Sunday Morning Conversation: Looking Back at 2015 Predictions

I was going through some old notes and came across a list of a few national college football journalists lists of "Way Too Early Predictions" for the 2015 season. Clearly, none of these guys had Gump fever.

First, here is the final AP rankings:

1. ALABAMA
2. Clemson
3. Stanford
4. Ohio State
5. Oklahoma
6. Michigan State
7. TCU
8. Houston
9. Iowa
10. Ole Miss
11. Notre Dame
12. Michigan
13. Baylor
14. Florida State
15. North Carolina
16. LSU
17. Utah
18. Navy
19. Oregon
20. Oklahoma State
21. Wisconsin
22. Tennessee
23. Northwestern
24. Western Kentucky
25. Florida

Below are the "Way Too Early Predictions" by the experts (* denotes a team finished the season with a losing record; # means a team suffered 6 losses; BOLD represents playoff teams).

Stewart Mandel FOX Sports JAN 13, 2015
1. Ohio State
2. TCU
3. Baylor
4. Oregon
5. Florida State
6. Auburn #
7. ALABAMA
8. Michigan State
9. USC #
10. Notre Dame
11. Ole Miss
12. Arizona State *
13. LSU
14. UCLA
15. Georgia
16. Boise State
17. Arizona #
18. Georgia Tech *
19. Stanford
20. Clemson
21. Texas A&M
22. Missouri *
23. Arkansas
24. Tennessee
25. NC State #
Just missed: Wisconsin, Mississippi State, Utah, Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech #.

(Note that Mandel did not even rank Oklahoma.)

Mark Schlabach, ESPN
1. TCU
2. Ohio State
3. Baylor
4. USC #
5. Oregon
6. Michigan State
7. UCLA
8. Georgia
9. Clemson
10. ALABAMA
11. Ole Miss
12. Notre Dame 
13. Arizona #
14. Auburn #
15. Arizona State *
16. Wisconsin
17. LSU
18. Georgia Tech *
19. Florida State
20. Boise State
21. Arkansas
22. Utah
23. Tennessee
24. Oklahoma State
25. Minnesota *

(Schlabach also did not rank the Sooners)

Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY January 13, 2015
1. Ohio State
2. Auburn #
3. TCU
4. Stanford
5. ALABAMA
6. Baylor
7. Florida State
8. Michigan State
9. Mississippi
10. Oregon
11. Arizona State *
12. Clemson
13. Southern California #
14. Georgia
15. Arizona #
16. Boise State
17. UCLA
18. Missouri *
19. LSU
20. Wisconsin
21. Oklahoma
22. Notre Dame
23. Georgia Tech *
24. Oklahoma State
25. Nebraska *

Martin Rickman SI.com Jan. 20, 2015
1. Ohio State
2. TCU
3. Auburn #
4. Baylor
5. ALABAMA
6. Oregon
7. Michigan State
8. UCLA
9. Florida State
10. Ole Miss
11. Clemson
12. Stanford
13. Arizona State *
14. Arizona #
15. Georgia
16. Notre Dame
17. USC #
18. Georgia Tech *
19. Wisconsin
20. Oklahoma
21. Boise State
22. Missouri *
23. Oklahoma State
24. Texas A&M
25. Minnesota *
Next Five: Mississippi State, Utah, Tennessee, Texas *, Kansas State *

You may recall at last summer's SEC Media Days that the press oddly predicted Alabama would win the SEC West but that Auburn would win the Conference title. They were half right. This now makes it 19 times the past 24 seasons that the media failed to accurately predict the winner of the SEC, proving the old saying: "your guess is as good as mine."