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It’s preseason ranking time for the Wisconsin Badgers, the Big Ten Conference and the college football world. Most schools are finished
It’s preseason ranking time for the Wisconsin Badgers, the Big Ten Conference and the college football world.
Most schools are finished with their spring practice sessions at this point, leaving almost four months until the season finally kicks off.
Athlon Sports broke down the Big Ten Conference a few days ago, putting together four all-conference teams for offense, defense and special teams.
11 Wisconsin Badgers make one of Athlon Sports’ teams.
Here are those players:
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Athlon Sports’ writer and editor Rob McVey included the rivalry game in his list of top 10 intriguing non-conference games in 2021.
The 2020 college football season managed to make it through its entire schedule all the way to the national championship game, but the campaign was not without its casualties. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, conferences were forced to limit their participation to schools within their league borders, which caused the cancelation of many storied rivalry games across the country.
One of those unfortunate losses was the Florida-Florida State matchup, which had previously been played unabated since the series began in 1958. While the rivalry has been mostly one-sided for the past two decades, with each school trading turns claiming the wins, it still remains a game that football fans from outside of the state tune into regardless of the teams’ respective records.
Over the course of history, UF holds the all-time edge in the series with a 36-6-2 record, winning the past two meetings and owning the longest winning streak at nine games — which came from 1968 to 1976. The ‘Noles had dominated the recent decade with five-straight wins before the Gators broke that streak in 2018.
So it comes as no surprise that Athlon Sports’ writer and editor Rob McVey included the rivalry game in his list of top 10 intriguing non-conference games in 2021. Here is what he had to say about the matchup.
8. Florida State at Florida, Nov. 27
Florida State head coach Mike Norvell probably dodged a bullet by not having to face the Gators in his debut season at Florida State, but it was still a shame to see this annual end-of-season in-state rivalry off the schedule for the first time in 63 years. The good news is that the Sunshine Showdown will return for 2021, marking the first-ever meeting between Norvell and Florida head coach Dan Mullen. Florida has some big shoes to fill on both sides of the ball from last year’s SEC East title team, but the Gators should have enough talent in place to once again rank among the top teams in the conference. The Seminoles should see improvement in Norvell’s second year at the helm as well. Hopefully, the gap between these teams starts to close sooner than later to bring one of college football’s greatest rivalries back to prominence.
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The Longhorns 2020 season was filled with highs and lows. Where does Athlon Sports predict that they will fall in 2021 early rankings?
This is the time of year that a multitude of media outlets attempt to project how the 2021 season will play out. The Longhorns concluded the 2020 season with two blowout wins after falling to Iowa State with a Big 12 title game berth on the line. Continue reading “Where Athlon Sports ranks Texas in their early 2021 rankings”
The Las Vegas Raiders are looking to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The Los Angeles Chargers are considered 3-point underdogs to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 15 of the 2020 regular season. The over/under is set at 52.5 points, per BetMGM.
That means oddsmakers are taking bets on whether the two teams will combine to score more than or fewer than 52.5 points.
Our official score prediction for the game is a 30-27 win for the Patriots, with a combined total of 57 points. So if we were putting money behind our prediction, we’d bet the over.
As for game picks, analysts are rolling with the home team.
| Expert | Pick |
| John Breech (CBS Sports) | Raiders |
| Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News) | Raiders |
| Bill Bender (Sporting News) | Raiders |
| Athlon Sports | Raiders |
| Jarrett Bailey (Pro Football Network) | Raiders |
| Oliver Hodginkson (Pro Football Network) | Raiders |
| Sports Interaction | Raiders |
Thursday’s game will begin at 5:20 p.m. and will be televised on FOX.
Athlon Sports has named two players who could change UT’s season. Jordan Whittington and Vernon Broughton have been named ‘wildcards’.
Texas is heading into another season full of anticipation and expectations. In order for Tom Herman to fulfill those expectations, some new faces are going to have to step up.
Athlon Sports has named two players who could be those guys for Texas in 2020. Labeled as ‘wildcards’, they look at both the offensive and defensive side of the ball, starting with Jordan Whittington at wide receiver.
Offense: Jordan Whittington, WR
Whittington appeared in just one game last year before an injury ended his season. The highly touted RB/WR has the skills to make defenses pay in a variety of ways. Head coach Tom Herman will look to deploy him accordingly.
Whittington had a ton of hype going into the 2019 season as a five-star recruit. Originally, he was going to play running back but sadly picked up an injury in the season opener against Louisiana Tech and sat out the rest of the year.
Thanks to the solid play of Keaontay Ingram and Roschon Johnson, plus the addition of five-star Bijan Robinson, Whittington will be moving to wide receiver.
Scheduled to line up in the slot for most of the year, Whittington just needs to get the ball in his hands to become dangerous. Big 12 defenses are going to have a tough time trying to bring him down.
On defense, Athlon Sports points out another freshman, who is hoping to improve Texas’ worst position group form last year.
Defense: Vernon Broughton, DL
The UT defense fell apart last season in part due to lackluster play on the defensive line. That cracks open the door for a true freshman like Broughton to get on the field right away. He already has the frame (6-5, 286) to handle the leap to the college level.
One of the Longhorns’ early enrollees back in January, Broughton was a four-star defensive tackle recruit. From the Houston area, Texas beat out Ohio State and Texas A&M for his signature.
Because of his size, Broughton has the ability to play up the middle or on the outside. Keondre Coburn and Moro Ojomo are expected to start at nose tackle and defensive tackle respectively but Broughton could become a legitimate role player.
The success of young players will help Texas, despite all of the returning talent on this year’s team. With Sam Ehlinger departing after the 2020 season, the Longhorns will need to find a new leader for the future.
Guys such as Jordan Whittington and Vernon Broughton could become leaders with big freshman seasons.
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In an article today Kevin McGuire of Athlon Sports listed three reasons why the Wisconsin Badgers will make the College Football Playoff…
In an article today Kevin McGuire of Athlon Sports listed three reasons why the Wisconsin Badgers will make the College Football Playoff in 2020 and three reasons why they will not.
Here’s what he came up with:
No. 1: The Badgers are the most reliable team in the Big Ten West
Wisconsin has been the gold model of consistency in the Big Ten West Division since the conference moved to this division format. Wisconsin’s six appearances in the Big Ten Championship Game leads the conference (one ahead of Ohio State), including four appearances as West champion in the last six seasons. Wisconsin will have a decent chance to get to this year’s conference title game without a loss on its schedule this fall if the current schedule remains unchanged. If Wisconsin maneuvers its schedule without a loss heading to the Big Ten Championship Game, then the Badgers will force their way into the playoff conversation.
No. 2: Experienced defense is one of the Big Ten’s best
Wisconsin has developed a pretty solid reputation for having one of the best defenses in the Big Ten, and that trend will continue with one of the most experienced defenses in 2020. Wisconsin returns nine starters on the defensive side of the ball, including linebacker Jack Sanborn and free safety Eric Burrell. Outside of Minnesota, Wisconsin won’t face too many offenses known for lighting up the scoreboard either.
No. 3: Key division games in Madison
Unless the Big Ten completely scraps this year’s conference schedule and starts fresh, Wisconsin gets some good games at home in Camp Randal Stadium. The biggest of those games will likely be the rivalry game with Minnesota, which will actually be played in October instead of the regular-season finale. Wisconsin also gets Illinois at home in a revenge situation after being upset by the Illini last season.
My take: The Badgers are the most reliable team in the division and have the division’s best defense, that much I agree with. But at No. 3 I wouldn’t include the fact that their key games are at home as the likely fan-less atmosphere will be far different from what Badger fans and players are used to–or in simple terms home field advantage may not be much of a thing this season.
What I would replace No. 3 with would be the improvement in their schedule from having to face Appalachian State, Michigan, Notre Dame and Minnesota in four consecutive contests to now only having two real challenges on their slate–Minnesota and Michigan–that are not likely to be played in back-to-back weeks. In total, Paul Chryst’s team now has an easier path to a Big Ten Championship matchup against Ohio State or Penn State–a game they need to win if they want to make the playoff, conference-only regular season or not.
Next…three reasons why they will not make the College Football Playoff
For the final time, Locked on Longhorns goes into the time machine to discuss the 2000 and 2010 seasons plus Joseph Ossai an impact player?
The newest episode of Locked on Longhorns opens up discussing the time machine and the year of 2000. The third year under Mack Brown with quarterback Chris Simms and wide receiver Roy Williams leading the way. Also what were some of the top television shows, music and movies of the year?
The Governor of Texas Greg Abbott has increased stadium capacity to 50 percent, Is a ruling of allowing full capacity in our near future? NCAA President Mark Emmert proposed a shortened season to congress, just how laughable are those comments? Who actually runs college football? Plus Joseph Ossai has been added to the Lott Impact Player watchlist.
In the final segment, the topic of the Athlon Sports All-Big 12 team was up for discussion. Any surprises on the list? Who is one player not listed that could make his way into the discussion by seasons end? The duo take their final journey into the time machine as they discuss a forgettable 2010 season for the Texas Longhorns.
Athlon Sports released its 2020 college football top-25 and projected the Florida Gators to finish above the Georgia Bulldogs.
Athlon Sports recently released its list of the top-25 college football teams going into the 2020 football season, saying the list specifically represents where they think these teams will finish the season.
From Athlon:
This is not a preseason ranking of teams going into the season. Instead, this ranking takes into account where we project teams to finish after the national championship in January
The SEC is represented six times. Alabama is at No. 2 behind projected national champion Clemson. LSU is at No. 8, Texas A&M No. 11 and Auburn at No. 13.
Most notably, Georgia, the three-time SEC East defending champion, is ranked at No. 7, behind Florida at No. 6.
Athlon Sports stated its reason for putting the Gators ahead of the Bulldogs, even though Florida hasn’t won in Jacksonville in three years, is because of the SEC crossover games and staff continuity.
“Georgia has an edge in overall roster talent,” Athlon Sports wrote. “But the Gators have a small advantage in crossover play (at home versus LSU compared to at Alabama for the Bulldogs) and coach Dan Mullen’s team has more continuity in staff and scheme.”
I suppose Athlon Sports has a point, a Joe Burrow-less LSU at home won’t be as tough as Alabama in Tuscaloosa. However, the SEC East runs through Jacksonville and Georgia has held the keys for the last three years.
And as far as continuity goes, the Bulldogs came into the 2019 season with a new offensive coordinator and still took care of business in Jacksonville.
Georgia and Florida meet this year on Halloween from TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida.
Here is Athlon Sports’ projected top-10 teams in college football for 2020:
#1 Clemson
#2 Alabama
#3 Ohio State
#4 Oklahoma
#5 Penn State
#6 Florida
#7 Georgia
#8 LSU
#9 Notre Dame
#10 Oregon
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Athlon Sports released their Top 25 for the 2020 season earlier today and had Wisconsin at No. 12, good for the third-highest ranking of…
Athlon Sports released their Top 25 for the 2020 season earlier today and had Wisconsin at No. 12, good for the third-highest ranking of a Big Ten team.
Ahead of the release of our college football annual in two weeks, here's a look at our Top 25 teams for the 2020 season:https://t.co/tUwhKRvodQ pic.twitter.com/SauVWGNm9A
— Athlon Sports (@AthlonSports) May 19, 2020
Ahead of the Badgers are the Ohio State Buckeyes at No. 3 and the Penn State Nittany Lions at No. 5.
“Few question marks surround this team, but coach Paul Chryst’s squad has a couple to address on offense,” the article reads. “Who will fill the void left behind by Jonathan Taylor at running back? The Badgers may not lean on one option, instead choosing to rotate Nakia Watson, Garrett Groshek, Isaac Guerendo and freshmen Julius Davis and Jalen Berger in the backfield. Quarterback Jack Coan was steady (69.6 completion percentage) and didn’t make a lot of mistakes (five picks), but redshirt freshman Graham Mertz has more upside at the position. Can Mertz make a push for the starting job in the fall.”
The piece finishes its look into the 2020 Badger team talking about Jim Leonhard‘s defense, saying “Wisconsin’s defense held teams to 16.9 points a game in 2019 and ranks again among the best in the Big Ten. Coordinator Jim Leonhard’s group brings back nine starters, with linebackers Chris Orr and Zack Baun (24 combined sacks in 2019) leaving big shoes to fill at the position.”
This ranking comes on the heels of a No. 16 ranking in Sporting News’ recent Top 25, both rankings significantly lower than ESPN FPI having the Badgers as the fourth-best team in the country.
Athlon Sports has come out with its way too early top 25 college football teams for 2020 and Ohio State is at No. 2.
There’s still one more college football game to go to cap off the 2019 season, but with all but two teams done for the year, we’re starting to get the extremely early lookaheads for the next season. One of those publications — Athlon Sports — has come out with its Way Too Early Top 25 for 2020 and Ohio State is among one of the top teams projected.
According to Athlon, it has Ohio State all the way up to No. 2 in the country, just behind the Clemson Tigers. Here’s what it says about the prospects of what the Buckeyes could be next season.
The Buckeyes didn’t miss a beat in the coaching transition from Urban Meyer to Ryan Day and were a couple of plays away from a shot at the national championship. Ohio State will be back in the mix once again in 2020, as quarterback Justin Fields directs one of the nation’s top offenses after throwing for 3,273 yards and 41 scores to just three picks and running for 484 yards and 10 touchdowns in his first year in Columbus.
Fields won’t have J.K. Dobbins (2,003 rushing yards), but Master Teague (789), Marcus Crowley (237), and Steele Chambers (135) will keep the ground game performing at a high level. Binjimen Victor and K.J. Hill depart the receiving corps, but there are plenty of targets in place thanks the emergence of Chris Olave (12 TDs) and Garrett Wilson (30 catches) in 2019. The Buckeyes will have a strong foundation in the trenches thanks to the return of left tackle Thayer Munford, center Josh Myers and guard Wyatt Davis. Day has to replace co-coordinator Jeff Hafley, and a defense that limited teams to just 13.7 points a game loses end Chase Young, tackles Jashon Cornell, Robert Landers and DaVon Hamilton, along with linebacker Malik Harrison and standout defensive backs Jeff Okudah (CB), Damon Arnette (CB), and Jordan Fuller (safety).
While those losses are hefty, Ohio State still has a ton of talent on that side of the ball to lean on, including breakout candidates in defensive end Zach Harrison and cornerback Shaun Wade. A Sept. 12 showdown at Oregon and an Oct. 24 game at Penn State highlight the 2020 schedule for the Buckeyes.
The college football season may not be over yet, but it's never too early to think about the next season. We’ve got four SEC teams in the top eight and five Big Ten schools in the top 13. https://t.co/tUwhKRvodQ
— Athlon Sports (@AthlonSports) January 10, 2020
Of course we tend to agree. We’ve already laid out what OSU has coming back in the cupboard. With Justin Fileds directing what should be an explosive offense, and with the athleticism that’ll be on the field on the other side of the ball, the Buckeyes really should be able to make a run at some pretty special things once again.
Besides Ohio State and Clemson, Athlon’s top ten for 2020 consists of Alabama (3), LSU (4), Oklahoma (5), Penn State (6), Florida (7), Georgia (8), Notre Dame (9), and Wisconsin (1).
The annual overinflation of Michigan seems to be wearing out too. Athlon has the Wolverines projected at No. 12.
