A JERSEY GUY: Nostradamus Says Urban Renewal will come to USC
It is the time of the college football season when national championship contenders emerge, conference champions are decided and projections and predictions about the future are made. But here at TMG we want to give you more than just game predictions--we admit we are having a bad year doing that, at least against the spread.
But we are happy to look at bigger picture items as well. Here's our Top 5 guesses about what will or what SHOULD happen.
1. Urban Meyer will be the next coach at USC. Book it. Here's the way we think it will unfold.
USC will lose its Pac-12 game against Arizona State on Saturday and on Sunday or Monday, Trojan coach Clay Helton will be fired. New USC AD Mike Bohn will then take charge of a search for a new coach which will start and end with Meyer, who is working this fall as a college football analyst for Fox Sports. Meyer is as good as that job as he was as college football coach. He has a future in broadcasting if he chooses it.
But underneath it all, Meyer is still a coach and a chance of becoming a star in LaLa land is too good to ignore.
He's also living in the Los Angeles area--he reportedly has bought a house, which makes the transition back to coaching at USC that much easier.
Look for the changing of the guard by Thanksgiving, if not sooner.
- Greg Schiano will be the next coach at Rutgers. This should have been an easy one, but at Rutgers nothing is done easily. Schiano was so good in his first stint at Rutgers that he actually had a winning record there. Think about that for a minute.
Rumors were swirling around the Rutgers campus this week that the school was closing in on completing a deal to bring Schiano back--$4 million a year for 5 years? That chatter was boosted by the announcement that Butch Jones, the one coach who has been publicly identified as being interviewed for the job, has withdrawn his name from consideration.
An announcement could come as early as this weekend, which would be fitting on the 150th anniversary week of college football for a school which participated in the first game ever played (Rutgers 6, Princeton 4).
Again, we must warn you that this is still Rutgers, so until it happens, no predictions are secure.
3.Florida State is looking for a football coach to replace Willie Taggart, who was fired (at a buyout cost of $17 million) this week.
Lots of names from former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops to Urban Meyer were mentioned. That's not happening.
FSU was and can be a good job. But it will also take someone with both skill and energy to bring the Seminoles back into contention.
If we were running the show at FSU, our list would include Memphis coach Mike Norvell, Kentucky's Mark Stoops, Iowa State's Matt Campbell and Baylor's Matt Rhule. Former Tennessee coach Butch Jones also would be a good choice.
All would be solid hires.
So would Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell.
But Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson would be our No. 1 target.
Clawson has proven he can do more with less than any other major college football coach and is a future super star at the right Power 5 conference school. FSU would fit that mold.
- Since everyone else is doing projections about bowls and conference championships, let us look into the future (the next three weeks) and make some educated guesses.
Conference Championships
ACC--Clemson rolls through the regular season unbeaten and wins the ACC title game.
SEC--Alabama squeezes past LSU on Saturday, beats Georgia in the SEC title game. LSU finishes 11-1 and gets a playoff at large slot.
Big Ten--Ohio State beats Penn State, but loses to Michigan and then wins the Big Ten title with one loss.
Big 12--Oklahoma finishes the year with one loss and wins the Big 12 title.
Pac-12--Utah wins the Pac-12 title with one loss.
Final CFB Rankings
- Alabama
- Clemson
- LSU
- Ohio State
CFB Playoff Bowls
Peach--Alabama vs. Ohio State
Fiesta--LSU vs. Clemson
Power 5 Conference Bowls
Orange--Wake Forest vs. Notre Dame
Sugar--Oklahoma vs. Georgia
Cotton--Baylor vs. Cincinnati
Rose--Oregon vs. Penn State
National Championship
LSU vs. Ohio State
National Champion--LSU
5.The Heisman Trophy.
Heisman voters are front runners. The last two QB's standings are LSU's Joe Burrow and Ohio State's Justin Field. But since the vote is taken in December, watch out for Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa winning a close race.
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