The NCAA season is underway, and fans are excited to see a new set of thrilling matches take place. The excitement is palpable in the air and as Syracuse Orangemen fans might be looking for Sports tickets without fees to go support their team, other squads aren’t doing that hot. While many started the season with aspirations of glory and success, many teams seem to already be out of the race. Of course, it’s way too early for an official and mathematical outing of any team, since the season has just begun, but from the looks of things, these teams haven’t managed to so far provide championship-material gameplay. Keep in mind that in order to get to the playoffs, you need to rise above the crowd. Are these teams going to rise a little later or can we count them out? Let’s take a look at the top teams that we thought would do big this year but seem to be going down fast.
Florida
It’s true that Florida didn’t manage to use all its theoretical minutes on the field due to the events that transpired with Hurricane Irma, but we can judge plenty based on their previous efforts from this season. Even though the Northern Colorado confrontation was canceled, Florida still faced Michigan in what was a very disappointing display. Michigan had stepped on the pitch no more than one starter from the previous season, which should have been some form of warning for the Florida team that they shouldn’t let this one drive by them and wave them goodbye. Unfortunately for them however, Florida ended up losing 17 to 33.
Florida State
The journey ahead is long and tiresome for Florida State. Just like in the case of Florida, Florida State has all the mathematical and theoretical chances of making the playoffs. However, there’s a big difference between what’s possible and what’s going to actually end up happening. The team has also been struck by the events of Hurricane Irma, making their schedule difficult and complicating their situation. Might Florida State become the first playoff team with two losses to show for it ? Everything is possible but that would mean a nearly perfect record going forward. While there are some encounters that should be marked on their calendars as “clear wins”, the in-state showdown rescheduling due to the hurricane with Miami might come back to bite them. It’s true that their defeat came against top 5 teams, and that might just be their saving grace when it’s all said and done, but it’s still rather mission impossible for these fellows.
Stanford
Stanford’s adventure so far looked rather promising, at least compared to its other competitors in this category, scoring big time at the Coliseum. Their 42-24 win proved to be the stuff of record, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be enough to get them in the playoffs. In order to reach that phase, they would probably have to take down Washington as well, which seems a bit ambitious, if anything else. Finally putting down the undefeated Washington might yield some satisfying benefits, but it’s a journey with no guarantee of return, not victorious anyway.
One thing’s for sure and that’s the fact that not even the most precise statistics can completely nail a team to the wall, and you never know how one crew or the other might surprise you before it’s all said
and done. However, based on what we know so far, which isn’t very much admittedly, these teams seem to have the hardest time in finding a place in the playoffs. The only thing to do is keep a close eye on how the season unfolds, as predictions will be more reliable with more pieces of the puzzle laid on the board.