📡 Mark Schlabach: Alabama will repeat, and nine other 2016 season predictions

[BAMANEWSBOT]

1. Alabama is going to win the national championship. Again.
Alabama's season is going to look a lot like the last one -- the Crimson Tide will struggle at quarterback early, might even lose to Ole Miss again, and then they'll figure it out and start rolling. By the end of the regular season, Alabama's running game will be punishing people and its defense will be stuffing everyone.

Alabama coach Nick Saban will win his fifth national title in 10 years in Tuscaloosa and his sixth overall (he won one at LSU), which will tie him with legendary Tide coach Paul "Bear" Bryant for the most in major college football history. Afterward, Alabama will unveil a statue of Saban's wife, Terry, at Bryant-Denny Stadium at next year's spring game.

2. Alabama will be joined in the College Football Playoff by Clemson, Michigan and Oklahoma.
Year 3 of the College Football Playoff includes semifinal games at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Eve. Then the championship game will be played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on Jan. 9.

It's the last time the CFP semifinals games will be played on New Year's Eve until after the 2021 season. After this season, future semifinals games will fall on either Saturday or New Year's Day until 2022. So this year, you'll have to split time between college football and Ryan Seacrest one more time.

I'm picking Alabama, Clemson, Michigan and Oklahoma to make the playoffs. Alabama will play Michigan in the national championship game, which will be proceeded by an eight-day Twitter war between Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh and Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin. Sadly, the Twitter war will be more entertaining than the actual game.


Alabama will repeat, and nine other 2016 season predictions

 

[Max]

8. Tennessee will win the SEC East (but won't beat Florida).
The Volunteers haven't won an SEC championship since 1998 and haven't won 10 games in a season since 2007. After limping through four seasons under Lane Kiffin and Derek Dooley, the Vols have slowly showed progress under Butch Jones, who is 21-17 in three seasons.

But Jones says he believes he might finally have an SEC contender, and the Volunteers look loaded on both lines of scrimmage. With quarterback Joshua Dobbs and tailbacks Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara coming back, the Vols might be the team to beat in the SEC East. They'll win at Georgia and South Carolina, but they'll lose to Florida for the 12th season in a row. Even worse, Steve Spurrier will be there to watch it.

 

[PCRammer]

I would love to add a W over Michigan in a championship game. Texas, LSU, Notre Dame, Clemson, Michigan. That's not a bad resume there... I'd also like an OSU and/or OK payback.