Revisiting Preseason Predictions: Pats on the Back and Mea Culpas

It's time to take a look back at the college football season that was and see how my preseason predictions went.

Good Calls:

1) In my very first post, I had the Tennessee Vols pegged as highly overrated. I said their luck would change this year and it did. Last season, they were 6-1 in games decided by 7 points or less. This season, they were only 3-3 in games decided by 7 points or less.

2) In my post on potential darkhorses, I said Iowa State had a good chance of winning the Big 12 North division. Going into the finale against Kansas, they controlled their own destiny, but fell to the Jayhawks in OT.

3) In that same post I said Oregon would rebound. They went 10-1, with their only blemish coming to Southern Cal.

Bad Calls:

1) I said Pittsburgh was a potential darkhorse in the Big East. They didn't qualify for a bowl game.

2) I said Purdue would contend for the Big 10 championsip. They too failed to qualify for a bowl game.

Average Calls:

1) I said Clemson could contend for the ACC's Atlantic Division championship. They beat Florida State and took Miami and Boston College to OT before losing. If they had not lost to Wake Forest they would have played in the first ever ACC Championship Game.

2) I said Florida would win the SEC East. They beat their 3 main rivals, Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida State. However, they lost to South Carolina and missed out on the SEC Championship Game thanks to that defeat.

3) I said Fresno State had a chance to crash the BCS party. Prior to Thanksgiving, their only losses were by 3 points to 10-1 Oregon and by 8 points to undefeated Southern Cal (both on the road). However, they lost any good will generated by those close defeats in losing consecutive games to WAC foes Nevada and Louisiana Tech.