College Football: Top 5 Teams Likely To Disappoint In 2018

If your college football team is not coached by Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, or Dabo Swinney, there’s a good chance that things may not go your way in 2018. I’m talking about disappointing seasons. There are bound to be quite a few teams that will have sour tastes in their mouth come December. It’s inevitable.

Let’s take a look at the top 5 teams that are likely to disappoint in 2018.

#5 Michigan

This hurts to write because I am a big Jim Harbaugh fan, but his three seasons have been a letdown for Michigan fans. It’s hard to say a coach underachieved with two 10 win season in his first three years, but for a coach to be making over $7 million a year, Big 10 titles and wins over Ohio State are a necessity and so far neither of those accomplishments have happened. This will be Harbaugh’s best chance to silence the critics thanks to Ole Miss transfer Shea Patterson, who is easily the best quarterback that Harbaugh has had in his tenure at Ann Arbor. However, for Michigan to rise to the top of the Big 10, they will need to beat Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan State. Maybe they can beat one, but all three? It’s just not happening especially with trips to East Lansing and Columbus. Until that happens, I can’t bet on Michigan.

#4 Florida State

The talent is there. Running back Cam Akers is a Heisman hopeful. Quarterback Deondre Francois is healthy after missing almost the entire 2017 season. The team is young and full of potential. Despite the talent, Jimbo Fisher took his talents to Texas A&M. He had five straight years of 10+ wins at one point as well as a National Championship victory. Taking over for Fisher is Willie Taggart, who bolted from Oregon after one year. I have no idea how to judge Taggart because this is only his second year as a head coach at a Power 5 school. Can he handle the pressure and live up to the lofty expectations? Clemson is still the king of the ACC and Miami is closing in on them. Florida State is not better than those two teams right now, so they will have their work cut out to stay above the middle of the ACC.

#3 Florida

Staying in the Sunshine State, let’s go to Gainesville to talk about the Gators. First-year coach Dan Mullen inherits a team from a year ago that had no energy and was flat out inept on the offensive side of the ball. Their super “vanilla” offense finished #101 in the nation during McElwain’s last year. I expect Mullen’s knows he has to spread it out and score a lot of points. With questions at quarterback and on the offensive line, it will take a while for Mullen to find his next Dak Prescott to revitalize the Gators. The strength of the team will be the secondary lead by the ballhawks at corner, CJ Henderson, and Marco Wilson. The season is already off to a rocky start as six players face potential discipline after a confrontation with “Tay Bang” that involved airlift guns and a frying pan. I’m not kidding. Mullen will turn Florida around, but not this year.