Full transparency: I had a bad year last year.
Seriously. I went 19-22, which included a national championship prediction of Clemson beating Oklahoma (how'd that turn out?), only one correct New Year's Six prediction (Wisconsin over Miami) and gems such as SMU over Louisiana Tech (Louisiana Tech won 51-10) and Toledo over Appalachian State (Appalachian State won 34-0). I don't even pick against the spread. Imagine the horror if I did.
But redemption is in the air. Myriad factors contribute to a win or loss in football, and trying to factor in external factors (coaching changes), motivation (was it a disappointing season?