10 college football teams who could take a step back in 2023

Sustaining success is one of the toughest challenges for any college football program.

When a program is mired in losing or mediocrity, that breakthrough season is so coveted that sometimes it comes with a fall back down to earth on the other side.

Which teams will see that happen in 2023? We’ve assembled a list of 10 that could take a step back.

We were right on the money with nine of our 10 selections last year. Let’s see how we do this time around.

(Teams listed in alphabetical order)

Cincinnati (9-4 in 2022)

Any of the three teams moving up from the AAC to the Big 12 could fit here (BYU, too), but Cincinnati in particular seems poised for a big step back. The Bearcats went a combined 53-10 over the past five seasons under Luke Fickell, but already started to show some signs of decline last season following the program’s historic trip to the College Football Playoff in 2021.

Now, just as they are moving up in competition, the Bearcats have changed coaches with Fickell off to Wisconsin and Scott Satterfield coming in from Louisville. Satterfield was just 25-24 in four seasons at UL and opted to restart his clock at Cincinnati rather than potentially continue at UL while coaching on shaky ground.

As is the norm with a coaching change these days, the roster turnover for UC is significant — especially on offense. The Bearcats are facing pretty much complete overhauls at receiver and along the offensive line with the well-traveled Emory Jones stepping in at quarterback. The defensive line should be pretty solid, but there are concerns in the secondary.

The Bearcats may not even reach a bowl.

Coastal Carolina (9-4)

After going a combined 22-3 in 2020 and 2021, Coastal Carolina went 9-4 last year. It was a step back in terms of record, but the Chanticleers actually played quite a bit worse than their record indicates. CCU…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2023-07-25 13:55:19

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