Certainly Notre Dame, aTm and Louisville were surprises last season. But who will be the team that comes from nowhere to have a great season in 2013?

Please offer your thoughts but try not to be a blind homer.

My pick: USC Trojans in a reverse of last year's biggest downside surprise.

I think WVU gets in the top 25 at some point this season.

Non homer pick would maybe be someone from the AAC other than UL making it inside the top 20.

Marshall has a chance to be very good this year and may squeak into the top 25 at some point.

(08-14-2013 07:58 AM)OldGoldnBlue Wrote:  I think WVU gets in the top 25 at some point this season.

Non homer pick would maybe be someone from the AAC other than UL making it inside the top 20.

Marshall has a chance to be very good this year and may squeak into the top 25 at some point.

Gotta love the quiet confidence coming out of the practice reports. Very different than the cocky vibe from last year. Reminds me of our preparations for the Sugar Bowl with Rich Rod knew we had a chance to surprise everyone. I think we are 1 year away, but will exceed the low expectations this year.

Kansas State. Seems like they're always ranked too low to start and usually exceed expectations.

I think a team that will be fascinating to watch will be Wisconsin. If they can beat Ohio St, the next best Big Ten team they will play is Northwestern.

USF.

new "hardnosed" Head coach

Ole Miss is a fascinating experiment. They have all the pieces... many SEC beat writers and regional types are picking Ole Miss at home to beat TAMU with or without Johnny Manziel. They also get LSU at home. Texas and Alabama are on the road. If they win any two of those four games and take care of business with the rest of the schedule, that is a top 10 to 15 team, which is a minor miracle compared to where they have been recently.

That Vandy opener is going to be huge for both programs to see where the momentum swings.

(08-14-2013 08:34 AM)stever20 Wrote:  I think a team that will be fascinating to watch will be Wisconsin. If they can beat Ohio St, the next best Big Ten team they will play is Northwestern.

I really can't see Wisconsin beating Penn State...

last game of the season, in Madison? Don't see Penn St there, especially if they've lost some folks to injuries by that point.

I will go with Indiana. Like many Big Ten teams they have 8 home games and they
play their first 5 games at home. If all goes right they might play in a bowl game
for the second time in about 20 years. Their offense can score.

I'm still looking at UCLA as a sleeper surprise team. They have an absolutely insane away schedule in terms of playing Nebraska, Stanford, Oregon and USC all away. They also play Utah and Arizona away which makes for tough match ups.

The USC game luckily isn't all that much of an "away" game but it is still their stadium.

Jim Mora though, to me, seems like THE college football coach to keep an eye on. In my opinion he absolutely showed everyone last year what he can do with this program.

If they can pull off some big time away wins then this program is set to shock the college football world this year.

Whether that actually happens though....that is a tall order.

I think Duke might be able to pull out a conference championship appearance.....

I think UCLA is ranked preseason.

Nobody is talking about Cincinnati, my Bearcats will finish the season ranked.

(08-14-2013 03:27 PM)Otacon Wrote:  I think Duke might be able to pull out a conference championship appearance.....

That QB they had is gone, not sure how good the new starter is.
They have to score to win.

(08-14-2013 03:30 PM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  I think UCLA is ranked preseason.

Nobody is talking about Cincinnati, my Bearcats will finish the season ranked.

Stanford and Oregon are both ranked in most top 5's and UCLA has both of them as away games. USC may not be ranked but USC will play up to that game. USC is always overrated and never plays up to expectation. Perhaps being underrated will cause them to actually play up to their potential.

UCLA also has an away game all the way out in Lincoln Nebraska early in the year.

They also have an away game at Arizona which is a team that is on the way up, if anything they too could be listed as a surprise team this year.

Cincinnati may end up ranked but who are they playing to get there?

WKU, I think both Them and USF have break out years with new coaches not unlike TA&M did last year with Sumlin. Petrino and Taggart are both exceptional coaches that know how to Bring It.

(08-14-2013 03:38 PM)He1nousOne Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 03:30 PM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  I think UCLA is ranked preseason.

Nobody is talking about Cincinnati, my Bearcats will finish the season ranked.

Stanford and Oregon are both ranked in most top 5's and UCLA has both of them as away games. USC may not be ranked but USC will play up to that game. USC is always overrated and never plays up to expectation. Perhaps being underrated will cause them to actually play up to their potential.

UCLA also has an away game all the way out in Lincoln Nebraska early in the year.

They also have an away game at Arizona which is a team that is on the way up, if anything they too could be listed as a surprise team this year.

Cincinnati may end up ranked but who are they playing to get there?

We need Purdue, and Illinois to be respectable this year. We need to win at least 10 and to blow some teams out, which I think will happen. We play many decent teams, and finish with preseason #Louisville. Deepest and maybe most talented UC team I have ever seen.

Back to my first post, I think IU going to a bowl this season.

(08-14-2013 04:25 PM)CardFan1 Wrote:  WKU, I think both Them and USF have break out years with new coaches not unlike TA&M did last year with Sumlin. Petrino and Taggart are both exceptional coaches that know how to Bring It.

Past couple of years they have lost probably 10 games by single digits.
Talent is there. SMU has a nice OOC schedule to make noise early.

Cincy is going to be great this year....this shouldn't be a surprise since we have won 10 games in what 4 of the past five years but somehow each year that is forgotten. So in that light, I'm going with Cincy.

syracuse, highly under rated, consistently overlooked, with their schedule and their track record its hard to say if they get 2 wins or 9 wins