‘Bold predictions’ includes a big victory in Columbus.

Fox Sports columnist Bruce Feldman has issued ten “bold predictions” for the upcoming football season, some of which we’ll know the answers to just a few short days from now.

He answers one of the biggest questions — are the Michigan Wolverines for real this year — with an emphatic yes, saying simply “Michigan will win at Ohio State for the first time since 2000 and win the Big Ten.”

There are a few other fan bases that might take issue with his assessment, but the biggest question will be what happens in the postseason if Feldman’s prediction comes true. He has LSU, Oklahoma and Clemson joining the Wolverines in the College Football Playoff, while Stanford wins the Pac-12 but gets snubbed a second straight time.

Feldman doesn’t have UM going all the way though, saying Clemson will win the national championship.

Travis Rudolph – Glenn Beil-USA TODAY Sports

Kinda dusty in here.

Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Even with a young team in Columbus, expectations remain high as ever.

DeAndre McNeal – Texas athletics

After a year in California, McNeal is hoping to rejuvenate his career back at the Division I level.

The Rebels return Tony Conner and a veteran group of corners, but are set to start a pair of underclassmen on the back end. Can they avoid game-breaking mistakes?

One of the more worrisome storylines to come out of Ole Miss’ fall camp was that of injuries, especially on defense. Tony Conner and (hopefully) Fadol Brown are progressively working their way back into the mix for the Landsharks, but last week Hugh Freeze confirmed that C.J. Moore had suffered a torn pectoral muscle and could end up missing the entire 2016 season. Hoo boy.

Though Moore isn’t a starter, his loss is significant in that it removes one of the few experienced defenders from the safety rotation. Nine months after Mike Hilton and Trae Elston played their last games as Rebels, Freeze and Dave Wommack are faced with sending two underclassmen out to fill the gaps at the rover and free safety spots. Enter true freshman Myles Hartsfield at rover and sophomore Zedrick Woods at free safety.

Defensive backs coach Corey Batoon voiced expected concern while speaking with The Clarion-Ledger:

When you look at the amount of snaps that we’ve lost with Trae and Mike, that’s the biggest thing you worry about is replacing that experience. From a talent standpoint, you feel good about it. I don’t think there’s an issue from a talent standpoint. It’s just experience.

Freeze shared similar thoughts with Scout.com:

We are very young back there; I forget how young we are sometimes. We’re playing a lot of young kids on the back end of our defense right now. I do think they have the potential to be very good. But they are young. You make one mistake against a team like the ones we have to play early on, it can be costly. (Ole Miss safeties coach) Corey (Batoon) does a good job back there of getting them prepared. They are young, though. They’ll make some mistakes.

So the question now becomes: how quickly can Woods and Hartsfield catch on, and how many big plays will they allow against top-tier talent in the early going of 2016?

Myles Hartsfield will start at rover

Hartsfield (5’11, 199 lbs.) played high school ball in New Jersey, and he’ll be called upon to fill the shoes left vacant by Trae Elston’s departure.

He’s about the same size as Elston, but his true frosh status does raise a lot of question marks. Here’s Freeze on Myles Hartsfield after last week’s scrimmage:

He made some (mental mistakes) on Sunday in the scrimmage, but he’s running with the ones for a reason. We’ve got confidence in him and think he can do the job. That doesn’t mean mistakes won’t be made, but we’ve got confidence in him.

FSU or Georgia may not have lights-out downfield attacks so early in September — to say nothing of Alabama — but Dalvin Cook can get himself into the second level in a hell of a hurry, where he’s put tacklers on ice skates all too often.

Still, though, Hartsfield played a fair amount of cornerback at Eastern Prep, and that coverage experience will come in handy on third-and-long. Backing up Hartsfield? Another true freshman: skydiving Deontay Anderson, who fractured his wrist a couple weeks ago but isn’t expected to miss any time.

Zedrick Woods seems to have taken the starting FS job

Ranked the No. 8 high school safety prospect in the country back in 2014, C.J. Hampton once looked destined for stardom. But after a rocky 2015 in which he looked downright lost at times, he enters his junior season behind a lightly-recruited true sophomore on the depth chart.

In fairness, Woods came on strong down the stretch last season, logging significant snaps against LSU and State. He played in all 13 games, tallying 25 tackles, one for loss, and an interception.

Here’s Freeze on Woods last week:

Solid player. He’s got a lot of snaps under his belt, so we’re depending on him not to make those mistakes back there, and he can play a lot of places for us, too, which helps.

Whether it’s Hampton or Woods at free safety, both have the luxury of experience, which is sorely lacking at the rover spot. Hampton’s inconsistency may be what’s holding up his move into the starting role. Still, there’s something to be said for the fact that if Woods starts giving up big gains, Hampton’s time at free safety last season could prove useful.

A (mostly) healthy Tony Conner is back at huskie

If Conner can make a full recovery from last year’s torn meniscus, and if he can remain healthy throughout the season, his work at the huskie position will be a welcome stability for the Landshark defense. At 6’0, 225 lbs., Conner is one of the best nickel defenders in the SEC. Athlon named him a fourth team preseason All-American. Conner has started four seasons at Ole Miss, and in 2015 he tallied 17 tackles, four of which were for loss. After tearing his meniscus against Alabama, he ended up missing the next six games of the season.

That it’s required nine months for Conner to reach “90 percent” on the knee recovery might become an issue in the first month of the season. FSU, Kirby Smart’s revamped Georgia, and Alabama are punishing foes, and Conner himself fell victim to the “body blow” theory in September of 2015.

Experience is no concern at cornerback

It’s here that the Landsharks aren’t wanting for depth and experience. Senior Tony Bridges returns to the Rebels’ coverage team, and he was second among the Landsharks with three interceptions last year. Kendarius Webster has reportedly also made considerable improvements from spring to fall camp, and his 41 tackles and 11 passes defended in 2015 were solid contributions.

Further, with the experience of Bridges, Webster and C.J. Hampton, Batoon expects to rotate the players in his defensive backfield to help mask the inexperience at safety:

Last year, you look at the reps, Trae never came off the field, Mike never came off the field. When Tony was healthy, he never came off the field … I think we have that depth now that we didn’t in years past. We have more depth, more quality depth. We play more guys, we’ll be fresher and we’ll be more successful.

Woods and Hartsfield are young, yes, and other veterans are taking on new roles, but maybe there’s comfort to be found in the fact that they’re all forced to practice against one of the best quarterbacks and receiving corps in the country. And hell, maybe early season bouts with three powerhouses will go a long way toward settling these guys into the new-look Landsharks.

Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images

Are we at “Peak MSU” or is there another golden age of coaching in East Lansing?

Barry Odom stepped to the podium Monday for his first media day as Missouri’s head coach. He thanked the media for its coverage of his team throughout fall camp and spoke about the emotions that would inevitably run through his head on Saturday against West Virginia.

He doesn’t plan on giving into those emotions. Not doing so will allow him to effectively do his job.

Feeling a little anxious for Saturday, Odom received a comforting visit from former coach Gary Pinkel. Odom wanted to pick his brain but Pinkel asked him a few questions as well. One question was what does Odom want his demeanor to be like come game time. Odom was able to answer.

“I’ve got to be me,” Odom said. “I need to be in control of the game but I’ve got to be myself.”

What that entails is showing a little bit of emotion. After being the defensive play caller from up in the box last year, he “might throw a few fist pumps” when he’s on the sidelines.

Though he was integral in the defense’s success a year ago, he’s allowing new defensive coordinator DeMontie Cross and co-coordinator Ryan Walters leeway with their duties. Same goes for offensive coordinator Josh Heupel.

“They don’t need me looking over their shoulder,” Odom said.

In addition to the game-to-game and week-to-week responsibilities, Odom envisions a big future for Missouri. There are two recruiting hot beds in his state, and when he combines that along with the hard work he asks of his players, Odom believes the sky is the limit.

“I think we got a championship-caliber program here,” Odom said.

He understands that it might not become that this year, but maintains that if his team is working to leave the program in a better place on a day-to-day basis, that can be accomplished.

Speaking of this year and this week, rather, few have picked Missouri to beat West Virginia on Saturday or to have a lot of success this fall. That might irritate some fans, but being the underdog is something that Odom welcomes and embraces.

“Yeah, I’ll be honest, I really like it,” Odom said. “I like the opportunity to prove people wrong.”

Odom has his first chance to do so on Saturday.

Missouri reveals its depth

Finally.

A public depth chart is now available for the Mizzou football team. There were a few surprises, but one that didn’t come as a shock was that Drew Lock will be the Tigers’ starting quarterback this Saturday.

Lock had been preparing like he would be the starter, so it didn’t come as much of a surprise for him.

“I truly believed I would be, just from the beginning of all this,” Lock said. “I made my stand last year to become the starting quarterback, I truly thought that I was out here competing in camp as the top guy, and that’s how I always thought it would be.”

Lock has yet to turn 20, but perhaps the biggest jump in his skillset has been his overall leadership. He’s not acting like one of the younger guys on the team, which played a big part in why Odom ultimately went with Lock to be his quarterback.

“We feel like Drew is experienced from last year,” Odom said. “His leadership skills are one of the best on the team.”

It sounds as if that solidifies him as the starter for the whole year, but Odom alluded to backup quarterback Marvin Zanders getting some time if he need be.

“Marvin has proven himself that he’s going to help us win football games,” Odom said.

Other changes that raised some eyebrows were at wide receiver. I figured a J’Mon Moore-Chris Black-Emanuel Hall look after Nate Brown went down with his ankle injury, but redshirt freshman Johnathon Johnson has secured a spot with the No. 1’s.

Johnson had a terrific fall camp last season and was all but a lock to see the field as a true freshman, but an ankle injury on a big play during a scrimmage sidelined him for the year. He’s clearly viewed as a big time playmaker, but I thought he’d be rotated in behind Black. Odom didn’t hide his excitement on what Johnson brings to the table.

“I may be most excited about Johnathon Johnson,” Odom said. “He’s embraced the opportunity to compete every day.”

Walking-on to #DLineZOU

Jordan Harold had to take a leap of faith to get to Missouri last fall. After spending a year in the program, it certainly has paid off so far. Not literally, as he has yet to be rewarded with a scholarship, but he will now find himself running with the first team on Saturday.

“That’s everything that I’ve been working for,” Harold said. “It was realistic to me at the time, but I’m here and it means the world to me.”

This shows that Harold isn’t a typical walk-on. He wasn’t handed the job because of a lack of depth. He earned it. Even without Freshman All-American Walter Brady, the Tigers still had Marcell Frazier, who started some games last year, a potential breakout star in Nate Howard and perhaps the gem of the 2016 class in Tre Williams. Harold beat out all of them. And he’ll have plenty of chances to earn his opponents’ respect starting opposite of Charles Harris.

“I think it’s about time,” Harris said of Harold winning the job. “That’s just his own hard work. He’s been working his butt off the entire year.”

Here’s what we learned from the Rebel headman’s first game week presser of the season.

On Monday afternoon, Hugh Freeze stepped to the podium for the first of many game week(!!!!) press conferences this season. This post, which represents a new weekly feature here at the Cup, is also a first of many. Every Monday afternoon, we’ll be sorting through Hugh’s presser to bring you only the notable information and explain why it matters. No more scrolling through long transcripts or sitting through a 20 minute video replay filled with 95 percent coach speak. We’ve already done that for you.

Here’s what we learned on Monday:

Fadol Brown’s Week 1 fate could be decided on Tuesday.

Brown, who recently traveled to a doctor in Texas for a last-ditch treatment on the pesky stress fracture in his foot, is back in Oxford and, as Freeze put it, “very optimistic.”

“(He) says it’s feeling better, but today is a day off, so we won’t know until tomorrow’s practice really what that means. Sometimes it is easy that it feels better when you are walking around, but we will see how it goes tomorrow in practice.”

As the starting strong-side defensive end, Brown will play a critical role in holding the edge against Florida State’s explosive running back, Dalvin Cook, who’s a nightmare in the open field (a problem compounded by the Rebels’ youth at safety). Freeze praised John Youngblood (who was listed as the starter in Monday’s depth chart release) and freshman Victor Evans, but he’s also implied previously that he doesn’t think the position is deep enough.

Freeze feels “comfortable” with Rod Taylor at left tackle.

Monday’s depth chart release, as expected, also listed Taylor as the starting blindside protector.

“[Taylor] is an athletic guy, wish he was a little longer, but he and Greg [Little] will split reps there. He also can play inside. Jeremy [Liggins] will be back with us soon, but we have been comfortable with Rod doing it all fall camp and I think he has done a nice job.”

That concern over length stems from the fact that Taylor is playing outside of his natural position fit—the 6’3, 329-pound junior is a converted guard who’s been forced to tackle a relative lack of options. Little, the five-star supercroot, will take over eventually, but seems to still be swimming a bit. Liggins is finally back at practice, but his suspension will keep him off the playing field until Week 2.

Read more about the O-line in this in-depth preview.

A lot of freshman will see the field.

When asked which freshmen will play next Monday, Freeze listed Little, wide receivers D.K. Metcalf and A.J. Brown, running back Eric Swinney (a redshirt), D-linemen Benito Jones and Montrell Custis, and defensive backs Myles Hartsfield, Jaylon Jones and Jalen Julius.

Hartsfield, who’s penciled in on top of the depth chart at strong safety, is the only starter among that group. The most notable name not on that list is the guy expected to back up Hartsfield: four-star safety Deontay Anderson. Whether that’s because Anderson is still healing up from a wrist fracture suffered two weeks ago or simply because Freeze forgot to name him isn’t clear—none of the reporters asked that question. When the initial news broke, Freeze said he thought Anderson would be able to play with a cast and avoid missed time.

Hugh and Jimbo Fisher aren’t bros.

“I don’t have a relationship with him. I mean I know who he is, obviously. He is cordial and I am cordial when we see each other, but we really have no relationship.”

Ok, that one doesn’t really fall into the notable information category, but I thought it was awkwardly humorous.

Ty Johnson will be the Terps’ starting running back.