College Football Teams That Will Have the Most Hype-Filled Offseason

College football has the longest offseason in major American sports, and with so much extra time to kill—and no meaningful results—we spend much of that time engaging in hype.

The elements of hyped teams can vary. For one, they couldn't have been too good the previous season. They need to be good-to-average and ready to leap to another level. And there needs to be reason to think they will.

Those reasons include ending the season on a high note, returning key players (namely quarterbacks) and enjoying the services of a respected head coach (especially one in his first three seasons).

Sound off below and let us know whom you would add.

Houston

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In head coach Tom Herman's first year, Houston reached the highest highs thought possible for a non-Power Five team. It dropped an ugly game against UConn late in the season, but that was without quarterback Greg Ward Jr., and then won the Peach Bowl over Florida State.

Despite being courted by bigger schools, Herman stayed at Houston for another year. He'll return to a team that retains its offensive nucleus—Ward and almost every receiver—and adds the biggest recruit in modern school history, 5-star defensive tackle Ed Oliver, on defense.

What's more, Houston opens the year with Oklahoma at NRG Stadium (home of the NFL's Houston Texans). In the second-to-last week of the season, it hosts Louisville. That gives the Cougars two chances for quality wins.

If they finish undefeated, they can realistically make the College Football Playoff. Crazy as that sounds, it's the truth. SB Nation's consensus Top 25, which averages the rankings from 13 different media sources, has Houston starting the offseason at No. 12, with Oklahoma at No. 3 and Louisville at No. 21.

Get ready for "Can Houston make the playoff?" hype.

It's coming, and it will dominate preseason headlines.

Michigan

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Year 1 under head coach Jim Harbaugh was a remarkable success.

Yes, Michigan lost the three hardest games on its schedule, including a blowout against Rival 1A (Ohio State) and a heartbreaker against Rival 1B (Michigan State), but the mood about the program has changed.

You can see that in Harbaugh's 2016 recruiting class, which currently ranks No. 2 in the country—one spot ahead of the Buckeyes and trailing only LSU. Metaphorically, that means Michigan is once again Michigan.Tangibly, it means Harbaugh is adding talent.

Beyond that, Michigan returns three players—cornerback Jourdan Lewis, defensive end Chris Wormley and tight end Jake Butt—that easily could have declared for the NFL draft. It also returns Jabrill Peppers and bruising running back De'Veon Smith. Jake Rudock leaves, but Houston transfer John O'Korn, who started as a freshman and spent this past year on Michigan's practice squad, provides experience under center. 

The ceiling might be limited based on schedule—Michigan gets Ohio State, Michigan State and Iowa on the road—but on paper and on the sideline, the Wolverines are back to being playoff contenders.

Get ready for the Summer of Harbaugh.

Tennessee

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As if it needed help to start the hype train, Tennessee enjoyed a great "declare for NFL draft season," landing one more year than expected from two key players.

The most surprising returning player is cornerback Cam Sutton, whose profile suggests he can become a first-round pick. He has adequate size (5'11", 186 lbs) but exceptional cover skills, and Sutton will enter next year as a strong preseason Jim Thorpe Award candidate.

Less surprising but more important was the return of linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin, who's recorded two straight 100-tackle seasons. He's the leader of Tennessee's young defense, and his return alongside Sutton and defensive end Derek Barnett gives the Vols potential All-Americans at all three layers of the defense.

Oh yeah, there's also quarterback Joshua Dobbs, running back Jalen Hurd, a deep cast of young skill players and a gradually improving offensive line. Throw all those reasons for optimism into the weak SEC East, and it's easy to see why next year, even more so than previous "next years," looks rosy for folks in Knoxville.

If the Vols lose the division, it's a bust.

Virginia Tech

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Virginia Tech hired Justin Fuente to replace Frank Beamer at head coach. Fuente, who vitalized Memphis' offense and turned quarterback Paxton Lynch into a first-round NFL draft prospect, did not retain coordinator Scot Loeffler and should immediately help the Hokies offense.

On defense, Fuente did, remarkably, retain coordinator Bud Foster, who many thought would either succeed Frank Beamer or leave. All Fuente had to do was promote Foster to associate head coach.

"It hasn’t taken me long to gain an even deeper respect for Bud and the pulse he has on Virginia Tech and our program," Fuente said when he announced the promotion, per the team's official website.

As for players, Fuente promptly signed quarterback Jerod Evans, the No. 7 overall JUCO player in the country. He's the highest-rated JUCO quarterback since Zach Mettenberger in 2011.

Evans, Fuente and an underrated cast of skill players give Virginia Tech a viable offense, while Foster and a solid cast of role players give VT a viable defense. Put two viable units in the ACC Coastal Division, and you're looking at playoff contender.

It won't take long for people to notice.

Washington

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Washington ranked No. 13 in Football Outsiders' F/+ ratings—rare heights for a 7-6 team.

The same thing happened last season, when 7-6 Arkansas ranked No. 9 by the same metric, then enjoyed a summer of hype. Before that, the last 7-6 team to rank in the F/+ top 20 was Michigan State in 2012, the year before it won the Rose Bowl.

Throw in the emergence of Jake Browning, a rising sophomore quarterback and one of the biggest recruits in school history, and the presence of head coach Chris Petersen, formerly of Boise State, and you have the ammunition for massive hype.

With Browning (Washington's version of Deshaun Watson) and Myles Gaskin in the backfield, Petersen's innovative offense, Pete Kwiatkowski's defense and the loss of starting quarterbacks at Stanford and Oregon, the Huskies will be touted as a Pac-12 North contender.

Year 3 might be the start of Petersen's reign.

Note: All recruiting info refers to 247Sports' composite ratings. All underclassmen draft decisions via NFL.com.