Your Top Sleeper

[Eric]

Since we're almost at that time of year where we can sense the season coming, who do you guys like as sleepers to make a run at a BCS bowl game this year?

I've been hearing all sorts of talk about Arizona State, but I have three reservations. First off, the vibe is that Dennis Erickson is stale. ASU hasn't done anything for the last three seasons (15-21 overall). In addition to this, there is also the quarterback play. Steven Threet is out due to concussions and Brock Osweiller was a big recruit but has so far been unimpressive. Thirdly, the schedule. They get 9 Pac-12 games in addition to Missouri and Illinois on the road. So that could hamper a potential at-large BCS bid. The positive is that they get 19 starters back and play in the lesser of the two divisions.

Florida State is competent QB play away from being a sleeper national title contender and I think they'll get that from EJ Manuel. It may be presumptuous, but I think they are the heavy favorite to win the ACC.

I don't like Butch Jones as a coach, but I believe Cincinnati will be on the up-and-up. They finished 4-8 a year ago, so I think a four-game improvement and competing for a conference title would qualify them as a sleeper. I think West Virginia and Pitt could also be top 15 teams by year's end.

Mississippi State has also been getting a lot of attention and for good reason. They should go 4-0 in non-conference play, so I think a 9-3 season is very likely. Possibly 10-2 and I think they can easily compete for the SEC championship this year if they catch some breaks.


Okay, so after rambling a little bit, I'll address the point of the topic. I like Mississippi State to be my sleeper team that sneaks into the BCS, most likely as an at-large.

[donovan]

The big sleeper may well be Stanford. Harbaugh is gone but Shaw is also a disciplinarian. They have reloaded well and sometimes when you have the talent a bunch of smart kids figure out what needs to be done. I predict they will win the Pac whatever the number is.

[Dossenator]

Mississippi State will have to get by Bama, LSU, and Arkansas (all in their division of the SEC). I don't see that happening. They do get Bama and LSU at home...but they will be on the road for the Arkansas game. They also have to play Georgia on the road. I think they go 8-3 or 9-4 and lose to the 4 teams I mentioned (with a possible loss to South Carolina).

I have gone to a couple of Arkansas practices this past week. Man they are BIG, STRONG, PHYSICAL, and FAST on the defensive line (and they have tons of depth. The defense overall will be VERY good. The offense has a little work to do on the o-line, but I think they will be fine. This is the best Arkansas team I have ever seen in person from top to bottom, and Tyler Wilson is the real deal at QB. I think if they Hogs get by Bama in week 4 they may go undefeated. This is the first time in my life I have ever actually believed the Razorbacks have a legit chance at going undefeated. I can't wait for this season.

[RazorHawk]

Mississippi State will have to get by Bama, LSU, and Arkansas (all in their division of the SEC). I don't see that happening. They do get Bama and LSU at home...but they will be on the road for the Arkansas game. They also have to play Georgia on the road. I think they go 8-3 or 9-4 and lose to the 4 teams I mentioned (with a possible loss to South Carolina).

I have gone to a couple of Arkansas practices this past week. Man they are BIG, STRONG, PHYSICAL, and FAST on the defensive line (and they have tons of depth. The defense overall will be VERY good. The offense has a little work to do on the o-line, but I think they will be fine. This is the best Arkansas team I have ever seen in person from top to bottom, and Tyler Wilson is the real deal at QB. I think if they Hogs get by Bama in week 4 they may go undefeated. This is the first time in my life I have ever actually believed the Razorbacks have a legit chance at going undefeated. I can't wait for this season.

Stop that kind of talk. The Hogs will rip your heart out. Remember Stoernerover?

[GoBoilers]

Depends on how you define "sleeper". Texas could get all the way back or they may be a dawg again. Hard to fathom someone falling that far not bouncing back big.

[RazorHawk]

Depends on how you define "sleeper". Texas could get all the way back or they may be a dawg again. Hard to fathom someone falling that far not bouncing back big.

Totally agree. I am sure they still have been getting better talent than the majority of schools.

[Dossenator]

Mississippi State will have to get by Bama, LSU, and Arkansas (all in their division of the SEC). I don't see that happening. They do get Bama and LSU at home...but they will be on the road for the Arkansas game. They also have to play Georgia on the road. I think they go 8-3 or 9-4 and lose to the 4 teams I mentioned (with a possible loss to South Carolina).

I have gone to a couple of Arkansas practices this past week. Man they are BIG, STRONG, PHYSICAL, and FAST on the defensive line (and they have tons of depth. The defense overall will be VERY good. The offense has a little work to do on the o-line, but I think they will be fine. This is the best Arkansas team I have ever seen in person from top to bottom, and Tyler Wilson is the real deal at QB. I think if they Hogs get by Bama in week 4 they may go undefeated. This is the first time in my life I have ever actually believed the Razorbacks have a legit chance at going undefeated. I can't wait for this season.

Stop that kind of talk. The Hogs will rip your heart out. Remember Stoernerover?

I did knock on wood right after I posted. The difference in 1998 and this year is drastic in the way of talent and depth. No one thought going into 1998 that the Hogs had a shot at an undefeated season....after an 8-0 start that year most were shocked (including myself). They may lose several games this year. If they do it will be on the coaches. This team is loaded on both sides of the ball. The d-line are grown men (WOW they are big and can move). Bequette and Tank (Wright) have been playing some at linebacker (both are stud Defensive ends). We are going to see some new looks this year on defense. If the o-line gels then the skies the limits. The weak point on the team will be o-line depth (if a starter gets hurt then the Hogs will have to rely on untested guys to fill in...and that right there could very well cost them a game or two).

[Derek]

Sleepers IMO:

SEC: South Carolina
ACC: Florida State

Conferences that I don't follow much, but will make an educated guess

Pac-10: Oregon State
Big-10: Iowa

[Brian Roastbeef]

As far as BCS sleepers, Syracuse and Pitt both have the talent to find themselves in the running late. If only the Big East doesn't round-robin themselves out of contention as they do most seasons.

I'll also second/third/whatever the Florida State guesses in the ACC. They've been working hard to regain their old status, and they could finally be there.

[donovan]

Sleepers IMO:

SEC: South Carolina
ACC: Florida State

Conferences that I don't follow much, but will make an educated guess

Pac-10: Oregon State
Big-10: Iowa

I think Oregon State is a very good sleeper pick.

[Eric]

As far as BCS sleepers, Syracuse and Pitt both have the talent to find themselves in the running late. If only the Big East doesn't round-robin themselves out of contention as they do most seasons.

I'll also second/third/whatever the Florida State guesses in the ACC. They've been working hard to regain their old status, and they could finally be there.

I think both Pitt and West Virginia will be a lot of fun to watch. They both brought in high-octane offensive gurus and I think over time it will work to their benefit. I said earlier that Pitt could be a top 15 team, but I think I meant to say that they could be of that caliber. They have a difficult schedule (with Notre Dame, Iowa, and Utah in the OOC). 8-4 seems like a likely finish.

I think for a non-BCS team to come out of nowhere and make a bowl game much like Idaho in 2009 or Florida International this year, I've got three candidates: Utah State, Bowling Green, and Louisiana Tech. La Tech is by far the best out of the group, but their non-conference schedule is so difficult that they will begin the year on the bowl bubble (Southern Miss, Houston, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss). Utah State has to pull off an upset or two to get to 6-6, but they have been building for a while now. And Bowling Green has a favorable schedule and decent talent base.

[Cane from the Bend]

Depends on how you define "sleeper". Texas could get all the way back or they may be a dawg again. Hard to fathom someone falling that far not bouncing back big.

Try telling that to a Hurricanes fan: same problems as Texas had last year . . . QB issues, and we've been experiencing them since Dorsey left.

Sleepers IMO:

SEC: South Carolina
ACC: Florida State

Conferences that I don't follow much, but will make an educated guess

Pac-10: Oregon State
Big-10: Iowa

I like the South Carolina, Oregon State, and Iowa picks here . . . but FSU as a sleeper is a misnomer.

Florida State played for the ACC title last year. I think if you are talking about teams from the ACC who have a chance to play in a BCS bowl game, and you don't include the `noles, then you're either overlooking them, or are leaving them out for bias.

On-the-other-hand , if you are saying that FSU has an outside shot at playing for "all of the marbles" . . . then, yeah, I guess they may be a sleeper team. The ACC does like to ruin things for each-other, rather consistently.



As for my personal take on sleepers; as much as I hate to admit this, notre dame has a chance of making a BCS appearance @ the end of this season.

And with the softer slide in the SEC east; florida could potentially make the Conference Championship game. Though, I'd take So Carolina over them first, and even if the gators were to make it to the SEC finale, the west representative with slosh `em.


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[Vileborg]

I'm going to say Virginia Tech has a chance of being a sleeper. I understand all of you would then say that's no surprise but I disagree.

Virginia Tech lost it's starting quarterback. Logan Thomas (6'6") starter came to Tech as a WR. He didn't even want to play QB. They begged him to try it out for a few weeks and it stuck. He's seen very little game time. What he did see was promising but he's still untested and they had to create a whole new package for him.

We lost both our 1000 yard rushers at the same time. Both we're exceptional between the tackles. David Wilson who everyone is touting is not an inside man. You get him into space and he'll make people miss and run by people but he can't run between the tackles. We need a short yardage back and I don't know that we have one.

The receiving corp and the O-Line are probably the only two guarantees. The receivers are some of the best I've seen and I'm sure many of them will end up playing on Sunday. Even if Thomas isn't very accurate the receivers are excellent play makers and could make him look acceptable.
The offensive Line has seen two injuries already in camp. They should be back in time for the season and if they are the O-Line will be a strength as they are all 3rd and 4th year starters.

The defense got burned repeatedly last year. Last year could have been a national title run had the defense been it's usual self. The corners are expected to be lights out but for the most part the defense is an unknown.

Who will be the new punter and kickers? Looks like one of the WR's might end up being the punter. Neither position will have had any starts prior to opening day.

The coaching staff at Virginia Tech is exceptional. They have repeatedly taken lesser touted and ranked players and competed on a top tier level. They are finally starting to get those quality four and five star recruits. They've replaced the most predictable play caller in the history of college football this off-season so that's a positive. I have a lot of faith in this coaching staff. The schedule is light enough that if they get started they could very well run all the way to the ACC title game but there are too many unknowns. Their first test is on opening day against App St. who we all know is capable of handling a top tier Div 1 team.

[billybud]

I say VT..

They have more consecutive 10 win seasons then any team in America, yet are not mentioned as a possible NC contender. Win those two extra games, and they might be there.

If FSU gets by Oklahoma, I say that the Noles are a sleeper.

[Cane from the Bend]

If FSU gets by Oklahoma, I say that the Noles are a sleeper.

If the `Noles get by Oklahoma, they might be a shoe-in.

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