Who are your surprise teams for the 2012 season?

Mine are as follows….

ACC Atlantic: NC State - I still think that Clemson and FSU will finish in the top two positions, but NC State is a team that coule be much better than people project. Mike Glennon is a very solid QB, the running game should be significantly better this year and the secondary is very solid, led by All-American David Amerson. With their schedule, I could easily see them winning nine games during the regular season.

ACC Coastal: UNC - The Tar Heels will have the top OL in the ACC, a first-team all-conference performer at RB (Giovani Bernard) and a QB with NFL potential (Bryn Renner. UNC is also getting the added benefit of introducing Blake Anderson’s spread offense to the equation. The defense will still be talented, and the Tar Heels have the easiest schedule in the ACC, in my opinion. Eight or nine wins should be expected, although double-digit wins is not out of the questino.

SEC East: Florida - I know that this is the cliche pick,  but the Gators will be extremely talented on the defensive side of the ball, as ten starters return from a defense tha finished in the top 1 in total defense last season. The biggest question for the Gators will be at QB, where Jacoby Brissett and Jeff Driskel at battling it out. With Brent Pease’s new offense, which is better suited for Florida’s collection of talent, I expect to see marked improvement from the Florida offense this fall. If the Gators get solid play under center, they will contend for the SEC East title.

SEC West: Mississippi State - I don’t think that the Bulldogs will be able to compete for a divisino title, but they should expect to improve upon last season’s win total. The coaches are looking to shift to a more pass-oriented attack with QB Tyler Russell and an arsenal of talented receivers. Seven starters return on defense, and five-star DT Quay Evans should make an immediate impact. Also, MSU’s cross-divisional games this season are against Tennessee and Kentucky and the Bulldogs have an extremely easy non-conference slate. I think there is a very real possibility for eight regular season victories.

Now that I am thinking about this, I might turn this into an article.

Garrett will help you write it….LOL

I think the winner of the Auburn-Mississippi State game on Sept. 8 will be a surprise team (9-3ish), even if the Tigers are off of a loss to Clemson.

That said, Auburn could find themselves 1-4.

How’s that for hedging your bet?

Gets a little more in-depth about my opinion on the ACC’s surprise teams.

http://www.southernpigskin.com/ACC/view/the-accs-surprise-teams

I agree with you on UNC. I think Virginia may surprise some people.

Virginia is sorta flying under everybodies radar, I really don’t know what to expect from them, they got a beast O-line and some good running backs.

I ought to mention I do agree with NC State out of the Atlantic division, it would not come as a surprise to me, but to most people I suppose it would. TOBy has won the ACC Atlantic division twice with just as much if not lesser talent at Boston College. I’ve got NC State pegged at 10 wins and that’s pretty good for them.

Out of the Coastal division I suppose UNC would be the popular choice for the “surprise” team. They will try to duplicate Clemson’s initial success with that race car offense that Larry Fedora likes to run. I’m going to stay away from that pick however, Clemson had Dwayne Allen and Sammy Watkins, does UNC have an equivelant?

I’m going to reluctantly pick Miami as the surprise team. They were close in all 6 of their losses last season. I know they lost alot of their starters from last year, but i’m going to drink the Miami kool-aid and say Al Golden will have better conditioned players and of course he will have talent to work with. I’m not really predicting Miami will win the Coastal, but I think they can get to 8-9 wins which I think would surprise alot of people considering how difficult the schedule is.

The ACC Coastal seems like it’s more up for grabs than usual. It would be nice to have some fresh representatives in the ACC championship game.

Garrett_TD23 - 20 June 2012 05:24 PM

Virginia is sorta flying under everybodies radar, I really don’t know what to expect from them, they got a beast O-line and some good running backs.

Oday Aboushi and Morgan Moses are future NFL tackles, and you are absolutely right about Kevin Parks and Perry Jones at running back. However, the Cavaliers only return five starters on defense and there is no telling what they will be able to get out of the passing game. I love Mike London and I have no doubt that he will get the most out of his talent, but I just don’t know if they have the talent to compete with some of the other teams in the Coastal.

Ill tell you what Vanderbilt worries me some.

Here is my article on the SEC’s surprise teams.

http://www.southernpigskin.com/SEC/view/the-secs-surprise-teams

Georgia… Defense is studly.

Quarterback aint too shabby.

I think GT is going to be really good this year if Washington can play better. He will be the key.

To me a surprise team has to exceed expectations.  Just about every team that has been mentioned IMO are not exceeding expectations…like NC State…

UNC has to be the one IMO…New HC, New Offense, A lot a “issues” with Probation, academic scandal…..In short they have a lot of tough days ahead of them.  Rynner looks like a standard pro-style drop back QB that is going to run a spread…

I think they are the one that would be my surprise team if they come out strong.

No doubt the system change will have some growing pains for Carolina…and I hate the fact that Carolina can only play the spoiler this year. That being said, Davis left talent and the schedule is weak so they will have chances to get a bunch of wins. (Idaho was a late fit to fill the gap when Tenn wussed out as this was the year Carolina was to go to Neyland.)