Bobby Pope: Looking ahead to 2016
Even though I don't have a stellar record at making predictions in my favorite sports, I thought I would give it another shot for the upcoming new year.
I begin with college football, where I see Alabama beating Michigan State and Oklahoma taking care of Clemson in the College Football Playoff semifinals (both games actually in 2015 on New Year's Eve) and then Alabama beating the Sooners in the title game. I am picking Oklahoma against Clemson but hope that Dabo Swinney's team will prevail. Also, I see Bryan McClendon getting a victory as Georgia's interim head coach with the Bulldogs beating Penn State in the TaxSlayer Bowl in Jacksonville.
In the Super Bowl, the Seattle Seahawks will beat the New England Patriots in a rematch of the 2015 game.
Now let's jump to the fall of 2016. Kirby proves that Georgia made the Smart choice in picking him to be its football head coach when his Bulldogs beat North Carolina in the Kickoff Classic in Atlanta. Hopefully Smart's choice of Jim Chaney as the offensive coordinator will be a good one. The Bulldogs have a 10-2 regular-season record (is that good enough?), but Tennessee takes the SEC East. The Volunteers play Western Division winner Alabama in the conference championship game at the Georgia Dome, and as usual, Alabama wins.
In the ACC, Clemson is still the class of that conference. The Tigers play and beat North Carolina in a 2015 rematch in the conference title game, and Deshaun Watson wins the Heisman Trophy. Georgia Tech gets back in the bowl business following a 7-5 regular-season record.
Mercer has an 8-3 season with losses to Georgia Tech, Chattanooga and Samford.
In the NFL, the Atlanta Falcons go 8-8 during the 2016 regular season and miss the playoffs again.
Turning to basketball, Mercer's men shock Chattanooga to win the Southern Conference title, then lose in the second round of the NCAA tournament to Kansas. Georgia gets an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament, and Georgia Tech plays in the NIT after not making the "Big Dance." The North Carolina Tar Heels edge Michigan State in the NCAA men's finals while Connecticut wins the women's title yet again, beating South Carolina in the championship game. Mercer's women advance to the Southern Conference tournament semifinals before being eliminated. In the NBA, it's all Stephen Curry and the Warriors. They are too much for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers again, sweeping a four-game series in the NBA Finals.
In baseball, it's another bad year for the Braves as they don't make the playoffs again, finishing slightly above .500 for the season. The St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox reach the World Series with St. Louis winning the Fall Classic in six games.
Craig Gibson's Mercer baseball team takes its second straight Southern Conference title and advances to the NCAA Super Regionals, where they are eliminated by FSU.
In golf, the game's biggest names all win a major. Rory McIlroy wears the green jacket at the Masters, Jason Day takes the U.S. Open, Jordan Spieth is the British Open champion, and Rickie Fowler claims the PGA.
Nyquist is my choice to win horse racing's Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, but Cocked and Loaded takes the Belmont Stakes, and we have no Triple Crown winner.
In tennis Novak Djokovic wins the Australian Open, French Open and U.S. Open with Roger Federer winning his 18th and final Grand Slam, taking Wimbledon. On the women's Side, Serena Williams completes the single-season Grand Slam winning all four of the majors.
As much as I like my picks, I wouldn't bet on any of these predictions.
Happy New Year.
Contact Bobby Pope at bobbypope428@gmail.com
This story was originally published December 28, 2015 at 4:49 PM with the headline "Bobby Pope: Looking ahead to 2016 ."