Longtime college sportswriter Bruce Feldman is the National College Football Insider for the Athletic magazine F, as well as a Fox College Football sideline reporter. He is well respected and has some interesting predictions for the upcoming football season.
Feldman has his alma mater Miami winning the ACC, Texas Tech winning the Big 12, Texas winning the SEC, and Oregon winning the Big 10. He also selected Oregon to win the National Championship.
Feldman also predicts Texas quarterback Arch Manning winning the Heisman Trophy.
Top 25
The USA Today college coaches’ preseason poll was released last week with Ohio State leading the 25-team poll. Oregon was second followed by Georgia, Texas and Notre Dame. Indiana was ranked sixth followed by Miami, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Ole Miss. Alabama was ranked 11th followed by Texas Tech, LSU, USC and BYU. Michigan was 16th followed by Penn State, Tennessee, Washington and SMU. Utah, Iowa, Clemson, Houston and Missouri rounded out the Top 25.
SEC Biggest Games.
The SEC will have a marque game every week beginning in four Saturdays. The opening weekend on Saturday, September 5, brings us Clemson-LSU, and the following night Ole Miss and one of the ACC favorites in Louisville meet in Nashville. Friday, September 11, brings us the Kansas-Missouri rivalry, and September 12 brings us Mississippi State-Minnesota, Ohio State-Texas and Michigan-Oklahoma. September 19 brings us must-watch TV as Lane Kiffin returns to Oxford to face his former team. September 26 brings us a total of four games to choose from in Texas A&M-LSU, Oklahoma-Georgia, Ole Miss-Florida and Texas-Tennessee. October 3 brings us Auburn-Tennessee and Alabama-Mississippi State. October 10 brings us the Red River Rivalry Oklahoma-Texas. The third Saturday of October brings us Alabama-Tennessee. October 24 brings us Ole Miss-Texas. That game in Austin could decide the Heisman Trophy winner. The final Saturday of October brings us Florida-Georgia. November 7 brings us Georgia-Ole Miss and Alabama-LSU. November 14 brings us Ole Miss-Oklahoma and Texas-LSU. November 21 brings us Texas A&M-Oklahoma and Lane Kiffin returning to Knoxville. Friday, November 27, brings us the Egg Bowl, and the final Saturday of the regular season brings us the Iron Bowl and Texas-Texas A&M.
Questions
Is the SEC losing its grip on its once dominance of college football and how does the conference regain its swagger? Indiana, Ohio State and Michigan have won the last three national championships. So is the SEC facing some pressure this season to win in 2026? Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss, LSU, Texas A&M, Alabama and Oklahoma are the SEC hopes entering this season. Those seven teams have the talent to make the College Football Playoffs. Making the CFP is not enough. The SEC needs to bring the gold ball home.
First Ballot for Brees
Drew Brees took his place among the greatest to play football this past Saturday with his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Brees was sure fire first-ballot selection and led the New Orleans Saints to their only Super Bowl Championship. He finished his career as one of the NFL’s most prolific quarterbacks in league history.
Sports Notes
Ole Miss linebacker and Raleigh native Suntarine Perkins was named the winner of the Chucky Mullins Award. Perkins was named the winner by the coaching staff based on how he embodied the spirit of the late Mullins.
The New Orleans Saints will open exhibition play as they host Jacksonville this Saturday at 3 p.m. All the Saints’ preseason games will be shown on local channels in Laurel-Hattiesburg, Meridian, Jackson and Biloxi.
Former Southern Miss baseball player and former Major League All-Star and Gold Glove winner Brian Dozier was in Minnesota at Target Field last Friday night. The former Twins star batted once in the game for the Savannah Bananas as over 39,000 cheered him on.
Jake Mangum was named the winner of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Heat & Hustle Award. The former Mississippi State legend is batting .303 entering this week’s play.
Listen to Dale and Marshall Wood on the Brouhaha Sports Show Tuesday at 6 p.m. on WABO FM 105.5 in the Waynesboro area. This week’s guest is Todd Cooley, special advisor to Ole Miss head football coach Pete Golding. To listen to the broadcast on your computer or smart phone anywhere in the world, go to Google Chrome. You may also go to The Brouhaha on YouTube and listen to the archived shows.
