Nate's 2008 college football predictions — Part 1

By Nate Sandstrom

I'm off to the Orioles-White Sox game tonight, so I'm posting my picks in three segments. This first segment gives you my predictions for where things will stand at the end of what should be yet another exciting and controversial regular season.

After the game, I will post my projected bowl matchups and final Top 25 rankings. I will also post "Five Bold Predictions" (you can debate whether they are bold) that will give a look inside the raw numbers I'm posting here.

Below I've listed the conference and overall records I am calling for each team to finish with, as well as where I predict they will be ranked in the final Coaches Top 25 poll. In case of a tie, the teams have been ranked in order of head-to-head tie-breaker. An asterisk indicates that I call for that team to win its conference championship game.

One thing you may notice is that I am calling for no teams to finish undefeated and three BCS teams to finish with one loss, meaning another year of controversy on who should play in the national title game. I'll get more into how I am predicting that to break down later tonight in my "Bold Predictions" post.

2008 Preseason Picks — End of regular season

Top 25
1. Oklahoma 12-1
2. Clemson 12-1
3. Ohio State 11-1
4. Auburn 11-2
5. USC 10-2
6. Florida 11-2
7. Georgia 10-2
8. Texas Tech 10-2
9. W. Virginia 10-2
10. S. Florida 11-1
11. Texas 10-2
12. Missouri 11-2
13. Wisconsin 10-2
14, Oregon 10-2
15. LSU 9-3
16. Penn St. 9-3
17. Va. Tech 10-3
18. S. Carolina 8-4
19. Tennessee 8-4
20. Wake Forest 9-3
21 N. Carolina 9-3
22. Boise St. 11-1
23. Utah 10-2
24. BYU 11-1
25.Tulsa 12-1

Standings:
SEC East
1. Florida 7-2 11-2
2. Georgia 6-2 10-2
3. S. Carolina 5-3 8-4
4. Tennessee 4-4 8-4
5. Kentucky 3-5 6-6
6. Vanderbilt 0-8 2-10

SEC West
1. Auburn* 7-2 11-2
2. LSU 5-3 9-3
3. Alabama 4-4 7-5
4. Mississippi 4-4 7-5
5. Miss. State 2-6 6-6
6. Arkansas 2-6 3-9

Big Ten
1. Ohio State 7-1 11-1
2. Wisconsin 6-2 10-2
3. Penn State 5-3 9-3
4. Mich. St. 5-3 8-4
5. Iowa 5-3 8-4
6. N’western 4-4 7-5
7. Illinois 3-5 6-6
8. Purdue 3-5 5-7
9. Minnesota 3-5 5-7
10. Indiana 2-6 5-7
11. Michigan 1-7 3-9

Pac-10
1. USC 8-1 10-2
2. Oregon 7-2 10-2
3. UCLA 5-4 5-7
4. Oregon St. 5-4 7-5
5. Arizona 5-4 8-4
6. Cal 5-4 7-5
7. Arizona St. 4-5 6-6
8. Washington 3-6 4-8
9. Stanford 2-7 3-9
10. Wash. St. 1-8 3-9

Big 12 South
1. Oklahoma* 8-1 12-1
2. Texas Tech 6-2 10-2
3. Texas 6-2 10-2
4. Tex. A&M 4-4 7-5
5. Okl. State 3-5 7-5
6. Baylor 0-8 1-11

Big 12 North
1. Missouri 7-2 11-2
2. Kansas 5-3 8-4
3. Nebraska 3-5 7-5
4. Kansas St. 3-5 6-6
5. Colorado 3-5 5-7
6. Iowa St. 1-7 3-9

ACC Atlantic
1. Clemson* 8-1 12-1
2. Florida St. 5-3 8-4
3. Wake 5-3 9-3
4. Maryland 4-4 8-4
5. N.C. State 2-6 3-9
6. Boston Col. 2-6 6-6

ACC Coastal
1. Va. Tech 7-2 10-3
2. N. Carolina 6-2 9-3
3. Miami 6-2 8-4
4. Duke 3-5 4-8
5. Ga. Tech 1-7 3-9
6. Virginia 0-8 2-10

Big East
1. W. Virginia 6-1 10-2
2. S. Florida 6-1 11-1
3. Cincinnati 4-3 9-4
4. Rutgers 4-3 7-5
5. Pitt 3-4 7-5
6. Louisville 3-4 8-4
7. UConn 2-5 6-6
8. Syracuse 0-7 2-10

Mountain West
1. Utah 7-1 10-2
2, BYU 7-1 11-1
3. TCU 5-3 8-4
4. Wyoming 4-4 5-7
5. UNLV 4-4 6-6
6. S.D. State 3-5 5-7
7. Air Force 2-6 5-7
8. New Mex. 2-6 3-9
9. Col. St. 1-7 2-10

Conf. USA West
1. Tulsa 8-1 12-1
2. SMU 5-3 6-6
3. UTEP 4-4 6-6
4. Houston 3-5 6-6
5. Tulane 2-6 4-8
6. Rice 2-6 4-8

Conf. USA East
1. C. Florida* 7-2 8-5
2. E. Carolina 5-3 7-5
3. Marshall 5-3 6-6
4. Memphis 3-5 5-7
5. So. Miss 2-6 3-9
6. UA-Birm. 2-6 3-9

WAC
1. Boise St. 8-0 11-1
2. Fresno St. 6-2 9-3
3. Hawaii 5-3 7-6
4. Nevada 5-3 7-5
5. San Jose St. 4-4 6-6
6. NMSU 3-5 5-7
7. La. Tech 2-6 3-9
8. Idaho 2-6 3-9
9. Utah State 1-7 1-11

Independents
1. Notre Dame 7-5
2. Navy 5-7
3. Army 3-9
4. W. Kentucky 2-10

MAC West
1. C. Mich.* 7-1 10-3
2. W. Mich. 5-3 8-4
3. No. Ill. 5-3 6-6
4. Ball State 4-4 7-5
5. E. Mich. 2-6 3-9
6. Toledo 1-7 2-10

MAC East
1. Bowl Grn. 7-1 9-4
2. Temple 5-3 7-5
3. Miami 4-4 6-6
4. Kent St. 4-4 5-7
5. Buffalo 3-5 5-7
6. Ohio 2-6 3-9
7. Akron 2-6 2-10

Sun Belt
1. Fla. Atl. 7-0 10-2
2. Troy 6-1 8-4
3. UL-Monroe 4-3 5-7
4. N. Texas 3-4 3-9
5. UL-Laff. 3-4 3-9
6. Ark. State 3-4 5-7
7. M. Tenn. 2-5 2-10
8. Fla. Int’l 1-6 2-10