Gridiron Breakdown

It's official. We can all turn on the TV, kick back and watch monsters crush each other. No, I'm not talking about Pacific Rim or another Transformers movie. It's Football Season!

I think it's about time Right of Center Field released the first set of the College Football Preview.

First, let's look at the Top 10 teams in the running for that coveted National Championship and set a bold prediction for the season.*

1. Alabama Crimson Tide

If anyone is surprised to see the Tide at the top of this list, you may want to look up the word "best" and multiply that by about 10 to understand how good this football team is, again. Alabama not only has the defense to stop any would-be challengers but they also have an offense that can once again power over the entire SEC. AJ McCarron will be leading an outstanding Crimson Tide offense coming off a 30 TD season and T.J. Yeldon will pick up right where he left off with back to back 100 yard rushing performances against Georgia and Notre Dame. On the other side of the ball, look for an outstanding performance by the defense that led the country with 10.9 PA last season. Nick Saban and Co. could be looking at a third straight National Title. The toughest test will come early when they take a trip to Kyle Field and Johnny "Football" the second week of the season.
Bold Prediction: The Tide finishes the season 12-0 and is back in the BCS National Title Game for the fourth time in five years. (The only real bold prediction is that AJ McCarron wins the Heisman)

2. Ohio State Buckeyes

The only team to own the title of Undefeated in the 2012 season, the Buckeyes are, once again, that good. With a combination of Braxton Miller throwing, Braxton Miller running and Urban Meyer coaching, this will be a team to fear now that they have the chance to play for that National Title. Carlos Hyde will be another asset for Meyer to use when the pressure gets to Braxton in the Big Ten, not that it has had a huge affect on him yet. Not only do they have the team to do it, they have the schedule to get through the season unscathed. Four games, Buffalo, San Diego St, California and Florida A&M, will lead these Bucks into their Big Ten opener at the Horseshoe versus Wisconsin. Their toughest test may just be the last week of the season when they travel to Michigan to visit That Team Up North.
Bold Prediction: Bucks take an 11-0 record into Michigan and come out unscathed and headed for the Big Ten Championship against Taylor Martinez and the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

3. Oregon Ducks

In the post-Chip Kelly era, will Oregon be able to fend off the looming challenges of Stanford, UCLA, USC and Oregon State and stay the big dog out west? De'Anthony Thomas and Marcus Mariota will be two keys to answering that question and if last season is any indication, the duo are up for the task. Mariota had an astounding connection with Josh Huff and Colt Lyerla last season, connecting 32 and 25 times respectively. Huff will once again be a big target to rack up yards but Thomas will still be an active member of that receiving core after catching 45 passes last season. Unlike the top two teams, Oregon will be facing a tough battle before getting into conference play playing at Virginia and then hosting Tennessee in the second and third week of the season.
Bold Prediction: Oregon will finish with 11 wins, unable to beat Stanford but will still play in the PAC-12 championship against USC for a chance at the Rose Bowl.

4. Stanford Cardinal

Two years removed from Andrew Luck and the Cardinal still look like a top PAC-12 contender. In the first year after Luck, Josh Nunes and Stepfan Taylor led Stanford to a Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin. This year, it'll be up to Taylor to carry this team again but he should be getting help from Kevin Hogan. It'll be a tough battle while the Cardinal have very few veterans in their receiving core and the young guns will have to show they can play in the big-boy PAC-12. Luckily, San Jose State and Army provide a decent starting ground for this young team. The second half schedule will be the true test for this Cardinal team with games at UCLA, Oregon State and USC and home games against Oregon, California and Notre Dame to close out the season.
Bold Prediction: Hogan and Taylor will lead this Cardinal team to an 11-1 record and will beat UCLA, Oregon State and Oregon in consecutive weeks before falling to USC.

5. Georgia Bulldogs

Aaron Murray will be leading the Georgia offense again and will be searching for another SEC Championship Game berth. With Murray at the reins and Todd Gurley returning to lead the ground attack, the Bulldogs have the making of a fearsome offense. On the defense, however, only three full-time starters will be back, but like most SEC teams in this top 10, the Dawgs have a very talented group of inexperienced players coming in. The Bulldogs will look to use North Texas as a breather in the third week after taking on South Carolina the week prior and before LSU the following week; all three of those will be at home. They'll get another break in their schedule after a neutral site game against Florida in the form of Appalachian State at Sanford Stadium in the ninth week. Look for the Dawgs to be in the running again this year.
Bold Prediction: Georgia will get tripped up once but finish 11-1 and atop the SEC East again for a rematch against Alabama in the SEC Championship.

6. South Carolina Gamecocks

One off-season removed from South Carolina and Jadeveon Clowney rocking Michigan in the Outback Bowl, Clowney and these Gamecocks will be looking for that elusive SEC Championship. Connor Shaw and Dylan Thompson will likely be splitting snaps once again, but the biggest question for this Gamecocks team is how to replace a back like Marcus Lattimore? Mike Davis, a sophomore, will likely be given the starting spot. He had 52 carries for 275 yards last season. Although the Gamecocks will be facing very stiff SEC East competition in the second week against Georgia, this schedule seems to play out very kindly for them. After a three game road trip to visit Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri, South Carolina will end the season with four home games against Mississippi State, Florida, Coastal Carolina and Clemson.
Bold Prediction: Although they'll squeak by Georgia in the second week, the Gamecocks will finish the season with a 10-2 record falling to the Gators and Clemson. Clowney will finish second in the Heisman voting and will be first pick in the Draft.

7. Texas A&M Aggies

Johnny "Heisman Football" Manziel has had a distracting summer so far, but will be looking to lead the Aggies to an even better SEC performance this season. Although Manziel could pull another Braxton Miller-esque season out of the hat, Ben Malena will most likely be getting the ball on a few more attempts this year. The Aggies should once again be putting up big numbers unless the SEC West coaches have figured out how to stop Mr. Football, which would be asking a lot. Texas A&M will get four home games to start the season, sounds great, right? Well they'll need that fourth week Sam Houston game after they take on Alabama who will be looking for revenge from last season. They get another four game homestand against Auburn, Vanderbilt, UTEP and Mississippi State before a two week road trip to LSU and Missouri.
Bold Prediction: Johnny Football will fail to mow down the Crimson Tide monster in back to back seasons and will finish second to the Tide in the West going 11-1 and Manziel will finish fourth in the Heisman vote.

8. Clemson Tigers

Tajh Boyd and the Clemson Tigers will be facing a very tough schedule bookended by two of the SEC East's best, Georgia and South Carolina. Andre Ellington, the Tigers No. 1 back last season, won't be coming back, but Roderick McDowell could fill in nicely for Clemson. Brent Venables, now in his second season coaching the Tigers defense, will have to back up the offense with better defense if they hope to beat out Florida State for the Atlantic Title. Boyd and company, however, seem to be up to the task of leading the Tigers to an ACC title and could easily be one of the most prolific offenses in the country again. With ACC Atlantic Title contender Florida State coming into Memorial Stadium in week seven, the Tigers have a good shot of making it through the ACC schedule with relative ease.
Bold Prediction: Tajh Boyd finishes third in the Heisman after taking the Tigers to 11-1 season and a perfect 8-0 ACC conference schedule. The Tigers win the ACC Title against the Hurricanes of Miami.

9. Florida Gators

After an upsetting end to last year's 11 win season, the Gators will look to improve in a tough three team battle for the SEC East. Freshman Kelvin Taylor will be a surprising and talented edition to the Gator's run then gun game. He put up astounding numbers in his senior year, rushing for 2,423 yards and 41 touchdowns. However, Matt Jones will start the running machine that is the Florida offense. On the other side of the ball, the Gators will really need to clamp down. The defense was a huge part of their success last year, but this year defensive line coach Brad Lawing will be throwing in a wrinkle from his last season with South Carolina called the rabbits package. Overall, the Gators may just have the hardest stretch of eight games in the Top 10 facing the entire SEC East and SEC West members LSU and Arkansas from week three through week 10 with games at Miami Florida and in the Swamp against the Seminoles to close out the season.
Bold Prediction: The Gators adopt the Rabbits package immediately and chomp through the brutal SEC schedule in route to an 11 win season losing only to Georgia, sadly unable to pull of the neutral field victory they needed. However, they take their anger out on whoever crosses them in the Sugar Bowl.

10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Coming off of their first spotlight season in nearly two decades, the Fighting Irish will look to their defense to do what it did last season again. Louis Nix and Stephon Tuitt, both SEC-country recruits, will hold down one of the best defensive lines in the country. Unlike most of the other Top 10 teams, questions still loom as to the quality of the offense. With Golson sitting out and Tyler Eifert gone to the Cincinnati Bengals, the reins fall to Tommy Rees and possibly Andrew Hendrix to lead this offense down the field. Questions surround this entire team, but with three of their biggest games being at home, Michigan State, Oklahoma and USC, and Michigan and Stanford being the biggest road tests, the Irish could be looking at a ten or eleven win season.
Bold Prediction: All but Stanford bow to the Irish this season and they pull off a head-turning 11-1 record, but without a conference championship, are left out of all talks for the National Title.

*Note: Not all Bold Predictions can come true logistically