Almost every week in college football, there is at least one major upset that shakes up the landscape. While analysts often take the opportunity to predict them ahead of each week, 247Sports’ Brad Crawford is already looking at the year as a whole.
Crawford is putting 10 teams on “upset alert” for games coming up this fall. The list features some of the biggest programs in the country.
The No. 1 spot features one of the most trendy teams entering the season.
Nebraska football is coming off of a 4-8 season, but getting serious hype in 2019. Scott Frost engineered an impressive turnaround in his second year at UCF, and fans think a similar one could happen at Nebraska.
Beating Ohio State would certainly help matters.
Ohio State’s first real road test under first-year coach Ryan Day will be one of the Buckeyes’ toughest games this season. It’s hard to imagine Nebraska’s level of optimism being higher than it was prior to Scott Frost’s first run in Lincoln, but even after a 4-8 season, Huskers fans are incredibly excited about what’s to come this fall with a Heisman candidate at quarterback (Adrian Martinez) and College GameDay potentially making its first appearance at Memorial Stadium since 2007 for this one. If Nebraska starts the season 4-0, you’re not going to see a more frightening environment nationally for an opposing team than what Ohio State will be forced to deal with in Week 5.
Here is the full list of college football “upset alert” games for this coming season.
From 247Sports:
- Nebraska over Ohio State
- Virginia over Notre Dame
- Auburn over Alabama
- Baylor over Oklahoma
- Utah State over LSU
- Wisconsin over Michigan
- Colorado State over Arkansas
- Fresno State over USC
- Houston over Washington State
- Syracuse over Clemson
Of this list, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Alabama, Oklahoma, LSU, Michigan, and Clemson could all be in the College Football Playoff conversation. While one loss won’t necessarily derail a team, if one of these upsets happen, it could radically shift the college football landscape.