Winning double digit games is still one of the most obvious measures of success in college football. The question is should it be? With games against FCS opponents, conference championship games and now a playoff it is easier than ever to hit that total. In fact 29 teams had 10 or more victories last season. That is 22% of all of the FBS teams. Whether those minimum 10 wins make a program elite or not can be debated, but here are four teams we’re confident can get there in 2016. Of course, there is no sense in including Alabama here as they’re basically a perennial lock to get there.
Ohio State Buckeyes
The Buckeyes may be losing a lot of talent to the NFL this season, but that is a regular occurrence in Columbus. Urban Meyer and company are used to that. The reason they are a good bet to get over that 10 win mark once again is that this team is reloading all the time thanks to great recruiting classes and they are very set at the most important position on the field: quarterback. This year, quarterback J.T. Barrett will not be looking over his shoulder at all after having to deal with Cardale Jones and Braxton Miller in previous years. When that position is sound, there is no reason to think a premier program like Ohio State will underperform (as they did last year). A visit to Oklahoma will be a test, but they get Michigan at home this season and Michigan State could be on a down year. A championship game and bowl appearance are very likely for the Buckeyes, which means they’ll get to double-digit wins in college football next year.
Boise State Broncos
Last year was not a great season but this program has won 10 or more games 13 times since 1999. It helps that they play in the Mountain West Conference where (most of the time) they are the bullies on the block. This year’s team is not going to be a playoff Cinderella, but they will definitely be a threat to win 10 or more. Remember, this isn’t a huge stretch for them. Even though they didn’t have a great year last year, they did win nine games. This season, the schedule is pretty manageable. They do take on a couple of Pac-12 teams but Oregon State and Washington State could both prove to be wins for them. Even if they split in that spot, there are more than enough games against the light Mountain West teams to get to double digits. Like Ohio State, a title game appearance and a college football bowl are very likely.
Michigan Wolverines
Jim Harbaugh has certainly Michigan pointed in the right direction and they seem to be going forward at warp speed. No one expected them to win 10 games last season. Last year was supposed to be a rebuilding year and this year, the only team that might beat them are the Buckeyes above. They have a very soft non-conference college football schedule and their conference slate is totally manageable. Even if they lose at Ohio State, there are enough games for this to get to this total. They just completed a monster recruiting season and should be better in the second year of the Harbaugh era.
Florida Gators
This is a bet on the Gators being better as well as a bet on the SEC East not being all that strong. Florida should be better on offense this season as they, too, are more accustomed to what their coach wants in his second season. At the same time, perhaps only Tennessee is a real threat to them. All of the other teams are kind of down or in transition. The draw they get from the West is not easy but not terrible. LSU has to come to Gainesville and Florida also goes to Arkansas, another team that is likely down this year. Factor in the schedule they have along with some incremental improvement, and this team should be in the college football playoff race and getting to double-digit wins easily.
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