We’re gearing up for bowl season to start on Friday. Crazy to think that another year of college football is in the books, but it has been a memorable season for sure. It started with grand expectations of Alabama-Clemson Round 5, and has since shifted towards LSU-Ohio State. Not something I would’ve projected back in August, but that’s why they play the damn games, folks.
Part of the fun (or agony if you’re getting paid to analyze football) of watching a season unfold is watching all of the ways that our thought-out predictions can be turned upside-down. That’s why I’m here today to discuss what I consider to be the biggest disappointments in all of college football in 2019.
THE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS OF THE 2019 COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON
Texas Longhorns – The Longhorns started the season ranked inside the top 10, but finished the year 3-4. THREE AND FOUR…..for a program that was considered to be a dark horse playoff contender. Maybe we jumped the gun on that one, huh? They finished fifth in the Big 12. That’s right – Kansas State finished ahead of Texas. Can’t help but think of 2019 as a let down if you’re a Texas fan.
Nebraska Cornhuskers – The hype for this program heading into 2019 felt a little insane to begin with. Then, when they lost to Colorado in Week 2, we were all thinking, “uhhhh did we jump the gun here?” They finished out 2019 1-5 including losses to Indiana and Purdue. Maybe this is too tall a task even for the heralded Scott Frost.
Michigan State Spartans – Five straight losses completely derailed the Spartans season, and forced them into having to win their last two just to get to bowl eligibility. I don’t think anyone expected them to challenge for the Big Ten title, but 5th in the Big Ten East is definitely not where we had this team pegged heading into the season.
Florida State Seminoles – Sure, the ‘Noles ended up in the Sun Bowl against a quality opponent in Arizona State. But, don’t let that disguise what a dumpster fire this season was.
Stanford Cardinal – What the hell happened to David Shaw’s program? 6th place in the Pac-12 North….folks, there are only six teams in the Pac-12 North. How on Earth did this team beat Washington?
Miami Hurricanes – Look, no one thought this team was going to be competing for a playoff spot, but the ACC Coastal was there for the taking this year, and the Canes just didn’t show up on a consistent basis. Quality wins over Virginia and Pitt were negated by bad losses to Florida International and Duke. But, hey – they’re still going to play Louisiana Tech in the Independence Bowl…
Washington State Cougars – Just a year removed from an 11-2 season in which the Cougs were an Apple Cup victory away from the Pac-12 Championship game, they fell hard. 6-6 with no real shot at contending in the Pac-12, to be specific. They barely beat Oregon State (54-53), or else we wouldn’t even be talking about a bowl team.
Syracuse Orange – Anyone wanna remind me why we had this team in the preseason top 25? The Orange were blown out by Maryland, they beat a few middling ACC teams, and have ONE quality win on the season (if you want to call it that) in the finalé against Wake Forest.
Northwestern Wildcats – Boy….1-8 in the conference, 3-9 overall – this did not look like your typical Pat Fitzgerald coached team.
For my list of the biggest surprises in college football this season, click here.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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