Joe & Daphne's Preview: The AFC South

   
By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe) and Daphne Parello (@DaphnePup)

Daphne and I took a look at the NFC South last week, and we open this week previewing their AFC brethren. The AFC South boasts a Super Bowl contender and a bunch of teams searching for answers, as Andrew Luck's Colts hope to get over the top while Tennessee, Houston and Jacksonville just hope to avoid the Top-5 of the draft next year.

Can Indianapolis make it to Super Sunday, and which of the South's up-and-coming teams has the best chance of breaking through in 2015? Daphne and I investigate.

The Poor Decision NFL Mock Draft

Mistakes will be made on draft night

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Every year at least one team in the NFL Draft makes an epically poor decision. Whether it's the Jets selecting forgettable tight end Kyle Brady over future Hall of Fame defensive tackle Warren Sapp, the Redskins mortgaging the franchise to move up and select Robert Griffin III, the Dolphins trading up to select Dion Jordan, or pretty much everything the Raiders have done since the turn of the millennium.

But what if every team made a mistake during tonight's first round? Well then, you'd get our Poor Decision NFL Mock Draft. These next picks/trades aren't all what I'd call likely, but some of them could happen, and they would probably be bad news for your favorite team if they came to fruition.

What We Learned from the 2015 NFL Scouting Combine

Georgia receiver Chris Conley jumps very high and makes a funny face at the Combine.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

The NFL Scouting Combine has come and gone, but NFL Draft season is just kicking in.

With 40 times, vertical leaps and bench press numbers for (most of) the biggest prospects, NFL teams, particularly those at the top of the draft board, now have two months to digest all that information and combine it with game film to decide which player is the next big thing.

History, however, has shown that finding a future Hall of Famer on NFL Draft day is more about luck than skill, but that won't stop analysts and bloggers alike from claiming the future greatness of some college standout today.

So, if they can do it, why can't I? Without further ado, here is everything we learned from the 2015 NFL Scouting Combine.

College Football's Final Four: Did the Committee Get it Right?

Ohio State grabbed the fourth and final spot in the College Football Playoff over Big 12 co-champions Baylor and TCU. Were the Buckeyes the right choice?

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

The newly formed College Football Playoff committee announced the first four semifinalists in Division I FBS college football history Sunday, and the predictable outrage followed.

Nobody was praising the new system for allowing us to avoid an Alabama beat down of Florida State. Oh, don't kid yourselves, if this were a two-team gig, FSU would be No. 1 or 2. It's always an undefeated major conference champ against a 1-loss SEC champ. SEC teams get to lose a game when nobody else does because… SEC! SEC! SEC!

Anyways, instead of celebrating the fact that we're getting No.1 Alabama vs No. 4 Ohio State, featuring a match up of arguably the two best coaches of this generation in Nick Saban and Urban Meyer, people were arguing whether the Buckeyes belonged in the playoff at all.

Instead of getting giddy about a quarterback duel between last year's Heisman winner, FSU's Jameis Winston, and this year's eventual winner, Oregon's Marcus Mariota, the masses were mourning bloody Sunday for the Big 12.

Seriously, does nobody understand that under a system in place as recently as last year, Oregon would be playing Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, Baylor would be in Arizona while TCU would likely be headed to either Miami or New Orleans for some pointless exhibition?


Does nobody understand that there was NO wrong answer for picking the fourth playoff team, because all three teams were deserving, and at least the new system gives one of them a shot to win it all, unlike previous years?

Long and Suite Preview: The College Football Playoff and Heisman Race

Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota will chase a national championship and Heisman Trophy in 2014.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe) with a cameo from Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

I've written enough introductions, so let's jump right into things. You can find all of my conference previews, along with my "Group of Five" and Independents preview, below.

Pac-12

Big XII

Big Ten

ACC and Notre Dame

SEC

Group of Five/Independents

Now, let's get to our national outlook.

Long and Suite Preview: The Pac 12

Stanford needs to replace some big names on both sides of the ball, but all-purpose threat Ty Montgomery should have the Cardinal in the mix for another Pac 12 championship.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe) with a cameo by Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

When debating the best conference in college football over the last decade, the conversation pretty much started and ended with the SEC.

But, thanks to some dramatic developments out west, the Pac 12 (formerly 10) enters the fray this season. The conference finished 2013 with two teams (Stanford and Oregon) ranked in the Top-5 of Jeff Sagarin's postseason computer rankings, and boasted seven teams ranked in Sagarin's final Top-25. That's one more than the mighty SEC, for those of you keeping track at home, and the Pac 12 finished an astounding 31-6 in non-conference play.

If you're wondering, Sagarin already pegged the Pac 12 as the best conference in college football last season (most computer models seem to agree), though he listed the SEC West as the strongest division in the country.

With those same seven ranked teams coming off 8-win seasons or better, and only Cal looking like a lost cause, the Pac 12 may be the nation's deepest conference, and (depending on who you ask) features between two and four national title contenders.