2014 BYU Cougars Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/25/2014

The wacky Mormons are still getting used to life as an independent and were really a non-entity in the 2013 season. Sure, their win over Texas in early September caught some headlines. But losses to Virginia and Utah, as well as a blowout loss to Washington in a third-tier bowl game, really puts things into perspective for the Cougars.

2014 Navy Midshipmen Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/25/2014

Navy football is what it is. They continue to use the triple-option attack and remain one of the trickiest teams in the country to steal a win from. Outside of its annual clash with Army, Navy football is completely off the national radar and content with eight wins and a bowl game.

2014 Army Black Knights Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/25/2014

Army has been to just one bowl game in the past 15 years, a 2010 upset of SMU in the Armed Forces Bowl. But with one of the most experienced teams in the nation the Black Knights could break through for another appearance this fall.

2014 Ohio State Buckeyes Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/22/2014

A 10-point loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten championship game was the only thing standing between the Buckeyes and a shot at the national title last year. Urban Meyer picked up right where Jim Tressel left off and has Ohio State positioned as a perennial title contender. And this year’s version should be in the mix once again.

2014 Michigan Wolverines Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/22/2014

Michigan’s season comes down to talented quarterback Devin Gardner and how far he can carry the Wolverines. He is one of seven starters back on offense. However, the attack unit will have six freshmen or sophomores in the starting lineup and they will need to grow up in a hurry. The defense has eight starters back, including five seniors, and they will try to improve on Michigan’s No. 66 scoring rank.

2014 Wisconsin Badgers Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/22/2014

It has been an average couple seasons for the Badgers, who have gone just 17-10 after going 32-8 the previous three seasons. But thanks to being on the favorable end of Big Ten realignment the Badgers can be average and still dominate their bumbling competition in the limp West.

2014 Penn State Nittany Lions Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/22/2014

Former coach Bill O’Brien helped the Nittany Lions weather the immediate aftermath of the crippling Jerry Sandusky-Joe Paterno scandal. But new head coach James Franklin, formerly of Vanderbilt, is now the fourth head coach in 29 games for a program that had enjoyed the same head coach for 46 years prior to the scandal.

2014 Nebraska Cornhuskers Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/22/2014

Bo Pelini loses four games every year. It’s just the way it is. No matter how good or bad his roster is, Pelini finds a way to lose/only lose four games each season. So it was an easy call for the books to post Cornhuskers’ season win total at 8.0. And it’s an even easier call for me to pass on this total and predict a ‘push’.

2014 Michigan State Spartans Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/22/2014

The Spartans had an epic season in 2013, winning the Big Ten and then pulling an upset over Stanford in the Rose Bowl. That was the third time in four years that the Spartans have won double-digit games. And now prognosticators project this year’s team to the short list of contenders to make the new four-team playoff.

2014 Iowa Hawkeyes Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/22/2014

It seems like Kirk Ferentz has been on the hot seat for a decade. But the Iowa head coach is entering his 16th season at the helm in Iowa City and will once again try to live up to the very modest goals the program has set for itself. Iowa has gone just 27-24 over the past four season and 59-43 over the past eight years.

2014 Minnesota Golden Gophers Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/22/2014

Jerry Kill, despite all of his health issues, has done yeoman’s work with this Gophers program. He has increased his win total in three straight seasons, culminating in a rare eight-win season in 2013, and now the Golden Gophers are trying to break through into the top tier of the Big Ten.

2014 Illinois Fighting Illini Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/22/2014

Given its location and recruiting base, it doesn’t make sense that Illinois is as pathetic at football as it is. But the Illini have gone just 44-77 over the last 10 years and just 6-18 in Tim Beckman’s first two seasons. Beckman strikes me as a guy that is in way over his head and I don’t expect much progress in the crucial third year of his tenure.

2014 Northwestern Wildcats Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/22/2014

There is a lot going on under the surface with this Northwestern team. They are in the middle of a monumental challenge of the NCAA system and will face increased scrutiny and all kinds of off-field distraction this season. But if they can shrug that off then this Wildcats team has the potential to do some damage in the Big Ten this year.

2014 Boise State Broncos Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/22/2014

Bryan Harsin can only hope that his tenure in Boise will be half as successful as that of his predecessor. Chris Petersen, who went 112-18 over the last 10 years, has taken his game to Washington. Harsin, a former offensive coordinator under Petersen, will take over. And he has a team poised to make noise in the Mountain West.

2014 Fresno State Bulldogs Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/22/2014

Derek Carr finished off one of Fresno State’s all-time great careers, leading the Bulldogs to an 11-2 mark and a slot just outside the Top 25 last year. Coach Tim DeRuyter will try to carry on without his stud quarterback this season and Fresno will try to defend its Mountain West title.

2014 Nevada Wolf Pack Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/22/2014

Cody Fajardo will try to brush off the injury bug and stay healthy for his senior season. Fajardo is the key for this Wolf Pack team as it looks to bounce back from its first losing season in five years and its first non-bowl season in eight years. Fajardo is one of seven offensive starters back for the Pack.

2014 San Diego State Aztecs Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/22/2014

Rocky Long seems to have landed on his feet in San Diego and has guided the Aztecs to three bowl games in his three years at the helm. SDSU does have just 10 returning starters this season, including just four on defense, and this looks like a rebuilding season. But Long is a proven commodity and his team will be tough once again.

2014 Utah State Aggies Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/22/2014

I was incredibly impressed with how Utah State responded last year despite losing leader Chuckie Keeton – and breaking in a new coach – last season. Keeton is one of the best quarterbacks in the country and he is set for a strong senior season under second-year coach Matt Wells.

2014 Colorado State Rams Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/22/2014

The Rams will try to carry over the momentum of their stunning New Mexico Bowl upset of Washington State into this season and are hoping for their third bowl trip in the last 10 years. Jim McElwain is entering that crucial third year as the head of this program and all signs point up for Colorado State in the long term.

2014 San Jose State Spartans Season Win Total NCAA Football Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 7/22/2014

I really hope that San Jose State fans enjoyed that incredible 11-2 season in 2012. Because it is going to be a long time before the Spartans are threatening to win double-digit games again. The Spartans tumbled to just 6-6 last season and could be even worse off in Year 2 of the Ron Caragher Era.