10A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 7, 2006
STAFF PICKS - PRESEASON SELECTIONS
Michigan final record
Michigan final AP ranking
Big Ten champion
Big Ten second place
Big Ten third place
Surprise Big Ten team
Michigan Bowl fate
Michigan MVP
Heisman winner
National Champion
National Runner-up
ACC champion
Big 12 champion
Big East champion
Pac-10 champion
SEC champion
Mid-major threat
Most overrated player
Most overrated team
Scott Ma
Bell Sin
10-3
9
Ohio StateC
Michigan
Iowa
Michigan State
Rose Bowl loss RoE
Mike Hart La
Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma
West Virginia
Ohio Statet
Miami (FL)N
Texas
West VirginiaI
Southern Cal
Louisiana State
Fresno State
nger
10-3
13
Ohio State
Michigan
Iowa
Purdue
se Bowl loss
Marr Woodley
Peterson
Auburn
Ohio State
Miami (FL)
Texas
Louisville
California
Auburn
UTEP
Kevin Stephanie
Wright Wright
10-3
11
Ohio State
Iowa
Michigan
Northwestern
Capital One Bowl loss
Steve Breaston
Michael Bush, Louisville
Notre Dame
California
Florida State
Nebraska
Louisville
Califorina
South Carolina
Northern Illinois
11-2
8
Ohio State
Iowa
Michigan
Michigan State
Capital One Bowl win
Hart
Brady Quinn, Notre Dame
Ohio State
West Virginia
Florida State
Texas
West Virginia
Southern Cal
Florida
Utah
Playstation 2
11-2
5
Penn State
Michigan
Iowa
Penn State
Sugar Bowl win
Chad Henne
Chase Holbrook, New Mexico State
Florida
Notre Dame
Virginia Tech
Texas
West Virginia
Southern Cal
Florida
New Mexico State
Troy Smith, Ohio State
Ohio State
4
4
Derrick Williams, Penn State Brady Quinn, Notre Dame Erik Ainge, Tennessee Ted Ginn, Jr., Ohio State
Notre Dame Notre Dame West Virginia Oklahoma
Football season has kicked off once again, and you know what that means: The Daily football writers have to pretend like they're experts once again. But after last season's performance
- when just half of the football beat finished above .500 with their picks - besting the previous batch of prognosticators may not be too daunting of a task. This week, all they have to beat is a
machine. Before making individual game picks each weekend, the quartet all came together to make their preseason picks. For those with a keen eye who noticed Kevin Wright's horrible picks
(Michael Bush is out for the year, national title contender California has already lost and "overrated" Erik Ainge was the cause for California's loss), the picks were made before the season started.
Fighting for the title
A number of contenders hope to step into the ring for the 2006 college football title. Who will come out on top?
14
THE HEAVYWEIGHTS Notre Dame offense struggled as WEST VIRGINIA throwing the ball. Yes, he com- Jamal Charles and Selvin Young
it pulled out a 14-10 win against Why they pleted 10 of 14 throws last Satur- should be able to carry the offen-
NOTRE DAME Georgia Tech, the key is that the will: No one day, but let's be honest, Marshall sive load until first-time starting
Why they Irish survived. would even be is a shadow of its former self. quarterback Colt McCoy wets
will: Coach Achilles' Heel: The defense. mentioning Rich If the Mountaineers run into a his feet, which shouldn't take
Charlie Weis Ohio State's dismantling of the Rodriguez's team that can stifle their run- long with Limas Sweed splitting
returns his Notre Dame's defense in last Mountaineers if ning attack, West Virginia could out wide.
star quarter- year's Fiesta Bowl gave prog- not for the beat down they put on be in trouble. Achilles' Heel: Drugs and
back (Brady nosticators a reason to doubt the Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. This weapons. Already, Texas faces
Quinn), top receiver (Jeff Fighting Irish. Case in point: season both quarterback Pat White TEXAS adversity. Cornerback Tarell
Samardzija) and leading rusher Desperate to add more speed to and running back Steve Slaton Why they Brown was arrested for posses-
(Darius Walker) from last sea- the unit, Weis moved a back-up return to the gridiron to lead West will: The two- sion of marijuana and a loaded 9
son, so why not hype this team running back (Travis Thomas) Virginia's dynamic unit. headed mon- mm handgun. National title hopes
up? Even though the vaunted to linebacker. Achilles' Heel: Pat White ster that is could hinge on how coach Mack
Brown handles the situation.
the Louisiana State running
game could make coach Les
Miles's offensive attack one-
dimensional.
AUBURN
Why
they could:
Fresh off of
a 1,200-yard
season, run-
ning back
Kenny Irons
is poised to
carry the Tigers to an South-
eastern Conference title and a
possible national championship.
Beside Irons, quarterback Bran-
don Cox should benefit from a
year under his belt and nicely
complement the Auburn running
game.
Achilles' heel: The Southeast-
ern Conference. Auburn will play
one of the toughest schedules in
one of the toughest conferences
in the nation. With many nation-
ally ranked teams waiting in the
wings, there are plenty of road-
blocks between Auburn and a
national championship.
FLORIDA STATE
Why they
could: If
you watched
the Florida
State/Miami
game, you
know the
one reason
to believe in the Seminoles:
their defense. With a lineback-
ing core that just might be as
fast as the speed of sound and
hits like Mike Tyson in the early
'90s, Florida State could shut
down any offense.
Achilles' heel: The offense.
Even though Miami featured a
dynamic defense, Drew Weath-
erford looked like a blind man
who saw the sun for the first
time. If Weatherford can't get
on the same page as his receiv-
ers, the Seminoles don't stand a
chance.
0
THE REST
SOUTHERN
CAL
Why they
could: Matt
Leinart, Reg-
gie Bush
and Lendale
White all wear NFL uniforms,
but the catalyst for the Trojan
return to glory remains. Pete
Carroll has always been the
energizer for Southern Cal, and
there's no reason to think that he
can't keep a team stocked with
talent in the upper echelon of
college football.
Achilles' Heel: Leinart, Bush
and White are gone. And so are
the explosive components of a
Southern Cal offense that relies on
running up the scoreboard. John
David Booty doesn't really instill
fear into opposing defenses.
LOUISIANA
STATE
-Why
they could:
JaMar-
cus Rus-
sell returns
behind cen-
ter to complete what should be a
potent Tiger aerial attack. In the
first game this season, Russell
tallied 253 passing yards on just
13 completions.
Achilles' heel: With running
back Joseph Addai doing his
best Edgerrin James imperson-
ation for the Indianapolis Colts,
I
e
6
I
j