College Football: Which of these 3-0 teams are for real? - RaychelSnr's Blog

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College Football: Which of these 3-0 teams are for real? Stuck

Posted on September 18, 2012 at 02:55 PM.

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Four powerhouse programs have found themselves at 3-0 to start the season. A quarter of the way to an undefeated season is no small feat for sure, but which teams over the next three months will be contending and which teams will be exposed as having been pretending come early December?

Notre Dame

The Case For: The Irish are extremely talented with a defense that is finally locking down other teams, and line play that is nothing short of impressive. Notre Dame, for the first time in quite awhile, looks to be on the verge of becoming a relevant contender in the National Title picture.

The Case Against: The Schedule. The Irish have to play Michigan, Stanford, Oklahoma, and USC still -- and that's just four of nine remaining games. Other dates include Pitt, BYU, and Miami, FL. Simply put, the schedule is too much for any team to hope to go 12-0.

Verdict: The Irish are for real, and are talented. Just the schedule is so impossible a great season will be just ok. They will beat one of their marquee teams left on the schedule, but they are going to stumble elsewhere. Look for a 8-4 or 9-3 season.

Texas

The Case For: Texas plays a different brand of football apart from the rest of the Big XII, and their hard nosed approach to football will be tested by high octane offenses of Oklahoma and West Virginia. However, David Ash has settled in as a true playmaker and the Longhorns have the best defense in the conference, the proving ground for Texas is in the next three games.

The Case Against: How much do we really know about Texas? They've played one of the worst SEC teams in Mississippi, they have beat up on cupcakes New Mexico and Wyoming, and the schedule is nothing but more difficult from here on out. Yeah, Texas has looked impressive but how will their top defense fare against three of the best offenses in the nation in Oklahoma State, West Virginia, and Oklahoma?

Verdict: Texas is much improved but they're going to trip up at least twice. I'm still calling for a 10-2 season from the Longhorns, which depending on who they beat could land them a conference title.

Stanford

The Case For: The Cardinal just beat up USC, who could've been the most talented team on the schedule. The defense has been stingy the past three weeks, and held the USC offense in check the whole game. If Stanford is going to win the Pac-12 and beyond, it will be because of their defense which is giving up just 41 rushing yards per game.

The Case Against: Josh Nuneshasn't been spectacular and he's going to be needed to win some tough Pac-12 road tests including at Washington, Oregon, and UCLA. A road test against Notre Dame is also on the docket. There isn't enough consistency yet to win week in and week out, although the win over USC is a nice early season surprise for the Cardinal.

Verdict: Not yet. We know David Shaw has the program rolling still, which is a great thing for Stanford. However, there is too much youth and too much schedule to get through. Stanford will win 8 or 9 games, but they won't be sniffing a Pac-12 title.

Florida

The Case For: The good times are rolling again in Gainesville. After a big win over Tennesseethe Gators look to have regained some big game swagger from their recent National Title runs. Florida has passed two early road tests already, Jeff Driskel has looked pretty good early on, and the ground game has been salty. Florida gained 555 yards against Tennessee, not bad for an offense still trying to find itself in the pre-season.

The Case Against: Florida plays three current Top Five teams, and another top ten team this season. The work in Gainesville is far from over. The defense has been solid, but Florida needed a strong second half to get to 3-0 by beating Texas A&M. While the Gators are enjoying early success, they have yet to go through even the toughest of their schedule.

Verdict: Too many games against too many good teams. Florida will finish below Georgia and South Carolina with around eight wins. The SEC East is actually quite soft comparatively, but don't tell too many people that, so there is room for movement on that call. The Gators won't challenge for the National Title but an SEC East crown is perfectly reasonable to shoot for.

Comments

# 1 Danknugmelo @ Sep 18

Hey, I remember this article from when I first read it on ESPN.com

# 2 SkillzKillz719 @ Sep 18

Not Notre Dame. They never are for real. lol.

We will laugh at considering them title contenders haha

# 3 SNashty3 @ Sep 18

Oh the irony of that coming from an Oregon St fan...

# 4 The_Gaming_Disciple @ Sep 19

You better show FLORIDA STATE SOME LOVE MAN!!!

# 5 SkillzKillz719 @ Sep 19

What? I didn't even understand the put-down.

We always underachieve when we are supposed to be good and vice versa.
I don't understand the irony.
Notre Dame, year in and year out, is always over-hyped.