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.
#2 USC
The Trojans are in some trouble after the departure of Sam Darnold. If you don’t have a quarterback, you can’t win games. It’s that simple. It seems that USC is auditioning the whole state of California to replace Darnold. Matt Fink, Jack Sears, and JT Daniels will battle it out for the right to lead the Trojans under center. This competition could bleed into late September / late October, which could be detrimental to the team. The team can rely on star running back Stephen Carr early on until a quarterback stands out. Coach Clay Helton has done an admirable job in his few years at USC, but 10 wins per year are not enough to satisfy the USC faithful. They demand a national championship. The Pac 12 is wide open this year. Washington, Stanford, Oregon, Utah, and Arizona will all compete with USC for conference supremacy. However, without a clear number one at QB, USC won’t be repeating as PAC 12 champs nor do I see them reaching the conference title game. This year will be a step back for the men of Troy.
#1 West Virginia
Can anyone knock Oklahoma off the top of the mountain in the Big 12? A lot of voters believe that Dana Holgorsen and the West Virginia Mountaineers are legit as they were picked to finish second in the preseason Big 12 rankings. The Mountaineers have a Heisman candidate in Will Grier calling the shots at quarterback. Grier and the rest of the offense have a chance to keep the team in every game.
However, can they stop anyone on defense? Can they stop a nosebleed? I’m not sure. Plus, take a look at this murderer’s row of an ending to their season: at Texas, vs. TCU, at Oklahoma St, vs. Oklahoma. The Mountaineers could win all four or lose all four. It’s a coin flip at this point. I’m leaning towards WVU losing the majority of those games so Holgorsen will have to wait another year for a chance at a Big 12 title.
Who do you believe will be the biggest college football disappointments of 2018? Leave your answers in the comments.