Friday Five: College football teams that will receive the most offseason hype
It's the one train you can always count on to arrive on time, though the passengers vary from offseason to offseason. For this week's Friday Five, I'm ranking the five teams I expect to be riding first class for the next six months.
Now, I'm not including teams that were in the Playoff this season because they're too obvious. I'm looking for teams that are good, but haven't quite arrived yet. I'm ranking teams that have room to grow and take the proverbial "next step" in 2018.
So, without further ado, here are the five teams that you're going to hear a lot about this offseason, whether you want to or not.
5. Miami: Mark Richt's second season at the alma mater has to be considered a success no matter how you look at it. The Hurricanes won their first division title since joining the ACC, picked up 10 wins, and went to the Orange Bowl. The problem is that things fizzled a bit at the end as they lost their last three games, including a blowout loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship and a 34-24 loss to Wisconsin in the Orange Bowl.
Still, injuries late in the season played a role, and while the Canes will lose some key players, they're still a team with a lot of talent returning. This was a young team that was a little ahead of schedule last season, and now that it exceeded expectations, they're only going to get bigger heading into next season.
4. Texas: I mean, it wouldn't be an offseason without Texas getting hyped up, would it? The question is whether or not this is the season that the Longhorns actually live up to the hype. I would say it's possible, but I'm also the genius that proclaimed Texas would reach the College Football Playoff last year as my BOLD -- bold is often a synonym for stupid -- preseason prediction last year. We all know that didn't happen, but there were signs of progress in Austin under Tom Herman.
There are legitimate concerns due to the early departures of some key players like Malik Jefferson, Connor Williams and, yes, punter Michael Dickson, but this is still a team loaded with talent. It's also a team that will be playing in a Big 12 conference that no longer has to contend with Baker Mayfield. While Oklahoma will still be strong (as will TCU and Oklahoma State), there's some room to maneuver now. If the Horns find consistency at QB, they could take a big step forward.
3. Washington: Look around the Pac-12 right now. USC lost its biggest stars on offense. Stanford won the North last year, but it was just a 9-5 team. Oregonhas a new coach for the second time in two years. Chip Kelly is at UCLA, but there's work to be done there. And then there's Washington -- a team that gets both Jake Browning and Myles Gaskinback on offense as well as most of its defense.
The schedule is a bear -- starting with Auburn -- and the Huskies will have to face Oregon, UCLA, Utah and Washington State all on the road in 2018, but they may be the most talented team in the Pac-12 next year. They also have one of the best coaches in the country in Chris Petersen. This is a team that's going to get CFP love during the offseason, and it's a team that just might get there for the second time in three years, too.
2. Auburn: Speaking of Auburn, it's important to remember that this was a team that beat both Alabama and Georgia last season. Now, was it as good as those two wins suggest? Probably not, but it still won those games, and it's still a team with the potential to do it again in 2018.
With Jarret Stidham back, the Tigers will have one of the best QBs in the SEC and they'll also have a monster defensive line. As the Tigers enter 2018, they'll once again be viewed as the SEC team most likely to topple Alabama and Georgia.
1. Florida Atlantic: That's right, I have a Conference USA team at No. 1, but it's not just any Conference USA team. It's the one that is coached by Lane Kiffin, so you know it's going to receive plenty of attention. Hell, the Owls already had plenty of eyes on them last season because Kiffin made sure to keep their attention, and that's not going to change this offseason, but there's reason to believe the spotlight will get bigger.
- By Tom Fornelli
- 2h ago • 4 min read
It's the one train you can always count on to arrive on time, though the passengers vary from offseason to offseason. For this week's Friday Five, I'm ranking the five teams I expect to be riding first class for the next six months.
Now, I'm not including teams that were in the Playoff this season because they're too obvious. I'm looking for teams that are good, but haven't quite arrived yet. I'm ranking teams that have room to grow and take the proverbial "next step" in 2018.
So, without further ado, here are the five teams that you're going to hear a lot about this offseason, whether you want to or not.
5. Miami: Mark Richt's second season at the alma mater has to be considered a success no matter how you look at it. The Hurricanes won their first division title since joining the ACC, picked up 10 wins, and went to the Orange Bowl. The problem is that things fizzled a bit at the end as they lost their last three games, including a blowout loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship and a 34-24 loss to Wisconsin in the Orange Bowl.
Still, injuries late in the season played a role, and while the Canes will lose some key players, they're still a team with a lot of talent returning. This was a young team that was a little ahead of schedule last season, and now that it exceeded expectations, they're only going to get bigger heading into next season.
4. Texas: I mean, it wouldn't be an offseason without Texas getting hyped up, would it? The question is whether or not this is the season that the Longhorns actually live up to the hype. I would say it's possible, but I'm also the genius that proclaimed Texas would reach the College Football Playoff last year as my BOLD -- bold is often a synonym for stupid -- preseason prediction last year. We all know that didn't happen, but there were signs of progress in Austin under Tom Herman.
There are legitimate concerns due to the early departures of some key players like Malik Jefferson, Connor Williams and, yes, punter Michael Dickson, but this is still a team loaded with talent. It's also a team that will be playing in a Big 12 conference that no longer has to contend with Baker Mayfield. While Oklahoma will still be strong (as will TCU and Oklahoma State), there's some room to maneuver now. If the Horns find consistency at QB, they could take a big step forward.
3. Washington: Look around the Pac-12 right now. USC lost its biggest stars on offense. Stanford won the North last year, but it was just a 9-5 team. Oregonhas a new coach for the second time in two years. Chip Kelly is at UCLA, but there's work to be done there. And then there's Washington -- a team that gets both Jake Browning and Myles Gaskinback on offense as well as most of its defense.
The schedule is a bear -- starting with Auburn -- and the Huskies will have to face Oregon, UCLA, Utah and Washington State all on the road in 2018, but they may be the most talented team in the Pac-12 next year. They also have one of the best coaches in the country in Chris Petersen. This is a team that's going to get CFP love during the offseason, and it's a team that just might get there for the second time in three years, too.
2. Auburn: Speaking of Auburn, it's important to remember that this was a team that beat both Alabama and Georgia last season. Now, was it as good as those two wins suggest? Probably not, but it still won those games, and it's still a team with the potential to do it again in 2018.
With Jarret Stidham back, the Tigers will have one of the best QBs in the SEC and they'll also have a monster defensive line. As the Tigers enter 2018, they'll once again be viewed as the SEC team most likely to topple Alabama and Georgia.
1. Florida Atlantic: That's right, I have a Conference USA team at No. 1, but it's not just any Conference USA team. It's the one that is coached by Lane Kiffin, so you know it's going to receive plenty of attention. Hell, the Owls already had plenty of eyes on them last season because Kiffin made sure to keep their attention, and that's not going to change this offseason, but there's reason to believe the spotlight will get bigger.
