Who are your teams that might surprise and get into the playoffs, that nobody is expecting, that is...?? Here's a few myself and some fellow fans were throwing around...

Miami - They got a great D and a couple of young studs coming in to strengthen their O backfield. If they beat LSU in the first game of the season...whoa...ol Mark might be headed to a possible game with his old team!

Michigan - I don't think the nation realizes how big it was for Shea Patterson to be allowed to play this season. This is going to be a dangerous team.

South Carolina - UGA is the best team in the SEC. Is Bama the second best, or...the third? I'll get horse laughed for this, but our game against the Cocks in game 2 is huge...bigger than anyone wants to admit. This team is loaded. They don't have the stars that us and Bama have, but they return a lot of talent and a steady, if not spectaculor, QB. If we get by them, it's smooth sailing for us. But if they take us down, this team will have a mountain of momentum and I can easily see them getting to the SECCG

Add too or take away?

I could see Miami being a real factor in the ACC. I can't see Michigan as being a darkhorse, not yet anyway.
I think the honeymoon with Harbaugh is about over,btw.

A team from the Pac might be in the round of four but I did not see a dominating D line, and I mean not close, in that conference last year.

South Carolina? Perhaps! I think Ole Will might have it going over there.

Alapahablue1 said:

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I could see Miami being a real factor in the ACC. I can't see Michigan as being a darkhorse, not yet anyway.
I think the honeymoon with Harbaugh is about over,btw.

A team from the Pac might be in the round of four but I did not see a dominating D line, and I mean not close, in that conference last year.

South Carolina? Perhaps! I think Ole Will might have it going over there.

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I think Patterson gives Michigan a puncher's chance. Michigan reminds me a lot of Florida over the past few years, where they just couldn't ever get consistent play out of the quarterback position. Patterson could potentially be a difference-maker there where they could really compete in the Big Ten. Not saying they will, necessarily, but I think they have a chance.

I really don't see South Carolina at all. From a personell standpoint, I think Auburn has a better chance than LSU, but I'm not impressed with either head coach.

Maybe Miami, the LSU game is huge for them in that regard.
No way will Michigan make it. They're a joke. Harbaugh, despite all his blather, is one of the most overrated coaches in college football. They didn't beat anyone worth a flip last year and won't this year.
Ditto South Carolina. We played them close last year only because it was a true "trap game" (between Fla & Aub) and we made a couple glaring errors that couldda/shouldda blown that one wide open.

The Big 10 will get a lot of sympathy for being shut out last year, so don't be surprised, if OSU & PSU have good seasons again, to hear talk about 2 B10 teams going.

Similarly, if the Pac-12 winner comes out with only 1 loss, they'll get some hype as well.

Another dark horse would be TCU or Okl St if they can get by Oklahoma.

Darindawg said:

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Who are your teams that might surprise and get into the playoffs, that nobody is expecting, that is...??

Add too or take away?

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Last season 4 of the Top 15 teams (i.e., Alabama #1, Clemson #5, Oklahoma #7, and UGA #15) ranked in the preseason AP Poll participated in the college football playoffs. Since all of these programs had top 16 team talent (i.e., Alabama #1, UGA #4, Clemson #9, and Oklahoma #16) based on recruiting rankings the previous 5 years, none of them did I consider darkhorses like Central Florida (who wasn't ranked in the preseason Top 25 and was ranked #55 in team talent, yet finished the season 13-0 and ranked #6 in the final AP Poll).

Looking ahead to the upcoming season, these teams are ranked in the composite (i.e., CBS Sports, ESPN, Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, The Athletic, USA Today) post-spring Top 25 poll:

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Ohio State
4. UGA
5. Wisconsin
6. Washington
7. Oklahoma
8. Miami [FL]
9. Michigan State
T10. Michigan
T10. Penn State
12. Auburn
13. Stanford
14. TCU
15. Notre Dame
16. Mississippi State
17. West Virginia
18. Virginia Tech
19. Central Florida
20. Southern Cal
21. Boise State
22. Texas
23. LSU
24. Oregon
25. FAU

By definition darkhorse is "a candidate or competitor about whom little is known but unexpectedly wins or succeeds. Excluding top 15 teams ranked in the 2018 post-spring Top 25 poll, I'd say my Katy Perry "Dark Horse" picks are West Virginia (Will Grier is a very good QB), Texas, and Nebraska (w/ new HC Scott Frost).

Vanderbilt, Tech, Illinois and Georgia Southern