The months leading up to the college football season are loaded with optimism as teams prepare for a new year with the expectation that they will succeed. However, it doesn’t take long for those perceptions to change as every year there are a handful of disappointments that fail to deliver. Here is a look at which team projects to be the worst from every Power Five conference.
ACC: Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Wake Forest has managed to scrape out two ACC wins without scoring a single touchdown over the last two years including last season’s brutal 3-0 win over Boston College. Even with that victory, the Demon Deacons still posted a 1-7 mark in ACC play and a 3-9 record overall. Their best chance at a conference win will likely be their date with BC on November 26th but even if they get that victory it won’t be enough to scrape out of the conference basement. It doesn’t help that they play in the same division as Clemson, Florida State and Louisville but ultimately it will be a simple lack of talent that keeps Wake Forest at the bottom of the ACC this season.
Big Ten: Purdue Boilermakers
The Boilermakers will match Rutgers for the most returning starters in the Big Ten this season. However, it will be the same group that was outscored 297-180 in conference play with just a single win over Big Ten competition in eight tries. Purdue will be in tough to improve on its 2-10 record from a year ago, especially with a tough schedule that includes home games against Iowa, Penn State, Northeastern and Wisconsin. The Boilermakers could once again be destined for another disappointing season in the Big Ten basement.
Big 12: Kansas Jayhawks
Kansas could improve on last year’s performance and still finish in the Big 12 basement because they have a tough schedule and a long way to go before the team will be able to contend in the Big 12. The Jayhawks went 0-12 last season including a 0-9 record in conference play to finish in the cellar of the Big 12 for the second year in a row. Kansas has now dropped 15 straight games overall and is 4-57 in the Big 12 since 2009. There is definitely potential for improvement under second-year head coach David Beaty, but remember, that the only way for this team is up. They literally can’t get any worse. That being said, even then the Jayhawks will be destined for the Big 12 basement.
Pac-12: Oregon State Beavers
There is a good chance that the Pac-12 clash between Oregon State and Colorado determines which team will finish at the bottom of the conference for the second year in a row. Colorado came out on top in their 2015 meeting with a 17-13 win that ended a 14-game losing streak inside the conference. This time around, the Beavers will be looking to improve on their 19 points per game scoring average in which they failed to score more than 13 points in half of their outings. Oregon State won’t win many games never year and its showdown with Colorado will determine whether or not the team finishes in the conference basement.
SEC: Vanderbilt Commodores
The reality is that Vanderbilt could field a competitive team and still struggle to climb out of the basement in a loaded SEC this season. The best league in the FBS is absolutely loaded from top to bottom and the Commodores will once again be in tough to build on last year’s record after posting a 2-6 record in conference play. When you look at their performance in those conference games, they only beat Missouri, who was having a terrible year, and Kentucky, who is also an SEC cellar dweller. They lost 25-0 to Texas A&M, 53-28 to Tennessee, 19-10 to South Carolina, and 27-16 to Ole Miss, which is not encouraging. What’s worse is how they finished the year, losing four of five by a count of 138-56.
Winning on the road could be the key to making a move after they posted an 0-4 record as the visiting team in SEC games last season but it won’t be expected with Vanderbilt once again projected to finish at the bottom of the SEC.
