting you.
I digress, I know the hater hotline guy & my buddy Phil will be pleased with the starting QB for USC this weekend, "I think they oughta put Dylan Thompson in." New QB, I don't care. South Carolina wins it. #DylWithIt

Clemson @ Maryland

The Tigers travel to the Snake Pit, otherwise known as Byrd Stadium, for their last matchup with Maryland for who knows how many years. The Terps are hurting badly, their injury list has more people on it than will be at the game. Diggs, Out. Johnson, Out. Brown, Out. It's unbelievable. The main thing for Clemson will be how they recover mentally from that thrashing last weekend. The Tigers always have a tough time up in Maryland, but I think this Terrapin squad is too depleted to knock off the Tigers. Sorry Scott Van Pelt, you're my boy, but the Tigers take this one.

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THE CLEMSON MEGA-BOWL. #TURNUP

College GameDay. No. 3 vs. No. 5. 8:00 Primetime on ABC. Top 5 Showdown. The two schools with the most ACC Championships. Man, is it going to be a huge weekend in Clemson or what? I don't know about you guys, but I've been jacked up all week. I mean, I cannot wait until Saturday night. This is probably the biggest game I have ever been to, and it's going to be wild. I've been tweeting, making vines, everything. Here's a few of my vines so far, you guys should watch them and give me a follow, there are more to come: Vine 1 Vine 2

I'm not going to give you guys a complete breakdown of the game because I've already done it on my podcast. Here's the link, you guys should be sure to check it out: The OT with KT. My buddy Brett Hester and myself broke down the FSU Offense against the Clemson Defense, the Clemson Offense against the FSU Defense, and then gave picks on the game. There's lots of good stuff in there, stats and what not. Vegas has Florida State as a 3-point favorite on the road, and if you're listening to the media, you'd think the 'Noles are just going to trounce the Tigers. But hey guys, let me tell you a secret, WE CAN WIN THIS. Here are just a few main thoughts for you: Look for Tajh to run more for this game, and on defense the key is the Tigers front four getting pressure.

A Few Other Stats/Comments I Don't Know Where To Put

• College GameDay from 9-12 on Bowman Field. Rumor is the guest picker may be Brian Dawkins
• Nissan Heisman House also on Bowman from 12-8. Michael Dean Perry, Woody Dantzler, and Neil Everett, and a real Heisman Trophy will all be there.
• Official kickoff time is 8:22pm. ABC will be covering the team's entrance again.
• 20% chance of rain at this time.
• FSU is bringing their Spirit Drum.
• FSU has deemed this a "sod game."
• 1st game of 2 top-5 games in the state of South Carolina's history.
• FSU hasn't won in Clemson since 2001. Jameis Winston (Famous Jameis, Jameis Christ) was 7.
• Dabo is 8-0 in home games against ACC teams he lost to the previous year on the road.
• First time since '07 GameDay has gone to the same location twice in a season, & the first time they ever have in the first 7 weeks of the season.
• Clemson may break out the orange pants.
• Some Vegas Power Rankings have Clemson 14th and FSU 3rd.
• Clemson's opponent 3rd down percentage conversion rate: 20.25%, #1 in the country.
• CU opponent 3rd down conversions per game: 3.2, #5 in the country.
• CU opponent yards per play: 5.1, #37 in the country.
• Tigers also lead the nation in sacks and tackles for loss.
• Everyone has a plan until they're punched in the mouth.

My Prediction

Clemson is at home. We have the better defense. We have the three best players in the game.

Tigers-38

Seminoles-34

We Too Deep

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