FAVORITE TEAMS

UCF continued their unbeaten run before LSU ended it. During the season, they were the conference’s target and Temple and Memphis nearly defeated them. Memphis tried twice but sputtered in the 2nd half and was outscored 49-3. Temple was close to stealing UCF’s division title but finished 2nd in the East division. Cincinnati made a turnaround after finishing 4-8 twice and capped it off with a bowl win over Virginia Tech. SMU and Navy’s downfall gave Tulane the jump to bowl-eligibility and won it too. However, the Green Wave did fall short of stealing the West. Houston battled Memphis for the West but lost in the last game to the Tigers. ECU and UConn’s season was predicted to end at the bottom 2 of the East. Tulsa finished at the bottom of the West, but 4 of their 9 losses by 8 points or less (especially against Texas) hints a potential bounce back for the young roster in the future.

The Owls were the more resilient team in my underrated picks because of their defense. The offense was so-so and it took a quarterback change to get things churning. A loss to Villanova made me skeptical of my pick, but they dominated in conference play with only one loss to UCF. A win over UCF would’ve given Temple leverage over the East division. Despite the horrible loss in their bowl game against Duke, Temple improved on their 2nd season in-conference in the post-Matt Rule era.

Tulane was another riskiest pick. For those who actually read my stuff, you may have your own opinion on my choice. You all think I’m crazy for picking low-life teams believing something good will happen.

For Tulane, it was that reason to believe they would improve. Even without running back Dontrell Hilliard from 2017, I expected Tulane’s team to make an impact this season…somehow. They defeated Memphis, USF, and even Navy to notch their sixth win and bowl-eligibility. They even won a bowl game against their in-state rival Louisiana. Believe it or not, Tulane was temporarily gunning for the West division after upsetting Memphis but a loss to Houston dropped them to 3rd place. Quarterback John Banks’ injury seemed hopeless for the team, but LSU transfer Justin McMillan kept their hopes alive and won 5 of the last 6 games. The defense was underrated and big plays were made when needed thanks to defensive linemen Cameron Sample, Robert Kennedy and the rest of the front. Overall, I was confident enough to pick this team because their roster was good enough to be a bowl-contending team.