Month: August 2017

2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: SEC

2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: SEC

Ricky’s SEC Conference NCAAF pick for 2017 is the Alabama Crimson Tide. OFFENSE QB Jalen Hurts completed 63% of his passes while throwing for almost 2,800 yards with a 23-9 TD to INT ratio and also ran for 13 TD’s. This season he will be complimented by one of the best RB groups we have seen in some time. Damien Harris had 1,000+ yards rushing last season and Bo Scarbrough is an absolute beast who could probably rush for 2,500 yards if Roll Tide wanted to feed him the ball…

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2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: Sun Belt

2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: Sun Belt

Ricky’s Sun Belt Conference NCAAF pick for 2017 is the Troy Trojans. OFFENSE In 2016, the Trojans enjoyed a fine campaign from QB Brandon Silvers who threw for over 3,100 yards and 23 TD’s while garnering 1st Team Sun Belt accolades. Silvers is back for his senior season and has a loaded and experienced WR corps to rely upon. Essentially the entire group is back including two players (Emanuel Thompson, Deondre Douglas) who bagged a combined 140 receptions. The pass protection last season was out of this world as they…

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2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: PAC 12

2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: PAC 12

Ricky’s PAC 12 Conference NCAAF pick for 2017 is the Washington Huskies. OFFENSE The Huskies moved like a machine on offense last season averaging over 40 points per game. They return 7 starters on offense this season including most of the key components. QB Jake Browning is a legitimate STAR and he carved up opposing defenses to the tune of 3,400 yards passing and 43 TD’s. Browning is still a junior but will almost certainly leave for the NFL after this campaign. Browning loses #1 WR John Ross but still…

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2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: Mountain West

2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: Mountain West

Ricky’s Mountain West Conference NCAAF pick for 2017 is the San Diego State Aztecs. OFFENSE Ok, here comes the running game. Now try and stop it. The Aztecs lose superstar RB Donnel Pumphrey (2,133, 17 TD) but still have the luxury of a 1000-yard back from last season in Rashaad Penny as well as Juwan Washington who’s ready to rip apart opposing run defenses. The big concern with the offense is how the retooled OL will perform as they only return one starter from last season’s group. Fortunately the Mountain…

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2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: Independents

2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: Independents

Ricky’s Independents NCAAF pick for 2017 is the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. OFFENSE It seems like just a week ago that Notre Dame had a pocket full of fantastic QBs. This season they will need to rely on sophomore Brandon Wimbush to lead the offense. Wimbush is extremely talented and should be able to keep the offense humming with his dual-threat ability. New OC Chip Long wants the Fighting Irish to increase the tempo and it will be interesting to see how quickly Wimbush can get up to speed. The…

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2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: MAC

2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: MAC

Ricky’s Mid-American Conference NCAAF pick for 2017 is the Toledo Rockets. OFFENSE Raise your hand if you knew that QB Logan Woodside had 45 TD passes last season. Crickets. Woodside had a great campaign throwing for over 4,000 yards with only 9 INT. The Rockets will be without their excellent TE Michael Roberts (16 TD in 2016) but return their most dangerous weapon in WR Cody Thompson (1269, 11 TD, 19.8) and will also enjoy having Jon’vea Johnson (773, 10 TD) back in the mix. The Rockets have been truly…

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2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: C-USA

2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: C-USA

Ricky’s Conference USA NCAAF pick for 2017 is the Old Dominion Monarchs. OFFENSE The Monarchs got exceptional play at the QB position last season and will now await the outcome of the multiple-player battle for the 2017 starting role. The favorite is sophomore Blake LaRussa who may not have ideal size but has impressed so far in camp. The longshot is 17 year old true freshman Steven Williams who has turned heads. Stay tuned. The running game could be the best in the conference. The Monarchs bring back their excellent…

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2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: Big12

2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: Big12

Ricky’s Big Twelve Conference NCAAF pick for 2017 is the Oklahoma State Cowboys OFFENSE This could get messy. The Cowboys were really good on offense last year but this season promises to be special. They are absolutely loaded. QB Mason Rudolph threw for over 4,000 yards and had a sparkling 28-4 TD ratio. That is 4 INT in 448 attempts. He also ran for 6 more scores. Yes, shockingly, he did not appear on any ESPN Heisman hype videos so he ended up finishing behind a long snapper from Idaho…

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2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: Big10

2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: Big10

Ricky’s Big Ten Conference NCAAF pick for 2017 is the Ohio State Buckeyes. OFFENSE Ohio St was #1 in the Big 10 in total offense last season and lit up the scoreboard to the tune of 39 points per game. QB JT Barrett is back for his seemingly 16th season and is one of the top-two QBs in the conference. All he did last season was throw for 24 TD passes and rush for over 800 yards. If there is a question mark on offense it is the WR group…

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2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: ACC

2017 NCAAF Best of the Best: ACC

Ricky’s Atlantic Coast Conference NCAAF pick for 2017 is the Florida State Seminoles. OFFENSE QB Deondre Francois proved to be the real deal last season as a redshirt freshman. He led the team to a 10-win season and proved he could win some big games. Francois threw for over 3,300 yards and only threw 7 INT in 400 attempts. Things look very promising this season when you consider the talent on hand, however, the Seminoles lose a lot of production from the 2016 unit. We won’t rehash the Heisman debacle…

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