- Sep 8, 2014
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Five Big Teams Who Might Not Go Bowling
http://collegefootballnews.com/2017...regon-five-big-teams-who-might-not-go-bowling
If you’re on this list, your season isn’t going well no matter what, and you’re not having any fun.
These teams came into the season with realistic hopes of pushing for their respective division crowns and possibly a conference title, with the idea of going to a bowl game a foregone conclusion.
And they still might get there. But that’s not the point – this shouldn’t have been an issue.
These five are still likely to get a 13th game and the swag bag, but it’s now going to take a little bit of work. Worse yet, each has a likely scenario to keep them out of the big game fun.
5. Oregon
The Willie Taggart era has hit a snag. The defense is better than last year’s version, but the loss of star QB Justin Herbert has slowed the Ducks to a dead stop, losing to Washington State and Stanford by a combined score of 82-17.
At 4-3, Oregon just needs to win two more games. Win at UCLA this week, and it might be okay with Oregon State to finish the regular season off. In between it Utah, at Washington, Arizona. Oregon will likely lose those three.
4. Nebraska
No one was really expecting the Huskers to split the two huge home games against Wisconsin and Ohio State, but to lose by a combined score of 104-31 hurts.
Now at 3-4, needing to win three of the last five games to get to a bowl. Three of the next four games are on the road – Purdue, Minnesota and Penn State, with a home date against Northwestern – before finishing up against Iowa.
Uh-oh.
3. Louisville
Lost in the brilliance of Lamar Jackson has been a Louisville team that’s just terrible. There’s no defense, there’s little help for No. 8, and if the reigning Heisman-winner wasn’t so great, the Cardinals would likely be 2-5 right now with losses to Purdue and North Carolina as part of the equation.
After getting run over by Boston College, now the Cards have to deal with Florida State and Wake Forest on the road. Lose those two, and they’re 4-5, needing to win two of the last three against Virginia, Syracuse, and at Kentucky.
More than likely, the bowl hopes will come down to the rivalry date with UK.
Spicy.
2. Tennessee
56-9, no touchdowns in two games, and ugly home defeats against Georgia and South Carolina.
This isn’t going so great.
At 3-3, Tennessee and the Butch Jones era can do a stunning about-face if it pulls off a shocker against Alabama this week. That won’t happen.
At 3-4, the Vols have to go to Kentucky, then face Southern Miss, and then go to Missouri. They should more than likely win at least two of those three, and if they don’t, that’s it. If they do, they still have to deal with LSU and Vanderbilt at home.
They’ll get there – no one survives like Butch Jones – but it’s probably going to be tense.
1. Florida
I wrote about this last week, and now after the home loss to Texas A&M, it’s an even bigger problem for the two-time defending SEC champ.
The cancellation of the Northern Colorado game due to the hurricane nightmare is a possibly killer to bowl hopes – it’s going to be tough to get to six wins.
The Gators sit at 3-3 needing to win three of their last five games. Georgia is up next in two weeks, then road games at Missouri and South Carolina, then a home date against UAB, and then Florida State to finish things off.
They’ll probably beat Mizzou and a feisty UAB, but that gets them just to five wins.
They’re just good enough to win one of those three against UGA, USC and FSU, but they’re just mediocre enough to get blown out in all three games.
http://collegefootballnews.com/2017...regon-five-big-teams-who-might-not-go-bowling
If you’re on this list, your season isn’t going well no matter what, and you’re not having any fun.
These teams came into the season with realistic hopes of pushing for their respective division crowns and possibly a conference title, with the idea of going to a bowl game a foregone conclusion.
And they still might get there. But that’s not the point – this shouldn’t have been an issue.
These five are still likely to get a 13th game and the swag bag, but it’s now going to take a little bit of work. Worse yet, each has a likely scenario to keep them out of the big game fun.
5. Oregon
The Willie Taggart era has hit a snag. The defense is better than last year’s version, but the loss of star QB Justin Herbert has slowed the Ducks to a dead stop, losing to Washington State and Stanford by a combined score of 82-17.
At 4-3, Oregon just needs to win two more games. Win at UCLA this week, and it might be okay with Oregon State to finish the regular season off. In between it Utah, at Washington, Arizona. Oregon will likely lose those three.
4. Nebraska
No one was really expecting the Huskers to split the two huge home games against Wisconsin and Ohio State, but to lose by a combined score of 104-31 hurts.
Now at 3-4, needing to win three of the last five games to get to a bowl. Three of the next four games are on the road – Purdue, Minnesota and Penn State, with a home date against Northwestern – before finishing up against Iowa.
Uh-oh.
3. Louisville
Lost in the brilliance of Lamar Jackson has been a Louisville team that’s just terrible. There’s no defense, there’s little help for No. 8, and if the reigning Heisman-winner wasn’t so great, the Cardinals would likely be 2-5 right now with losses to Purdue and North Carolina as part of the equation.
After getting run over by Boston College, now the Cards have to deal with Florida State and Wake Forest on the road. Lose those two, and they’re 4-5, needing to win two of the last three against Virginia, Syracuse, and at Kentucky.
More than likely, the bowl hopes will come down to the rivalry date with UK.
Spicy.
2. Tennessee
56-9, no touchdowns in two games, and ugly home defeats against Georgia and South Carolina.
This isn’t going so great.
At 3-3, Tennessee and the Butch Jones era can do a stunning about-face if it pulls off a shocker against Alabama this week. That won’t happen.
At 3-4, the Vols have to go to Kentucky, then face Southern Miss, and then go to Missouri. They should more than likely win at least two of those three, and if they don’t, that’s it. If they do, they still have to deal with LSU and Vanderbilt at home.
They’ll get there – no one survives like Butch Jones – but it’s probably going to be tense.
1. Florida
I wrote about this last week, and now after the home loss to Texas A&M, it’s an even bigger problem for the two-time defending SEC champ.
The cancellation of the Northern Colorado game due to the hurricane nightmare is a possibly killer to bowl hopes – it’s going to be tough to get to six wins.
The Gators sit at 3-3 needing to win three of their last five games. Georgia is up next in two weeks, then road games at Missouri and South Carolina, then a home date against UAB, and then Florida State to finish things off.
They’ll probably beat Mizzou and a feisty UAB, but that gets them just to five wins.
They’re just good enough to win one of those three against UGA, USC and FSU, but they’re just mediocre enough to get blown out in all three games.
