Army head coach Jeff MonkenTerence Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
College football is so much more fun when you have unexpected teams do well early on. And through six weeks, we have several surprise undefeated teams that have been a blast to watch play well early on. As we reach early October, several unexpected teams are undefeated, including Indiana, Army, Navy, Iowa State and Pitt.
These feats are even more impressive when you look at how long it’s been since these teams have started the year unbeaten:
- Indiana: Undefeated for the first time since 1967
- Army and Navy are both a combined 10-0 for the first time since 1945(!)
- Iowa State: 5-0 for the first time since 1980
- Pitt is 5-0 for the first time since 1990
Why are these surprise starts also really fun? All of these teams can potentially cause some serious chaos, both in the playoff race and in their respective conference races. For Indiana, the Hoosiers’ biggest remaining conference games include Washington, No. 10 Michigan and No. 5 Ohio State.
Army and Navy both sit squarely atop the American Athletic standings, and could definitely meet in the conference title game. But there’s an interesting scenario here as well, since these two teams already meet annually the Saturday after Championship Saturday. The playoff committee has already stated that Army-Navy won’t impact any playoff bids, so there’s a chance the AAC winner could lose to its biggest rival a week after earning a playoff bid.
Army and Navy both play Notre Dame this season, which would make for a signature win for either team if they beat the Irish. Iowa State’s biggest remaining Big 12 games include at No. 18 Utah and vs. No. 20 Kansas State the last two weeks of the season. We could see a rematch of either of those games in the conference title game, depending on how the rest of the standings shake out.
And last but certainly not least, Pitt has an ACC title shot. THe Panthers play Cal on Oct. 12, go to SMU on Nov. 2 and play Clemson and at Louisville on Nov. 16 and 23rd, respectively.
If any of these teams keep playing like they have early on, we could be in for one fun end of the season for these surprise unbeaten teams.
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