The Fighting Irish are coming off a very disappointing 4-8 season which began with a thrilling loss to an underachieving Texas team. Brian Kelly has been pretty successful in his tenure except for last season. The Irish need a bounce back season if Kelly wants to avoid the hot seat.
2017 Schedule
Temple
Georgia
Boston College
MI State
Miami OH
UNC
USC
NC State
Wake Forest
Miami FL
Navy
Stanford
With a tough schedule, the Irish really need to win some big games in order to rebound from last season. The Georgia game on September 9 provides a great opportunity to get things heading in the right direction. They also must avoid losses to Temple, Boston College, and Miami OH. A loss to any of these certainly won't be good for Coach Kelly.
Overall, the opportunities are there. Can the Irish win 9-10 games?
Michigan State
After making the College Football Playoff in the 2015-2016 season, The Spartans fell hard last season. It's was hard to believe that one of college football's programs on the rise fall to 3-9 overall and only win one Big Ten game. Fans were disappointed but still upbeat from the successful CFP appearance the prior season. Bouncing back is important if they want to compete for the Big Ten East annually.
2017 Schedule
Bowling Green
Western MI
Notre Dame
Iowa
Michigan
Minnesota
Indiana
Northwestern
Penn State
Ohio State
Maryland
Rutgers
The Big 10 East will be challenging with Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan all expected to compete for a ticket to the College Football Playoff. What should Sparty's goal be? It might be hard to crack the Top 3 in the east this season. Is a 9-3 season possible?
Overall, the Spartans need to start this season strong and take care of Bowling Green and Western Michigan before a showdown with the Irish.
Oregon
Like the Spartans, the Ducks have fallen hard. Last season was only 2 years removed from their national championship loss to Ohio State. After almost reaching the top of the Matterhorn, the Ducks hit rock bottom last season. Mark Helfrich is out. Willie Taggart is in. Can he bring his success from USF to Oregon? This college football power needs a rebound this season as the Huskies and Cardinal look to lead the north.
2017 Schedule
Southern Utah
Nebraska
Wyoming
Arizona State
California
Washington St
UCLA
Utah
Washington
Arizona
Oregon State
With the always challenging 9 game Pac-12 schedule and visit from the Cornhuskers, the Ducks have a lot of chances for big wins. Can the Ducks compete for the Pac-12 North? Is a 10 win season possible? The talent is there to get back to positive ground.
Overall, the Nebraska game on September 9 is very important. The Ducks lost a close one last season where they went 1-for-5 in two point conversions. Can the Ducks start 6-0? A win here could lead them down this path.
Duke
The basketball powerhouse smelt some success the previous years under David Cutcliffe until last season's disappointing 4-8 campaign. Of course a disappointing football season probably does not drive fans as crazy here with Coach K's annual success to look forward to. Fans saw their program climbing the Alps until last season's set back. Do the Blue Devils bounce back to bowl eligibility?
2017 Schedule
NC Central
Baylor
Virginia
Florida State
Pittsburgh
Virginia Tech
Army
Georgia Tech
The Coastal Division provides one of the most exciting races each season with its unpredictability. Can the Blue Devils win the Coastal Division? You never know. With Baylor and Northwestern coming to Durham, the opportunity for two big Out-of-Conference wins resides. Wins here certainly will help keep fans engaged for ACC play.
Cincinnati
The Bearcats have been consistently pretty good over the past decade. The AAC had another stronger campaign last season and the Bearcats weren't a contributor to the success. Only winning 1 AAC game was bad for the Bearcats. Luke Fickell has arrived after Tommy Tuberville resigned. Fickell brings new energy to this program. Can he help rebound the Bearcats?
2017 Schedule
Austin Peay
Marshall
UCF
SMU
South Florida
Tulane
East Carolina
Connecticut
The Bearcats go to Michigan on September 9th. Can the Bearcats be competitive? Will they compete with Temple and USF for the American East? Bowl Eligibility will be a good result for this season. Can they go at least 6-6?
Texas
After an opening season win over Notre Dame, the Longhorns and the Irish both limped to losing seasons. Charlie Strong is out after 3 three seasons and Tom Herman is in. After 2 very successful seasons with Houston, is Herman the one that brings the Longhorns back to powerhouse status? Longhorn fans are certainly hoping so. Since the 2010 championship loss to Alabama, Texas has not been able to get back to the top.
2017 Schedule
San Jose State
Iowa State
Kansas State
Oklahoma
Oklahoma St
TCU
Kansas
West Virginia
Texas Tech
With a round robin conference schedule and out-of-conference games against Maryland and USC, the schedule is very challenging. A lot of opportunities for success as well as failure. Are the Longhorns ready to compete for the Big 12 title? With Kansas State and Oklahoma State coming to town and USC and Oklahoma also on the schedule, the Longhorns definitely have a chance to make some statements.
UCLA
Injuries lead the Bruins a disappointing season a year ago. With USC at the top, can Jim Mora and company bounce back and compete in the Pac-12 South? Can Josh Rosen win the Heisman trophy? Is Jim Mora on the hot seat? A lot of questions surround UCLA heading into this season. The Bruins must look to improve from last season's 4-8 campaign.
2017 Schedule
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Texas A&M
Hawaii
Memphis
Colorado
Oregon
The Bruins start the season with the Aggies coming to Pasadena. Can UCLA start off the season strong with a win? The schedule is challenging. A 3-0 start would help. Road games against Utah, Stanford, Washington, and USC will be tough. Winning at home will be very important. Can the Bruins win 10 games? Can they surprise USC?
Georgia Southern
The Eagles saw their success under Willie Fritz during their first 2 seasons in FBS take a step backwards in Tyson Summers first season. The Eagles enter their 4th season in the Sun Belt and the FBS will a lot of questions. Can Tyson Summers rebound from last season? Fans are already starting to question whether Summers is the right coach for their program.
2017 Schedule
Auburn
New Hampshire
Arkansas State
NM State
UMass
Troy
Georgia State
App State
South Alabama
LA-Lafayette
Coastal
The Eagles start the season at Auburn and have been known for giving power conference teams tough battles. Can they compete with Auburn? Can they beat Indiana? Are the Eagles ready to compete for the Sun Belt Championship? The first four games will likely give us an idea of how they will fare this season. Will they rebound or continue to fall?
Missouri
When Coach Pinkel was healthy, the Tigers were a steady power. Missouri joined the SEC and was an instant competitor for the SEC title with SEC East titles in 2013 and 2014. Since then, they have suffered two straight losing seasons. After 2016, Coach Pinkel retired due to health reasons, and Barry Odom took charge. Odom enters his second season where he will try to prevent missing a bowl for the third straight season. The Tigers have not missed a bowl three years in a row since 2000-2002. Can Odom bring the Tigers bowling again?
2017 Schedule
Missouri State
South Carolina
Purdue
Kentucky
Idaho
Florida
Tennessee
Vanderbilt
Arkansas
The Tigers start the season with 4 straight home games with a very winnable first three and have games against Idaho and UConn that should be wins. Is there another possible win out there? Will they slip up in one of the must win games? Could this be another Missouri team that has a surprisingly good year? The schedule is pretty favorable for an SEC schedule since they get the better teams at home. This could also backfire if they cannot hold their turf since winning on the road is always challenging and most of their conference home games will be tough.
Ole Miss
The Rebels have had more success against Alabama than anyone else in SEC lately. Last season, they started with a juiced schedule where everyone expected them to eventually bounce back from their 3-5 start, which included a near defeat of Alabama. They never could turn it around as they failed to make a bowl at 5-7. Hugh Freeze had done well rebuilding this program, but after last season's disappointment as well as the scandal that cost him his job, it is now interim coach Matt Luke's job to rebound. With all this being said, will this even be possible?
2017 Schedule
TN-Martin
Alabama
LSU
Texas A&M
MS State
On the bright side, they have 7 home games with 3 possible cream puffs, so protecting their house is a must. Will Coach Luke be able to keep them in the game against Alabama? How will this team respond with the turmoil? Their schedule is not as difficult as last season but still brutal. Getting to a bowl game will be a success and an 8 win season would be a quite an accomplishment. Is a bowl game possible or will this season be a disaster?
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