College Football Bowl Projections: 5 Powerhouses Destined for Toilet Bowls

Several notable college football powerhouses have underachieved thus far, three quarters of the way through the 2011 season.

Teams that won or participated in BCS National Championship games over the past few years now find themselves scratching, clawing and struggling to grab hold of any bowl berth at all.

Former conference champions, legendary coaches and historic fan bases are suffering because of the new culture of mediocrity surrounding these top football schools.

It's a riches to rags story that these formerly dominant programs have been living all season long, and it will likely end in more disappointment.

Even a Nikon Say Cheese Bowl victory couldn't put a smile on the faces of these down and out teams.

Texas Longhorns

Despite their No. 21 ranking, the Texas Longhorns are hardly where they wanted to be at this point in the season.

At 6-2, Texas is two games out of the Big 12 championship race and in danger of dropping more conference games. Three of their last four games are on the road at Missouri, Texas A&M and Baylor, all formidable opponents.

The Longhorns' disappointing 2011 was made possible by back-to-back losses to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in mid-October, losing by a combined 50 points.

A Nov. 19 matchup with Kansas State in Austin will likely be the Big 12 powerhouse's third loss of the season.

Ohio State Buckeyes

Before Ohio State was rocked by a scandal involving players and coaches, the Buckeyes used to compete for national championships.

Three straight wins in the Big Ten, including back-to-back wins over Illinois and Wisconsin, can't cover up the fact that Ohio State is down in 2011.

The Buckeyes dropped road games at Miami and Nebraska, and neither team is as good as their reputations would lead one to believe.

The defense is mediocre and the offense is terrible this season. At 6-3, Ohio State is headed for an early, insignificant bowl for a change.

Florida Gators

What has happened to the Florida Gators since 2009?

The Gators used to be national title contenders year after year under head coach Urban Meyer, and were a lock to battle the SEC West's best every December in the SEC Championship Game.

Nowadays the lowly Florida program can't even survive the SEC East division, which isn't nearly as strong as the West, featuring the likes of Alabama, LSU, Auburn and Arkansas.

Early season promise quickly gave way to disappointment and hopelessness in 2011 as the Gators went winless for the month of October after starting out the season 4-0 and ranked inside the top 15.

At 5-4, Florida is in danger of missing out on a bowl for the first time in ages.

West Virginia Mountaineers

West Virginia fans are sad in 2011, and for good reason.

The Mountaineers came out of the gates hot at 3-0, but a home loss to LSU crushed WVU's national championship hopes, and two more losses to Syracuse and Louisville ended the Mountaineers' hopes of a BCS bowl.

The nation's seventh-best pass attack has been wasted this season, and WVU currently sits at fourth in the Big East standings, behind Rutgers for crying out loud.

WVU still has No. 23 Cincinnati and Pittsburgh left to play before the nightmare is over.

Florida State Seminoles

The Florida State Seminoles entered the 2011 season at No. 5 in the polls and experts everywhere told us why they would challenge for the BCS crown.

But at 2-3 just six weeks into the season, the Seminoles were already eliminated from contending for the ACC crown.

FSU has since won four straight games and is back to respectability at 6-3.

The Seminoles are already headed for a lesser bowl game than they expected in preseason, but who knows just how bad it will get, with match-ups against Miami and Florida left on the schedule.

Oh how the mighty have fallen.