College Football end of year accountability: Good, bad and ugly of 2018 predictions
It's the time of year when readers get the gift of accountability
It's the holiday season, which means it's time for you -- the reader -- to unpack a gift courtesy of yours truly. Talkin' season, as legendary coach Steve Spurrier calls it, lasts from the moment the season ends until the time toe meets leather in late August. It's a time of hope, joy and countless, never-ending predictions.
Some of those predictions work out great, but others turn out to be awful. Either way, the readers who demand accountability get their wish with my annual tradition of pointing out my good and bad (mostly bad) predictions from talkin' season.
The Ugly: That Ole Miss-Alabama pick
Running the table in the regular season is nearly impossible in this day and age. Yet, four teams did it in the regular season in 2018. One that finished unblemished was Alabama, which enters the College Football Playoff at 13-0 and the No. 1 seed. Even though I thought the Crimson Tide would win the SEC and make the CFP, I thought there would be one stumble along the way ...
Week 3 SEC college football picks: Auburn, LSU square off in SEC West showdown. Who comes away with the win? Ole Miss upsetting Alabama? Yep.
— Barrett Sallee (@BarrettSallee) September 15, 2018
Record straight up: 19-3 (10-2 last week)
Record against the spread: 6-9 (1-7 last week)https://t.co/vSNqVI4wUF pic.twitter.com/FOeTK2MEYy
Final score: Alabama 62, Ole Miss 7. The Rebels scored on the first play from scrimmage, which was a glorious 15 seconds. And hey, we did some good after the fact and raised money for epilepsy research thanks to my stupidity.
The Good: Purdue over Ohio State
Full disclosure -- I did not pick Purdue to upset Ohio State the week of the game. With that said, I nailed that one before the season when I posted my game-by-game predictions for the Big Ten.
My game-by-game predictions for the Big Ten pic.twitter.com/a0McFqTWjM
— Barrett Sallee (@BarrettSallee) August 22, 2018
But by 29 points? I don't think anybody saw that coming.
The Bad: Michigan's struggles -- or lack thereof
As you can see above, I had the Wolverines going 7-5 in 2018 and heat being cranked up on coach Jim Harbaugh. In fact, I had them as the most overrated team in the Big Ten. At the time, I thought Harbaugh would be unable to win games outside of his comfort zone and any team that could have just a bit of success against the defense would make it very hard for Shea Patterson and Co. to go score for score. While that did happen twice, it didn't happen nearly as often as I expected and the Wolverines were in the national title hunt until rivalry weekend.
The Good: UCLA's struggles
Chip Kelly was the talk of the offseason, but once the regular season started, Kelly's Bruins immediately became a non-factor.
Here's a quote from the preseason Pac-12 preview: "I'm not sure there's a difference-maker at quarterback as of this moment, which makes personnel turnover along the offensive line even more concerning. Kelly has speed and talent on the roster, but the Bruins seem more like a low-floor, high-ceiling team this year that has moments of brilliance followed by moments of ineptitude."
There weren't just a few moments of ineptitude. They littered the season like the sun splashing down in southern California.
The Bad: Ed Orgeron will be fired before the end of the season
In his second year as LSU's full-time coach, Orgeron entered the season on one of the hottest seats in the country and had a daunting schedule in front of him. In fact, I said on CBS Sports HQ that he'd be the first SEC coach fired, and that it would happen before the end of the season.Three weeks after the start of the season, he had signature wins over Miami and Auburn under his belt and his seat was as cold as ice. Granted, wins over the Hurricanes and Tigers don't exactly look as great as they did at the time. But a 9-3 record and berth in the Fiesta Bowl was a tremendous season for LSU and Orgeron.

The Good: The rise of Northwestern
Wisconsin entered the season with a No. 4 ranking and one of the primary threats to not only come out of the Big Ten West, but perhaps even make the College Football Playoff. While I did have the Badgers claiming the division title, it was clear before the season -- at least to me -- that the Wildcats could roar.
From the bold prediction section of our Big Ten preview: "Northwestern will be the primary threat in the Big Ten West, and Wisconsin better not stumble."
The Bad: Florida State -- just in general
I thought Willie Taggart was going to be one of the best hires of the offseason, spark a Seminole offense that had a superstar in running back Cam Akers, finish 10-2, make a New Year's Six Bowl and strike fear into Clemson. Instead, the Seminoles lost the home opener, six more games after that, were as disjointed as any major program we have seen in a long time and ended the streak of 36 consecutive bowl appearances.
The Good: One very important movie take
The majority of you disagree. The majority of you are wrong, though.
I claimed on @ESPNUonSiriusXM 84 Sunday morning that P.C.U. is a better movie than Animal House. @MrCFB, @ThomasHPullano and @ChrisAntko92 disagree. Which one is better?
— Barrett Sallee (@BarrettSallee) July 1, 2018
Happy holidays, college football fans.
















