2016 College Football Predictions

Five weeks from now the college football season will be in full swing. I've put together my preseason top 25 and my predictions for conference champions as well.

Top 25
1-Clemson
2-Oklahoma
3-Florida State
4-Alabama
5-LSU
6-Tennessee
7-Ohio State
8-Stanford
9-Notre Dame
10-Ole Miss
11-Washington
12-Michigan
13-Georgia
14-TCU
15-Michigan State
16-Iowa
17-Baylor
18-UCLA
19-Houston
20-USC
21-Louisville
22-Oregon
23-Boise State
24-North Carolina
25-Oklahoma State
Others to watch: Texas A&M, Washington State, Miami, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Florida, Virginia Tech, San Diego State, BYU, Pittsburgh, Utah

Heisman Candidates
1-Christian McCaffrey RB Stanford
2-Deshaun Watson QB Clemson
3-Leonard Fournette RB LSU
4-Baker Mayfield QB Oklahoma
5-Nick Chubb RB Georgia
6-Chad Kelly QB Ole Miss
7-Dalvin Cook RB Florida State
8-Josh Rosen QB UCLA
9-J.T. Barrett QB Ohio State
10-Royce Freeman RB Oregon
Others to watch: Greg Ward QB Houston, Corey Clement RB Wisconsin, Samaje Perine RB Oklahoma, Seth Russell QB Baylor

Conference Champions
AAC: Houston over Temple
ACC: Florida State over Miami
Big 10: Ohio State over Iowa
Big 12: Oklahoma
C-USA: Southern Miss over Middle Tennessee
MAC: Western Michigan over Ohio
Mountain West: Boise State over San Diego State
Pac 12: Washington over UCLA
SEC: LSU over Georgia
Sun Belt: Appalachian State

College Football Playoffs
1)LSU over 4)Ohio State
2)Oklahoma over 3)Florida State
Championship: 2)Oklahoma over 1)LSU

2017 Iowa Hawkeyes Football Recruiting

The Iowa Hawkeyes are benefitting from a great 2015 football season with a fantastic start in recruiting. Brand new football facilities have also played a great part. The Hawkeyes currently have 14 commits for their class, which will be a rather small one, somewhere between 17-20 recruits most likely.

Class Rankings by Website
247 Sports: #4 Big Ten/#17 Overall
Scout: #6 Big Ten/#22 Overall
Rivals: #4 Big Ten/#19 Overall

Peyton Mansell 6'2" 189 QB
High Rating: 3* #17 PSQB 979 Overall
Offers: Iowa, FAU, UNM, NMSU, N. Texas, San Diego St

Eno Benjamin 5'10" 204 RB
High Rating: 4* #7 RB 99 Overall
Offers: Iowa, Arizona, ASU, Baylor, Boise, Cal, Colorado, Duke, Houston, Ill, Iowa St, Kansas, Miami, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, N. Tex, Northwestern, Ok State, San Diego St, SMU, Texas Tech, Tulane, Utah, Vandy, WV

Ivory Kelly-Martin 5'11" 195 RB
High Rating: 3* #43 RB 821 Overall
Offers: Iowa, Arizona, Bowling Green, C. Mich, Ill, Miami OH, UNM, N. Ill, Toledo, Vandy, W. Mich

Brandon Smith 6'3" 205 WR
High Rating: 3* #69 WR 768 Overall
Offers: Iowa, Ark St, UL-Monroe, MTSU, S. Miss, Toledo

Gavin Holmes 5'11" 178 WR
High Rating: 3* #165 WR
Offers: Iowa, Air Force, Army, Boise, BYU, CSU, Duke, Kansas, MTSU, Nevada, N. Texas, Ohio, Syracuse, Tulane, Utah, Wisconsin

Jacob Coons 6'4" 225 TE/LB
High Rating: 3* #40 ATH 506 Overall
Offers: Iowa

Tristan Wirfs 6'5" 290 OL
High Rating: 4* #22 T 136 Overall
Offers: Iowa, ISU

Mark Kallenberger 6'6" 250 OL
High Rating: 4* #31 T 223 Overall
Offers: Iowa, CSU, E. Mich, ISU, Kan St, Neb

A.J. Epenesa 6'5" 260 DE
High Rating: 5* #1 SSDE 4 Overall
Offers: Iowa, Alabama, FSU, Ill, Ind, Miami, Mich, Mich St, Mizzou, Neb, ND, Ohio St, Okla, Ok St, Ole Miss, Ore, Ore St, Pur, Tenn, UCLA, USC, Utah, Vandy, Wash St, Wis

Coy Kirkpatrick 6'5" 260 DL
High Rating: 3* #43 SSDE 968 Overall
Offers: Iowa

Levi Duwa 6'3" 230 DL
High Rating: 3* #32 SSDE 740 Overall
Offers: Iowa, E. Mich, Minn

Djimon Colbert 6'1" 210 DB
High Rating: 4* #26 CB 286 Overall
Offers: Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska

Camron Harrell 5'11" 181 CB
Offers: Iowa

Matt Hankins 6'0" 158 CB
High Rating: 3* #42 CB 788 Overall
Offers: Iowa, Duke, Houston, Texas Tech, Colorado, CSU, UCONN, Illinois, Kansas, UL-M, MTSU, Mizzou, Nevada, UNM, SMU, S. Miss, Toledo, Tulane, Utah St


Here are some other names to watch:
Tayon Fleet-Davis 6'0" 215 RB just named Iowa to his top 4
Oliver Martin 6'1" 190 WR just offered, Iowa City native
Camron Buckley 6'1" 186 WR just visited, could commit soon
Shamond Greenwood 6'3" 203 WR Iowa and Miss. St lead
Andrew Van Ginkel 6'4" 230 DE Juco loves Iowa, but haven't heard much about him lately
Damion Daniels 6'1" 315 DT Iowa is in top 12
Josh Turner 6'0" 175 CB just offered, Iowa is in top 5
Scott Nelson 6'2" 190 S has Iowa in top 5, just visited
Kobe Boyce 6'0" 170 CB Texas commit, but likes Iowa
Josiah Scott 5'10" 165 CB top 3
Chevin Calloway 5'10" 180 CB top 100 recruit, just visited

2016 Iowa Hawkeyes Football Recruiting Class

The Iowa Hawkeyes signed 24 high school players for their 2016 recruiting class. They didn't rank in the top 25, which isn't uncommon, but they were able to put together a great class which should help with depth in the near future. I really like this class and think that every one of the players could be significant contributors to this team. There are definitely some potential stars as well.

Here's how the class shaped up on the different recruiting sites:
247sports.com: #8 Big Ten #47 Overall
ESPN.com: #7 Big Ten #49 Overall
Rivals.com: #8 Big Ten #42 Overall
Scout.com: #7 Big Ten #31 Overall

QB Nate Stanley 6'5" 212 Menomonie, WI
High Rating: 4* #14 QB #234 Overall

RB Toks Akinribade 6'0" 205 Brownsburg, IN
High Rating: 3* #31 ATH #624 Overall

RB Toren Young 5'11" 220 Madison, WI (Monona Grove)
High Rating: 3* #46 RB

WR Frank Darby 6'1" 185 Jersey City, NJ (Lincoln)*did not sign, waiting for SAT
High Rating: 3* #80 WR #862 Overall

WR Devonte Young 6'0" 195 Waldord, MD (North Point)
High Rating: 3* #82 ATH #864 Overall

TE Noah Fant 6'5" 220 Omaha, NE (South)
High Rating: 3* #15 TE-H #438 Overall

TE T.J. Hockenson 6'5" 230 Chariton, IA
High Rating: 3* #45 TE

TE Shaun Beyer 6'5" 210 Cedar Rapids, IA (Kennedy)
High Rating: 3* #16 TE-H

T Alaric Jackson 6'7" 285 Detroit, MI (Renaissance)
High Rating: 3* #34 T #390 Overall

T/G Cole Banwart 6'4" 280 Algona, IA
High Rating: 3* #62 G

C Spencer Williams 6'3" 290 Cedar Falls, IA
High Rating: 3* #27 G #851 Overall

DE Cedrick Lattimore 6'5" 260 Detroit, MI (East English Village)
High Rating: 4* #24 SSDE #295 Overall

DE Romeo McKnight 6'5" 235 Cyrstal Lake, IL (C.L. Central)
High Rating: 3* #38 WSDE #530 Overall

DE Brandon Simon 6'1" 236 Ramsey, NJ (Don Bosco)
High Rating: 3* #35 SSDE #985 Overall

DE Chauncey Golston 6'5" 227 Detroit, MI (East English Village)
High Rating: 3* #29 SSDE #555 Overall

DT Austin Schulte 6'4" 250 Pella, IA
High Rating: 3* #35 SSDE

LB Nick Niemann 6'4" 220 Sycamore, IL
High Rating: 3* #52 OLB

LB Amani Jones 5'11" 210 Chicago, IL (Phillips Academy)
High Rating: 3* #19 MLB

LB Kristian Welch 6'3" 220 Iola, WI (Iola-Scandinavia)
High Rating: 3* #27 ATH #416 Overall

LB Barrington Wade 6'1" 210 Skokie, IL (Niles North)
High Rating: 3* #34 ATH #565 Overall

LB Kyle Taylor 6'2" 220 Washington, DC (Gonzaga)
High Rating: 3* #22 MLB #671 Overall

CB Manny Rugamba 6'0" 172 Naperville, IL (Central)
High Rating: 3* #27 ATH #681 Overall

CB Cedric Boswell 5'11" 175 Franklin, MI (Groves)
High Rating: 3* #60 CB

S Lance Billings 6'0" 176 Lorain, OH (Clearview)
High Rating: 3* #84 S

S Amani Hooker 6'0" 203 Minneapolis, MN (Park Center)
High Rating: 4* #12 S #247 Overall

Walk-Ons/Greyshirts

P Jackson Terry 5'11" 184 Kansas City, MO (Rockhurst)
High Rating: 3* #10 P

K Keith Duncan 5'11" 160 Matthews, NC (Weddington)

K Caleb Shudak 5'9" 165 Council Bluffs, IA (Lewis Central)
High Rating: 3* #51 K

S Noah Clayberg 5'11" 202 Pella, IA
High Rating: 3* S

OL/DL Burke Prins6'4" 260 Hinton, IA

LB Tristan Bohr 6'4" 208 Cresco, IA (Crestwood)

DE Dalles Jacobus 6'1" 255 Cedar Rapids, IA (Kennedy)