The Prophet has spoken — FSU football is a sure bet this fall

By Charlie Barnes, Executive Director - Seminole Boosters

This is just for fun, and fun is what we want now that our Seminole fans are primed with excitement and eager for a return to the best of times.

They say there is no way to see into the future, but I know one fellow who can.

In fact, across several decades, I’ve often been astonished at his — uncanny isn’t strong enough a word — his near-mystical powers of prediction.

He doesn’t want his name revealed, but those of us who are continually amazed by his gift call him The Prophet. Since the dawn of the Bowden era, he has been making game and even season predictions with eerie, “Twilight Zone”-ish accuracy.

Among many, here are just a few examples: He accurately predicted the Seminoles’ upset of Nebraska in 1980. He predicted our victory over Virginia Tech in 2005 for the ACC title, and he predicted that our subsequent Orange Bowl match vs. Penn State would go into overtime. Against all prevailing wisdom, he predicted our season opening loss to Miami in 1988. He warned against Wake Forest in 2007. This spring, he predicted the exact win-loss outcome per each conference series late in baseball season.

How is this possible? I think in part it has to do with how he applies his organized and dispassionate lawyer’s mind to the chaotic landscape of college athletics. He absorbs every page of every issue of The NCAA News, a tedious publication that most Seminoles don’t even know exists. What happens, I think, is that huge banks of data flow into the maw of his mind, and after a time it percolates to the top and ignites as the pure blue flame of genius.

In this spirit of fun and optimism for 2007, The Prophet has agreed to allow me to share his thoughts about this season with you:

“Athlon and Lindy’s have FSU out of the Top 20, and now even the ‘bible’ of preseason football magazines, Street & Smith’s, says FSU football will not return to the Top 25 this year. The Prophet tells you right now, those magazines are wrong!

“Here is what The Prophet knows: These last five or so seasons, the offense was much of the problem, and Jimbo Fisher and the rest of the new staff is the answer. There will be a new excitement and better coaching, and the players will never play a game this year like they did against Wake Forest last year.

“Last year’s FSU team had a lot more great players missing from the previous season than people realized. This 2007 team has more players back as starters than just about any team we play against. A year, even a somewhat bad one like last year, adds a lot to a young athlete. Those magazines that were printed in February for distribution in June, and that think we will be no better than last year, simply have not done their homework.

“Some magazines think we will be worse than last year because the schedule is so much tougher. That is a valid point — this is a killer schedule — and it is what makes predicting this year so much harder than usual. Last year, FSU had the perfect schedule to have a great season: lots of home games, and the best teams, for the most part, had to play in Tallahassee. This year, the schedule is much tougher and the best teams are mostly on the road, both in and out of conference.

“In The Prophet’s opinion, the reason there is hope for this team, even with the tough schedule, is because Wake, Clemson and Florida will not be as good this year as they were last year. All will still be strong, but just not necessarily better than a rejuvenated FSU. The key to a great year, frankly, is winning the Clemson opener. I just can’t get a feeling for how that game will go. It probably will be close. Can we count on our kicker to win a close game early?

“Before the coaching changes, I was thinking this season would be about 7-5. With the coaching changes, I am upping my prediction to 9-3 and a shot at a rematch with Virginia Tech for the ACC title.

“If FSU could somehow beat Clemson and Virginia Tech or Florida on the road, it would be huge and could lead to a better than 9-3 season. We will be underdogs at Tech and Florida. Of course, Bowden made his reputation as an underdog. That’s why 2007 has the potential to be such an enjoyable year.

“One last prediction: We will beat Clemson or ’Bama, but not both. If we beat both, get your BCS tickets early!”

A few days ago. The Prophet sent along this small addendum:

“Lots of fun putting that (prediction) together for you. If you want to feel good about FSU this year, go buy Phil Steele’s College Football. He claims to have data that show his is the most accurate magazine over the past eight seasons. I think that’s probably right, and I also think (hope) Steele is right on. Among the minutiae he had on FSU was some data that showed out of seven games last year where the final score was close, we went 2-5. His research shows college teams that lose close games in one year win several more games the next year because of the extra year of seasoning and coaching in the players. Interesting—and hope he is correct.”