It’s barely August, hard to believe that football season is back, but here it is. In the past, we have not looked at previous Oriental zodiac years to make any special football predictions. This year, though, football could be a welcome diversion from the abysmal spate of political madness that has become the norm. So, let’s look back to previous Years of the Snake and see what we might expect for the coming season.
Since the “Super Bowl Era” began with the joining of the AFL and the NFL, four NFL seasons have begun during a Year of the Snake. Somewhat surprisingly, the Denver Broncos were playing in the Super Bowl at the end of three of those seasons
First, in 1977, Denver beat the Oakland Raiders for the AFC title and played in the Super Bowl against the Dallas Cowboys, who had beaten the Minnesota Viking for the NFC championship. Dallas won by a score of 27-10.
Twelve years later, in 1989, the Broncos again made it to the Super Bowl after beating the Cleveland Browns in the AFC Championship game. They played against the San Francisco 49ers, victors over the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC championship. Again, the Broncos came up short in the Super Bowl. In fact, they were blown out by a score of 55-10.
The next Snake year was 2001, and it is the only one that did not see the Broncos going to the Super Bowl. Instead, the New England Patriots beat the St. Louis Rams 20-17. The Rams had previously beat the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFC championship ,and the Patriots had beaten the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC.
The most recent Snake year was 2013. Then, the Broncos beat the Patriots to win the AFC championship, while the Seattle Seahawks beat the 49ers in the NFC. The Super Bowl brought another huge loss for the Broncos, this time by a score of 43-8
From this data, it seems that the Broncos should be playing in Super Bowl LX on February 8, 2026, and that they will probably not win. So, which NFC team will beat them? As we can see above, the only NFC teams that have made it as far as the conference championships (or the Super Bowl) at least twice in previous Snake years are the Rams and the 49ers.
The 49ers have an easier regular season schedule, which gives them an advantage getting in to the playoffs. Because of that, we have to pick the 49ers to win the Lombardi Trophy this year.
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College football is almost impossible to predict based on Oriental astrological cycles. There are literally hundreds of teams playing in dozens of conferences across several different divisions. Rather than make any specific predictions, we will list (alphabetically) the major college teams that have seen success in prior Snake years:
Alabama
Arkansas
Colorado
Florida
Florida State
Miami (Florida)
Michigan State
Notre Dame
Ohio State
Oregon
Penn State
Texas
Most of those names come as no surprise to college football fans. They are the “usual suspects.” Some powerhouses, like Michigan and Georgia and Oklahoma and Ole Miss, are not on the list. They just haven’t done as well in Snake years.
Two schools that have done better in Snake years than in other years are Oregon and Colorado. Go Beavers! Go Buffs!
Speaking of Colorado, let us take this opportunity to wish Coach Prime the very best after his cancer surgery.
Ralston Creek Review 
I concur with these predictions, Louis. Go Beavers! Go Buffs! And we can hope that the Broncos do even better in this Year of the Snake!
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Good to hear from you. As for the Buffs, I am sort of afraid that they have been like the Broncos – almost, but not quite able to finish the job. It might have something to do with the altitude and the wildfire smoke.
Looking at the Snake years since the last Wood Snake year in 1965, it has been like this:
In 1965, CU only lost two games. However, they tied two others, leaving them with just six wins. Almost, but not quite.
In 1977, the Buffs won their first five games and were ranked No. 3 nationally. Then they tied Kansas and lost three of their remaining five games. Almost, once again.
1989 looked like it would finally be the Buffs’ year. They went through the regular season undefeated and were ranked No, 1 in the country. Then came the Orange Bowl and they were soundly beaten by Notre Dame. Again, not quite there.
2001 was another interesting year. Colorado surprisingly lost its opener to a better-than-expected Fresno State team. After that, they only lost one other game during the rest of the regular season, falling to Texas. They got their revenge by beating Texas in the Big 12 championship game, taking them to the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day. They lost that game, of course – to Oregon. Again, it was a “not quite” season.
2013 was a year Buff fans don’t like to remember. The team finished 4-8, with only one win in the Pac-12.
That’s our trip down Memory Lane. Who knows, this year may be different. Or perhaps not quite different.
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