As 2012 begins, it is time to make predictions for the upcoming year. Now these predictions are coming from the guy who drafted Ryan Leaf as first overall in his fantasy keeper-league. And the guy who said that Maryland football would play in a BCS Bowl game this season. So I would take the following column with a grain of salt, but nonetheless here’s what I see happening in sports over the next year:

1. LSU will beat Alabama in the BCS National Championship game, and in years to come it will be considered one of the best teams in College Football history.
2. The Packers will lose to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game. Hear me out on this; the 49ers have a lockdown defense that can handle Aaron Rodgers & Co. and a run game that can chew up clock.
3. The Caps will go to the Eastern Conference Finals behind Dale Hunter and a revamped Alex Ovechkin and Alex Semin. Hunter’s new defensive approach along with a strong group of core players (Brooks Laich, Jason Chimera, Troy Brower, etc.) should fare well for the Caps come playoff time.
4. Kevin Durant will emerge as the best player in the NBA. I have been a “Durantula” fan since the star’s days at nearby Montrose Christian and every year he has improved as an all-around basketball player. With Kobe Bryant fighting off numerous nagging injuries and Lebron James continuing to disappear in big games, I see Durant being the next poster-boy for the NBA.
5. Michael Phelps will not win an individual medal at the Summer Olympics. Phelps has been on a free fall from glory since his 8-gold medal performance in Beijing in 2008, and in swimming, a sport where younger swimmers usually triumph, Phelps shouldn’t make much noise in London this summer.
6. The Redskins will botch the offseason. This one I’m sure about.
7. The Nationals will finish over .500 for only the second time in franchise history. Their pitching staff is the best that it has ever been and if the team hits any better than it did last year (which shouldn’t be difficult, because their batting stats were appalling), the team should be able to win more than 81 games.
8. The Wizards’ front office will clean house. Ted Leonsis did this in 2004 with the Caps, and has built a winning hockey team, and with the Wizards floundering, it seems like the right time to blow up the team’s core and start over.

I’m confident in all of these predictions (especially number 6), but I wouldn’t put any bets on them either. Here’s to a good 2012!