College football: 5 teams that won’t be as good as you think in 2021
By John Buhler
Several college football teams will regress in 2021, so do not say we did not warn you.
Though we have no idea who will end up winning the 2022 College Football Playoff, we do have an idea about what teams are prime regression candidates.
For some team to overachieve, another must underachieve. There are various reasons for this. Sometimes, the schedule is too daunting. Other times, a team lost too many great players to the NFL Draft or to the transfer portal. And in some instances, the stars aligned for a team a year ago and that is absolutely not going to happen again. Either way, look for these five teams to regress.
5 college football teams who will regress in 2021
West. 5. player. Pick Analysis. Big Ten. Wisconsin Badgers. 809. Scouting Report
The Big Ten West is too good for Wisconsin to continue to run roughshod
Few teams have made it to the Big Ten Championship game as often as the Wisconsin Badgers. While they won the conference championship twice under the goofy Leaders and Legends format, the Badgers are 0-4 when getting to the title bout in Indianapolis out of the Big Ten West. They may have ran roughshod over the lesser division for years, but that may be a thing of the past.
Wisconsin is not favored to get to Indianapolis out of the Big Ten West. That would be Iowa in 2021. Let’s also not overlook the possibility of the Northwestern Wildcats repeating and getting to Lucas Oil Stadium for the third time in four years. What if Nebraska finally has a halfway decent season? What if the Minnesota Golden Gophers get back to playing like they did in 2019?
Simply, the Big Ten West is no longer an annual cakewalk for the Badgers to get to Indianapolis. They also draw the Michigan Wolverines and the Penn State Nittany Lions out of the other division next fall, along with an improving Rutgers Scarlet Knights team. We cannot overlook two tough draws in the non-conference too in the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Army Black Knights.
While Paul Chryst is an excellent head coach and Graham Mertz is the best quarterbacking talent the Badgers have had since Russell Wilson, the 12-game slate is too daunting for Wisconsin to realistically do any better than 10-2. At some point, they might have the stars align to finally make the College Football Playoff, but there is no reason for you to bet your lucky stars on them in 2021.