2024 College Football Preview of Notre Dame and Non Power 4 Conferences

Intro I'm shooting my recruiter is from big state the way I'm balling I should probably have a mixtape beds on production baby help me count it plus her head on can cussion know they hate to see it cuz the gang so lck thick rope made my son think he can Swang on it and I ain't going to spitless it come with a price you bang on Mitch better run for your life cuz it's tragic but it was cool I last go stuffing with his P save up my on 10 clearing out the crowd like they know we going to win or the feeling ain't the same when we [Music] welcome to Old Man Sports Talk I'm your host Old Man Nate it's week five of our preseason shows this week we break down Notre Dame and the non power four teams that have a chance to win their conference and get that fifth automatic bid as conference Champion into the college football playoff I'll go over a few teams and give my wins loss prediction for each team I will also give my predictions in order of most likely to make the playoffs we'll start off by going over Notre [Music] Notre Dame Breakdown Dame Notre Dame for decades has been an independent school in football and has refused to join a conference the only reason they joined the ACC in 2020 was because of Co because of the limited games and most conferences only playing conference games and the majority of Notre Dame's games was in the ACC they joined ACC for one season so they could play football however with all the changes in football and the playoffs expanding to 12 teams we could see Notre Dame forced into a conference how you ask well the top four Conference champions will receive a first round buy and that week off could be huge when you are talking about rest and injuries so that means right now if Notre Dame was def finish in the top four of the final rankings the highest they could be seated would be number five and that would mean they would have to play in a first round to me that's a big deal so I believe Notre Dame will join the ACC within the next three years could be as soon as next year Notre Dame is coming off a 10 and three season the Fighting Irish returned six starters on offense but get transferred quarterback from Duke Riley Leonard who almost beat the Fighting Irish while at Duke last season Duke LED late in the game when Notre Dame scores a touchdown with under two minutes to go Riley was leading Duke on a drive when Riley's leg was was rolled up on while he while being tackled and his game was over and so was Duke's chances of winning so Notre Dame knows firsthand what kind of quarterback they picked up and and are excited to have him on defense Notre Dame returns nine starters including three of the top four tacklers from last year nose guard Howard cross returns for his senior season he had 66 tackles and two sacks in 202 23 Notre Dame starts the season at Texas A&M and will also play Road games at Purdue and USC they also play a few neutral site games against Georgia Tech Navy and army their home games are against Louisville Stanford Florida State and Virginia it's a very manageable schedule and I have Notre Dame going 12 and0 this next part I'm going to talk about three schools from the American Athletic conference that I believe have a shot to win the AC AAC and possibly make the playoffs we'll start with UTSA Breakdown UTSA UTSA returned seven starters on offense including leading rusher from 2023 cavan Barnes Barnes ran for over 700 yards and six touchdowns last season the road runners also returned seven starters on defense including four of the top tacklers from last year free safety Ken Robinson returns for his senior season and led the team in tackles last year with 66 Road games at Texas State Texas East Carolina Rice Tulsa and army their home games are against Kennesaw State Houston Christian FAU Memphis North Texas and Temple UTSA is capable of winning every game this season except maybe Texas I have the road runners going 11- one overall 8-0 in Tulane Breakdown conference Tain will have a new head coach this year John sual takes over after spending the last two seasons at Troy where he led the Trojans to an overall record of 23 and four Tain returns eight starters on offense including leading rusher from a year ago maai Hughes who ran for over, 1300 yards and seven touchdowns on defense Green Wave returned seven starters on defense including three of the top four tacklers from last season linebacker Jesus Mado returns for his season for his senior season he led tane and tackles in 2023 with 98 the RO the Green Wave have a road games at Oklahoma Louisiana UAB North Texas Charlotte and navy they will play home games against Kansas State USF rice Temple and Memphis Tain doesn't play UTSA this season so it's very possible that we have two 80 teams playing for the AAC championship I have Tain going 10-2 overall 8-0 in Memphis Breakdown conference Memphis who has the most experienced returning of the three AAC teams they returned 10 players on offense including senior quarterback Seth henan who threw for over 3,800 yards 32 touchdowns and nine interceptions he also ran for over 300 yards and five more touchdowns on defense the Tigers returned seven starters linebacker Chandler Martin returns for his senior for his Junior season where he led Memphis in tackles last season with 95 Martin also had three sacks and two interceptions in 2023 Memphis has Road games at Florida State Navy USF UTSA and tane home games against Troy North Texas char charlet rice and UAB the two Road games at UTSA and tane will probably determine which two teams play in the AAC Championship I have Memphis losing both of those games but I can see them winning both of them as well I have the Tigers going nine and three overall and six and two in AAC Breakdown (UCF) conference so I have UTSA playing two lane in the American Athletic Conference Championship and I I have UTSA beating tane and winning the AAC Championship next we are going to talk about four teams that have a chance to win the Mountain West Conference we will start with Boise Boise State Breakdown State the Broncos are coming off at 8 and six season and returned six players on offense including leading rusher Ashton jente I should also mention that the Broncos are the defending Mountain West champions on defense Boise State returns all 11 starters including safety Alexander tubber who led the Broncos and tackles in 2023 with 85 Road games at Georgia Southern Oregon Hawaii UNLV San Jose State and Wyoming will be very tough games home games against Washington State Utah State San Diego State Nevada and Oregon State are all winnable games with the experience coming back I believe they can manage through the tough games I have them going 11-1 overall and 8 and0 in Air Force Breakdown conference Air Force has one of the least experienced teams in the entire country but their style of play could help them manage game manage some of that lack of experience the Falcons only have two starters returning on offense but they do have a lot of players that have been with the program for a while everyone expected to start as either a junior or senior that should help some on the with the lack of experience on defense it's much more it's much be I'm sorry on defense it's not much better as they have four starters returning but like on offense everyone is either a junior or senior road games at Baylor Wyoming New Mexico Army Nevada and San Diego State despite the LA lack of experience are all winnable games home games against San Jose State Navy Colorado State Fresno State and Oregon State are going to be tough to win I do think Air Force will somehow have a very good season and win the commanders commanders trophy by beating Army and Navy they could also be in the hunt for a Mountain West Conference Championship I have the Falcons going 10-2 overall 8-0 in UNLV Breakdown conference UNLV is coming off a nine and5 season and a spot in last year's Mountain West championship game against Boise State it will be tough to make it back the rebels returned five starters on offense including leading receiver from last season Junior Ricky White who had over 1,400 yards receiving and eight touchdowns in 2023 on defense UNLV returns six starters including three of the top four tackers from last season linebacker Jackson Woodard led the team in tackles as a freshman with 116 he also had two and a half sacks and one interception Road games at Houston Kansas Utah State Oregon state Hawaii and San Jose State very tough games to win at home which much less on the road home games against Fresno State Syracuse Boise State San Diego State and Nevada are all winnable I have the rebels going 8-4 overall 6-2 in Fresno State Breakdown conference Fresno State is coming off a N9 and4 season and a win over New Mexico state and the New Mexico Bowl the Bulldogs returned eight starters on offense including quarterback Mikey King who threw for over 2900 yards 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions as a freshman on defense Fresno State returned five starters including seniors Malachi Langley and Dean Clark who combined for 167 tackles in 2023 Road games at Michigan new Mexico UNLV Nevada Air Force and UCLA are going to be tough to win home games against New Mexico state Washington State San Jose State Hawaii and Colorado State are going to be tough as well if their offense can produce consistently then they should have a great season I have the Bulldogs going 8-4 overall and 6-2 in in Mountain West Breakdown conference after reviewing these four teams in the Mountain West I have Boise State playing Air Force in a Mountain West Conference Championship and I have Boise State winning their second straight Mountain West Conference Appalachian State Breakdown Championship Appalachian State I have winning the sun Bel Conference Championship and an outside shot at making the playoffs the Mountaineers returned five starters on offense including senior quarterback Joey agular who threw for over 3700 yards 33 touchdowns and 10 interceptions on defense they returned six starters including senior linebacker Kaden solivan who had 64 tackles in 2023 Road games at Clemson East Carolina Marsh Louisiana Coastal Carolina and Georgia Southern are all winnable home games against Liberty Georgia State Old Dominion and James Madison should be wins Appalachian State could find themselves in the hunt for the fifth and final conference Champion spot but I have them SC coming up short and going 9 and3 overall 6-1 and in Liberty Breakdown conference the last team we will go over is a team that would have made the playoffs last season if we would have had 12 teams and that is the Liberty Flames Liberty is coming off a 13-1 season and their only loss was in the Fiesta Bowl against Oregon the Flames returned six starters on offense including their leading rusher Quinton couie who had, 14400 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns they also returned quarterback Kaden Salter who threw for over 2800 yards and 32 touchdowns to only six interceptions on defense Liberty returns eight starters including four of the top six tacklers from last season Junior linebacker Joseph Carter is a leading tackler returning from last season Carter had 59 tackles and one interception in 2023 Road games at New Mexico State Appalachian State Kennesaw State Middle Tennessee Massachusetts and Sam Houston are all very winnable games home games against UTEP East Carolina FIU and Western Kentucky are all very winnable as well I have the Flames going 11-1 overall and six- one in Conclusion conference so these are the nine teams that I have that that I feel have a shot at to win their conference and grab the fifth and fifth automatic bid I put them in order from one to nine nine being the least likely to make it and one being the most likely at number nine at number nine I have UNLV and I have them going eight and four number eight Fresno State and I also have them going eight and four at seven I have Memphis the American Athletic Conference third place team and going nine and three at 6 Appalachian State the Sun Belt Conference Champion also going going 9 and three at five Liberty the Conference USA champion going 11 and one and I'll be honest with you the reason I'm going to um put them as low as Fifth Fifth best opportunity even though going 111 is because of last year they went undefeated and then got totally embarrassed in the Fiesta Bowl I think that that will weigh in if it comes down to uh some other teams that either 11- one or even 10- two at four I have air force the Mountain West runner up and I have them going 10 and two at three I have tane the American Athletic Conference runner up and I have them going 10 and two as well at two I have UTSA that's the University of Texas San Antonio American Athletic Conference Champion going 11 and one and the team most likely I feel has the chance to get that Fifth and final automatic bid is Boise State the Mountain West uh champion and I have him going 11- one I also believe that Notre Dame will finish 12-0 and will make the college football playoff thank you all for watching old man Nate break down the Notre Dame and the teams I believe have a shot at grabbing the fifth conference Champion automatic bid to the college football playoff if you're watching this on YouTube and haven't already please take the time to like subscribe and ring the bell that way you get notified every time old man Nate Goes live or drops a video also take a couple of minutes and leave a comment on what you thought of the show what you liked or what you thought I lost my mind on I would also appreciate it if you would share my video with your friends especially esally those that love sports or college football thank you again for watching old man Sports Talk and we will be back tomorrow where we will give our top 25 rankings and our college football playoff predictions including our national champion see you next time right here on Old Man Sports Talk