Five under-the-radar teams that could make the 2016 Playoff

[theman123]

Quote

SOUTH FLORIDA - The quarterback/running back combination of Quinton Flowers and Marlon Mack is formidable, and both are rising juniors. Flowers got much better as the 2015 progressed and as coach Willie Taggart opened up the offense. Mack is the one of the best running backs that few have heard of, and he's coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. They Bulls return seven starters on each side of the ball. Houston was the darling of the American Athletic Conference last season, and USF avoids the Cougars in the regular season. If USF can find a way to beat Florida State on Sept. 24 in Tampa, watch out from there.

 

http://247sports.com/Bolt/Five-under-the-radar-teams-that-could-make-the-2016-Playoff-44182745

[GaUSFBull]

Cool mention.  

[Atlanta Bull]

This will be a breakout year, Willie finally got a clue how to use Florida talent on offense.

[Ionbull]

Nice shoutout from 247. Can someone say NINE home games? I think we all know how extremely unlikely it is; just from a rankings standpoint. But this year can very well be a breakout year for CWT and the Bulls. All eyes on that offensive line cohesion and if QF takes that next step.

Edited March 11, 2016 by Ionbull

[NAM37]

Craziness...

[usfbullrider]

I agree but we gotta handle our business.  Fsu will be much improved with malik henry at the helm and their o line should be better.

[bullsbucsfan426]

13 minutes ago, usfbullrider said:

I agree but we gotta handle our business.  Fsu will be much improved with malik henry at the helm and their o line should be better.

Well, if their WRs keep dropping catches like they did last year we have a shot. Don't forget they also have Deondre Francois on the roster. None of it means junk though if we can't limit Dalvin Cook. That defense is going to be a mess to handle with a new o-line. It's the difficulty of facing a team like FSU-they just keep loading up and reloading with elite talent year after year, whereas we're happy to get 2-3 players FSU would take every year i.e. Salomon and Dunn. Our talent is more like a mid to low P5 team. 

The good news is that there's not a lot of depth behind Cook at RB-so they will have to run him a lot. 

Edited March 11, 2016 by bullsbucsfan426

[Ionbull]

1 hour ago, usfbullrider said:

I agree but we gotta handle our business.  Fsu will be much improved with malik henry at the helm and their o line should be better.

Hard pressed to say that Henry starts as A true Frosh, but they have a RSF QB Deondre Francois who could be good, or they could retread the incumbent Maguire. The FSU offense returns their entire two deep on offense; their defense, which was good and young last year, will be even better this year. Guys like Josh Sweat and Derwin James are beasts. It all comes down to watching the tape from the Peach Bowl. Need to zero in on stopping DC4 and hitting him hard in the back field; Houston did a great job at doing that. Offense has to also play flawlessly; as FSU will inevitably get a few fast and quick scores just based on athleticism and talent. I'm making a bold prediction that QF9 will take a Greg Ward-esque step forward next year. As long as our offensive line with three new starters can be as cohesive as last year and our defense doesn't take a step back under CRW (I don't believe it will,) then we do have a chance to beat anyone. 

[bullsfan1983]

We are talking the 4 team playoff for the college football championship right? While I think we have a good shot to represent the east in the AAC championship game, with are schedule we are talking going 13-0 headed into the bowls to even be in the conversation for a playoff slot. Seeing as Taggart has never won a bowl game or more than 8 games, that seems a bit of a stretch. Maybe if we had beaten WKU we would have had some more momentum, but I would be surprised if we upset FSU to be honest. I think Houston is more poised to but I guess they aren't "under the radar". That's why we are on a list with Washington State or a Nebraska team that was sub .500 a year ago.

[DELdaBull]

Not Gonna Happen