ESPN The Magazine asked a bunch of smaht guys from MIT to rank college football programs using a handful of variables such as recruiting, revenue and the prowess of the coach in charge.
While the top 10 shapes up about how you would expect, with the likes of Alabama, Ohio State and Oklahoma, a number of schools outside the top 25 have the earmarks of programs on the rise, teams that could become elite in the next few years.
Here is the likeliest to leap in each of the six BCS conferences, as well as an honorable mention.
ACC
North Carolina Tar Heels (No. 46 in Mag rankings)
The NCAA's recent ruling, surprising as it was to some, removed the black cloud that had been hanging over campus -- and namely new coach Larry Fedora and new AD Bubba Cunningham. Besides the punishments already handed down, the team can proceed.
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Travis Haney
ESPN Insider• Joined ESPN as Insider's national college football writer in April 2012
• Previously wrote for The Oklahoman and The Post and Courier
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Travis HaneyTravis Haney joined ESPN in April 2012 as Insider's national college football writer. He previously covered the University of Oklahoma Sooners for The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman for one season, and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks for The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier for four. Additionally, Haney has contributed since 2003 to ESPN publications and projects, including ESPN The Magazine.
A native of Cleveland, Tenn., Haney's initial introduction to a college football cathedral was Neyland Stadium. He later graduated from the University of Tennessee, in 2003, and has spent time covering the Volunteers, the University of Georgia, Clemson University, and other schools. Safe to say, football, and football in the South, was injected into his bloodstream at a young age.
Haney is the author of three books -- Gamecock Glory and Gamecock Encore, which chronicled the South Carolina baseball team's run to the 2010 and 2011 national championships, and State of Disunion, a historical look at the Clemson-South Carolina football rivalry that he co-wrote with Larry Williams.
Haney resides in Charlotte, N.C. You can follow him on Twitter here.
