Preseason Predictions vs. How it Actually Turned Out

SEC

My predicted finish (where they actually finished):

East
1. South Carolina (1st)
2. Florida (2nd)
3. Georgia (3rd)
4. Kentucky (5th)
5. Tennessee (4th)
6. Vanderbilt (6th)


West
1. Alabama (4th)
2. Auburn (1st)
3. Arkansas (2nd)
4. LSU (3rd)
5. Ole Miss (6th)
6. Mississippi State (5th)


Nationally:

1. Boise State (11)
2. Alabama (16)
3. Nebraska (18)
4. Iowa (NR)
5. Ohio State (6)
6. Miami, FL (NR)
7. TCU (3)
8. Florida (NR)
9. Oregon (2)
10. North Carolina (NR)
11. Houston (NR)
12. Oklahoma (7)
13. Texas (NR)
14. Pittsburgh (NR)
15. Wisconsin (5)
16. Auburn (1)
17. South Carolina (20)
18. Virginia Tech (13)
19. West Virginia (22)
20. Arkansas (8)

Misses: Stanford (4), Michigan State (9), LSU (10), Missouri (12), Oklahoma State (14), Nevada (15), Texas A&M (17), and Utah (19).

I guess luckily I didn't miss on my own team, Mississippi State landed at #21.

Phil Steele, who claims to be 'the most accurate preseason magazine the last 11 years', had 10 teams in his Top 20 end there. I had 11. Hahaha! Not saying I'm better than he is, I did get most of my information from his magazine.


One thing Phil Steele was accurate on was his view of Auburn. He said they stood a great chance to go into the Iron Bowl undefeated. I saw it similarly, but I thought Mississippi State would be their only loss heading into that game. What I didn't know, as no one did, was how good Cam Newton would be. He proved to be the best player in all of college football...he had a remarkable season.

Throughout the entire Cam Newton saga a lot of Auburn fans have been claiming that Mississippi State has sour grapes about not being able to secure Newton during recruitment. Well whatever you want to believe is fine but the facts are that Cam Newton was verbally committed to Mississippi State, and that Cecil Newton requested money from MSU to get his son's signature on a letter of intent. Those are the facts, they are undisputed.

So it looks to me like Cecil Newton is the one with sour grapes. If for Auburn's sake Cam Newton didn't have knowledge of his father's wrongdoings and Auburn didn't pay the Newton's any money, then it is obvious Cam Newton ended up at Auburn because Cecil Newton was bitter about MSU's refusal to pay him. What other logic can there be? We already know that Cam let Cecil make the final decision for him.

So if it weren't for the greedy Cecil Newton, Mississippi State could be going to Glendale, Arizona to play the Oregon Ducks for the BCS Title. That's right, MSU has a great supporting cast, just as good as Auburn does. Did Cam Newton flourish under the offensive system of Gus Malzahn - yes. Is there any evidence that Dan Mullen's system, one that has produced two quarterbacks that were first round draft picks - one was the #1 overall and one a Heisman Trophy winner, would not do the same for Newton? I don't think so. It makes me a little queasy to think that Cecil Newton is the only thing standing between us and a shot at the National Title. I do not care for that man.

JB