Kyle’s 5 Predictions for the 2024 College Football Season
Estimated 6 minute read
For Nico’s predictions, click here
Sometimes picks are chalk, other times outlandish.
Coach Prime and company say goodbye to Colorado
After a wild 3-0 start to the 2023 season, Deion Sanders’s revamped Colorado squad limped to the finish line, losing their final 6 games. The defense and offensive line repeatedly let the Buffs down. Sanders made a concerted effort to upgrade the weaknesses of the team, bringing Robert Livingston from the NFL to take over the defense. Sander also hit the portal hard again, bringing in 43 transfers in total. In all Sanders brought 22 players on defense and 10 on the offensive line to improve the team. He also landed 5 star offensive lineman Jordan Seaton. Deion’s son Shilo, a safety, will exhaust his eligibility after this season while Shedeur, the team’s quarterback, is considered a potential top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Deion reportedly does not like recruiting high school players, evidenced by only 12 signees in 2024 and I can sense that he’s getting bored with the actual being a coach part of being a coach. Transfer portal season is frenetic and fast paced, exactly Coach Prime’s style and persona. High school recruiting takes time and requires building relationships with players, parents, and coaches across the country. Of the top 4 blue chip high schoolers he landed in 2023, 5 star CB Cormani McClain, 4 star RB Dylan Edwards, and 4 star WR Adam Hopkins IV are no longer with the team after one season. After his sons move on from Colorado and the Buffs underachieve expectations again, Coach Prime will bring his show somewhere fresh.
Billy Napier will be fired before the Florida State game
The University of Florida maintains the highest standards for their football program, starting with head coach Billy Napier. In a typical year Napier would be on the hotseat after a 5-7 finish in 2023. This is not a typical year: the Gators are facing what some are calling the most difficult schedule of all time. The schedule is ranked as the toughest in the nation by ESPN’s FPI. Looking at Florida’s 2024 schedule, I can confidently point out one “easy” win: FCS opponent Samford. The Gators will be favored in other games, including Mississippi State and Kentucky but other than that, Florida will not spend much of the year as favorites. Vegas currently has the Over/Under on wins at 4.5 and I’m taking the under in a major way. Napier’s struggles extend far past the field. His 2025 recruiting class currently ranks 30 in the nation and even more concerning, 12th in the SEC. 10 of the 11 FBS schools on the Gator’s 2024 slate have higher ranked classes as the season starts. Napier hopes to build on 4 Star CB Ben Hanks Jr.’s commitment last week, beating Miami, Georgia, and Florida State for the product of Miami’s Booker T Washington high school. Florida’s struggles on the field and lagging recruiting will create a media feeding frenzy and force Athletic Director Scott Striklin to make a change before the end of the season in hopes of regaining momentum going into the transfer portal and Early Signing Day. Gator fans won’t miss Billy.
Liberty will finish 13-0, win Conference USA and finish unranked in the final College Football Playoff rankings in the same season
While Florida has the toughest schedule in the nation, Liberty’s slate ranks 134th in the nation, good for last, according to FPI. The Flames play no P4 opponents and have one “tough” game: Appalachian State on the road. FPI currently has the Flames as an underdog, giving them a 36.3% chance to win. Liberty’s stock is tarnished after they rolled to a 13-0 record last season before being dismantled by Oregon 45-6 in the Fiesta Bowl, a score that doesn’t fully reflect how thoroughly outmatched the Flames were. With the Liberty brand lagging, the G5 schools that scheduled P4 opponents that have the potential to win their power conferences (Memphis plays Florida State, Tulane plays Oklahoma and Kansas State, Boise State visits Oregon) will get a second and third look this season. Even if Liberty dominates their schedule, as is expected, the committee will face a clamor from fans, the media, coaches, athletic directors, conference officials, and more not to give the Flames the nod after last year’s bowl debacle.
Oregon finishes the regular season 12-0, including a win over Ohio State, but loses to Ohio State in a Big 10 Championship game rematch. Questions around Dan Lanning’s ability to win big games will intensify, even though Oregon will win a playoff game as the 6 seed
Dan Lanning has rapidly built Oregon into a National Championship contender, amassing a 22-5 record over the past two seasons. A blowout loss to Georgia, an 0-3 record against Washington, and the ugly 38-34 loss in Corvallis to Oregon State have given questions to Oregon’s potential to win on the biggest stage. Oregon was paired against the aforementioned Liberty by the committee in 2023, a game that does not count as a signature win in a big game despite occurring in a New Year’s 6 game. This season, Oregon will defeat the Buckeyes in Eugene and win against a depleted Washington squad to close the regular season. In Indianapolis Ohio State will extract revenge on the Duck on their way to a bye in the playoff. Oregon will fall to the 6th seed behind SEC runner up Georgia and miss facing a G5 champion in the first round.
Jalen Milroe will win the Heisman Trophy and Ohio State will win the National Championship
Not exactly hot takes, but some specifics.
Secure in his starting spot behind an elite offensive line that will win the Joe Moore Award, Kalen DeBoer’s second consecutive win, Milroe will light up SEC defenses while leading Alabama to a second consecutive SEC Championship and the number one overall seed in the playoffs. Like many players’ seasons on EA Sports’s College Football 25, Milroe will incense fans by literally running through the SEC on his way to New York and a Heisman Trophy. Ohio State’s pieces will gel after their midseason loss to Oregon and the Buckeyes will go undefeated the rest of the way, finishing 15-1 with a National Championship. There are no references to Ryan Day’s losses to Michigan and the most significant storylines from Ann Arbor are Connor Stalions related in 2025.
Honorable mentions: Texas State Bobcats win the Sun Belt, Lincoln Riley takes an NFL offensive coordinator job, AAC coaches Jeff Traylor, Alex Golesh and Ryan Silverfield all take P4 jobs
