By Luke Brumm
Every season, we see teams come out of nowhere and overachieve, and this year was no different. Many teams came out of nowhere and moved into the Top 25. Moreover, we also had teams go from very bad to respectable. Today, we’re going to be looking at the teams that made that unexpected leap.
Missouri
Coming off a 6-7 season, the Tigers quickly turned that around and were able to go 11-2 with a win over Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. This was a large part due to their high-flying offense.
Quarterback Brady Cook had a very solid year and he was helped out by wideouts Luther Burden and Theo Wease Jr. Burden finished with 1,212 yards receiving and Wease added 682 yards. We can’t forget about Cody Schrader, the former D2 running back who took over the SEC this year. He racked up 1,627 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground.
Missouri really came out of nowhere, and these players and coaches raised their stocks immensely throughout the season.
Louisville
The Cardinals were coming off an 8-5 season, but I didn’t hear much chatter during the preseason. Even after they started 6-0, a lot of people wrote them off after they got blown out by a bad Pittsburgh team.
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After, they bounced back by accumulating four straight wins and made the ACC Championship. While Louisville would lose their last three games of the season to Kentucky, Florida State, and USC, that shouldn’t take away from what they did throughout the entirety of the season. Louisville football is in a good place right now with Jeff Brohm.
Arizona
Arizona had been one of the worst teams in the country for the few years before the 2023 season rolled around. They hadn’t made a bowl since 2017. and went 0-5 in the shortened Covid season, 1-11 in 2021, and 5-7 in 2022. There were signs of improvement under head coach Jedd Fisch, but I don’t think anyone expected this.
The Wildcats finished 10-3 with a win over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl. They also had good wins against the likes of Oregon State, UCLA, and Utah. Arizona had two good quarterbacks play meaningful time this season. Jayden de Laura threw for 1,120 yards, but he got injured. His replacement, Noah Fifita threw for 2,869 yards.
Arizona will be moving to a wide-open Big 12 next season and could be one of the favorites to win it as they continue to rise.
Oklahoma State
The Cowboys have always been respectable under Mike Gundy. He has only had six seasons since he took over in 2005 with seven or fewer wins in a season. One of those years was in 2022. Oklahoma State went 7-6 and a lot of people thought Gundy’s seat was warming after losing five of the last six games.
He responded with a ten-win season and a trip back to the Big 12 Championship. The season started poorly as they went 2-2 in their first four games with losses to South Alabama and Iowa State.
After the emergence of RB Ollie Gordon II, the Pokes were able to bounce back and won eight out of their last ten games. With Texas and Oklahoma gone, OSU could be another team to watch in the Big 12, along with the next and final team on this list.
Kansas
Kansas was arguably the number one worst power five team of the 2010s. They never won more than three games in a season in that timespan. They also had zero wins in 2020 and two in 2021.
Things changed when Lance Leipold took over. He was the coach of that two-win team in 2021, but that was his first year. He immediately jumped up to 6-7 in 2022, and went 9-4 this past season. That is a crazy leap, especially with a program with the recent history of Kansas. They also went 9-4 with starter Jalon Daniels sparingly starting.
Kansas returns almost every single key player, including Daniels, who was rumored to have an offer from USC a few months ago. The Jayhawks also have their best recruiting class ever. Leipold is a great coach and has had success everywhere he has gone, don’t be surprised to see the Jayhawks continue their success, especially in a weaker conference.
