No, these teams are not necessairily challengers to get into the playoffs, but they are "Brand Name" teams that are on the fence.

ACC: Clemson. They can't beat Florida State or South Carolina. Oddly enough, the last two wins they had aainst Florida State did not matter because they were seasons when they ended up with 4 or more losses. In Dabo's 5 previous seasons, he has managed just one Conference Championship, and that was in a year that Clemson ended up losing 4 games including a 70-33 blowout to West Virginia in their bowl game. Clemson fans thought last year would be the year. They were blown out by Florida State in Clemson (51-14) and at South Carolina (31-17). Clemson fans are not going to wait forever for this team to finally win a Conference Championship again.

Big 10: Michigan. Talk about a team in a rut, Michigan has not won a Big 10 title since 2003. After their 4th consecutive blow out in a bowl game in 2006 (a 32-18 loss to USC again in the Rose Bowl), Michigan has had just one season where they lost two games. They have lost 4 or more every other season. Brady Hoke was suppose to be the answer to MIchigna's woes, but he better get this team motivated and in a hurry. Michigan has had a losing record against Michigan State and Ohio State (1-2 with each team) since Hoke took over. You do not win Big 10 East championships with losing records against those two teams. The clock is running.

Big 12: Texas. Texas has been terrible in the past 4 years. Mack Brown is gone, and Charlie Strong takes over with a new attitude. Unfortunately he certainly did not help himself by running 10-12 players, including at least 3 starters, off of his team. Texas fans are not going to sit still for many more 4-5 loss seasons, but that is about all they can reasonable expect this season. It is hard to see when Texas will be able to defeat the likes of Oklahoma, Baylor, Oklahoma State, and Kansas State (1-3 S/U against all of those teams in the last 4 seasons) on a consistant basis with the talent (or lack thereof) they have coming in. Charlie must produce quickly. The Alum, who really did not want him chosen to begin with, will not wait very long for a Big 12 Championship.

Pac 12: Washington. Tyrone Willingham may have been the worst Head Coach of all time. He certainly was at Washington, with an 11-37 S/U record including a 0-12 effort in is final season there. Enter Steve Sarkisian to rebuild the program. Sark did a good job, leading the Huskies to four straight bowl games. Now comes the next step. To take that step, Washington must first beat Oregon, a team that they have not defeated since 2003. They also must get past Stanford, a team that they have defeated once in the past 6 seasons. This year may be a critical one for new HC Petersen. He plays Stanford at home on 9/27 and Oregon in Eugene on 10/18. While few expect a win in Eugene, a win against Stanford is critical for Washington to turn the corner. A win at home against UCLA in November would also help. Last year, Udub was 9-4, after three straight 7-6 seasons. They must get over the hump soon, or continue to lose out in the recruiting wars in the Pac 12.

SEC: Two teams here. 1. Florida. To say that things have not gone well for Will Muschamp woud be an understatement. Muschamp took over for Urban Meyer, the most successfu Head Coach in Florida history. His first season was a 7-6 effort, highlited with a bowl win over Ohio State. He followed that with a 11-2 effort, 11-1 in the regular season. Then the roof fell in. Last season Florida finished a dismal 4-8 season. Florida has never been to the SEC title game under Muschamp. The reason is that he has never defeated Georgia. He is also 1-2 against South Carolina, and LSU. The offense takes the blame here. Florida was held to 24 points or less 6 times in their 11 win season and 10 times last season. Injuries have hurt, but the fact is that Muschamp simply did not recruit any decent offensive players. Things do not look real good for Florida and Muschamp this season. Either Flroida starts to score, with a very green offense, or Muschamp may be gone.

Tennessee: It is hard to believe, but the last time Tennessee actually had a winning record for a season was back in 2009, when Lane Kiffin was Head Coach. Since then, it has been a stagnant run for Tennessee. Under Derek Dooley, they had seasons of 6 wins, then two straight 5 win seasons. Butch Jones came in and won, you guesssed it, 5 games last season. Tennessee's problem has been with their defense. They have allowed 31 or more points 24 times in their past 4 seasons. Not helping much is the fact that their offense has been held to under 21 points 19 times in that same 4 year period. like Florida, Tennessee's recruting has been hit hard, especailly outside of Tennessee.

Florida goes to Tennessee on 10/4. This is a critical game for both teams. The winner has a legitimate shot at a 7 win season, while the loser will be lucky to win 6. The difference between 5 wins and 7 is a bowl game, and possibly a coaches job. This game is more of a must win for Tennessee than it is for Florida, but a loss really hurts either one of these two teams struggling to catch up to Georgia and South Carolina.