The college football season is pretty much over. Most coaches right now are fully entrenched in what the future holds for the program they are in charge of and they’ve moved on from this season.
But not us!
Oh no. We still have one major thing left to do before we can grab a shovel and shove some dirt on this college football season.
What is that exactly?
We have to go back and make fun of every single prediction I made a few months ago. I pride myself on my football predictions. I’m also a big believer in wearing your predictions proudly regardless of how they turned out, which is why you should always go back and re-live them. That’s exactly what we’re doing here.
With over 115+ college football programs in the FBS, it can become a bit of a chore to predict how every team will do, but that’s why I get paid the big bucks by the editor here at OoopsIFarted.com!
So without further adieu, here we are. A look back at how my predictions panned out for the 2018 college football season……
(A quick reminder that I give myself a 2-game buffer in my predictions. If my prediction comes within 2 games of how the team finishes, I consider that a successful prediction. It’s the little victories that mean a lot guys…..)
12. Central Michigan Chippewas
Record: 1-11
Predicted Record: 3-9
Bowl Game: No bowl game
Predicted Bowl Game: No bowl game
Nailed It or Failed It?: NAILED IT! It had been quite awhile since the Central Michigan Chippewas finished as anything other than a middle-of-the-road MAC team. John Bonamego was 21-18 in four seasons in Mt. Pleasant and most college football experts knew it was going to be a bad season for this team. The combination of only 10 total returning starters and a pretty difficult schedule was going to be a nightmare for this team and that’s exactly what it was. Bonamego is gone now and Central Michigan is hitting the reset button.
11. Kent State Golden Flashes
Record: 2-10
Predicted Record: 1-11
Bowl Game: No bowl game
Predicted Bowl Game: No bowl game
Nailed It or Failed It?: NAILED IT! When making college football predictions. There are a few things that are clear from the jump off. Those things are, Alabama will be good and Kent State will be extremely shitty. One of the worst programs in college football, Kent State has made two bowl games the last 47 years. TWO BOWL GAMES IN THE LAST FORTY SEVEN YEARS! FUCK YOU SUCK!
10. Bowling Green Falcons
Record: 3-9
Predicted Record: 4-8
Bowl Game: No bowl game
Predicted Bowl Game: No bowl game
Nailed It or Failed It?: NAILED IT! I wasn’t very high on Bowling Green headed into this season. Ever since Dino Babers left the program and took his talents to Syracuse (who has benefited greatly I might add), the program just hasn’t been the same. While it’s never easy to lose a good head coach and keep the momentum of the program going, it’s also not a good look that the next guy can’t pick up more than four wins a season and get the thing rebuilt back up to respectability. Bowling Green will likely be in the MAC dumpster for the next few seasons.
9. Akron Zips
Record: 4-8
Predicted Record: 4-8
Bowl Game: No bowl game
Predicted Bowl Game: No bowl game
Nailed It or Failed It?: NAILED IT! Akron is a weird team to me. On one hand, I think head coach Terry Bowden does a great job with what he has to work with. Akron is the exact opposite of a recruiting hotbed and it’s amazing that Bowden has had this team hovering around 5-7 wins a season. However, the Zips are an inconsistent mess on the football field. One week, they are upsetting Northwestern and then the next three weeks in a row they get their faces smashed in before beating Kent State by one stinking point. I like Bowden and like I said earlier, I think he’s done a great job with what he’s had to work with….which is very little.
8. Ball State Cardinals
Record: 4-8
Predicted Record: 4-8
Bowl Game: No bowl game
Predicted Bowl Game: No bowl game
Nailed It or Failed It?: NAILED IT! Next year is a big year for Ball State head coach Mike Neu. His first-year as head coach, the Cardinals went 4-8. Last year? They were a disappointing 2-10 and went in reverse. This year, Neu got the program back to 4-wins, but what happens next year is likely going to be what determines his future as head coach of this football team. They need to see some improvement and make a bowl game. If that doesn’t happen, we will see Ball State once again miss a bowl game where they are 0-7 all-time anyway…..
7. Toledo Rockets
Record: 7-5
Predicted Record: 8-4
Bowl Game: Bahamas Bowl vs. FIU
Predicted Bowl Game: Bahamas Bowl vs. UAB
Nailed It or Failed It?: NAILED IT! Toledo and head coach Jason Candle had become the “sweethearts” of the MAC lately. In his first-year as head coach, Candle took the Rockets to nine wins and followed that up with an eleven-win season last year and a MAC title. Needless to say, expectations were high this season……well, for some of us. Personally I expected a little bit of a drop-off for Toledo which is exactly what happened. For some reason I thought they would end up in the Bahamas Bowl and look at that! That’s exactly where they ended up! A lot of college football experts expected Candle’s name to be one of the hottest on the Coaching Carousel this year, but as of right now, it looks like he’ll be sticking around in Toledo for the time being.
6. Eastern Michigan Eagles
Record: 7-5
Predicted Record: 6-6
Bowl Game: Camellia Bowl vs. Georgia Southern
Predicted Bowl Game: No bowl game
Nailed It or Failed It?: NAILED IT! Chris Creighton has done a heck of a job building Eastern Michigan up from a bottomless waste land to a decent MAC team. You know what they were this season once again? A decent MAC team. You have to give Creighton a lot of credit though. For the first time in program history, the Eagles have a head coach who has led them to TWO BOWL GAMES! It’s the little things that matter at programs like Eastern Michigan.
5. Western Michigan Broncos
Record: 7-5
Predicted Record: 8-4
Bowl Game: Idaho Potato Bowl vs. BYU
Predicted Bowl Game: Idaho Potato Bowl vs. UNLV
Nailed It or Failed It?: NAILED IT! The bad news for Western Michigan? P.J. Fleck is no longer around and you guys have gone back to MAC-mediocrity. The good news for Western Michigan? MAC-mediocrity isn’t that bad considering you guys used to hang out in the MAC-dumpster. Remember those 1-11 seasons? Those weren’t very fun were they? That 13-1 season back in 2016 was a blast though. Unfortunately, that’s what we in the football game call “catching lighting in a bottle” and it just wasn’t sustainable at a place like Western Michigan. The Cotton Bowl in 2016 was something you’ll always remember. The Idaho Potato Bowl in 2018? Buzz, your girlfriend? Woof.
4. Ohio Bobcats
Record: 8-4
Predicted Record: 7-5
Bowl Game: Frisco Bowl vs. San Diego State
Predicted Bowl Game: Camellia Bowl vs. Louisiana
Nailed It or Failed It?: NAILED IT! Ohio is a program that consistently wins 6-8 games a year in the MAC under head coach Frank Solich. This year was no different. This year’s Ohio team was able to beat the less-talented teams on their schedule but any time they had a step up in competition, things went sideways. But hey, at least they won more than seven games this year.
3. Miami (Ohio) Redhawks
Record: 6-6
Predicted Record: 6-6
Bowl Game: None
Predicted Bowl Game: None
Nailed It or Failed It?: NAILED IT! I had the Redhawks going 6-6 and missing out on a bowl game and that’s exactly what happened. However, I think the most impressive part of my Miami, Ohio prediction is that I predicted they would go 6-2 in conference games and that’s exactly where the dominoes fell. I’m trying to tell you guys that I’m a certified genius when it comes to predicting MAC teams man.
2. Buffalo Bulls
Record: 10-3
Predicted Record: 7-5
Bowl Game: Dollar General Bowl vs. Troy
Predicted Bowl Game: New Mexico Bowl vs. FIU
Nailed It or Failed It?: FAILED IT! Major props to Buffalo and head coach Lance Leipold who crushed expectations this season. Buffalo has been one of those teams that has bounced around from year-to-year. One year, they’ll jump up and surprise everyone with a 6-8 win season and they’ll fall back down to Earth the next year by posting a two-win season leaving everyone scratching their heads. This year though, the Bulls got to double-digit wins FOR THE FIRST TIME IN PROGRAM HISTORY AND THEY’VE BEEN A FOOTBALLL TEAM SINCE 1894! Just a wonderful job here by Buffalo this season and I’m interested in what they do for an encore next year.
1. Northern Illinois Huskies
Record: 8-6
Predicted Record: 7-5
Bowl Game: Boca Raton Bowl vs. UAB
Predicted Bowl Game: Dollar General Bowl vs. Appalachian State
Nailed It or Failed It?: NAILED IT! Rod Carey is a good little head coach. Northern Illinois is a good little MAC program who can win the conference but that’s about where it ends with this team. You want proof? Northern Illinois won 8 games this season and 7 of those came against MAC teams. They went 1-3 against non-MAC teams with their only win a 7-6 offensive shoot-out against another offensively inept team in BYU. Northern Illinois ends the season with another MAC title, but is that enough for the fan base or will they end up wanting more? Stay tuned y’all……
