USC & 5 College Football Programs Poised to Make a Giant Leap Forward in 2012

It's one of the great things in sports.

If your team has a down year, it has a chance to redeem itself the very next season. One team could have a horrible year and then become national champions the next.

We've seen quite a few disappointing seasons this year, especially from some of the top programs. But with recruiting, transfers and players returning, a lot of these programs will improve greatly in 2012.

Here are five college football teams that will take a giant step next year.

Kansas Jayhawks

I'm not saying Kansas is going to win the Big 12 this season just yet, but the Jayhawks will be much more competitive this year. Already they have made huge changes by adding offensive genius Charlie Weis and two former 5-star recruits in Jake Heaps and Dayne Crist.

Just those three additions will earn them more victories than the two they had this season.

Then you throw in all of the quality players leaving the conference and Texas A&M leaving for the SEC. The Jayhawks are slowly becoming more than just a basketball school.

Florida Gators

The Florida Gators went through a rebuilding year with a new coaching staff and no true quarterback. But nobody expected six losses this year. They even struggled against Furman of all teams.

They may have lost offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, but overall this team is very talented and should be much better off with Will Muschamp heading into his second year. Only one defensive starter is leaving and the offense should stay intact for the most part.

The Gators are still in a tough SEC East division, but they won't lose six games again for a long time. There's simply too much talent on this roster.

Florida State

This season was supposed to be the year for the Seminoles to turn things around, but they failed to live up to those expectations.

This should be the year, as they have an excellent recruiting class coming in and majority of the defense coming back. This defense was legit this season as they allowed less than 16 points per contest, which was good for fourth best in the country.

In a very inconsistent conference, this should be the year for a talented Seminoles team. 

Texas Longhorns

Texas has had two down years in a row. You know Mack Brown isn't going to allow a third.

Truth is, this team is extremely young and will be returning majority of its players. Running back Malcolm Brown is a stud and is an early dark horse to win the Heisman trophy. The Longhorns also have the top recruiting class in the country with top players coming in at nearly every position.

There is no excuse this season for why Texas shouldn't make a BCS bowl. I expect they will come through and return to the top of the college football world.

USC Trojans

You knew this team was going to be good next year regardless, but when Matt Barkley announced he was coming back, it got even better for Trojan fans.

This team is going to be extremely explosive on offense and will look unstoppable at times.

They were very good this season, but because they were banned from bowl season, they weren't able to enjoy their successful season. Now all of that is over.

With LaMichael James heading to the NFL, USC instantly becomes the favorite to win the Pac-12 and even a favorite to win the national championship.

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail]