College football set to kick-off first full weekend … The first full weekend on the 2023 college schedule kicks off in just a few hours in what has the potential to be a really wacky season. And not just because its the final season before the CFP playoffs expand from the current 4 teams to amore reasonable in 2024. It will will also be the final season for the Power 5 as the Pac-12 literally melted away before our eyes earlier this summer. However, what could make this season really fascinating for college football fans is that are really no clear-cut favorites in any of the conferences. The SEC which has dominated the CFP, for example, has the usual subjects in two-time defending national champion Georgia and Alabama, but a really good case could be made that LSU may actually have the best team in the conference. At the same time, one could probably just flip a coin to decide whether Michigan or Ohio State has the best odds in the Big Ten, with Penn State, as usual lurking if either or both should slip up. Same story in the final year out west where Southern Cal, led by star QB Caleb Williams, the presumptive favorite to be the #1 pick at the 2024 draft, but with a shaky defence, along with Washington and Oregon, and maybe even Utah are pretty evenly matched in the Pac-12, while the ACC looks like it should come down to Clemson and Florida State. Meanwhile, the Big XII doesn’t have quite the star power of the other 4 leagues and could come down to a 4-way dogfight involving Texas, TCU, Kansas State and maybe even newcomer BYU. And the tightness could very well extend to the American Athletic conference which has at least three very good teams in Tulane, Texas-San Antonio and SMU who should contend for the non-Power 5 big bowl invite along with Boise State the favorite in the Mountain West.
In the end, we’re very hesitant to even try and predict this year’s 4-team CFP field, but we are going to go out on a limb here anl fearlessd suggest that this year’s playoff teams include Ohio State, LSU, Florida State and Washington. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, for now, here is our annual pre-season All America team, headlined needless to say by USC’s Williams, along with Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison and Georgia TE Brock Bowers.
