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ODB Season Predictions Revisited

It's time to dust off what we all predicted before the season. Results may vary.

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Another college football season has come and gone and now we have an entire offseason ahead of us. So this seems like a perfect time to brush off the big season prediction post that we did way back in August. To keep this post from being several miles long, I only am showing those who actively contributed for ODB during the 2014 season. If you want to see the original post from 5 months ago, the Internet is your friend.

ACC
Atlantic
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Mark
Seymour
Fsu
Clem
Lville
Cuse
Ncst
Bc
Wake
Peter
Pope
Fsu Clem Ncst Lville Bc Cuse Wake
Prashanth
Francis
Fsu Clem Lville Cuse Ncst Bc Wake
Ted
Harrison
Fsu Lville Clem Cuse Ncst Bc Wake
Conner
Morris
Fsu Clem Lville Ncst Cuse Bc Wake
David
Fankhauser
Fsu Clem Lville Cuse Ncst Bc Wake
Colby
Conner
Fsu Clem Lville Ncst Bc Cuse Wake
Ima
HammerU
Fsu Clem Lville Ncst Cuse Bc Wake
JB
Lajzer
Fsu Clem Lville Wake Ncst Bc Cuse

ACTUAL:
1) Florida State 8-0
2) Clemson 6-2
3) Louisville 5-3
4) Boston College 4-4
5) NC State 3-5
6) Syracuse 1-7
7) Wake Forest 1-7

All things considered, this division played out about as we expected. Florida State was the biggest slam dunk pick at the beginning of the season and, although they had their moments, were able to win the Atlantic for a 3rd consecutive year. If anything, we all overrated Syracuse and underrated Boston College but otherwise we did pretty well here. As for the Coastal...

ACC
Coastal
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Mark
Seymour
Unc
Duke
Vatech
Miami
Pitt
Gatech
Uva
Peter
Pope
Duke Unc Vatech Miami Pitt Gatech Uva
Prashanth
Francis
Vatech Unc Pitt Duke Miami Gatech Uva
Ted
Harrison
Duke Vatech Miami Unc Pitt Gatech Uva
Conner
Morris
Duke Miami Unc Vatech Gatech Pitt Uva
David
Fankhauser
Unc Duke Miami Vatech Pitt Gatech Uva
Colby
Conner
Duke Vatech Unc Miami Pitt Gatech Uva
Ima
HammerU
Vatech Duke Miami Gatech Unc Pitt Uva
JB
Lajzer
Gatech Pitt Unc Miami Vatech Uva Duke

ACTUAL:
1) Georgia Tech 6-2
2) Duke 5-3
3) North Carolina 4-4
4) Pittsburgh 4-4
5) Miami 3-5
6) Virginia Tech 3-5
7) Virginia 3-5

The ACC Coastal looked like it might be a total crapshoot before the season and that's exactly what happened. JB comes out looking good with the Georgia Tech pick but he also had Duke dead last. Some of us were silly enough to pick North Carolina or Virginia Tech in this division and WELP.

Big 12
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Mark
Seymour
Baylor
Okla
Kstate
Texas
Tcu
Txtech
Oklast
Iowast
Wvu
Kansas
Peter
Pope
Baylor Okla Kstate Oklast Txtech Texas Tcu Wvu Iowast Kansas
Prashanth
Francis
Baylor Okla Kstate Tcu Txtech Oklast Texas Iowast Wvu Kansas
Ted
Harrison
Okla Baylor Kstate Oklast Txtech Tcu Texas Wvu Iowast Kansas
Conner
Morris
Baylor Okla Kstate Texas Tcu Oklast Txtech Iowast Wvu Kansas
David
Fankhauser
Baylor Okla Kstate Oklast Texas Tcu Txtech Iowast Wvu Kansas
Colby
Conner
Baylor Okla Kstate Texas Txtech Oklast Tcu Wvu Iowast Kansas
Ima
HammerU
Baylor Okla Kstate Texas Txtech Oklast Wvu Tcu Kansas Iowast
JB
Lajzer
Baylor Kstate Okla Texas Wvu Txtech Oklast Iowast Tcu Kansas

ACTUAL:
1) Baylor 8-1 (61)
1*) TCU 8-1 (58)
3) Kansas State 7-2
4) Oklahoma 5-4
5) Texas 5-4
6) West Virginia 5-4
7) Oklahoma State 4-5
8) Texas Tech 2-7
9) Kansas 1-8
10) Iowa State 0-9

With this being a Baylor blog, it's at least encouraging to know that all of our writers picked Baylor to win the conference. Oh wait, Ted picked Oklahoma? Bahahaha. I think we were all a little guilty of believing the preseason hype around OU but absolutely none of us had TCU in the conference title picture, with our picks ranging from 4th all the way to 9th. Almost everyone was dead on with K-State at #3 as well.

Big Ten
East
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Mark
Seymour
Michst
Ohiost
Mich
Psu
Md
Ind
Rut
Peter
Pope
Michst Ohiost Psu Mich Md Ind Rut
Prashanth
Francis
Michst Ohiost Mich Psu Ind Md Rut
Ted
Harrison
Ohiost Michst Psu Mich Ind Md Rut
Conner
Morris
Michst Ohiost Psu Mich Rut Md Ind
David
Fankhauser
Michst Ohiost Psu Mich Ind Md Rut
Colby
Conner
Michst Ohiost Psu Mich Md Ind Rut
Ima
HammerU
Michst Ohiost Mich Psu Ind Md Rut
JB
Lajzer
Ohiost Michst Psu Mich Rut Ind Md

ACTUAL:
1) Ohio State 8-0
2) Michigan State 7-1
3) Maryland 4-4
4) Rutgers 3-5
5) Michigan 3-5
6) Penn State 2-6
7) Indiana 1-7

It was widely thought before the season that this would be determined by the Ohio State/Michigan State game and that's how it played out even though only Ted and JB picked the Buckeyes. We all overrated Penn State and Michigan while underestimating what Maryland and Rutgers would do in their Big Ten debuts. There wasn't a whole ton of variance between us in the Big Ten East. On to the West one.

Big Ten
West
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Mark
Seymour
Wisc
Iowa
Neb
Nwest
Minn
Ill
Purdue
Peter
Pope
Wisc Neb Iowa Nwest Ill Minn Purdue
Prashanth
Francis
Wisc Iowa Neb Nwest Ill Minn Purdue
Ted
Harrison
Wisc Neb Iowa Nwest Minn Ill Purdue
Conner
Morris
Wisc Neb Iowa Minn Nwest Ill Purdue
David
Fankhauser
Wisc Iowa Neb Nwest Minn Ill Purdue
Colby
Conner
Wisc Iowa Neb Minn Ill Nwest Purdue
Ima
HammerU
Wisc Iowa Neb Minn Ill Nwest Purdue
JB
Lajzer
Wisc Nwest Minn Neb Purdue Iowa Ill

ACTUAL:
1) Wisconsin 7-1
2) Minnesota 5-3
3) Nebraska 5-3
4) Iowa 4-4
5) Illinois 3-5
6) Northwestern 3-5
7) Purdue 1-7

Outside of Florida State, Wisconsin was the only unanimous pick and we went 2 for 2 as the Badgers won the West although they didn't exactly prove that they belonged in the Big Ten championship game. The real outlier here were those pesky Gophers from Minnesota. None of us had them as high as 2nd in the division and a couple had them as low as 6th. The rest of the division played out pretty much according to plan.

Pac-12
North
1 2 3 4 5 6
Mark
Seymour
Oreg
Stnfrd
Wash
Oregst
Washst
Cal
Peter
Pope
Oreg Stnfrd Wash Oregst Washst Cal
Prashanth
Francis
Oreg Stnfrd Wash Oregst Washst Cal
Ted
Harrison
Oreg Stnfrd Wash Washst Oregst Cal
Conner
Morris
Stnfrd Oreg Wash Oregst Washst Cal
David
Fankhauser
Oreg Wash Stnfrd Oregst Washst Cal
Colby
Conner
Oreg Stnfrd Wash Oregst Washst Cal
Ima
HammerU
Oreg Stnfrd Oregst Washst Cal Wash
JB
Lajzer
Stnfrd Wash Oreg Oregst Cal Washst

ACTUAL:
1) Oregon 8-1
2) Stanford 5-4
3) Washington 4-5
4) California 3-6
5) Washington State 2-7
6) Oregon State 2-7

This was another division that went about as we expected in our picks. Oregon wound up winning by 3 games over Stanford...nice pick Conner! Cal was a better team than we all expected while nobody had Oregon State finishing last, but hey Mike Riley got the Nebraska job out of a 5-7 season so what do we know?

Pac-12
South
1 2 3 4 5 6
Mark
Seymour
Ucla
Usc
Arizst
Ariz
Utah
Colo
Peter
Pope
Ucla Arizst Usc Ariz Utah Colo
Prashanth
Francis
Usc Ucla Arizst Ariz Utah Colo
Ted
Harrison
Ucla Usc Arizst Ariz Utah Colo
Conner
Morris
Ucla Usc Arizst Ariz Colo Utah
David
Fankhauser
Ucla Usc Arizst Ariz Utah Colo
Colby
Conner
Ucla Usc Arizst Ariz Utah Colo
Ima
HammerU
Ucla Usc Ariz Arizst Utah Colo
JB
Lajzer
Ucla Arizst Usc Ariz Utah Colo

ACTUAL:
1) Arizona 7-2
2) UCLA 6-3
3) Arizona State 6-3
4) USC 6-3
5) Utah 5-4
6) Colorado 0-9

Hahaha oh this one didn't go so well. Arizona wound up winning the Pac-12 South on the last weekend of the season even though Hammer was the only one to even have UA in the top half of the the division. UCLA was the pick du jour here except for Prashanth who went with USC. This was probably the most evenly competitive division in college football this year with the exception of Colorado.

SEC
East
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Mark
Seymour
Sc
Uga
Mizzou
Fla
Tenn
Vandy
Uk
Peter
Pope
Uga Sc Mizzou Fla Tenn Uk Vandy
Prashanth
Francis
Sc Uga Mizzou Fla Tenn Uk Vandy
Ted
Harrison
Sc Uga Mizzou Fla Tenn Uk Vandy
Conner
Morris
Uga Sc Mizzou Tenn Fla Vandy Uk
David
Fankhauser
Sc Uga Mizzou Fla Tenn Uk Vandy
Colby
Conner
Sc Mizzou Uga Tenn Fla Uk Vandy
Ima
HammerU
Mizzou Uga Sc Fla Tenn Uk Vandy
JB
Lajzer
Mizzou Sc Uga Vandy Fla Tenn Uk

ACTUAL:
1) Missouri 7-1
2) Georgia 6-2
3) Florida 4-4
4) Tennessee 3-5
5) South Carolina 3-5
6) Kentucky 2-6
7) Vanderbilt 0-8

Congrats to Hammer and JB on this one. Most everyone picked South Carolina or Georgia to win the East, and although Georgia probably should've won the division, good grief we were all way off on South Carolina. I should also point out that none of us had Florida as high as 3rd so maybe Will Muschamp wasn't as bad as we thought? Kidding of course.

SEC
West
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Mark
Seymour
Bama
Lsu
Aub
Txam
Miss
Missst
Ark
Peter
Pope
Bama Lsu Aub Miss Txam Missst Ark
Prashanth
Francis
Bama Aub Lsu Miss Missst Txam Ark
Ted
Harrison
Bama Lsu Aub Miss Missst Ark Txam
Conner
Morris
Bama Lsu Aub Miss Txam Missst Ark
David
Fankhauser
Bama Lsu Aub Missst Miss Txam Ark
Colby
Conner
Lsu Bama Aub Miss Txam Missst Ark
Ima
HammerU
Aub Bama Lsu Miss Txam Missst Ark
JB
Lajzer
Lsu Bama Miss Aub Txam Missst Ark

ACTUAL:
1) Alabama 7-1
2) Mississippi State 6-2
3) Ole Miss 5-3
4) Auburn 4-4
5) LSU 4-4
6) Texas A&M 3-5
7) Arkansas 2-6

In a division packed with good football teams, Alabama seemed to be the safe play here and that's the way it played out. Behind that, it got ugly. Almost everyone had LSU and Auburn in the top 3 but both teams struggled to find consistency this season. Mississippi State was the big surprise here by finishing 2nd. Yours truly had them 4th but everyone else has them at 5 or 6. And if anything, we overrated the Aggies.

College Football Playoff
NATIONAL
CHAMPION
Mark
Seymour
Fsu Oreg Sc Baylor
Peter
Pope
Fsu Bama Michst Oreg
Prashanth
Francis
Fsu Oreg Bama Michst
Ted
Harrison
Ohiost Okla Oreg Fsu
Conner
Morris
Bama Michst Fsu Baylor
David
Fankhauser
Oreg Fsu Bama Sc
Colby
Conner
Baylor Fsu Oreg Michst
Ima
HammerU
Oreg Fsu Michst Baylor
JB
Lajzer
Baylor Fsu Ohiost Lsu

All things considered, we didn't do too poorly here. Everyone had at least 2 of the eventual final 4, and several had 3 of 4 but nobody correctly predicted all 4. Conner got the closest by having Alabama, Oregon, Florida State and Baylor. Ohio State wound up being the thorn in everyone's side here as only Ted and JB had them in at all. Props to Ted for having the Buckeyes as the national champion. Outside of Mark and I picking eventual 6-6 South Carolina, Ted drinking the Sugar Bowl Trevor koolaid and JB going with LSU, none of these were particularly comical.

So how did we do? Did this season play out the way that you expected or did these last few months just blow your mind?