10 College Football Teams with the Most to Gain This Offseason

Eight months off is more beneficial for some college football programs than it is for others.

Indeed, the offseason provides inherent opportunity for some squads while it presents difficulties for another group.

In reality, it’s all about how you left the previous season, what you need to do during your break and the forecast for next year.

The following slideshow pinpoints 10 college football teams with the most to gain during the current offseason which serves as a delicious precursor to the 2012 season.

Some need the time to heal, many need therapeutic treatments to forget the ugliness of last season and others need the respite to formulate a plan to turn a somewhat hidden gold mine into a means to shock the world.

Texas Tech

One way to explain why Texas Tech won only five games in 2012 is the fact that it suffered 24 injuries in 2011, and of these 18 required surgery.

Pile on top of the losses due to injury the Red Raiders youth in 2011 (Phil Steele ranked them No. 99 nationally in experience), and you’ve got a case for an understandable, but no less devastating, losing campaign.

Texas Tech desperately needs the eight-month offseason first to allow the injured players to heal. Of the 18 surgeries, five were ACL tears to key players who won’t be ready until fall practice.

Secondly, after last season's inherent inexperience, this year the Red Raiders will return one of the most seasoned (a word I use loosely) squads in the nation with 20 returning starters.

The number, again according to Senor Steele, gives Tech the No. 1 ranking in the Big 12 and the No. 2 slot nationally in terms of returnees.

All this adds up to Tech needing time to fine tune the experienced lads, heal the hurt ones and then putting it all together for what could be a shocking 2012.

Penn State

It would be difficult to find a group more in need of clock ticks than the Nittany Lions.

Yes, every second that passes, every moment that is registered and every hour that goes by separates the 2012 Penn State football team from what happened off the field in 2011.

And this means that the eight months that fall between the sound of the final whistle last year and the first shrill call of next season are precious to those in need of passing time.

The current offseason not only provides distance for a program desperately in need of it, but it also allows Bill O’Brien and his new staff the time to begin to settle in to one of the most precarious situations in the history of coaching.

Clemson

Though you could make a solid argument for West Virginia being on this list, really Clemson has the most to gain in the offseason due to the lopsided Orange Bowl fiasco (or triumph, depending on who you ask).

On one hand Clemson has eight long months to stew about the 70-33 catastrophe, while on the other hand, they have eight long months dedicated to working towards the opportunity to erase it from memory.

Yes, the Tigers have to be suffering, but what better fuel to add to a growing fire than that of a bad January memory that can only be erased with wins in September?

Though you might question the logic, one concrete fact remains…Clemson won’t be overconfident coming into 2012, and even though they turned a bunch of heads last season, they’ll still be playing hungry…real hungry.

This same logic applies to LSU who won bigger and then lost bigger.

South Florida

In his third season at the helm, Skip Holtz will have a cupboard overflowing with experienced talent.

In all, the Bulls return 18 starters in 2012 from a team that was young but did everything fairly well (statistically speaking), with the exception of defending the pass where they ranked No. 83 nationally.

USF will benefit from the inevitable interim for two key reasons, the first being that they can utilize their practice time to tweak rather than teach a group of youngsters an entirely new system.

Secondly, the Bulls are prepping for a one-time, one-year reduction in Big East membership, which means that they are sitting on a golden opportunity that may never happen again.

USF has only been fielding a football team since 1997 and never once has won a title…2012 could be that year.

Prepare accordingly.

Illinois

Illinois is the kind of program that is due for the injection of positive thinking that Michigan received last offseason via the hire of Brady Hoke.

Tim Beckman takes over a team that other than a nine-win blip in 2007 hasn’t seen any palpable success in well over a decade.

The Illini return only 14 starters in 2012, but seven return from a defense that was the highlight of last year’s 7-6 product.

Illinois hasn’t necessarily recruited lights-out, but it’s long been a program that has been on the verge of something better.

And this scenario looks even more possible given the fact that the Leaders division is up in the air due to Ohio State’s postseason ban, Wisconsin’s rebuilding project and the overall unsure picture at Penn State.

The Illini could gain a bunch of momentum this offseason as they welcome a new coach and enter an era where they could finally, at long last make a serious splash in the bigger Big Ten.

UCLA

The Bruins are in a similar situation as is Illinois this offseason: new coach, new attitude and hopefully a new lease on life.

The big difference between UCLA and the Illini coming into 2012 is the talent pool.

Yes, Jim Mora and Tim Beckman are walking into completely different, yet eerily similar situations. And though their approaches in the offseason may be comparable, Mora may have an easier road because of available ability.

The 2012 Bruins consist of what was originally ranked (per Rivals.com) the No. 14 class of 2009), the No. 8 class of 2010, the No. 45 group from 2011 and No. 13 bunch from 2012.

The offseason in Westwood could produce huge gains in September if Mora and company can transform perceptions and orchestrate a talented bunch of individuals into a winning team.

Eight months isn’t a lot of time, but it may be enough to get it done.

Utah

After Utah dropped its first four consecutive Pac-12 games in 2011, it was easy to lose any sense of anticipation about how a powerhouse from a non BCS conference would fare in the big leagues.

So, what happens next?

Do the Utes hide under the nearest rock, and hope no one will watch them continue to struggle up where they may not really belong?

Or, instead to they take the experience gained from Pac-12 season No. 1 and rethink, rework and retrain in the offseason?

Utah has a bundle to gain in the current “in between” period as they, unlike TCU this season, know exactly what they are getting into.

Florida

After struggling to a very non-Gator like 7-6 finish in 2011, it’s difficult to find any Florida fanatics that are convinced that Will Muschamp is the man for the job in Gainesville.

Yes, with all that talent and all those resources how do you win only three conference games and rank No. 71 nationally in scoring offense?

Muschamp needs the 2012 offseason to use what he learned in 2011 to turn the tides at Florida. And, if he wants to stay employed, he has to do it quickly and effectively.

In young Will’s favor, the Gators return a whopping 18 starters from 2011, most importantly 10 members of a very good defense will be back on campus which can’t hurt.

On top of this Florida is stacked with top-tier talent, and if Muschamp can pull the correct strings, he and his team could be making beautiful music.

The Gators are a sleeping giant, but the coaching staff has to find a way to wake them up during the offseason if they’re ever going to scare anyone.

Tennessee

Though Derek Dooley might need the offseason as a means to keep earning a paycheck, the Vols needs are greater than just simple job security.

Tennessee’s 5-7 performance in 2011 inspired little confidence that the program is moving in the right direction, and that fact is even more disturbing given the amount of talent the Vols have stockpiled.

According to Rivals.com, the 2012 Volunteer squad consists of the No. 10 ranked class of 2009 (technically your seniors), the No. 9 class from 2010, the No. 13 class of 2011 and then the No. 18 class of 2012.

Add to this 20 returning starters in 2012, and you’ve got a case that if Tennessee will ever be good under Dooley this is this the year to find out.

The Volunteers desperately need the offseason to put their potential freight train on the right track, which leads them rapidly down the 2012 rails that lead to being a part of the SEC title conversation.

Orange pants look far more attractive during wins than during losses.

Boston College

Boston College’s 4-8 performance in 2011 fell way short of the stuff that dreams are made of, but that doesn’t mean its all frowns and sobs in the land of the soaring Eagle.

BC’s wins last season were over then-FCS UMass, Maryland, NC State and Miami, FL, and then it’s important to note that they lost to Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Duke and Northwestern by seven points or less.

Add to this somewhat positive spin the fact the Eagles return 19 starters in 2012 (tied for No. 4 nationally), and you start to wonder what BC could do next season.

Yes, what if they use the cover and space of the offseason to build on what looks like (on the surface) a shaky foundation (when in reality it has at least a few bricks involved) and come out with a winner in 2012?

What if Boston College is 2012’s version of the 2011 Clemson Tigers?

And what if they’re only one hell of an offseason away from getting it done?