Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson
In Bruce Feldman's column on Tuesday, he lists the teams with the best shot to make the biggest jump in wins, and surprisingly, four teams from the Independents and Others make this list.
- Headlining the list is Notre Dame, the team nearly every person in the country has predicted to be better than its 7-6 record a year ago. Is that because Notre Dame is better? Sure, but it's mostly because the Irish have a pretty weak schedule that features most of its tougher games in its home stadium. The Irish don't have a true away game during the month of October.
- Third on the list is Ohio, an unlikely pick, but Feldman has gotten on the bandwagon and thinks the Bobcats defense and special teams will be enough to produce a better season than last year's 4-8 campaign. I happen to agree. The Bobcats offense is vastly underrated, especially with two talented quarterbacks vying for the starting spot. Phil Steele is calling for the Bobcats to win the MAC East. I won't go that far, but being in contention would not be out of the realm of possibility.
- Southern Miss comes in at No. 7 on Feldman's list. Yet another team I think is going to make some major waves this fall. The Golden Eagles have steadily been pulling some of the better recruits out of the area and now they believe they can win under Larry Fedora's tutelage. Southern Miss ended the season on a five-game winning streak, including a win in the New Orleans Bowl, to earn yet another winning season. I think the Golden Eagles have a legitimate shot at challenging for the C-USA East title.
- And at No. 10, Feldman's selects UTEP as the biggest surprise on the list. Feldman makes good points that the Miners don't have to face Southern Miss or East Carolina, but the defense is really going to be the difference for UTEP. It struggled mightily last season as it learned the 3-3-5. If that's perfected then yes, the Miners have a chance to be a power in C-USA West, especially with Trevor Vittatoe returning at quarterback. The Miners were 5-7 last season, and in a tough, high scoring C-USA West, it's a bold prediction.
Watson joined ESPN.com in 2008 after four seasons covering the Missouri Tigers and the Big 12 Conference for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She also covered college football recruiting for the Dallas Morning News.
