I have a friend who used to sly-grin chicks into going out to lobster dinner with him. Then he would stick them with the tab. I told him that was no way to pay for his new SAAB, but some people just don’t listen. I wish they would because some of us here in the predictor community are feeling as jilted as those chicks right now.
Our Savvy Index told us that this would be the second year in a row that Clemson would win the national championship with an upset.
It worked last year.
This year, we’re holding the tab.
Clemson fell all over itself in a 42-25 loss that defied the majority of trends in Savvy and now we feel like we’re left with a big bill in trying to explain a big difference.
I suspect we’re not alone. I mean, how many others predicted that Trevor Lawrence would fall apart, have more turnovers than touchdowns, sail 14 passes over receivers’ heads, and look completely unprepared for Monday Night Football?
And, I don’t suppose there were many who said Clemson’s defense would give up nearly four times as many points as it had averaged all season.
LSU and Joe Burrow were as spectacular as we all expected and, of course, well-deserving of the FBS title.
Even so, while LSU rules the rankings, Dabo Swinney and his genial approach have made Clemson a popular program with fans all over America.
That tells us that even if you’re number two, you can still be number one. Like pencils. Number twos are still number one.
In addition to LSU and Clemson finishing at the top, three of the top five teams in America are from the SEC—LSU, Georgia and Alabama. If that makes that conference seem a bit gaudy and pretentious, don’t worry. All three are losing their starting quarterbacks.
Our system finished the regular season with 77% accuracy in predicting games. That is nearly identical to our prior three seasons. Our bowl results were 29-11 which amounts to 73% and is much higher than any season since 2015.
If you’re looking for more PAC-12 or sports in the Northwest, be sure to visit our friends at Oregon Sports News.
Our final top 25 . . .
| Savvy Index | ||||
| final rankings | ||||
| Season record: 649-198 77% Bowls: 29-11 73% | ||||
| rank pts | rank | teams | wins | losses |
| 546 | 1 | LSU | 15 | 0 |
| 537 | 2 | Clemson | 14 | 1 |
| 536 | 3 | Ohio St. | 13 | 1 |
| 525 | 4 | Georgia | 12 | 2 |
| 524 | 5 | Alabama | 11 | 2 |
| 524 | 6 | Oregon | 12 | 2 |
| 523 | 7 | Notre Dame | 11 | 2 |
| 522 | 8 | Oklahoma | 12 | 2 |
| 520 | 9 | Penn St. | 11 | 2 |
| 520 | 10 | Florida | 11 | 2 |
| 519 | 11 | Boise St. | 12 | 1 |
| 515 | 12 | App State | 12 | 1 |
| 513 | 13 | Iowa | 10 | 3 |
| 513 | 14 | Minnesota | 11 | 2 |
| 512 | 15 | Utah | 11 | 3 |
| 510 | 16 | Memphis | 12 | 2 |
| 507 | 17 | Auburn | 9 | 4 |
| 507 | 18 | Michigan | 9 | 4 |
| 504 | 19 | Wisconsin | 10 | 4 |
| 504 | 20 | UCF | 10 | 3 |
| 503 | 21 | Baylor | 11 | 3 |
| 502 | 22 | Cincinnati | 11 | 3 |
| 498 | 23 | Texas | 8 | 5 |
| 497 | 24 | Air Force | 11 | 2 |
| 496 | 25 | Navy | 11 | 2 |
Savvy Game Line 
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