The list of sports that lend themselves better to predictive thinking than college football is short. Tennis fans start gaming out scenarios right after major draws drop, but there are dozens of high-level ATP and WTA tournaments a year. Horse racing fans start thinking Triple Crown right after the Kentucky Derby, but there are plenty of opportunities for horses to lose outside those races.
In college football, there are 12 regular-season games, some conference championships, bowl games, and a playoff system. That is it—blink and it's done relative to other college sports and even the NFL. You only have one chance to make a first impression, and no medicine tastes more bitter than your first loss of the season.
