We are off and running this week in Mississippi football. While the MAIS is out in front in games played, it’s all hands on deck this coming Friday as the 2021 Mississippi high school football season officially kicks off.
You can always check out the #GURU poll here - our top ten in Mississippi High School Football.
Like college and the NFL, we love to predict high school football, but what if we applied a value to it this year? Like a sports gaming line.
We have already had two weeks of MAIS football and this has been fun. Greenville Christian is off to a 2-0 start, after blistering MRA and Jackson Prep.
We have some great week one matchups all across the state and we will discuss this week.
Below is an updated week one poll on the Guru.
College football is just over a month away from kickoff, but college football reform and college sports reform lead the news cycle, with the jarring news of Texas and Oklahoma leaving the BIG 12 to head off into the SEC Sunset.
Major reform is coming and the proverbial wheels are now turning at a rapid pace. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey spoke openly about his frustrations with the current NCAA setup at SEC Media Days, telling Ross Dellinger of Sports Illustrated, “We’ve got to have better outcomes from our governing structure. I am highly concerned that we are not as effective as we need to be in our current environment,”.
2020 was a heck of a year, and the same could be said for Mississippi High School Football. Major props to those decision makers in the MAIS and the MHSAA for moving the ball forward and giving our kids a season and a dang good one a year ago.
Auburn has recruited well over the years, but find themselves with some holes in 2021, like at wide receiver. Auburn also needs consistency along the offensive front in 2021. Auburn has a chance to be salty on defense and if the quarterback play can be consistent, this team could be in play for 8-9 wins.
Young pups are a year older - Mississippi State went through a youth movement of sorts a year ago, having to play true freshman Will Rogers at quarterback and give way to Jo’quavious Marks and Dillon Johnson in the backfield.
Freshman Jaden Walley led all pass catchers and the Bulldogs got two other ball catchers this offseason via the transfer portal. To say this offense should be much improved is an understatement.
Momentum. Momentum is a beautiful thing and Cincinnati under Luke Fickell has been straight hot! After a 4-8 season in 2017, Fickell’s club has reeled off 10 wins a season on average, the last three seasons.
The Bearcats return quarterback Desmond Ridder, who should be one of the best in the country and garner high interest from teams in the NFL for 2022.
It’s hard not to like everything about Alabama. They recruit better than most everyone on a given year, and just raked in the number one recruiting class in the country.
Nick Saban has won seven national titles, and is the best college football coach of all time. They are the poster boy of college football and they don’t look to be going anywhere anytime soon.
While the first few years were a struggle, what Kyle Whittingham has done with this program since 2004 has been remarkable.
Like all PAC 12 teams, lets toss out 2020 with the bath water - this team inherits quarterback Charlie Brewer via the transfer portal from Baylor to give them another ace at signal caller, Ty Jordan is still a baby at running back and can get you seven yards per carry and there’s a certain swagger around Utah football.
The Canes averaged 34 points per game and D’Eriq King looked flawless at times, tossing 23 touchdowns to only five interceptions. Miami brings in several transfers that look to contribute in 2021 and have a golden opportunity in week one against Alabama to show they are truly a force to be reckoned with in the ACC.
Cade McNamara was named the starter this spring by new quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss and the Wolverines like the QB room with five star JJ McCarthy.
The Wolverines need to get more out of the most important position in football.
Also, despite all the criticism, throw out 2020 and Michigan is still winning 9.4 games per year. The Wolverines recruit well and should stay in the BIG10 picture annually.
The Matt Campbell affect. Year six of the Matt Campbell era is expected to be a good one, as the Cyclones return a ton of talent off last years team that went 9-3, losing to Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State by an average of 4.5 points. Iowa State returns Breece Hall at running back, who was a 1,500 yard back and quarterback Brock Purdy, who tossed 19 touchdowns to only nine interceptions.
The Rebs scored a ton of points, scared the daylights out of Alabama and Florida, won the Egg Bowl and carried a ton of momentum into 2021.
Ole Miss returns our top quarterback in the SEC for 2021 in Matt Corral, a ton of talent on the offensive side of the ball and folks are excited about Ole Miss football again.
Stability - Oregon has positioned itself as the premiere program out west.
The Ducks have upped their recruiting profile, have thrown players into the NFL and shown they are a force to be reckoned with down the road.
The biggest question is can they become now what Clemson did and has become a decade ago?
Momentum - let’s just throw out last year for the BIG 10. Minnesota played seven ball games and we will assume last year’s 3-4 record was a mulligan.
Prior to last year, the Gophers improved every year under PJ Fleck and beat Auburn in a big time bowl game. Fleck has improved the roster, bred new life into the program and returns our number one BIG 10 quarterback in Tanner Morgan.
Morgan will have a shot at the NFL next year and this offense should be clicking back on all cylinders in 2021.
Stability - Mack Brown has created stability back into the program for a second time and he has made North Carolina relevant again in ACC football.
Carolina returns arguably the best quarterback in the country in Sam Howell. Howell ranks as our number one quarterback in our power five quarterback rankings and is a front runner for the Heisman Trophy.
A new beginning. The Steve Sarkisian era officially begins at Texas as the Longhorns hope to bottle some of that play calling magic that made Sark a house hold name the last two years.
The Longhorns have our ninth best roster talent in the country and Sark has a lot to work with in year one - starting with running back Bijan Robinson. Robinson averaged 8.2 yards per clip as a freshman last year.
If the quarterback position pans out, this team could “be back” sooner rather than later.
LSU comes in with the third best roster talent in the country on our three year talent metric and return one of the best secondary’s in the country, led by Eli Ricks and Jay Ward.
The Tigers are deep at quarterback and should have a really good one, two punch in Myles Brennan and Max Johnson.
Kayshon Bouttle leads a talented group of young wide receivers for LSU and the Tigers return most of their running back production - one that saw 1217 yards and nine touchdowns a year ago.
As you read this piece on the 22nd day of April, we have 134 days until we kick off college football on Labor Day. Lots to do, cover and unpack as we head towards September.
We have already dropped power rankings, a National Champion and win totals for all 129 teams. Team and conference previews to come, but today, we tell you what matchups we think will be in every conference title game, with an established gaming line and a winner. So let’s get to it. All conferences below - Power Five and Group of five predictions.
As we march on towards summer and media days, we will begin dropping conference previews, team previews, articles on coaching, recruiting, quarterbacks and more.
Today we wanted to drop records for all 129 teams. After careful analysis of all 129 team schedules, we like to put our money where our mouth is and predict every teams record almost five months out.
Since 2017, we have pegged all teams within two games of their final outcome 77 percent of the time. Sure we have some misses, and some duds, but we have hit the mark on most days.
