College Football Week 1 Picks

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If you haven’t seen my conference-by-conference season preview, you can read it here.

Here are my picks for week 1.

Ole Miss -10 over Boise State (Thursday night game)

I don’t want to be that guy, but Boise might be done. They weren’t very good last season, not only by Boise standards, but even by Mountain West standards. At least they had the smarts to drop out of the Big East, so that gives them at least one big win. As for this game, all signs point to an Ole Miss victory. The Rebels should be improved from last season, when they were a pretty good team. Bo Wallace made a name for himself, and after being SEC-tested, he should have a field day against a Mountain West foe. (more…)

College Football 2014 Season Preview

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Here it is, my complete season preview for the 2014 college football season.  Predictions for every conference, along with my four playoff teams, are below. There’s a lot to discuss, so let’s get right into it. (more…)

2014 College Football Season Preview Notes: Independents

Note: In preparation for my upcoming season preview column and podcast, I researched and took notes on every power conference team in CFB. I’m sharing my notes here, for anyone who is interested. Please keep in mind that these are just notes. (I’ve tried to clean them up, but there are plenty of abbreviations and some of the grammar may be suspect.) 

Here are the nation’s forgotten teams, the Independents. Alright, so none of these teams are really “forgotten,” but I’ve got notes on them anyways. (more…)

2014 College Football Season Preview Notes: Big 12

Note: In preparation for my upcoming season preview column and podcast, I researched and took notes on every power conference team in CFB. I’m sharing my notes here, for anyone who is interested. Please keep in mind that these are just notes. (I’ve tried to clean them up, but there are plenty of abbreviations and some of the grammar may be suspect.) 

The Big 12 is, in my opinion, the third-best conference in CFB overall (behind the SEC and PAC-12). The question is, will they end up with a representative in the playoff? Oklahoma is the team everyone gets behind, but if they stumble, parity within the conference and a lack of quality out-of-conference wins could prevent a Big 12 team from making that final four. (more…)

Season Preview and Week 1 Lines: Take the Points Podcast

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We’re back! Tom and Dan return for an all-new Take the Points podcast. Today, we preview the 2014 college football season, including breakdowns for all of the major conferences, and discussions of some of the biggest teams around the country, including Auburn, Alabama, Florida State, LSU, USC, Oregon, Florida, Oklahoma, Baylor, TCU, Penn State and a whole lot more. Dan also discusses his offseason, non-football betting practices, and we talk about why the 4-team playoff is a great thing for college football.

Listen here or subscribe to the Take the Points College Football Podcast on iTunes.