College Football Teams Most Likely to Remain Undefeated in 2015
The 2015 college football season is only three weeks old, but the dreams of a perfect season are already dead and buried for several of the nation's top teams.
In Week 3 alone, defending SEC champion Alabama suffered a rare early-season defeat at its own stadium against a team that is looking more and more like a playoff contender. The upset bug also bit USC at home, forcing the Trojans to join Oregon as Pac-12 contenders that have already lost a game. Georgia Tech couldn't manage to keep up its brilliant offensive pace against a powerful and persevering Notre Dame squad.
And the first three weeks of the season have also been tough on some of the undefeated teams still left on the board. Ohio State, the first unanimous preseason No. 1 team in AP poll history, hasn't been impressive. Another Pac-12 contender, UCLA, had to come from behind to knock off a pesky BYU at home. The top teams in the Big 12 have stumbled at times to open 2015, joining a host of other Power Five programs.
With a quarter of the regular season down for the majority of teams in college football, here are the five teams with the best chances at staying undefeated in 2015. These five were chosen according to how their schedules set up for the rest of the season and the tests they've already passed in Weeks 1-3.
The chances of any team going unbeaten are looking slimmer with each upset-filled week in the unpredictable world of college football, but these five look to be in the best shape for a marathon run of the table.
Baylor
1 of 5
Current AP ranking: 5
Still left: vs. Oklahoma (Nov. 14), at Oklahoma State (Nov. 21), at TCU (Nov. 27)
As I wrote in July, Big 12 teams have an extra advantage over programs in almost every other conference in terms of going undefeated. Since the Big 12 doesn't have a conference championship game this season, a hypothetical unbeaten winner of this league only has to go 12-0 to be undefeated heading into the postseason.
According to ESPN, the team in the Big 12 that had the best preseason chances of going undefeated was Baylor, thanks in part to its easy nonconference schedule.
While Baylor hasn't had the easiest of routes through the first two games of the season—the tackling against FCS foe Lamar in Week 2 was particularly dreadful—the team with the nation's No. 1 offense is still the top pick out of the Big 12 to run the table.
Baylor's defense has struggled against weaker competition, but it's in a much better shape in terms of experience and health than the one at No. 3 TCU. Baylor also has an extra advantage on TCU in that it doesn't have to go to rising Oklahoma during what will be a brutal month of November.
The Bears offense should work some of its turnover issues out over the next few weeks with first-year starting quarterback Seth Russell. If the Baylor defense can turn it around and play like an experienced unit, then Baylor should be able to manage the easiest road of the Big 12's power trio.
Clemson
2 of 5
Current AP ranking: 11
Still left: vs. Notre Dame (Oct. 3), vs. Georgia Tech (Oct. 10), vs. Florida State (Nov. 7)
Clemson didn't exactly look like playoff material last Thursday night against Louisville, but the Tigers did emerge from their Week 3 test with a 3-0 record.
"We really haven't had any adversity the first couple of games. We really made it harder than it needed to be," Dabo Swinney told ESPN after the game, per Bleacher Report's Bryan Fischer. "We hung in there and had a lot of perseverance."
And with nine games left, the Tigers also have already passed what could be their toughest road test of the regular season—even though Louisville is sporting a tough 0-3 record at the moment. Clemson's four remaining games away from home are at Miami, NC State, Syracuse and South Carolina.
When looking at a Power Five team that could potentially run the table, Clemson fits the bill right now as a top team in one of the weaker conferences that has its toughest remaining games all at home—Notre Dame, Georgia Tech and Florida State.
The Clemson team that struggled to only put up a 20-17 win at Louisville last week will have a hard time navigating through the matchups against the Fighting Irish, Yellow Jackets and Seminoles, but all three of those big games are at home in Death Valley. That's an advantage few playoff contenders have at this point in the season.
Ohio State
3 of 5
Current AP ranking: 1
Still left: vs. Penn State (Oct. 17), vs. Michigan State (Nov. 21), at Michigan (Nov. 28)
Like Clemson, Ohio State was far from impressive in Week 3—the Buckeyes had to hold on to a dangerously close home game against MAC opponent Northern Illinois—but the defending national champions are still one of college football's best bets to go undefeated.
"There's a reason Ohio State's most significant foe going forward may be itself," Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports wrote. "The Buckeyes might be the most talented. They're certainly the most favored. That's the disappointment at this point. They're not playing like it."
If Ohio State can sort out its offensive issues, the road is still plenty favorable. An improving Penn State team that gave OSU an extremely tough game last season will be the first big test of the Big Ten slate in a few weeks, after the Buckeyes face Indiana and Maryland.
Then the slate drops off again with a road game at a struggling Rutgers program and matchups against Minnesota and Illinois before the back-to-back tests against Michigan State and Michigan. As the Michigan State game is looking more and more like a potential No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown, keep in mind that Ohio State will have home-field advantage for that one.
If Ohio State keeps playing like it did against NIU on Saturday, it won't get through what many have derided as an easy schedule with a perfect record. But the chances are still better than most for the nation's No. 1 team.
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Ole Miss
4 of 5
Current AP ranking: T-3
Still left: vs. Texas A&M (Oct. 24), vs. LSU (Nov. 21), at Mississippi State (Nov. 28)
Sure, this could be taken as a huge overreaction to Ole Miss' dramatic road victory at Alabama. But the Rebels that jumped 12 spots in this week's AP poll are now in fine position to make an undefeated run at a playoff spot.
"The ball bounced Ole Miss' way more than once Saturday, but this is a team that's talented enough, mature enough and confident enough to take this win and do something special with it," Chris Low of ESPN.com wrote. "And if they can handle their business the rest of the way, it will probably look like a masterpiece to the College Football Playoff selection committee when it's time to pick the four best teams."
Like Clemson, the toughest-looking conference games left for Ole Miss will be at home—matchups against SEC West foes Texas A&M and LSU. That's a bonus none of the teams in the Pac-12 South, the nation's other top division, have at the moment.
By knocking off Alabama away from home, Ole Miss has already conquered what many believed to be its toughest regular-season test. Its remaining road games? Cross-divisional matchup Florida, Group of Five power Memphis, struggling Auburn and then Mississippi State for the season-ending Egg Bowl.
Ole Miss has an explosive, top 10 offense and an extremely talented "Land Shark" defense that has done its part in helping force 10 turnovers in just three games. While getting through the SEC West won't be a walk in the park, the schedule starting to look a lot better for Ole Miss after its wild win in Tuscaloosa.
Toledo
5 of 5
Current AP ranking: Receiving Votes
Still left: at Ball State (Oct. 3), vs. Northern Illinois (Nov. 3), at Bowling Green (Nov. 17)
If you're looking for a Group of Five team who could make a serious run at an undefeated season following the slip-up from Boise State two weeks ago, look no further than #MACtion and the Toledo Rockets.
Toledo is coming off impressive back-to-back wins against a pair of Power Five opponents—Arkansas and Iowa State—and will wrap up its nonconference schedule in Week 4 with a home game against 1-2 Arkansas State.
An experienced Toledo defense has given up plenty of yards, something it will do from time to time in an offense-heavy MAC, but it has the second-best red-zone percentage in college football after holding Arkansas and Iowa State to just three scores on nine trips.
The offensive yardage hasn't been quite low for this undefeated outfit. However, the new-look Rockets attack should also start creating more big plays as the season continues. Now back from an early suspension, star running back Kareem Hunt will have plenty of chances to excel against upcoming conference opponents after rushing for 1,631 yards last season.
If Toledo can navigate through this weekend's game against Arkansas State and the early portion of its MAC schedule, the Rockets will grab some national spotlight with three straight Tuesday night games in November. The preseason favorites in the MAC's West division already look the part of potential New Year's Six spoilers.
Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.
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