Everyone knows this is March, but there’s always college football in the air.
Spring football kicks off across some college football campuses this week, meaning the sixth year of the College Football Playoff era is underway.
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Is this just a formality before Clemson-Alabama V? After all, the Tigers and Crimson Tide have split the last four national championships. Which schools could get in the way? Who is going to win the Heisman Trophy?
We like to predict things when football is in the air. With that in mind, Sporting News takes a crack at 19 early predictions for the 2019 season:
Georgia-Notre Dame a Playoff elimination game
That’s a huge game at Sanford Stadium on Sept. 21 — one that made the difference in the Bulldogs’ 2017 Playoff run. The winner of this game will be good shape for a similar run. We think there will be bigger consequences for the loser. The Bulldogs still have Florida, Texas A&M and Auburn in November. Notre Dame travels to Michigan and Stanford. The loser will not be part of the final Playoff conversation.
The LSU-Texas winner will finish 11-1
The Tigers and Longhorns hook up on Sept. 7 in Austin, and it’s a huge Playoff chip for both teams. LSU gets Florida, Auburn and Texas A&M at home this year and still would be in decent Playoff shape if they can’t overcome the Alabama hurdle. Texas has a negotiable Big 12 road schedule around the annual date with the Sooners on Oct. 12. We will have more on the Longhorns in a bit.
Oct. 12 will be awesome
Not just because of my 40th birthday bash. That weekend features Alabama at Texas A&M, Oklahoma vs. Texas, Florida at LSU and USC at Notre Dame. The fallout from those games will be huge for different reasons. The Alabama-Texas A&M matchup should be a top-10 showdown regardless of what the Aggies do against Clemson on Sept. 7. Florida-LSU is always hot, and we outlined the stakes for Oklahoma and Texas. But Notre Dame-USC has a bigger step because we will learn what comes next for the Trojans.
Clay Helton’s fate will be sealed
Look at USC’s schedule. The first six weeks feature home games against Fresno State, Stanford and Utah and road games against BYU, Washington and Notre Dame. How hot will Helton’s seat be if the Trojans aren’t positive in that stretch, especially after a 5-7 season in 2018? The back half of the schedule is much-more friendly. Will that matter?
Washington’s schedule will trend
Washington should get a boost from Jacob Eason at quarterback, and much like last year, the Huskies will be a hot Playoff pick. The difference this year? Washington gets Oregon and USC at home, and the nonconference schedule (Eastern Washington, Hawaii, BYU) sets Chris Petersen’s team up to make a Playoff run like 2016. That schedule, however, is going to get picked at a lot (a la the 2017 season).
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Jalen Hurts will thrive in Oklahoma
Hurts will take the lessons learned at Alabama and put up big numbers in Lincoln Riley’s offense at Oklahoma. That will give him a chance to be a quarterback in the NFL. We like the fit, and the graduate transfer will be on the fringe of the Heisman discussion. Hurts, however, will not be able to prevent our next prediction from coming true.
Texas will win the Big 12
Yep, we’re coming right out with it. Tom Herman and the Longhorns will take the momentum from last year’s 10-win season and Sugar Bowl victory against Georgia to win the Big 12 championship. The Longhorns already took the first step with an excxellent 2019 recruiting class. It might take a split with Oklahoma to get there, but Sam Ehlinger leads the Longhorns to the next step toward a Playoff race. They will have competition.
The Gators will be 7-1 when they play UGA
Florida has a blockbuster opener against Miami, then Tennessee and Auburn before back-to-back road games against LSU and South Carolina before the matchup against the Bulldogs. Dan Mullen built a bunch of momentum in Gainesville last season. If they beat Georgia this season, the Gators will represent the SEC East in Atlanta.
Bama will go 12-0 again
Nick Saban would love to hear this in April. The Crimson Tide have lost just three regular-season games in the last five years. Alabama travels to South Carolina and Texas A&M this season — the only two places where the Crimson Tide have not won by at least 28 points under Saban. Saban will talk a lot about “internal scoreboards,” but Alabama will not flinch on the road to another SEC championship appearance. Tua Tagovailoa and Jerry Jeudy will be just as good on offense, and the defense will improve. Of course, they will have familiar company.
Clemson will average 50 per game
Clemson’s offense will take a run at a season like Florida State had in 2013, when it averaged 51.6 points per game with Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston on the way to a national championship. FSU scored more than 40 points in 11 of 12 regular-season games. The Tigers’ offense isn’t just about quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Running back Travis Etienne and receivers Justyn Ross and Tee Higgins also are All-American candidates.
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Justin Fields will be a Heisman finalist
That’s a risky pick given the Georgia transfer has yet to take a snap in Columbus, but we feel Fields’ talent will fit first-year coach Ryan Day’s scheme to a tee. Fields might not put up the same passing numbers as record-setter Dwayne Haskins, but he will make up for that with his legs.
Michigan will be 10-1 (again) for The Game
We will have the same conversations about the Wolverines. Jim Harbaugh will negotiate another tough schedule to keep Michigan in contention, but the Wolverines must avoid early hurdles against Army and Wisconsin before a probable “White Out” against Penn State. The Wolverines get Notre Dame, Michigan State and Ohio State at home. It might take a sweep of those three to get Michigan in the Playoff, but the game against the Buckeyes will be the biggest referendum for the program once again. Can Harbaugh finally win The Game?
Scott Frost will get eight (maybe nine) wins
We predicted Nebraska would win eight games last season, but Scott Frost couldn’t get the program to a bowl game. What lesson did we learn? We’ll say Nebraska can get to eight — maybe nine — wins this year. The Huskers should be 4-0 when the Buckeyes visit Lincoln on Sept. 28, and they will be in the Big Ten West hunt when Wisconsin and Iowa visit in November. If we miss, then we will go for Round 3 next year.
Mack will get UNC back to a bowl game
Mack Brown’s return to UNC is one of the most intriguing storylines of the 2019 season. The first half of North Carolina’s schedule is brutal, with nonconference games against South Carolina and Appalachian State and visits from Miami and Clemson. Look for the Tar Heels to improve as the season progresses. The bar for winning the ACC Coastal was low last season. If UNC can steal a few wins early, they’ll have a chance to make it to Charlotte.
The Heisman finalists are …
Tagovailoa, Lawrence and Fields. Ehlinger, Hurts and Jake Fromm will be on the outside looking in.
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The Playoff teams are …
Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Texas. If there was a way to get Alabama-Clemson V out of the way in the semifinals, that’d be even better with the drama around Zach Smith and Herman last season. Texas-Ohio State would be fantastic. If we could get three disclaimers in March, then we’d use the following: Michigan or Penn State could take Ohio State’s spot; Oklahoma could take Texas’ spot; and two SEC teams can get in the Playoff again, given the number of top-10 teams the conference fields. That’s the Playoff field we are looking at, and we are sure we need the disclaimers.
Saban wins No. 7
It’s going to be fitting that Saban passes Bear Bryant for the most national championships in New Orleans, where Bryant won his last national title at the 1980 Sugar Bowl. Alabama will continue the trend of alternating national championship seasons in the CFP era, and there’s a good chance Clemson will be on the other sideline. Eight-team Playoff talk will rage on and Ohio State, Texas and a few others will challenge, but these are the two best programs in the country. Alabama gets back on top again after Saban goes back to a tried-and-true approach with his coaching staff.
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