Roll Tide! Geaux Tigers! Astros make college football picks

This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart’s Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Geaux Tigers. Roll Tide. Woo Pig Sooie.

It’s the time of year when college football fans let out their schools’ favorite chants from the stands, and the Astros have quite a few hardcore college football fans in their clubhouse ready to back their teams. With Saturday marking the first full day of college football action -- and with the National Championship Game set for Houston in January -- we asked some Astros how their schools will do this year, and who will take home the title in H-Town?

Warning: There’s a heavy slant towards the SEC.

Relief pitcher Kendall Graveman (Mississippi State alum)
Question: How do you think Mississippi State is going to do this year?
Graveman: “They’ll make a bowl game. Sneak in a bowl game. We’ll talk in two weeks. Let me watch two games [laughs]. I don’t know. Hopefully, a little better than that. I plan on getting back to a game, so I’m excited about that. I haven’t been back to a game in a couple of years.”
Who do you think will win the national championship? “Alabama. That’s my team. I grew up an Alabama fan. [Coach] Nick Saban’s got a little chip on shoulder and will be ready to go.”

Infielder Grae Kessinger (Mississippi alum)
Question: How do you think Ole Miss will do this year?
Kessinger: “I think Ole Miss is going to be good this year. They are probably the most talented that they’ve been since [head coach] Lane Kiffin got there, but they have one of the hardest schedules in the country. They play Alabama on the road, Georgia on the road and they have LSU at home – three of the top five seeds preseason. How many wins we get? I don’t know. Are we going to be good? Yes.”
Who do you think will win the national championship? “Besides Ole Miss… I don’t know. I need to see Georgia’s quarterback, Carson Beck, and see how he is. They’ve won two years in a row. If he’s good, they have to be the favorites, right? I guess I’ll go Georgia.”

Ryne Stanek (Arkansas alum)
Question: How is Arkansas going to be this year?
Stanek: “I don’t know. That’s a tough one. They started off real strong last year. I think [quarterback] KJ [Jefferson] is going to be good. He played really well down the stretch. They had a good recruiting class. They’re doing the right things to be good and I think now it’s basically at that point like you’re either going to do it or you’re not. I feel like they’ve brought in good talent and haven’t been better. I think they’re at the point now I think they can take a step forward. That’s kind of where we’re at. The talent is there, but where does it all get put together?”
Who’s going to win the national championship? “With how good Georgia’s been, it’s hard to bet against Georgia. I’m looking there first just because. … Going out on a limb, I’m going be real risky and say somebody in the SEC’s got the best chance.”

Third baseman Alex Bregman (LSU alum)
Question: How is LSU going to do this year?
Bregman: “I think they’re going to win the national championship. Obviously, they’re ranked fifth right now, but I’m getting a vibe from Baton Rouge that they’re excited about football season. There’s not a better way to start the season than a win against Florida State [on Sunday].”
So, there’s no need to ask who’s going to win the national championship: “There you go [smiles].”

I was going to get Astros outfielder Jake Meyers’ opinion, but after his Nebraska Cornhuskers dropped their season-opener Thursday night at Minnesota, we’ll give him a pass.