College Football 2011; 5 Surprising Predictions

Last season the Auburn Tigers entered the season ranked 23rd in the polls and ended up winning the National Championship. Somewhere, outside of Auburn, someone boldly predicted this would happen.

Additionally, someone else probably predicted Cam Newton, a JUCO transfer, would win the Heisman Trophy last season.

Now I'm not going to say the 23rd ranked team in this year's polls, Florida, is going to win the Crystal Ball this year (which as a Gators' fan would be awesome by the way), or that Rahsaan Vaughn of Oregon is going to win the Heisman trophy this year.

No, but I will make a few other surprising predictions for this upcoming college football season...

1 - A team from the SEC will win the national title for the 6th straight season.

OK, not as surprising, but there's only 12 teams in the conference vs the rest of the country! It may not sound bold because no one wants to say it's not going to happen, but that shows just how dominant the league is. One conference vs six; it's still a bold prediction. Alabama and LSU are the favorites to carry on the torch for the best conference in college football.

2 - Michigan will beat Ohio State

Michigan has not beaten since 2003! Ohio State has more talent on the field, probably, but with all that has gone on in that program this off season, expect a down year from the Buckeyes this year. Everything else has gone wrong in Columbus, losing to the Wolverines will be the final slap in the face this season.

3 - Utah finishes PAC-12 play with a winning record

If you talk to PAC-10, err, PAC-12 homers, they have arrogantly said for years that a top team from the Mountain West wouldn't have a winning record if they played a "tough" PAC-10 schedule. Utah's program has vastly improved since Urban Meyer stepped on campus Urban Meyer and then handed the reigns over to current head coach Kyle Whittingham.

Since 2003, the Utes are 7-3 against PAC-10 teams, posting an impressive 5-0 record at home. Utah and other "small conference" schools have been referred to as the "little brothers" of the BCS conferences. Well, the big brothers are about to get hit in the mouth by their so called little brother.

4 - Nebraska wins the Big Ten title

It's gonna be a different style of play then the Cornhuskers played in the Big 12. Gone are the track meet days they experienced in their former conference. They are not quite entering "3 yards and a cloud of dust" days, but close. Nebraska should be well prepared for the physical, grinding style of play though. I've maintained for years that the Big Ten has been overrated and behind the times. Nebraska coming in and winning the conference in their first year as members of the Big 10, will prove this.

5 - Navy beats Notre Dame, again

For the 4th time in 5 years, the Midshipmen win this game. Before Navy's win in 2007, Notre Dame had a 43 year winning streak in this game! At this point, Navy's players believe they can and will beat the Irish. No longer does playing Notre Dame scare Navy. Even more depressing, this year's game is at Notre Dame. Poor poor Irish.