College Football Rankings 2011: Predicting the First Loss for the Top 25 Teams
Although the 2011 college football rankings are not set in stone, they are pretty obvious. With this said, just about every team in the top-25 will lose at least one game this year.
However, there may be a couple of undefeated teams at the end of the season.
Here are the most likely games in which the top-25 teams will lost first.
25. West Virginia Mountaineers
1 of 25
The West Virginia Mountaineers will go undefeated this season...for three games. West Virginia has three very winnable games to start the season.
Unfortunately, their fourth game of the season will be against the No. 4 LSU Tigers. The good news about this game is that it is at home for the Mountaineers.
West Virginia is losing a lot of starters on defense this year. On the flip side, LSU is bringing back 10 starters on offense.
This is going to be a really tough game for West Virginia, and they are most likely going to lose this game to start the season off at 3-1.
24. Mississippi State Bulldogs
2 of 25
Once again, the No. 4 LSU Tigers will knock off another ranked opponent early in the season.
Mississippi State plays Auburn in their second game of the season. This game will be played at home for the Bulldogs, and although Auburn won the National Championship last season, they are losing some key players, the biggest one being Cam Newton.
The Bulldogs could very well get beat by Auburn, however, they will prevail and win, but they will lose the next week against the LSU Tigers.
LSU is a very good football team, and they are going to be in the run for the BCS Championship all season long.
23. Florida Gators
3 of 25
The Florida Gators will be playing in their first season under Will Muschamp. Although there are a lot of questions about how the Gators will do without Urban Meyer, the Gators have way too much talent to be bad for very long.
However, the Florida Gators face off against the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide on October first. Although this game will be played at the Swamp, the Tide are a much better team than Florida.
The Gators still have some work to do before they can be National Championship contenders again.
Alabama will beat Florida in a close game.
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22. Texas Longhorns
4 of 25
The Texas Longhorns had a horrible season last year, going 5-7. However, this year they have a whole new coaching staff under Mack Brown.
The Longhorns do not have a very tough schedule and should win their first four games with ease. Unfortunately, they have to play No. 1 Oklahoma, and they will not pull off a victory in that game.
The Sooners are going to be the team to beat in 2011, and the Longhorns do not have enough talent to keep up with them.
With this said, the Sooners will hand the Longhorns their first loss of the season.
21. Arizona State Sun Devils
5 of 25
Although the Sun Devils could very well lose to the No. 16 Missouri Tigers in their second game of the season, they will pull off the victory and go undefeated until they play the USC Trojans.
USC is not ranked as of right now, but the Trojans still will have a decent team and will knock off the Sun Devils.
However, if Arizona State wins this game, they have the chance to go undefeated until they play No. 2 Oregon.
20. Virginia Tech Hokies
6 of 25
The Hokies are going to be the favorite to win the ACC. With this said, it is hard to say who they will get beat by this season.
Virginia Tech has a weak out-of-conference schedule this year. The ACC is also looking down from previous years.
Virginia Tech's toughest games will come against Miami and North Carolina, however, both of these games will be at home for the Hokies.
If the Hokies can get a good quarterback next year, they can possibly run the table, however, this is not likely.
With this said, I will go with Miami beating Virginia Tech and giving them their first loss of 2011.
19. Nebraska Cornhuskers
7 of 25
The Nebraska Cornhuskers are joining the Big Ten next year. They will find that life in the Big Ten is a lot harder than it was in the Big 12.
The Cornhuskers ended last season losing three of their last four games. If they continue this going into the 2011 season, they will find themselves losing a lot more games than that.
Although it will be a great game, Nebraska is going to lose at No. 12 Wisconsin. If the Cornhuskers can make it out of this game alive, they will host No. 10 Ohio State the next game.
There is no way that the Cornhuskers will win both of these games. However, I see them losing against Wisconsin.
18. TCU Horned Frogs
8 of 25
The TCU Horned Frogs had an amazing season last year. They went undefeated and beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.
Unfortunately for TCU, they are losing a lot of their team from last year. With this said, it is hard to say if they can match their undefeated season last year.
However, the Horned Frogs do not really have any real challenges next season, except for one of their games. This game is against No. 5 Boise State.
Boise State has a much better team than TCU and will prove that by beating them on November 12th.
17. Auburn Tigers
9 of 25
The Auburn Tigers are going to find this season tough without Cameron Newton. Especially since they play in the SEC and it is possible for them to drop any game in the conference.
Although I predict Auburn to lose against Mississippi State, if they do pull off a win they will have an even more tough time after that.
The Tigers have a tough game this year at No. 11 South Carolina, and the Tigers will probably lose. The Gamecocks have a much better team than Auburn this year.
If Auburn can survive this game they will play No. 8 Arkansas on the road, and there is no chance that the Cameron-less Tigers can pull off two upsets in consecutive weeks.
16. Missouri Tigers
10 of 25
Unfortunately for the Missouri Tigers, they play the No. 21 Arizona State Sun Devils the second game of the season.
The Tigers finished their last six games last season with three wins and three loses. With their star quarterback going to the NFL, they are going to have to find a good replacement.
The Sun Devils are going to be a really good team this year and will beat the Tigers the second game of the season. If Missouri can somehow win this game they will play the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners on the road two games later, a game that the Tigers have no chance of winning.
15. Michigan State Spartans
11 of 25
The Michigan State Spartans will handle their first two games with ease, however, in their third game they play at No. 14 Notre Dame.
Although the Spartans had a great season last year, they are losing a lot of players on both sides of the ball, and they will not be able to handle Notre Dame on the road.
The Spartans are going to have to rebuild to get back to an elite team, like they were last year.
14. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
12 of 25
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a tricky schedule in 2011. If they are the real deal this year, they will have no problem with most of their games, however, if they are not as good as people are making them out to be they will struggle.
If Notre Dame can actually be an elite team in college football once again, they will not lose until they play No. 9 Standford the last game of the season.
However, they can very easily lose to Michigan, Michigan State and USC.
13. Texas A&M Aggies
13 of 25
The Texas A&M Aggies start the season off playing two very easy out-of-conference games. Although this will get them off to a good start, it will not help them prepare for No. 6 Oklahoma State on September 24th.
With this said, the Aggies are going to get beat by the Oklahoma State Cowboys. It will not get any easier for the Aggies because the next game they face off against the No. 8 Arkansas Razorbacks.
12. Wisconsin Badgers
14 of 25
The Wisconsin Badgers have to replace a lot of starters in the 2011 season. However, with the No. 10 Ohio State Buckeyes being without a couple of their stars for the first five games of the season, the Badgers may be the team to beat in the Big Ten.
Unfortunately for the Badgers, they have two very tough games in the middle of the season against No.15 Michigan State and Ohio State.
Both of those games will be on the road for the Badgers. Not to mention, Ohio State will have all of their players back along with Jim Tressel for that game.
With this said, the Badgers will clip the Spartans on the road, but will have a lot more trouble against Ohio State and will lose this game.
Although it is contradicting to the Wisconsin Badgers being the team to beat in the Big Ten, once Ohio State gets all of its players back they will be an elite team once again, assuming that they do not lose too many games without their suspended player.
11. South Carolina Gamecocks
15 of 25
After a great 2010 season, the Gamecocks have all the pieces to be just as good or better in the 2011 season.
The Gamecocks have a really tough game against No. 17 Auburn early in the season, however, they will manage to win that game.
South Carolina will not be truly tested until they play the No. 8 Arkansas Razorbacks on November 5th. Although this will be a really good game, the advantage will go to the Razorbacks, since it will be a home game for them.
10. Ohio State Buckeyes
16 of 25
The Buckeyes will have to play without some key players for the first five games of the season. Not to mention, one of these players is their starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor.
Even worse for the Buckeyes, they will be without Jim Tressel for the first two games.
However, if the Buckeyes can get through these first five games, they will be the favorites to win the Big Ten.
Without Tressel and Pryor, this is very unlikely to happen. They will have tough games Against the Miami Hurricanes and the Michigan State Spartans in the span of these games.
The Buckeyes will most likely beat the Hurricanes, but the Spartans will be more than they can handle.
9. Stanford Cardinals
17 of 25
Stanford is losing a lot of people on both sides of the ball, however, they are bringing back their key ingredient in QB Andrew Luck.
Stanford should cruise past the first half of their schedule. However, this will come to an end when they meet up with the No. 2 Oregon Ducks.
The Ducks are a much better team and will have another shot at the National Championship this season.
8. Arkansas Razorbacks
18 of 25
The Razorbacks are going to be a very good team in the 2011 season. The only problem is they play No. 2 Alabama the fourth game of the season. Not to mention, it will be on the road.
If the Razorbacks can win this game they shouldn't lose until they play No. 4 LSU at the end of the season. Unfortunately, they are not going to escape Alabama with a win, and they will suffer their first loss of the season very early.
7. Florida State Seminoles
19 of 25
The Seminoles are bringing back a lot of starters on both offense and defense. However, one of these starters does not include QB Christian Ponder. Fortunately, QB EJ Manuel is very talented and looks like he will be a very good player.
With that said, the Seminoles will have to play the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners the third game of the season. Simply put, Florida State is going to lose.
If the Seminoles can pull off an upset in this game, their schedule is set up for them to go undefeated the rest of the way through.
6. Oklahoma State Cowboys
20 of 25
The Oklahoma State Cowboys had arguably the best offense in all of college football last year. This will continue next year with the return of QB Brandon Weeden.
The Cowboys are capable of going undefeated next season, and they most likely will until their last game of the season, which is against the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners.
Oklahoma State has a good enough team to beat the Sooners, and this will be one of the best games of the season. However, Oklahoma is the best team in the nation and will knock off the Cowboys.
5. Boise State Broncos
21 of 25
The Boise State Broncos have had 12 or more wins in the last three seasons. They are going to continue this in the 2011 season.
The Broncos schedule is set up for them to go undefeated next season. Their only real test will be against No. 18 TCU on November 12th, which they should win.
Boise State should go undefeated in the regular season, but they will have a very tough bowl game in whoever they face.
This will be the year that the Boise State Broncos finally get a chance at the BCS National Championship, and if they do they are going to lose.
Therefore, the Broncos are not going to lose until their bowl game.
4. LSU Tigers
22 of 25
The LSU Tigers are going to have a very good team next year. Unfortunately, they play the No. 2 Oregon Ducks the first game of the season.
This is going to be a National Championship kind of game, and either team could win. The Oregon Ducks are a little bit better, but this game can really go either way.
I predict that LSU loses this game, but if they do not they will win every other game in 2011 except for when they play Alabama on the road.
3. Oregon Ducks
23 of 25
Just like the last slide, the Oregon Ducks will face off against the No. 4 LSU Tigers the first game of the season.
This game can really go anyway and if the Ducks are not knocked off by the Tigers, they will most likely go undefeated the rest of the season.
QB Darron Thomas and RB LaMichael James are capable of outscoring any team they face. With this said, if the Ducks do not get beat by the Tigers, they will have another undefeated season going into their bowl game, which they will likely win.
2. Alabama Crimson Tide
24 of 25
If the Alabama Crimson Tide can knock off both No. 24 Florida and No. 8 Arkansas in consecutive weeks, they will be in good shape.
However, the Crimson Tide are capable of losing both of those games. They are also very capable of losing against the No. 4 LSU Tigers on November 5th.
If the Tide can get through these three games they will not lose until they play the No. 17 Auburn Tigers the last game of the season.
With that said, the SEC is the toughest conference in college football, so Alabama could very easily lose all four of those games.
However, they will not lose until they match up against the Tigers of Auburn.
1. Oklahoma Sooners
25 of 25
The Oklahoma Sooners are going to be on the top of the polls to start off the 2011 season. This is going to last the whole year because the Sooners are not going to be beat during the regular season.
They are the best team in all of college football, and although they have two really tough games in No. 7 Florida State and No. 6 Oklahoma State, they will prevail in both games.
With this said, the Sooners will make it to the National Championship game and this may be the only game that they lose all year.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
