2023 College Football Season Predictions: TWSN Roundtable 2
There has only been one back-to-back Heisman winner since the creation of the Heisman award and that streak will continue in 2023. Caleb Williams may be the favorite to win the Heisman for his second straight year, but don’t sleep on Michael Penix Jr. Penix, who is entering his sixth season in college football, has the athleticism and talent to win the Heisman and I think he does it this year. Penix had a 5:1 touchdown to interception ratio through his final seven games of last season. The Huskies return each of their three leading receivers, including Rome Odunze, a potential day two pick in next year’s draft. Especially towards the end of last season, Penix showed that he has the skills to play at a professional level and I think his draft stock skyrockets after he wins the Heisman in 2023.
CFP Prediction
- Georgia
- Michigan
- Oregon
- Washington
This year’s College Football Playoff is the final year with the four team format, and it’s going to get wild. I believe that two Pac-12 teams will make the college football playoff for the first time ever. My first two picks, Georgia and Michigan, seem to be the favorites heading into the season. The Bulldogs will look for the three-peat with Carson Beck now under center while JJ McCarthy looks for revenge in his junior season. I have high hopes for Bo Nix and the Ducks this year as I think this is the year where Nix takes his team far. I already talked about how much I love Michael Penix this year, but I truly believe that the Huskies’ offense will be one of the best, if not the best offense in college football.
National Champion
Michigan Wolverines
In their third straight College Football Playoff appearance, the Michigan Wolverines will finally finish the season with a national championship win. JJ McCarthy is an above average quarterback that definitely can be serviceable for a national championship contender. McCarthy fits perfectly with the Wolverines because Sherron Moore won’t ask him to be the superhero every game. The Wolverines have one of the best running back duos in all of college football with Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards in the backfield. This duo will carry the offense into December and through January to ultimately make them national champs.
Overachieving Team
Washington Huskies
I think this choice for me is pretty obvious based on my past answers, but the Washington Huskies are going to shock many in 2023. The ceiling for the Huskies is around a top eight team in the country. I think they shatter those expectations. I have Washington going to the college football playoff behind one of the best offenses in the country. Michael Penix will win the Heisman and Rome Odunze will be drafted on day two or maybe even day one next April.
Underachieving Team
Alabama Crimson Tide
It may not be the best idea to doubt Nick Saban, but I’m going to do it anyway. The Crimson Tide enter the season in third place in the Coaches poll, but to me they are heavily overrated. The loss of Bryce Young is massive for this Alabama team, and based on reports from spring practices, it doesn’t sound like a quarterback on the roster has stepped up and stood out among the rest. I’m not sold on either Jalen Milroe or Tyler Bunchner this year and without a solid quarterback under center, I don’t think this team will go far this season.
MJ:
Heisman: Quinn Ewers
One of the highest rated recruits of all time will hopefully play his first fully healthy season of football as a starter this fall. It’s obvious when watching Ewers that he possesses special arm talent, and his supporting cast has only gotten stronger in the off-season. If Texas can take down the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, week two, then the Ewers Heisman hype will be through the roof.
College Football Playoff
Georgia Bulldogs (1)
The back-to-back National Champions come into 2023 with one of the worst schedules I’ve ever seen. Don’t get me wrong, they are still a very elite team, but they won’t be challenged until they play in the SEC championship in early December, for that reason, I can’t see them having any chance of missing the playoffs.
Ohio State Buckeyes (2)
The Buckeyes have a few question marks this off-season, most notably at quarterback and offensive Line. I’m not too worried about these due to the level of talent Ohio State has, but these could be detrimental issues if they’re not fully addressed early on in the season. They have some tough games on the schedule, but I think Ryan Day feels the pressure, and he’ll get the Job done.
Clemson Tigers (3)
It’s been two seasons since the Tigers were last in the playoffs, mostly due to their horrendous excuse for an offense with former quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. I think Cade Klubnik will be a significant upgrade to their passing attack, and their ultra-reliable running back Will Shipley will make for a more complete Tigers team this season.
Michigan Wolverines (4)
Michigan has put themselves back into the universe of elite programs in college football. They’ve made the playoffs in back to back seasons, as well as beating Ohio State in Columbus for the first time in over 20 years. They return almost all of their key contributors from last year, and play a pretty weak schedule, so as long as their only loss is to the Buckeyes, they still have a good shot to sneak in the fourth seed.
National Champion: Ohio State Buckeyes
We saw a glimpse of what Ryan Day can do when he feels pressure during the playoff game against Georgia. He’s going to feel that same thing all season, and lead the Buckeyes back to glory for the first time in nearly a decade. The second year under Jim Knowles will be improved, and even be a top 10 unit by the end of the year.
Overachieving Team: Iowa Hawkeyes
Everyone is very high on the Wisconsin Badgers coming into this year. The new acquisition of coach Luke Fickell has badger fans very excited, and rightfully so, but this division will belong to Iowa this season. If Iowa can just improve their offense to a high school level, they will be in a position to win every single game they play this season. It’s a big if, but I think they can get it done.
Underachieving Team: USC Trojans
Caleb Williams is an unbelievable quarterback, one of the best I’ve ever seen at the college level, unfortunately, he doesn’t play defense. The Trojan defense was pitiful last season, and with the gauntlet of a schedule they have to play, with several high-powered offenses, I wouldn’t be surprised if USC was somewhere around 9-3 at season’s end.
Tony:
Heisman Winner: Caleb Williams
The Heisman betting favorite going into the 2023 college football season is Caleb Williams, and rightfully so. Williams is the best player in college football and will likely be the number one overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. It’s rare that a player wins the Heisman in back-to-back seasons, but Williams is a player that can do it. He is in a great system for quarterbacks, he has plenty of weapons and his team should be good, which always helps your case. I think there are a few players that will make this a close decision, but in the end I believe Williams will win it again.
CFP Teams:
Georgia is the back-to-back champion and has a lot of talent returning. That, along with a pretty easy schedule where they will be the favorite in every game, I see them making the College Football Playoff again.
Ohio State has a tremendous amount of talent, especially on offense, but their defense looks to be improved from last year as well. They have an easy schedule, so it may come down to the last game when they play Michigan, but even if they lose they could be a one loss team that makes it in.
USC has the best player in the country on their team, they won 11 games last season and, on paper, have more talent than last year’s team. They lost a couple of wide receivers but hit the portal to replace those guys, but more importantly, they brought in some guys to strengthen their defense, which should have an impact on their team. The Pac-12 has some pretty good teams this season, so if they win the Pac- 12 like I expect, they will be in the playoff picture.
LSU is bringing back a lot of returning starters and production, they have playmakers on offense and a quarterback that played very well for them down the stretch of last season. They should have one of the best defenses in the country led by Harold Perkins Jr. They play Florida State in their opening game of the season, and they need to win that to be taken seriously as a playoff contender.
National Champion: Georgia Bulldogs
I know it seems unlikely for a college football team to win three national titles in a row. Georgia is the new standard in college football right now, they lose great talent and replace them with even better talent. The quarterback position is my only question mark right now, but I believe with the weapons around the quarterback, they will implement a system where the quarterback just has to be to get his playmakers in the ball and let them go to work. They have a pretty easy schedule, so getting to the playoffs should not be too difficult for them, once they are there, they have the experience and talent to finish the job again.
Overachieving Team: Missouri Tigers:
The Tigers finished 6-7 last season and are picked to finish sixth in the SEC East in the preseason SEC media polls. If this team can finish with a 9-3, 8-4 record they would be an overachieving team and with their schedule, I believe that it’s possible. This team could start the season 5-0, they have four games at home and their only road game in those first five games is at Vanderbilt. Not only do they have a nice schedule to start the season, they have talent too. The Tigers return the bulk of a defense that ranked among the best in the conference last season, they also have an improved offensive line and transfer quarterback Jake Garcia came in to push Brady Cook for the starting quarterback position. Whoever wins that battle has Luther Burden as a weapon and one of the top playmakers in the conference. I think Missouri is an improved team, and playing at Missouri is a sneaky tough place to play. If they get off to the start I believe they can, they will be an overachieving team for the 2023 season.
Underachieving Team: Florida State Seminoles: Florida State has a ton of hype around them this season, many people are projecting them to win the ACC, for Jordan Travis to win the Heisman and for them to make the College Football Playoffs. They are returning a lot of talent from last year’s team and added a few impact players in the transfer portal, so I can see why so many people are jumping on the hype train. I think last year was a little bit of fools gold for the Seminoles, every team they played that was ranked in the top 25 at the time they lost, they did beat LSU, but it was the very first game of the season when LSU wasn’t ranked and weren’t as good of a team as they became by the end of the regular season. It was Brian Kelly’s first year with a young team and a quarterback in a new system, it took LSU a few games to really get rolling. I also don’t believe in their head coach, Mike Norvell, I believe he is a pretty good offensive coach, but I don’t trust his in-game coaching and adjustments. Florida State doesn’t have the most difficult schedule this year, but they could lose to LSU, Clemson, Miami, Pittsburgh, Florida, or slip up somewhere they aren’t expecting to. I think Florida State can have a good year. I just don’t believe the hype of ACC champions, and potential College Football Playoff contenders, which is why they will be underachievers this season.
Evan:
Heisman: Caleb Williams
We will finally see our first back-to-back Heisman winner since Archie Griffin did it back in 1974 and 1975. Williams looked so dominant last year, and look for him to continue that streak heading into this next season. The main reason Williams has a great chance to win the Heisman yet again is because last year he did it without even winning the conference. USC has a much better chance this year to take the title from Utah, giving Caleb Williams a much better opportunity to win that second Heisman trophy.
CFP Teams: Georgia, Ohio State, USC, Michigan
Reigning National Champions and two current and one future Big Ten teams face it off in the College Football Playoffs. This is a sight into the future, having these two powerhouse conferences going at it for the championship. Georgia will look to repeat, Ohio State wants revenge, USC finally tries to get their name in the conversation, and Michigan needs to make up for last year.
National Champions: Ohio State
The Buckeyes get it done. Plain and simple. A fired up Ryan Day, Heisman contender wide receiver and quarterback, a stacked running back room, and a much improved defense gets the Bucks back to the top of the national stage for the first time since 2014.
Overachieving Teams: Penn State Nittany Lions
The Nittany Lions are going to surprise numerous people this year. Drew Allar is going to make a name for himself not only in the Big Ten but college football as a whole as well. James Franklin has got himself a solid team this year and will be a little bit of a force in the Big Ten in coming years, but it all starts this year. A good running back room, great secondary, and the talent of their quarterback will make Penn State very good.
Underachieving Teams: Colorado Buffaloes
There is a lot of hype surrounding Deion Sanders and the orado football team, but I would hit the brakes on that right now. Coach Sanders has brought a lot of recruits and transfers to Colorado since he’s been there, and people are starting to talk about them. But I’m here to tell you that they will not only underachieve this season, but also place in the bottom three in the Pac-12 come the end of the year.
