Under-the-Radar College Football Teams That Could Become Surprise Contenders

[bullsmeanbusiness]

South Florida

5 OF 7

 

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

Preseason ranking: 21

Reasons for hope: Few defenses on USF's schedule can stop Quinton Flowers, an elite college dual-threat quarterback. Speaking of that slate, Florida State is nowhere to be found. Instead, the Bulls have four winnable nonconference tilts, the toughest of which are UConn and Illinois. Nothing is easy, but that's a favorable outlook.

Biggest obstacles: How much will the transition from Willie Taggart affect the offense? The Flowers-led unit will look somewhat different in style, and a legitimate concern is execution may follow in a negative manner. And while shootouts on the scoreboard are fun to watch, giving up 30-plus points nearly half the time is an excellent way to lose. The defense cannot be a sieve opposite top competition again.

CFP chances: If an undefeated, dominant Western Michigan team couldn't rise higher than 17th in the College Football Playoff rankings, what will it take for South Florida to merit consideration? The Group of Five is at a major disadvantage in the CFP discussion, and a soft schedule won't promote the Bulls' resume. But of all non-power-conference teams, USF has the best chance to finish 12-0.

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2727552-under-the-radar-college-football-teams-who-could-become-surprise-contenders

[bullsmeanbusiness]

Didn't realize until after I posted that, the writer mentions UConn as one of our toughest OOC games.

[BullFan98]

I picked up on that as well.  There goes any credibility in this report. 

[bullsbucsfan426]

And that is why it's Bleacher report. UConn is a civil rivalry at this point. 

[NewEnglandBull]

Uconn will be smashed

[GaUSFBull]

Season can't start soon enough for me.

[370Bull]

Perhaps new ConFLict rivalry? We all know how that's going lol 

[SANJAY]

UConn is OOC? Does that mean we moved to the B12 or they dropped to 1-AA?

[NewEnglandBull]

2 hours ago, SANJAY said:

UConn is OOC? Does that mean we moved to the B12 or they dropped to 1-AA?

1aa, they now play in the Yankee Conference 

[Ricky the Bull]

The author probably picked those two because of UConn's basketball team and that Illinois is P5.  Certainly not much research went into that sentence.