College Football 2011: The 25 Teams With the Best Chance To Go 12-0
In the age of the BCS and the mythical National Championship in college football, a program must run through their regular season, in addition to some who have a conference title game, undefeated to have a chance at making the title game in January.
With that mountain of a task to climb each Fall, let's check out the 25 programs that could possibly reach the summit of said mountain and a run at a perfect regular season this Fall.
Alabama Crimson Tide
1 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: November 5th, 2011—vs. LSU
After a bit of a disappointing season by Alabama standards, the Crimson Tide will be loaded for the upcoming 2011 season. The Saban Bowl in November could be a heavyweight battle between two National Championship contenders as Les Miles and the LSU Tigers have a talent loaded squad as well in Baton Rouge.
Arizona Wildcats
2 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: October 1st, 2011—at USC
As the Wildcats have a solid team led by quarterback Nick Foles in Tuscon, the Arizona program could have the biggest challenge in making 2011 a magical season in the desert from their long running conference rival, USC, a team that has beaten Arizona eight of their last 10 meetings.
Arkansas Razorbacks
3 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: November 25th, 2011—at LSU
With Ryan Mallet gone to the NFL, redshirt junior Tyler Wilson will take the role of leading the high octane offense in Fayetteville as the Razorbacks come off 2010 in which they had their best season in four years. LSU will look to disrupt a repeat in their 2011 meeting in the SEC West.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Boise State Broncos
4 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: September 3rd, 2011—vs. Georgia in Atlanta
Another season opener for the Broncos with another high profile opponent in Georgia this September as Boise State will look to start their Mountain West conference era with another upset of a top-tier program and try to avenge the loss 48-13 to the Bulldogs in Athens during the 2005 season.
Brigham Young Cougars
5 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: October 28th, 2011—vs. TCU in Arlington, TX
As the Cougars leave the Mountain West for football independence, BYU will welcome a slate of games that are very winnable. With their date against former conference foe, TCU, in late October that could set up yet another big time game at Cowboys Stadium as these two programs look to be dangerous in 2011.
Florida Gators
6 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: November 12th, 2011—at South Carolina
With the changing of the guard in Gainesville, the Gators will welcome in new head coach Will Muschamp from Texas in addition to Charlie Weis from Kansas City of the NFL to help rejuvenate Florida after suffering through an eight win season and losing the SEC East division title to Steve Spurrier and South Carolina last season.
Florida State Seminoles
7 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: September 17th, 2011—vs. Oklahoma
As the Jimbo Fisher era in Tallahassee began successfully in 2010, the one negative blip on the radar was the blowout of the Seminoles by the Sooners in Norman. In 2011 though, Oklahoma will make the road trip as Florida State is stacked and ready to improve even more in the second year under Fisher.
Georgia Bulldogs
8 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: October 29th, 2011—vs. Florida in Jacksonville
While Mark Richt was on the hot seat for the majority of the season, the Bulldogs began to show some life toward the latter part of the season. With Aaron Murray really coming into his own for Georgia, the annual matchup in Jacksonville could be for than just a foot up in the SEC East.
LSU Tigers
9 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: November 5th, 2011—at Alabama
As the "Saban Bowl" has become one of the best matchups during SEC conference play, the 2011 edition could top them all as the Tigers and Crimson Tide will both have National Championship aspirations this season with both teams being two of the most talent laden programs not only in the SEC, but the entire country.
Miami Hurricanes
10 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: October 8th, 2011—at Virginia Tech
As the U have made steps toward returning to being a national power, an early October upset win over the Hokies could propel the Hurricanes to the top of the ACC. It will also help shoot Miami up the Top 25 as the program can make huge strides in their first year under Al Groden in Coral Gables.
Michigan State Spartans
11 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: October 29th, 2011—at Nebraska
While the Spartans are loaded with talent on the offensive side of the ball, Michigan State could make another run at being the top dog in the Big Ten after falling short to Wisconsin in 2010. A defeat of new conference member, Nebraska, could lead to Sparty looking for the trophy given away in early January.
Missouri Tigers
12 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: October 29th, 2011—at Texas A&M
While the elder Gabbert has moved on to the NFL, the younger Tyler has the talent to continue the success that Missouri has experienced in recent years as the Big 12 has shrunk to 10 members. A meeting with Texas A&M will have the target on their backs as the most talented team in the conference this season.
Nebraska Cornhuskers
13 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: October 8th, 2011—vs. Ohio State
After being in the Big 12 since its inception in 1996, the Cornhuskers will enter its first year in the Big Ten with their biggest test coming from the team that has dominated the league in the past decade. Along with the Cornhuskers, the Ohio State Buckeyes will also be looking to make their way to the Big Ten Championship in Indy in December.
Ohio State Buckeyes
14 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: September 17th, 2011—at Miami (FL)
While there are many Big Ten games that could spoil an undefeated season for the Buckeyes, the rematch with the Hurricanes in Miami could spoil the party for Ohio State. The team will be without coach Jim Tressel, quarterback Terrelle Pryor and four other players that spell trouble for OSU on South Beach.
Oklahoma Sooners
15 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: November 5th, 2011—vs. Texas A&M
As people point to Texas A&M and Oklahoma being the ones to watch of the Big 12 members, the early November match up will likely be the conference title game giving either team a definite boost into the last season conversation of who will be included in the National Championship game.
Oregon Ducks
16 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: September 3rd, 2011—vs. LSU in Atlanta
The biggest contest of the season for the Ducks to run the table again in 2011 will be the opening game of the season. Oregon will face off against SEC powerhouse LSU in the Chick-Fil-A kickoff game in Atlanta, where the irresistible force of the Oregon offense takes on the immovable object of the LSU defense during opening weekend.
South Carolina Gamecocks
17 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: November 12th, 2011—vs. Florida
As Steve Spurrier and South Carolina finally broke through to capture an SEC East title, the Gamecocks will definitely need to lean on either quarterback Connor Shaw or Stephen Garcia and the bruising running game of Marcus Lattimore to try to defeat a talented and rejuvenated Florida program with Will Muschamp as head coach and Charlie Weis taking the OC responsibilities for the Gators in 2011.
Stanford Cardinal
18 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: November 12th, 2011—vs. Oregon
After Andrew Luck and Stanford fell short to the Ducks in Eugene last season, the Cardinals will try and knock off the defending conference champion at home in 2011. Their home fans should be much easier to deal with as Luck will try to slice up the Oregon defense in the early November game.
TCU Horned Frogs
19 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: November 12th, 2011—at Boise State
Before the Horned Frogs make the jump to the bloated Big East conference in 2012, TCU will take one final run through the Mountain West conference with a road game to the blue turf in Boise. This will be their best matchup of any in-conference play as the two BCS busters meet in their only contest in as league members.
Texas A&M Aggies
20 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: November 24th, 2011—vs. Texas
As the Big 12 changes its structure to a 10-team league, the Aggies will be the odds on favorite to win the conference in 2011. With a talented roster of players for coach Mike Sherman to work with that will be needed as the defacto title game could be the Lonestar Showdown in Austin in the regular season finale.
USC Trojans
21 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: November 19th, 2011—at Oregon
As Lane Kiffin is slowly bringing USC back to the level of play when Pete Carroll was in LA, the Trojans will have a chance to knock off the defending champion of the Pac-12 to make it to the brand new conference title game. They will have to deal with a trip to the Autzen Zoo in Eugene in late November.
Utah Utes
22 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: September 10th, 2011—at USC
After being one of the most winningest programs of the past decade as a BCS buster, Utah takes its blossoming program into the new Pac-12 conference, highlighted with a meeting in the Ute's debut year against perennial conference champion USC. This could push the program to the next level with a win over the Trojans.
Virginia Tech Hokies
23 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: October 8th, 2011—vs. Miami (FL)
After rattling off 11 straight wins before losing to Andrew Luck and Stanford in the Orange Bowl, Frank Beamer and company could be in for one of their best seasons in the history of the program. In order to get back to the National Championship game for the first time since 2000, the Hokies will need to get past division rival Miami in October.
West Virginia Mountaineers
24 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: September 24th, 2011—vs. LSU
With WVU AD Oliver Luck bringing in new OC Dana Holgorsen to run the offense, the Mountaineers will look to gain a massive amount of confidence for the remaining portion of their schedule by defeating LSU, who will be making their first trip to Morgantown in school history. Hopefully West Virginia can make up for their 20-14 loss to LSU last season.
Wisconsin Badgers
25 of 25
Biggest Obstacle of 2011 Schedule: October 29th, 2011—at Ohio State
While Scott Tolzien has moved on from Madison, the Badgers will need to choose a dependable starting quarterback between Curt Phillips and Jon Budmayr to help keep Wisconsin in the division and conference title race this year. A road trip to Columbus stands in the way of another Rose Bowl trip in January.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
