In last week's Friday Five, I ranked five teams that were off to good starts, but likely to fade a bit down the stretch. Well, this week I want to balance that negative energy with some positivity.
This week's Friday Five is going to take a look at five teams off to a slow, or disappointing start to the 2017 season, but are likely to turn things around.
I'm putting those positive thoughts into the atmosphere this week! Let's all think some happy thoughts and get to ranking.
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Teams Likely To Recover From Slow Starts
| 5 | |
| Texas: Things are already heading in the right direction after Thursday night's win over Iowa State. The Longhorns are now 2-2, but while that Maryland loss to start the season was unexpected, they played well in a loss to USC. I don't think this Texas team is ready to compete for a Big 12 title this year, but it's good enough to finish the season where it started: ranked somewhere between 20 and 25. | |
| 4 | |
| Western Kentucky: Jeff Brohm is gone, and it certainly looks like he's taken all the magic with him to Purdue. The Hilltoppers are off to a 2-2 start to the season after losing only five games in the last two combined. They're also 0-1 in conference play already after going 15-1 in C-USA the last two years. That can happen when you go from scoring 45.5 points per game to 23.3. Still, I think entering conference play will be what this team needs. It's not the same team that dominated C-USA, but it's still a team that should compete for a conference title. | |
| 3 | |
| Boise State: To be honest with you, I'm not putting Boise State third on this list because I believe in it as much as I'm putting it here because I just don't' believe in the rest of the Mountain West. Seriously, San Diego State is excellent, but the rest of the conference leaves plenty to be desired. So I can't help but think the 2-2 Broncos are going to pick up wins by default. There won't be a New Year's Six bowl, but there should be a division title at least. | |
| 2 | |
| Stanford: I may regret putting Stanford this high on the list because I'm just having a hard time getting a read on the Cardinal. I have significant concerns about the team's offensive and defensive lines, but I also believe Bryce Love is a special player, and David Shaw's history with this program makes me want to give it the benefit of the doubt. It's hard to see the team winning the Pac-12 at this point, but a nine or 10-win season doesn't seem totally out of the question here yet. | |
| 1 | |
| 1. Florida State: The Seminoles are 0-2 right now, but in an alternate universe where there are no hurricanes, this team has at least one win to this point. Hell, it might be 2-2 with a win over Miami before losing to NC State last week, and if that happened, we probably aren't nearly as down on the Noles. Nobody is going to hold that Alabama loss against them, but don't get me wrong, it would still be a disappointing start to the season. However, I don't think we'd have the funeral atmosphere I see creeping up on the program right now. It's 0-2, but it's also a team with enough talent to still be in the hunt for an ACC title. I don't think it gets there at this point, but it can still get to 10 wins. | |