A look at CIDSports Preseason Top 30 in College Football for 2017

The College
Football Playoff

1. Alabama (14-1, 8-0 SEC West) - over the past 10 seasons, the #1 program has been the Crimson Tide, under Nick Saban with a 86-11 record, 89% ... 
2. Florida State (10-3, 5-3 ACC Atlantic) - Jimbo Fisher enters year 8 coming off a 33-32 Orange Bowl win over Michigan ...
3. USC (10-3, Pac 12 South) - Clay Helton enters third season, coming off 9 game win streak, including 52-49 Rose Bowl win over Penn State ...
4. Washington (12-2, 8-1 Pac 12 North) - Chris Petersen is coming into his 4th season coming off a College Football Playoff semi-final birth ...
5. Clemson (14-1, 7-1 ACC Atlantic) - Dabo Sewinney is entering 10th season coming off his first NCAA College Football Playoff title ...

   

   Last season ended, with Dabo Sweeney & Clemson taking down
   Nick Saban & Alabama ...

6. Oklahoma (11-2, 9-0 Big 12) - OC Lincoln Riley assumes Bob Stoops role as head coach, after a 35-19 win in the Sugar Bowl over Auburn ...
7. Penn State (11-3, 8-1 B1G East) - James Franklin enters 4th season, off the Nittany Lions first B1G Championship ...
8. Ohio State (11-2, 8-1 B1G East) - Urban Meyer enters 6th season in Columbus, with one College Football Playoff title and B1G tile back in 2014 ...
9. LSU (8-4, 5-3 SEC West) - Ed Oregaren was 6-2 as an interim coach, including win over Louisville 29-9 in Citrus Bowl ...
10. Wisconsin (11-3, 7-2 B1G West) - Paul Chryst was 19-20 @ Pitt, now entering 3rd season in Madison, with a 21-6 record leading the Badgers ... 
11. Oklahoma State (10-3, 7-2 Big 12) - Mike Gundy enters 13th season off a 38-8 Alamo Bowl win over Colorado ...
12. Stanford (10-3, 6-3 Pac 12 North) - David Show enters year 7 coming off a 25-23 win over North Carolina in the Sun Bowl ...
13. Michigan (10-3, 7-2 B1G East) - Jim Harbaugh enters year 3 with only five starters back, as he prepares for the 2017 season in Ann Arbor ...
14. Florida (9-4, 6-2 SEC East) - Jim McElwain enters year 3 off an Outback Bowl win over Iowa and will open 2017 with a rematch with Michigan from each coach's first season at the helm ...
15. TCU (6-7, 4-5 Big 12) - Gary Patterson is in his 17th season in Fort Worth and the Horned Frogs will face two early road tests in September ...
16. Virginia Tech (10-4, 6-2 ACC Coastal) - Year 2 for Justin Fuente coming off 35-24 Belk Bowl win over Arkansas to kickoff his first season in Blacksburg ...
17. Louisville (9-4, 7-1 ACC Atlantic) - Bobby Petrino enters 8th season at helm, as they seek first conference title, since joining ACC in 2014 ...
18. Georgia (7-6, 4-4 SEC East) - Kirk Smart enters year 2 coming off a 31-23 Liberty Bowl win over TCU ...
19. Oregon (4-8, 2-7 Pac 12 North) - Big rebound year is expected in Eugene, as Willie Taggert moves over his #19 position at USF, where he completed a four year restoration in Tampa ...
20. Miami-FL (9-4, 5-3 ACC Coastal) - Year 2 for Mark Richt coming off 31-14 Russell Athletic Bolw win over West Virginia ...
21. Utah (9-4, 5-4 Pac 12 South) - Year 13 for Kyle Whittingham, coming off 3 straight Top 25 finishes for the Utes ...
22. Tennessee (9-4, 4-4 SEC East) - Year 5 for Butch Jones, coming off back to back finishes at #22 and three straight bowl wins over B1G West opponents ... 
23. Northwestern (7-6, 5-4 B1G West) - Pat Fitzgerald enters Year 12, coming off a 31-24 Pinstripe Bowl win over Pitt ...
24. Auburn (8-5, 5-3 SEC West) - Gus Malzahn enters year 5 rebounding from his first two unranked season at the helm ...
25. South Florida (11-2, 7-1 AAC East) - Does new head coach Charlie Strong keep Bulls on tracks in 2017?
26. Kansas State (9-4, 6-3 Big 12) - Bill Snyder is in his 9th season back in Manhattan, his 24th overall coming off a 33-28 Texas Bowl in over A&M ...
27. Texas A&M (8-5, 4-4 SEC West) - Kevin Sumlin enters 6th season, where he was 11-2 in season one, but four, now five losses ever since in College Station ...
28. West Virginia (10-3, 7-2 Big 12) - Dana Holgorsen enters 7th season, coming off his best finish, since season one in Morgantown ...
29. Notre Dame (4-8, Independent) - Brian Kelly enters his 8th season, coming off he worse Irish season, since the '07 season under Charlie Weis ...
30. Colorado (10-4, 8-1 Pac 12 South) - Mike MacIntyre begins fifth season, coming off his breakout year last season ...

ESPN continues it's Bowl coverage tonight with the Music City Bowl

Did you ever ask yourself why there are so many Bowl Games in College Football?

The tenth bowl game of the 2009-10 College Football Bowl Schedule is played tonight in front of another ESPN audience. The first ten bowl games are all on ESPN. Tomorrow night, ESPN2 gets into the action.

Bowl Line up through Sunday, December 27Th

• December 19Th - New Mexico, Wyoming 35, Fresno State 28 (2 OT) from Albuquerque, N.M. in University Stadium


• December 19Th - St. Petersburg pres. by Beef 'O' Brady's, Rutgers 45, UCF 24, from St. Petersburg, Fla. at Tropicana Field


• December 20Th - R+L Carriers New Orleans, Middle Tennessee 42, Southern Miss 32, from New Orleans in the Louisiana Superdome


• December 22Nd - MAACO Las Vegas, BYU 44, Oregon State 20, from Las Vegas at Sam Boyd Stadium


• December 23Rd - S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia, Utah 37, Cal 27 from San Diego and Qualcomm Stadium


• December 24Th - Sheraton Hawaii, SMU 45, Nevada 10, from Honolulu at Aloha Stadium


• December 26Th - Little Caesars, Marshall 21, Ohio 17, from Detroit at Ford Field


• December 26Th - Meineke Car Care, Pitt 19, North Carolina 17, from Charlotte, N.C. at Bank of America Stadium


• December 26Th - Emerald, USC 24, Boston College 13, from San Francisco and AT&T Park

Next up: the 2009-10 College Bowl season's tenth bowl game on ESPN

• Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl - Kentucky vs. Clemson from Nashville, Tenn. at LP Field
  Dec. 27 at 7:30 p.m. Central Time on ESPN

The SEC kicks off their bowl season vs. the ACC, who are 0-2 in bowls thus far, with the Kentucky Wildcats. The Clemson Tigers were within a possession of winning the ACC Championship and a bid in a BCS bowl.

Kentucky finished tied for fourth in the SEC East at 3-5 with South Carolina. The Wildcats were 7-5 in the regular season. Clemson finished runner-up in the ACC title game and 6-2 in the Atlantic Division, 8-5 overall.

Kentucky finished 7-6 in 2008 and won 25-19 over East Carolina in last year's Liberty Bowl. The Wildcats are 8-5 lifetime in bowl games and are looking for their fourth straight bowl games, with the streak starting in '06 with a 28-20 win vs. Clemson in the Music City Bowl. The Wildcats are lead by coach Rich Brooks, who is in his seven season in Lexington.

Clemson was 7-6 in 2008 and fell short 21-26 in last season's Gator Bowl to Nebraska. Coach Dabo Swinney is in his first full season at the head of the Tigers program, after taking over for Tommy Bowden in the middle of the 2008 campaign. The Tigers have lost three straight bowl games and are 15-16 overall.

Who wants this game more is the real question in many bowl games. Will it be the Wildcats who have won 5 of the last 7 games this season? Or, will it be Clemson, who have lost two straight, after a six game winning streak in the middle of the season?

Prediction:

• Kentucky Wildcats 28
• Clemson Tigers 26

peace