The Times’ annual college football countdown continues its march toward No. 1 with the pick for No. 2. My fingers tried typing No. 1 next to Ohio State but locked up with what digit doctors now think was a case of Carpel Title Syndrome. It was just too difficult, and obvious, for me, to hang it all on “Sloopy.” This countdown, established pre-Bowl Championship Series in the mid-1990s, has a proud history of going cheese grater against conventional wisdom. This is the voice-clearing house that picked North Carolina to No. 1 in 1997, only to watch the Tar Heels finish 11-1 and No. 4. That season earned Mack Brown the head coaching job at Texas. The next year, when I saw Mack in Austin, he apologized for failing to make my North Carolina prediction come true. “You were right, Chris,” he said. …
Continue Reading: Defending champion Ohio State will have a tough time repeating
