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Mel Kiper Jr. makes his picks for the College Football Playoff
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Mel Kiper Jr. is an NFL Draft analyst for ESPN, so he spends a ton of time breaking down tape of the top college players. Therefore, he knows a lot about what’s going on in the FBS.
During a recent appearance on ESPN Radio, Kiper made his picks for this year’s College Football Playoff, and they were interesting, to say the least.
For his national champion, Kiper surprisingly picked a Pac-12 school — the Washington Huskies:
“I’m going with the Washington Huskies to win the national championship,” Kiper said. “I look at that team with (Jake) Browning, a really good college quarterback. They’ve got the coach (Chris Petersen). They’ve got studs up front. They’ve got speed at linebacker … I don’t see any other team in (college football) that really wows me.”
From there, he picked Ohio State, Florida State and Auburn as the other three teams to make the College Football Playoff. About the Tigers, he said offensive line play will be the key to their success:
“I like offensive line play, that’s key, and it got down to Auburn and Oklahoma State for me,” Kiper said. “I think this is Auburn’s year with (Jarrett) Stidham at quarterback to get it done.”
What about Alabama? The Crimson Tide are the only team to make it to every CFP so far, but Kiper thinks they’ll have trouble replacing the talent they lost from last year’s runner-up squad:
“Can you just recreate stars at Alabama?” he asked. “Where’s the pass rush going to come from?”
We’ll have to wait and see how the season plays out, but this year’s Iron Bowl is sure to be an intense affair.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
