5 Bold Predictions For The 2023 College Football Season

5 Bold Predictions For The 2023 College Football Season

It’s never too early in the year to get the systems turning out some hot takes. Trey has already begun to do some hot-take articles for major conferences, click here to view his most recent one on the Big 12, and to not step on his toes with that we are going to do an overview of the entire thing. I did one of these last year, with little success, but I have a feeling we will hit all five this year. Let’s take a look at five bold predictions for the 2023 College Football season!

No. 1: Nicholas Singleton leads Power-5 Schools in rushing

We have already established that Penn State running back Nicholas Singleton is next up as the generational Big Ten back. He will be a focal point on a Nittany Lions offense that looks to make the College Football Playoff (more on that later). Singleton had almost 1,200 yards from scrimmage and 13 total touchdowns as a true freshman. Penn State returns their entire offensive line from last year, headlined by OT Olu Fashanu. It is not too far-fetched to expect to see Singleton eclipse 1,500 yards on the ground or more in 2023.

No. 2: J.J. McCarthy finishes as a Heisman Candidate

Call me crazy, I think J.J. McCarthy could be a dude at the next level. He has a lot of tools you look for in a Quarterback: good size at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, he moves very well in and out of the pocket, solid arm strength and his accuracy took a major step in 2022 (64.6 percent compared to just 57.6 percent in less than 60 snaps). This Michigan team will be a Playoff contender again in 2023, so I don’t think it’s that much of a bold prediction for the upcoming College Football season that he could snag a spot in New York for the Heisman ceremony.

No. 3: Neither Georgia nor Alabama makes SEC Championship

Now we turn the spicy takes up to 11. This is the bold predictions for the College Football season, after all. I know that Georgia has a cupcake schedule this year, playing teams like Ball State and UAB, but I think they have two sneaky tough games on their schedule. On the road at Auburn and the yearly Florida game might be tougher than some expect. With some questions surrounding their situation at qarterback, this could be the year they falter and drop a game or maybe two.

With Alabama, they haven’t felt quite like the same Crimson Tide as years past. While they still finished with an 11-2 record, something was missing. I think history repeats itself this year as well. Texas is no joke this year, on the road at Texas A&M, and at Auburn to end the year makes for tough sledding. They did get some favors given their way by hosting both LSU and Tennessee, but make no mistake about it this is going to be a tough year for Nick Saban and his team.

So, who does make the SEC Championship? That would be LSU and Tennessee. LSU surprised a lot of folks last year, finishing 10-4 but 6-2 in their conference. LSU returns a handful of key players and year two under Chip Kelly should prove to be even more successful with more experience with this team. As for Tennessee, I think Joe Milton is the truth. I’m not 100 percent ready to give him my stamp like I did Anthony Richardson last year, but he is close.

Tennessee lost quite a few key pieces of that offense last year, but this is still a very talented roster and Neyland Stadium will once again be one of the hardest places to play next year.

No.4: Your 4 Teams Making The 2023 College Football Playoff

We will wrap up the last two bold predictions for the 2023 College Football season with who makes the playoff and your winner, similar to what we did last year. Here are your four teams who make it:

• #1 Seed: LSU
• #2 Seed: USC
• #3 Seed: Penn State
• #4 Seed: Georgia

The last team on my list was kind of tough to come up with. I did not pick Georgia to make their conference title game, but they should still finish the regular season with 10 wins. History has shown the committee doesn’t mind sending two teams from the same conference to the playoff. Plus, if Georgia is close of course they will get the nod to try and win three national titles in a row. LSU wins the SEC, USC wins the Pac-12 and Penn State wins the Big Ten (maybe a bit of a hot take there as well).

No.5: Your 2023 College Football National Champion

LSU versus Georgia and USC versus Penn State will be two incredible games. I give the nod to LSU over Georgia, with the final score being 27-20. USC and Penn State is a rematch of their incredible Rose Bowl game from 2017. I am a known USC fan, but I am giving the edge to Penn State. Their rushing attack will wear down the Trojan defense and Drew Allar will prove that he was the missing piece to a National Championship berth and pick the defense apart. Let’s go final score of 41-38.

To round out my bold predictions for the 2023 College Football season, I have LSU defeating Penn State to win their fifth championship, their second in four seasons. LSU will have the big game experience and the toughness to beat the upstart Nittany Lions who will certainly be back in 2024. The final score will be 34-24.

Honorable Mention Takes:

• Wisconsin finishes with 9-plus wins
• Texas steamrolls to the conference championship, falters at the end missing out on CFB Playoff
• Dallas Turner leads Power-5 schools in sacks
• Michael Penix Jr. finishes second in the Heisman voting
• Brent Venables gets fired at the end of the season after another lackluster season at Oklahoma

Check out our Linktree to view all of our incredible sponsors as well as our socials!