I'ts the most wonderful time...of the year....

No....I haven't lost my senses....I know it's not Christmas...at least I think I know....wait, what month is it? :)

Hello again campers. Miss me? Thought i'd dust off the ol' blog and see if I can stay consistent this time. :)

It's the end of August and signs of the impending Autumn are appearing all around. Here in mid-Michigan, the first shades of Fall color are starting to make an appearance, back to school sales are in full swing and a certain craft store chain of which is similarly named as myself and that I have a close connection to is now selling Halloween candy. Oh yeah...there is one more portent of things to come....

Football.

Actually if you count the high schoolers, the season has already begun. The big boys start this thursday with the bigger boys starting next week. Cowboys, Longhorns and Spartans, Oh my!

Today we are focusing on the college kids. Last we saw the collegiate gridders, Tonyajune's Tide was finishing off LSU for their second title in 3 years which also marked the sixth in a row for the SEC. Sparty broke its bowl skid by beating UGa's troops in OT and the University of Texas, fresh off of a series ending upset in Aggieland took out Cal with a young defense with a bright future. (Something, BTW, yours truly predicted...see my previous blog entry.)

So what's going to happen this year? Well for one thing, its almost the end of the road for the BCS. It was voted over the summer that a four team playoff will decide the national champion starting in the 2014-15 season. Yayyyyy. One contrivesy replacing another. Don't get me wrong, I am all for a playoff system but only four teams? Weak. Needs to be at least eight....then come talk to me.

A lot of movement in the off season has changed the college football landscape with more on the horizon. Let's see who ended up where:

Mizzou and Texas A&M headed into the SEC with unbridled enthusiasm and high spirits! All of which will come crashing down when they have to line up against Bama, LSU, Georgia, South Carolina...well you get the idea. Welcome to the land of 6-6.

TCU and West Virginia shunned the Big East (the Frogs did so before they actually got there!) to join the Big 12. For TCU it finally made regional sense and reunites them with old Southwest Conference foes Baylor, Tech and Texas. The Mountaineers come in with a high powered offense that is used to feeding weak sisters. They will be good but trips to Austin and Lubbock will not make life easy.

Speaking of the Big East, Temple returns home to join the conference this year coming in from the MAC. The Big East will be going under the biggest upheaval in the coming months. Syracuse and Pitt, two of the founding members, will head to the ACC next season. However, they will be adding Boise State, Central Florida, Houston, Memphis, San Diego State and SMU as football-only members starting in 2013 and Navy joins in 2015. Apparently the "East" will now stand for anything east of Hawaii.

UTSA and Texas State leave 1-AA to move up to the big time. Well not really, they are going to the WAC and only for one year. OK, when two fledgling programs only want to stick around in your conference for a year....you just need to go away. Just merge with the Mountain West and be done with it. Texas State will go to the Sun Belt in 2013 while the Roadrunners will go to Conference USA.

Speaking of C-USA. They currently have 12 members but will be losing UCF, Houston, Memphis and SMU in 2013 but at the same time adding UTSA along with Louisiana Tech, Florida International, and North Texas...then in 2015 they will add Old Dominion and UNC-Charlotte. Their new motto can be "Just as many teams as the SEC and our tickets are cheaper"

Confused? Yeah me too but, it will shake itself out and no, its not over yet.

Now down to the games on the field. Will the SEC claim a seventh straight title? Can anyone stand in the way of the sweet tea fueled juggernaut that is the Southeastern Conference? No.

You heard it here.

The SEC does not get lucky number seven.

I know what you are thinking....."but who, O wise pigskin guru? who can unseat the SEC from their grits and gravy high throne?" Patience friends....patience. Actually, I also know what TJ is thinking "what the crap Mikey? you're not picking Bama?" No. And yet, you still love me. :)

Here are my picks for the BCS conference winners and BCS games:

ACC: Florida State
Big East: Pitt
Big 10+2: Michigan State
Big 12-2 Oklahoma
Pac 12: University of Spoiled Children
SEC: Alabama (there ya go TJ)

Now for the BCS Bowl games:

Fiesta: Michigan v. Pitt
The Maize and Blue make their second trip to the BCS under Brady Hoke and their second straight win. The Wolverines will face off against the Panthers who are the best of what is left of the Big East and, as per usual for the Big East champ, will provide easy pickin's for their opponent. Look for University of Phoenix stadium to become the Big House west as U-M dominates. The Big East is the single biggest reason we need a playoff....to avoid crappy bowl matchups.

Rose: Michigan State v. Oregon
Sparty gets over the hump by beating Wisconsin in a rematch of last year's Big 10 championship game and gets back to Pasadena for the first time in 25 years. Oregon goes back for the third time in five years and goes for back to back wins after dispatching the aforementioned Badgers last year. Oregon has sick, Nike-fueled speed but MSU defense will be better than any the Ducks will have faces all year. Should be a classic.

Orange: Florida State v. South Carolina
FSU has a lot of national title buzz this season. Jimbo Fisher has them playing well and it wouldn't shock me totally if they run the table....if they do, they could end in a higher ranking game. The Gamecocks, who will lose in the SEC title game to Bama, gets the Ol' Ball Coach back in the BCS and another crack at his old sunshine state rival.

Sugar: Alabama v. West Virginia.
The Tide could still make a run at the national championship but in a more even and tougher SEC, they will be headed to the Big Easy. WVa goes to New Orleans after their first Big 12 season and their only loss being to the Sooners. Classic speed(WVA) vs. power (Bama) matchup here. Problem is, Bama has speed to with that power. Still, a successful season in Morgantown.

and now the biggie:
USC over OU in the BCS title game.
USC proves that they are all the way back from the crippling sanctions imposed by them on the NCAA for the whole Reggie Bush fiasco. Matt Barkley becomes the third Trojan quarterback in 10 years to win the Heisman and will cap off his final year on campus with a national title. The Sooners will run the table in the Big 12 but will again fall short in a BCS game.

There you have it, folks....your 2012 College Football season. See you here again soon.

Peace.