Early in my writing career, I was geeked to land a small piece in a preseason mag. I'd grown up buying stacks of them, sitting on the beach and poring over every page. So to get a byline in one, it was kind of a big deal. Then reality set in when a crusty old scribe growled at me in a press box in late August: "Congrats, kid. Now gather as many copies as you can and burn 'em. Because I guaran-damn-tee all that stuff you wrote will be wrong."

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Sure enough, he was right. Not all of my predictions were wrong, only enough to make me want to quietly ignite a backyard bonfire. That first bunch of whiffs hurt like losing to BYU on a Hail Mary thrown by the backup QB in his first college game. (Amirite, Nebraska?) But we get used to it. Yep, we still boldly state our August picks (Auburn? Georgia? Title contenders!) and still lamely try to figure out how we could be so off in December -- like 10-teams-that-started-in-the-Top-25-but-disappeared off. But hey, at least Bama didn't let us down. What a guy, that Nick Saban. (Amirite, Les?)

So what else did we nail and what did we completely miss? Here are 25 things we thought we knew entering 2015. While you read, I'll grab the lighter fluid.

1. Urban Meyer and his three QBs will cruise to the College Football Playoff.

Braxton Miller became a receiver, put a Labor Day B-button spin move on VaTech ... and vanished. Cardale Jones won the starting job, got lost somewhere in the red zone ... and vanished. J.T. Barrett took over, got the Bucks moving ... and vanished for a week after an OVI. With Jones and Miller headed to the NFL, I'm sure we'll all think OSU is somehow better off.

2. The Big 12 is a bunch of dummies for not throwing together a title game.

Boomer Sooner, y'all.

Can anyone seriously say they saw the Sooners coming? Much less Baker Mayfield's breakout? Dylan Coulter for ESPN

3. Stanford's Christian McCaffrey "will lead a trio of RBs coming off a lackluster '14."

That's how it read in our preview. No doubt, he led the Cardinal backs; we just didn't foresee that he'd lead every RB anywhere -- and every player in FBS history -- with 3,496 all-purpose yards.

4. Arkansas and Tennessee are back, baby!

The Hogs lost to Toledo, and the Vols epically blew three leads in the first five weeks, including in a loss to, wait for it ... Arkansas. But both bounced back for bowl bids, as Bret Bielema and Butch Jones vie for Steve Spurrier's title of most outspoken SEC coach. Bless their hearts.

5. Texas is back, baby!

As in back-to-back seven-loss seasons.

6. DC Will Muschamp and QB Jeremy Johnson will get Auburn to the playoff.

The Heisman-hyped Johnson sitting after three games? Surprising. His oft-suspended roomie, WR Duke Williams, booted from the team after Week 5 for a nightclub incident? Not so much. Auburn was 90th in total D, but what does Muschamp care now? He's the man at South Carolina. The silver lining for head coach Gus Malzahn? He'll be home after the Birmingham Bowl for New Year's Eve.

7. Coaches everywhere will dance the Dab.

OK, that's a lie. No one foresaw old men breaking out the Dab -- or Dabo Swinney dancing worse than Drake on Hotline Bling after every win. Please stop.

8. A reinvigorated Steve Spurrier will challenge in the SEC East.

The further we get from his Oct. 13 retirement, the more the shine wears off from "that's just Head Ball Coach being Head Ball Coach." I wonder what the young Spurrier would've cracked about the old Spurrier's exit? Can't spell "escape" without SC, huh, Coach?

9. Jim Harbaugh hype will be unbearable.

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Coeds wore khakis; dads tailgated sans shirt (OK, nothing new). Not even an opening loss to Utah could mellow the mania of Michigan's rebirth. The inexplicable loss to Michigan State dampened it for a moment, but a 9-3 season was certainly ahead of schedule. A Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl win over Florida would crank 2016 expectations to a vein-popping 11.

10. Jim McElwain needs two years to get Florida to SEC contention.

Actually, he needed only until Oct. 3, when the Gators chomped then-No. 3 Ole Miss en route to their first East title since Urban Meyer. Now McElwain must preach patience to the Swamp, sure to be eager after Coach Mac's fast start (see: Malzahn, Gus).

11. USC will win the Pac-12.

Damn you, City of Broken Dreams.

12. If USC doesn't win the Pac-12, UCLA will.

The good news? True freshman QB Josh Rosen was as good as advertised. The bad news? He was still a true freshman. The worst news? The Pac-12 will sit at home on New Year's Eve.

13. Baylor at TCU will be the de facto Big 12 title game.

Boomer Sooner, y'all.

14. Nick Chubb will be the most explosive running back in the nation.

Oh yeah, the Georgia running back injury curse, clearly true.

15. Leonard Fournette is a Four-gone conclusion to win the Heisman.

OK, not a preseason prediction, but we were all screaming it by the end of September. Then he entered Tuscaloosa on Nov. 7 as a 4-9 Heisman favorite and left with just 31 yards, as eventual winner Derrick Henry went for 210 and three TDs.

The Alabama running back has achieved the impossible. He made Nick Saban swoon. Marvin Gentry/USA TODAY Sports

16. Maryland will be as terrible as its uniform combos, but coach Randy Edsall will be even worse.

NAILED it.

17. The Canes are gonna can Al Golden.

NAILED it. We saw it coming as clearly as Clemson saw Miami's game plan. Mark Richt? No one saw him coming.

18. If Iowa is its old seven-win self, Kirk Ferentz is done.

Big Ten media picked Iowa fourth in the West; ESPN FPI figured 6.3 wins. Iowa went 12-1, won the West and was a drive short of the playoff. It gets Stanford in the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual. (Kirk, time to reallocate that 401(k)!)

19. Vernon Adams Jr. will make Oregon forget Marcus Mariota.

Not quite spot-on, but the Eastern Washington transfer, who suffered a broken right index finger in Week 1, bounced back to lead wins over Stanford and USC. In nine Pac-12 games, he threw 35 TDs and 4 INTs, and he is sure to be picked in this year's draft. (No wonder Montana State's Dakota Prukop announced he is transferring to Oregon.)

20. Georgia Tech's triple-option is potent enough to play CFP crasher.

While the kick-six to beat FSU was an all-timer, the Yeller Jackets were a wreck: no bowl for the first time in 19 years and the worst record (3-9) since 1994.

21. FSU will suffer a post-Jameis funk.

OK, let's do the Dab for old times' sake.

22. Tennessee has a legit chance to halt Bama's eight-year win streak.

Just Google: "Saban Henry cigar." What a guy, that Nick Saban.

23. The AAC has Power 5 potential.

Boise State's demise opened the door for the American. Memphis (9-3) improved so much that coach Justin Fuente is replacing Frank Beamer at VaTech. Plus, Houston (12-1), Temple (10-3) and Navy (9-2) all landed in the final CFP Top 25.

24. Refs will be booed.

OK, this one was easy. But, man, how bad were those zebras? Expect the rules committee to huddle over what can and can't be reviewed from the booth. Because no one wants a replay of '15, especially not Duke, Michigan State or North Carolina.

25. College football is awesome.

Yes, there are politics. And controversy. And too many rich gray-hairs in sport coats trying to ruin everything. But when the games kick off, there's still nothing better. So let's party, roll out the Dab one more time -- and Boomer Sooner, y'all.