Tis the season for prognostication and - as I dust off the keyboard and hang tinsel on the Crystal Ball - I'm in the mood for some divinations and projections.
So... without further ado... who is the biggest sleeper team of the 2010-2011 college football season?
I'm going to go outside the BCS conferences for this one and pick the Ponies. Yep, C-USA, baby. While Houston is the sexy pick in Conference USA (and why not, with their Heisman-capable QB?), give me the mighty SMU Mustangs.
Not only does SMU return eight starters to the conference's best offense, but the Mustangs play some pretty solid defense. They held the potent Nevada running game to 200 yards below their season average last year and get 7 starters back from last year's team.
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June Jones is in his 3rd season in Dallas and already has the ship righted. Not only did the Mustangs make it to their first bowl game since 1984, but they also brought home the Sheraton Bowl trophy to boot. SMU won 7 more games last year then they did in 2008 with a team of basically freshmen and sophomores. 29 of Jones's 44 players on the two-deep roster were underclassmen and they all return for 2010. QB Kyle Pardon completed 67% of his passes last season in his first year as a starter and he's got two good WRs back with him this year.
SMU will get some help schedule-wise this year. The Mustangs play rival TCU at home and catch Houston at home this season as well. This could very well be a 10-win season for SMU with a trip to the LIberty Bowl as C-USA champ.
You combine those factors and package them up in the Pony Express uniforms and maybe, just maybe, it's high times again in Big D.
So... who's your sleeper team for 2011?
