August | 2015 | Gene Rinderknecht

With the college football season looming ahead, many are counting down the days until they see their favorite team play once again. After last year’s great storylines ended with Ohio State taking the first College Football Playoff championship, fans are now excited to see who makes their way into the four-team playoffs. Here are the before the season picks to be contenders.

Ohio State

Complacency can hurt a team. Ohio State is a program that has enjoyed plenty of success in recent years. If they become caught up in past success and become content with it, they can easily lose their stride. However, Ohio State is always looking to make themselves better for the next season.

Alabama

‘Bama has some of the best in the entire NCAA. With Nick Saban leading the way as head coach of the team, this university program is sitting pretty as a title contender.

TCU

TCU may have been a snub of last year’s College Football Playoffs, though they look to pick up where they left off as one of the nation’s best. Coach Gary Patterson knows that his defense may suffer from the departures. However, there is no reason for another player not to step up and make himself known as a premier defender.

Florida State

With the addition of a new quarterback, one that will bring a versatile skill set to the FSU offense, this football program sees themselves to be in contention to win it all. With coach Jimbo Fisher leading the way, they may just bring home the trophy as the underdog.

As a fan of college football, Gene Rinderknecht is looking forward to the upcoming college football season. Last season was the introduction of College Football Playoffs, and the NCAA will be continuing the new tradition as teams battle for the title.

With the first season of college football that has featured a playoff now in the books, fans have been patiently waiting for the next season to come along. Now within a few days of a new season starting off, there are a couple stories that many are waiting to see play out.

Gene Rinderknecht

Ohio State: The Quest for another Championship

Many believe that Ohio State has what it takes to win it all in back to back years. Despite being predicted to win, no one knows who the starting quarterback of the team will be. Ohio State has a really good problem in having three good players at the QB position: Cardale Jones, J. T. Barrett, and Braxton Miller. All are quality players who can start for the team, but in the end, two of those players will be riding the bench.

Which Conference Gets Left Out?

Last year, the Big 12 was omitted from the College Football Playoff. The feeling of missing out on the final four of college basketball is now the same feeling that many colleges, and their fans, will feel about football. Baylor and TCU, both of the Big 12 conference, were two of the best teams in the country, and were left out of the playoffs, which only allows four teams to play.

Perhaps, you can guarantee that the teams in this conference do not want to be left out again.
Gene Rinderknecht looks forward to the upcoming season of college football. As a fan of the sport, there are few things that Rinderknecht loves to cheer on more than the collegiate students who play American Football.