Top 20 College Football Surprises in 2008

This season like the past few has had a lot of drama. However this year’s drama is coming much later then last years.

Last year the Appalachian State Mountaineers took the college football world by storm with a 34-32 victory over Michigan. This season, LSU proved to be too much for Appalachian St. as they rolled to a 41-13 victory.

Although this season lacked a truly monumental upset there were still plenty of shockers this season. Here are 20 of them.

1. Alabama

This was a team that started the year ranked 24th. Now they are the No. 1 team in the nation and take on Florida in the SEC Championship game next Saturday.

2. Cincinnati

Brian Kelly proved he is one of the best coaches in the country. The Bearcats went 10-2 on the season and won an outright Big East Championship.

3. Georgia Tech

Paul Johnson's first year has gone much better then expected. The Yellow Jackets went 9-3 on the season and even knocked off rival Georgia in a shootout. They rank fourth in the country in rushing offense.

4. Ball State

Another great coaching job and this guys name is Brady Hoke. The Cardinals went 12-0 this season and square off with Buffalo on Saturday for the MAC title.

5. Ole Miss

How about Houston Nutt in his first year in Oxford? They went 8-4 on the year and were 5-3 in conference play. They picked up to big road wins at Florida and at LSU.

6. Boise State

A lot of the BCS buster talk was on Utah this season. Boise State has quietly climbed to ninth in the BCS. They also have an astounding 64 freshman on the team.

7. Northwestern

Pat Fitzgerald has done an absolutely amazing job with the Wildcats. He is the youngest head coach in the NCAA. He led the Wildcats to a 9-3 season with quality wins against Iowa, and a road win against then No. 17 Minnesota.

8. Buffalo

How about Buffalo for a shocker? Head coach Turner Gil has them at 7-5 and in the MAC Championship game. It will be only the second time Buffalo has received a bowl bid if they are selected for one this season.

9. Oklahoma State

While much of the talk was on Texas Tech, Texas, and Oklahoma, the Cowboys have had a great season. They are 9-3 and ranked 12th in the BCS standings.

10. Texas Tech

Yes, this team was a preseason top-15 team, but how many people really expected them to climb to second in the BCS. Even after a devastating 65-21 loss to No. 4 Oklahoma they can still say they had a great year. They went 11-1 and forged a three-way tie in the Big 12 South.

11. Notre Shame

Yes, the above wording is correct. Notre Dame is coming off three straight top eight recruiting classes, had the 107th ranked toughest schedule, but what was their record?

They went 6-6 and are now 2-16 in their last 18 games with teams with records of .500 or better. Come on Charlie, even Bob Davie could've won more than six with all that talent.

12. LSU's Struggles

When Ryan Perriloux was let go, the Tiger's winning ways seemed to go with him. LSU went 7-5 overall, needed a 31 point comeback to beat Troy, went 3-5 in conference play, and had 18 passes intercepted on the year.

13. U-M's even bigger struggles

Rich Rodriguez's first year was worse than expected. The Wolverines set a record for most losses in school history with nine, lost to Ohio State, Michigan State, and Notre Dame in the same season for the first time in school history, led the nation in fumbles, and were near last in just about every offensive category.

14. Clemson's continuance of underachieving

The season got off on the wrong foot with a 34-10 loss to Alabama and it was all downhill from there. Coach Bobby Bowden resigned midway through the season and the Tigers finished 7-5. This team was supposed to win the ACC and contend for a national title, but they had a hard enough time winning at all.

15. Wisconsin's fall from grace

The Badgers started the season 3-0 and had a 19-0 lead over Michigan. However, the Wolverines would come back and beat the ninth ranked Badgers 27-25. That was the first of the Badgers four consecutive losses to open up their Big Ten schedule. They even needed a missed extra point to escape Cal Poly in overtime and finish the year 7-5.

16. Arizona State's losing record

Senior quarterback Rudy Carpenter and the Sun Devils were supposed to give USC some competition in the Pac 10. However they failed to even break the .500 mark on the season. They are 5-6 overall and 4-4 in Pac 10 play and take on Arizona next weekend.

17. South Florida

Matt Grothe was expected to lead the Bulls to a Big East title this season. But he failed to even lead them to a winning record in the Big East. They were 2-4 in conference play.

18. Tennessee

Obviously, Phil Fulmer had the wrong volunteers. Oh come on, that was funny. I wish I could say the same about Tennessee's 5-7 record, but after a 13-7 loss to Wyoming it became clear this was no laughing matter in Knoxville. Goodbye Phillip Fulmer, and hello Lane Kiffin.

19. Shonn Greene

The Iowa running back was second in the nation in rushing averaging 144 yards per game in his first year as a starter.

20. Duke

No, this is not a reference to their basketball team. Former Tennessee offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe led the Blue Devils to a 4-8 record in his first year as head coach. While this may sound terrible, remember that Duke has only won a total of four games since 2004.