The Boise State Broncos are entering 2014 with Bryan Harsin roaming the sidelines as head coach—the first head coach not named Chris Petersen since the 2005 season. Harsin was brought in from Arkansas State (offensive coordinator), although he was once a part of the Broncos’ organization.
Last season was quite the memorable one for the Blue Devils on the gridiron. They wound up winning the Coastal division before taking on Florida State in the ACC Championship game.
The Arizona State Sun Devils are the reigning champions of the Pac-12 South Division, and while they’ll compete for those honors again in 2014, the Pac-12 is becoming an increasingly difficult conference to play in.
There are whispers that coach Frank Beamer is losing his touch because after 8 seasons with 10 or more wins they have won 7 and 8 the last two seasons.
This seems like the perfect season for North Carolina to take the Coastal Division in the ACC. They finished last year strong, have a number of key returning players and their strongest competition are down.
The Utah Utes are in a unique position entering the 2014 college football season. They should be improved following their second year in the Pac-12, but they’re still a ways away from competing for a title in one of the toughest conferences in the country.
The Washington State Cougars have begun making strides under head coach Mike Leach. Despite going 3-9 (1-8 in conference) two years ago in Leach’s inaugural season, the team went 6-7 (4-5 in conference) in 2013, giving it the momentum it needs to creep back into relevancy for the second straight year.
At various times in their history Pitt has been among the top teams in the country…but it has been a long time since Marino and Dorsett have been on campus.
Boston College used to be one of those consistently good but not great programs and with coach Steve Addazio on board it looks like they can probably get back to that level.
It is hard to picture how they did it but Wake Forest won the ACC and played in the Orange Bowl back in 2006. It turned out to be a serious outlier as the program slowly but surely fell back to earth, ultimately costing coach Jim Grobe his job.
Steve Sarkisian is out, but he left a whole bunch of talent for Chris Petersen to work with in the new head coach’s first year roaming the sidelines for the University of Washington Huskies.
Given their fertile recruiting grounds it seems like only a matter of time before the Hurricanes have a Florida State like renaissance.
NC State is looking to snap an eight game losing streak coming into the season. The program snatched up Dave Doeren his first year on campus was hardly a success.
The Michael Sam narrative and the sociological strides that are occurring in all zones of society – including high-level competitive sports – dominated the press this past offseason when it came to the Missouri Tigers.
It must seem like a long time since stars like Peyton Manning, Peerless Price, Jamal Lewis, Al Wilson and Eric Berry graced Rocky Top.
There may not be a tougher SEC team to predict this season than the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The Bulldogs closed out last year with a 7-6 record, with a 3-5 record versus in-conference foes. The record also included two narrow OT wins against Arkansas and rival Ole Miss near the end of the campaign.
