NC State is hoping a new coach can get them out of mediocrity and hopefully bridge the gap that is growing between them and those folks in Chapel Hill lately. The guy they chose is Dave Doeren who came to Northern Illinois and didn’t screw up what others had built there.
The Sooners have their usual wealth of talent on the roster, but it’s unlikely that the transition from longtime starting QB Landry Jones to bulldozing goal-line threat Blake Bell will occur without some (likely considerable) growing pains.
Texas’s main advantage this season is being able to feature the most pedigreed, most accurate – and really, just downright best – QB in the Big 12, with junior David Ash. Ash had a poor outing against hated rival Oklahoma (which is mildly concerning) and TCU, but he played against the Horned Frogs while nursing a broken rib.
The Buffalo Bulls went 2-8 in 2010. They went 3-9 in 2011. In 2012, the Bulls went 4-8. The team has slowly been getting better, and expectations are definitely higher for the 2013 season. Jeff Quinn will have his most talented team since he has been here.
Kent State had a special season last year, but they’ll have to do it in 2013 without Darell Hazell who is now the head coach at Purdue. Hazell did an amazing job turning around this Kent State program, and losing him will almost certainly hurt this team.
Ball State used to be a perennial doormat in football, but that is no longer the case. The Cardinals put together a very good season in 2012. Ball State has been winning by outscoring its opponents. If they are going to take that next step toward a MAC title, they’ll have to be better on defense.
Western Kentucky made a ton of progress under head coach Willie Taggart, but Taggart took the head position at South Florida during the offseason. Western Kentucky decided they wanted to hire a big name, and they brought in Bobby Petrino to be their new coach.
The Eagles have fallen. From 1999 through 2010 they won at least 7 games every season but they have won just a total of 6 the last two seasons combined.
North Texas will make the jump from the Sun Belt up to Conference USA this year. A couple years ago this team was one of the worst in the nation, but Dan McCarney is doing a nice job putting the pieces of the puzzle back together slowly. Can North Texas continue to grow in a more difficult conference in 2013?
The Troy Trojans got very used to winning the Sun Belt Conference and dominating on an annual basis. The past two years something has gone very wrong. After winning five straight Sun Belt Conference titles between 2006 and 2010, the Trojans have won only eight games in the past two seasons combined.
Arkansas State is the defending champion in the Sun Belt Conference. The Red Wolves went 7-1 in the conference and 10-3 overall in 2012. Gus Malzahn left the team for Auburn after last season, and Bryan Harsin will get the chance as the team’s new head man.
Over the past couple of seasons, Oklahoma State has become more than just an offensive juggernaut that dumps points on the opposition. The Cowboys have a chance to be a very respectable defensive team in ’13, thanks to the athleticism of DT Calvin Barnett and LBs Shaun Lewis and Caleb Lavey.
How on earth could a team go from 12-2 to 0-12 in the next season?
The Southern Miss Golden Eagles managed to do that in 2012. Larry Fedora left for North Carolina and Ellis Johnson took over the Golden Eagles program. Johnson was let go after one season of futility.
The Ohio Bobcats started last season with a big win at Penn State and even entered the Top 25 at one point, but injuries held the team back, and they finished the MAC with just a 4-4 record. They did finish off the season with a very impressive 45-14 win in the Independence Bowl over Louisiana-Monroe.
Bowling Green has made a lot of progress in the last couple years, but this season’s team has the highest upside of any Bowling Green football team in a very long time. There are nine starters returning on offense and nine starters returning on defense.
Louisiana Tech had a very successful season in 2012, but they lost their head coach after the season. Sonny Dykes left for California in the offseason, but Louisiana Tech was able to bring in another big name head coach. Skip Holtz did a great job at East Carolina before struggling at USF.
