Lou Holtz predicts College Football Playoff four, national champion
The biggest off-season news Lou Holtz made was carrying around his Crown Royal satchel at the Republican National Convention, but Coach Holtz is back predicting his College Football Playoff teams for 2016.
Holtz jumped on a video chat with billionaire T. Boone Pickens in a LinkedIn article that was posted Wednesday, and he started by listing the games that would help propel the playoff four.
“I think the winner of the LSU-Alabama game will be in it,” Holtz said. “I think the winner of the FSU-Clemson game will be in it. I think the winner of the Michigan State-Ohio State game will be in it. Those are three of mine.
“I think the fourth one will either come from Notre Dame; possibly an Oklahoma-TCU winner in that game, or possibly Washington.
“Teams that people could be overlooking this year — you have to look at Tennessee. You have to look at Nebraska. And the University of Washington. Those three schools … are going to become nationally prominent.”
Holtz danced around his playoff four until Pickens called him out and asked him directly.
Pickens asked Holtz, “If Alabama is one of the four, who are the other three?”
“If you’re going to force me, it would be Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Notre Dame,” Holtz replied.
Pickens later asked Holtz who was going to win the national championship, and Holtz replied with LSU. To be fair, Pickens kind of pushed Holtz to pick Alabama as one of his four teams earlier in the conversation. That’s why LSU initially wasn’t one of the four.
“I hate to say this, but I think LSU is going to win it all. If they get on a roll, they have the talent to win it all.”
When asked about Alabama’s chances to repeat, Holtz said, “I just don’t believe Alabama will repeat. I know they’re talented. I know they’re well coached. But they’re going to probably go with a freshman quarterback, and that’s hard to do, Boone.”
Here’s the full video: