Football is Once More Upon Us

It's that time of year once more...football has returned. The NFL is in the middle of its second week of preseason play. The hometown team, the Atlanta Falcons, are 0-2 on the preseason, but that number does not tell the whole story. The preseason is a time when coaches and GMs are figuring out who will fill out the depth chart of their franchise. For the first two weeks, the starters only play a quarter, or maybe a half. In week three the starters play most of the game before getting the final week of the preseason off. Back to the Falcons. They lost 28-23 to Miami, and then lost 15-13 to Jacksonville. Again, these numbers don't tell the whole story. Atlanta's first string offense and defense have been nothing short of fantastic. Moreso in the Miami game than in the Jacksonville game, but the starters look like a team that can hang with anyone in the league. As the preseason and regular season stretch on the second and third string players will shape up and this team should have pretty good depth through the year.

In college football, we stand once more on the brink of Armageddon. After last year's realignment free-for-all in which Colorado and Utah joined the PAC-10, Boise State joined the MWC, and Nebraska went to the Big Ten, it looked like peace was returning. Then Texas told the rest of the remaining Big XII teams that they were starting their own network. The remaining Big XII teams saw this as a definite advantage for the Longhorns. Texas A&M, the longtime little brother of the Longhorns, decided it was time to leave Texas's shadow. They began talking to the SEC.

The SEC Presidents voted to stay at the status quo, but in reality they were saying that they could not offer a spot to the Aggies until the Aggies requested a spot. The general consensus seems to be that A&M will join the SEC, likely as early as 2012. The preeminent conference in college football will not stay at 13 teams. Speculation states that the SEC will add at least one more team, and possibly three more teams. Team names being bandied about include Missouri, Clemson, and Florida State. Some talking heads are also pointing to Virginia Tech or Maryland, as a chance for the SEC to capitalize on the Washington, DC - Baltimore market. If this comes to pass, here's what I would prefer to see for a 14-team SEC:

EAST: Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech

WEST: Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Texas A&M

Alright, so let's do our yearly predictions.

College

PAC-12 North: Stanford

PAC-12 South: Arizona State

PAC-12 Champion: Stanford

ACC Coastal: Virginia Tech

ACC Atlantic: Florida State

ACC Champion: Florida State

Big East Champion: West Virginia

Big Ten Legends: Nebraska

Big Ten Leaders: Wisconsin

Big Ten Champion: Wisconsin

Big XII Champion: Oklahoma

MWC Champion: Boise State

SEC East: Georgia

SEC West: Alabama

SEC Champion: Alabama

BOWL PROJECTIONS:

National Championship Game: Oklahoma vs. Alabama

Rose Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Stanford

Fiesta Bowl: Oregon vs. West Virginia

Sugar Bowl: LSU vs. Boise State

Orange Bowl: Florida State vs. Notre Dame

Capital One Bowl: Georgia vs. Nebraska

Outback Bowl: Penn State vs. Florida

Cotton Bowl: Arkansas vs. Oklahoma State

Chick-fil-A Bowl: South Carolina vs. Virginia Tech

National Football League

***BOLD signifies division champion, ITALIC signifies wild card team

AFC East

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Buffalo Bills

Miami Dolphins

AFC North

Baltimore Ravens

Pittsburgh Steelers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

AFC South

Indianapolis Colts

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Tennessee Titans

AFC West

San Diego Chargers

Kansas City Chiefs

Denver Broncos

Oakland Raiders

NFC East

New York Giants

Dallas Cowboys

Philadelphia Eagles

Washington Redskins

NFC North

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Chicago Bears

Minnesota Vikings

NFC South

Atlanta Falcons

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Carolina Panthers

NFC West

St. Louis Rams

Seattle Seahawks

San Francisco 49ers

Arizona Cardinals

PLAYOFF SEEDS

AFC

1. Pittsburgh Steelers

2. New England Patriots

3. San Diego Chargers

4. Houston Texans

5. Baltimore Ravens

6. New York Jets

NFC

1. Atlanta Falcons

2. Green Bay Packers

3. Philadelphia Eagles

4. St. Louis Rams

5. New Orleans Saints

6. Detroit Lions

AFC Championship Game: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New England Patriots

NFC Championship Game: Atlanta Falcons vs. Green Bay Packers

Super Bowl: Atlanta Falcons vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Yes, I know it's a homer call, but I really think this Falcons team is going to be good. Like I said earlier, their first string players are as good as any in the league. Matt Ryan has two playoff losses, and that'll put a chip on your shoulder to do better. He now has strong wide receivers on both sides of the fields, and a deep running back pool behind him.

The biggest surprise, it even surprised me to pick it, was giving the Detroit Lions a wild card spot, but hear me out. The Lions have been consistently building a better and better team. I'll admit that this prediction is based on a healthy Matthew Stafford, but Detroit's front seven on defense is really quite scary. Stafford has Calvin Johnson and Jahvid Best on offense, and on defense, Ndamakong Suh and rookie Nick Fairley have to be a terrifying prospect for any O-Line they play.

Should be fun.