1045 The Team’s Staff 2019 College Football Preview

The college football season officially kicked off this past Saturday with the Florida Gators defeating the Miami Hurricanes. Almost all of the college teams will start week one over the course of the next few days. Below the staff members of 104.5 The Team give you their breakdown of the season. What picks do you agree with the most? What are your predictions? Let us know below.

Tom "Goz" Goslowski-Host on Levack and Goz 2-7pm Mondays-Fridays 

ACC- Clemson
Big Ten- Wisconsin
Big 12- Oklahoma
SEC- Georgia
Pac 12- Utah

College football playoff: Georgia, Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma

Championship Game: Alabama vs Georgia

CFP Champion: Alabama

Heisman Winner: N/A (As a voter I will not offer up a pick)

In the ACC I believe Clemson will lose to Syracuse in the Carrier Dome in September just like they did two years ago (Go Orange!) The Big Ten is a mess. I don't believe Michigan's quarterback is good enough yet. I have questions about the Buckeyes coaches' ability following the retirement of Urban Meyer. I'll go with an off the board pick (c'mon Rivers Casino give me a Big Ten conference odds #!) and roll with the Badgers. Lincoln Riley is a legendary coach already at the college level. I believe the success of the Sooners will be because of Coach Riley again and the Sooners take the crown. The SEC will be a lot of fun this season as always. Both Georgia and Alabama will be undefeated ending into the SEC title game. Georgia (in Atlanta) defeats Alabama after getting close two times before. The Pac 12 hype around Utah is too strong to ignore. Give me the Utes to head to the Rose Bowl. Finally my college football playoff is Georgia defeating Oklahoma Alabama defeating Clemson and The Crimson Tide defeating Georgia in round two this January.

Eric Hannmann-Host of Sittin Sportsside (11am Sundays) 

ACC- Clemson
Big Ten- Michigan
Big 12- Oklahoma
SEC- Alabama
Pac 12- UCLA

College football playoff: Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma, Georgia

Championship Game: Clemson vs. Oklahoma

CFP Champion: Oklahoma

Heisman Winner: Jalen Hurts

Obviously I’m buying into a red dead redemption type story for Jalen Hurts. He’s not Baker or Kyler but honestly he’s a hell of a college football player and I think he can thrive under Lincoln Riley and lead the Sooners to the CFP. Clemson and Bama will be extremely tough to beat though. It’s so hard to predict the CFP even when you have 2 teams already in heavy pencil. Michigan vs. Ohio State will be great as usual but Georgia is going to have a great year and will sneak in just like they did in Jake Fromm’s freshman year. I don’t believe the Pac 12 will have an impact this season in terms of CFP teams so I’m taking a swing for the fences like I always do once a preview by buying into Chip Kelly being able to get the Bruins to play more like they did during their game against Cal last season as opposed to most of the rest of 2018’s results. Hey, it could happen!

Randy King-Producer 1045 The Team

ACC

1. Clemson Tigers**

- Not only does Clemson return the nations most talented quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, but they return several of his weapons that made up one of the most explosive offenses last season. With running back Travis Etienne returning to defend his ACC player of the year honors, he looks to make his case for the Heisman trophy and separate himself as the best running back in the country.

**TOUGHEST GAME** Sept. 14 @#22 Syracuse

1. Miami Hurricanes
2. Virginia Tech Hokies
3. Syracuse Orange
4. Virginia Cavaliers
5. NC State Wolfpack
6. Pittsburgh Panthers
7. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
8. Duke Blue Devils
9. Boston College Eagles
10. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
11. North Carolina Tar Heels
12. Louisville Cardinals

SEC

1. Georgia Bulldogs **

• Yes, Georgia not Alabama will be representing the SEC in the college football playoffs. The balance that Georgia exhibited last season by having an elite level offense and defense (ranking top five in total offense/defense) gives me reason to believe that they will have the recipe for de-throning the Crimson Tide.

-Don’t mess with UGA…the dog and the team!

Head Coach Kirby smart understands what has happened the past two season for Georgia and can taste the championship. Georgia will not all leave it on Fromm to carry the load. With the success of former Georgia running backs in Todd Gurley, Nick Chubb, and Sony Michel all want the tradition of running backs being great on the field. The new running back in D'Andre Swift might be the best if the bunch as his explosive home run hitting ability gives Georgia a dynamic that not many defense ls have answers for.

1. Alabama Crimson Tide

• While Alabama has several reasons to make it to the National Championship and set up another meeting with Clemson, I believe they miss out on being placed in the college football playoff game due to losses versus LSU in the regular season and a loss in the SEC championship game to Georgia.

Star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will still be considered for the Heisman trophy and will still go number one overall in the 2020 NFL Draft and his star wide-out Jerry Jeudy will go just a few picks behind him.

Unfortunately, the Georgia Bulldogs have a lot to play for and have not forgotten what happened back in 2017 when the Crimson Tide defeated them in the National Championship.

TOUGHEST GAME : Nov. 9 vs. #6 LSU

1. Florida Gators
2. LSU Tigers
3. Texas A&M Aggies
4. Auburn Tigers
5. Kentucky Wildcats
6. Missouri Tigers
7. Tennessee Volunteers
8. Mississippi State Bulldogs
9. South Carolina Gamecocks
10. Ole Miss Rebels
11. Vanderbilt Commodores
12. Arkansas Razorbacks

Big 12

1. Texas Longhorns**

-A team that some may find surprising this year getting into the playoff, but sleeping on. Texas could prove fatal for their opponents. With Sam Ehlinger and his dual-threat abilities leading a very high powered offense, it  should be more than enough to get Texas into the mix and get a chance at a National Championship. They have a big test early in the season against LSU, luckily for them they will be far away from Death Valley and have the home field advantage in this matchup. This tough early matchup will surely look good on their end of season resume if they’re able to escape with a victory.

TOUGHEST GAME: Sept. 7 vs. #6 LSU

1. Oklahoma Sooners
2. Oklahoma State Cowboys
3. Iowa State Cyclones
4. TCU Horned Frogs
5. West Virginia Mountaineers
6. Texas Tech Red Raiders
7. Baylor Bears
8. Kansas State Wildcats
9. Kansas Jayhawks

Big 10

1. Michigan Wolverines*

-Michigan and especially their head coach Jim Harbaugh have more to prove this year and more importantly MUST prove this year that they belong in the playoff. The only way they can do that is by running the table and winning the BIG 10 and doing so impressively. Theey do not have a conference championship so they will need to beat their ranked opponents when they play them. Starting QB Shea Patterson is setup to have a great year and he will do so with a excellent receiving core and a Defense that’s once again projected to be one of the top defenses in the nation.

TOUGHEST GAME: Nov. 30 vs. #5 Ohio St.

1. Ohio State Buckeyes
2. Penn State Nittany Lions
3. Iowa Hawkeyes
4. Michigan State Spartans
5. Wisconsin Badgers
6. Minnesota Golden Gophers
7. Northwestern Wildcats
8. Indiana Hoosiers
9. Purdue Boilermakers
10. Maryland Terrapins
11. Nebraska Cornhuskers
12. Illinois Fighting Illini
13. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

PAC 12

1. Oregon Ducks**

-Oregon and potential First Round pick QB Justin Herbert are setup to run roughshod through the PAC 12 as they don’t really have many threats in the conference. In order for them to get to the playoff they have to do what they are expected to do and win the games they are supposed to. They should have no problems getting in and giving themselves a chance. It will be up to the committee to let them.

TOUGHEST GAME: Nov.10 v. #13 Washington

1. Utah Utes
2. Washington Huskies
3. USC Spartans
4. UCLA Bruins
5. Stanford Cardinals
6. Washington State Cougars
7. Arizona State Sun Devils
8. Colorado Buffaloes
9. California Golden Bears
10. Arizona Wildcats
11. Oregon State Ducks

College Football Playoff

#1 Clemson Tigers vs. #4 Texas Longhorns

#2 Michigan Wolverines vs. #3 Georgia Bulldogs

College Football Championship Game

#1 Clemson Tigers vs. #2 Michigan Wolverines

College Football Champion

#1 Clemson Tigers

The defense may have lost a lot of their starters to NFL but the Clemson defense does what it always does and rather than rebuild, they reload. Starting with Isaiah Simmons who has the versatility to play as a hybrid linebacker/safety. Simmons posted 88 total tackles and created chaos forcing four total turnovers with three forced fumbles and an interception.

Clemson runs the table.

**TOUGHEST GAME** Sept. 14 @#22 Syracuse

Heisman Winner

Jake Fromm

• Someone not many people are talking about now but could not stop talking about after the season is Jake Fromm. Playing in a stacked SEC with the nations best defenses week after week it’s easy to see how a QB would struggle but Fromm has proven he can hold his own and then some. With nearly 3,000 yards passing and a 67% completion percentage last year. He also was able to tack on the important offensive stat Touchdowns, for which he had 30 of last year. With a strong offensive line keeping him up and giving him time, he should have as good a season, if not better this year. If he can put up the numbers and his team racks up big wins I feel strongly that he will be named this years Heisman Trophy winner.