As we enter the halfway mark of the season, 13 teams are undefeated teams, and five are still looking for a win at the FBS level. There is no way that all 13 undefeated teams will stay that way, but at the end of the season, a few of the winless teams could still be at 0.
Over the next couple of months, winless and undefeated teams will start to drop.
Here is a look at each conference with undefeated and/or winless teams and when is the best chance that a team will drop from the winless ranks or pick up its first win in 2017.
There are three undefeated teams in the American Athletic Conference : the United States Naval Academy, the University of Central Florida and the University of Memphis. UCF has the toughest path to stay undefeated, as it travels to the Navy on Oct. 21 and hosts South Florida in the season finale on Nov. 24.
South Florida and the Navy could reach the conference championship game undefeated since they don’t play each other in the regular season. The Navy does have a trip to the University of Notre Dame on Nov. 18 that could knock the team from the ranks of the unbeaten.
The best chance of an undefeated team is South Florida winning the season finale against UCF and the conference championship game in early December.
Just two undefeated teams remain in the Atlantic Coast Conference: defending national champion Clemson University and the University of Miami in Florida. Clemson’s next tough test will come on a Nov. 4 road trip to North Carolina State University. It seems very likely that the Tigers will run the table while heading into the playoffs.
Miami has back-to-back home games against Virginia Tech on Nov. 4 and Notre Dame on Nov. 11. If the Hurricanes can stay undefeated, a date against Clemson in the ACC Championship Game is highly likely.
Baylor University out of the Big 12 is the only Power Five school that does not have at least one victory at this point in the season. The Bears have two chances to get a win this season, starting with a Nov. 4 road game against the University of Kansas and a home against Iowa State University. Kansas is Baylor’s best chance to get one win this season.
Texas Christian University is at the opposite end from Baylor in the Big 12. The Horned Frogs have back-to-back road games against the University of Oklahoma on Nov. 11 and Texas Tech University on Nov. 18. If the Sooners want to keep their playoff hopes alive, TCU’s first loss will come against Oklahoma.
The Big Ten has just two undefeated teams: Pennsylvania State University and the University of Wisconsin. These teams don’t meet in the regular season but could meet in the conference championship game.
Penn State has three tough games left: the University of Michigan on Oct. 21, Ohio State University on Oct. 28 and Michigan State University on Nov. 4. If the Nittany Lions can navigate that stretch, a spot in the conference title game should be assured.
Wisconsin hasn’t played a very tough schedule, and the toughest game left is against Michigan on Nov. 18. The Badgers have a great chance of finishing undefeated and playing for a playoff spot in the Big Ten title game.
Conference USA has two teams still looking for win one of the season: the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the University of Texas at El Paso. The bad news for these teams is that they don’t play each other.
Charlotte has just one team with a losing record left on the schedule: 2-3 Old Dominion University on Nov. 4. UTEP doesn’t even have a team with a losing record left on the schedule. Both teams could finish the season winless without pulling off an upset.
The University of Massachusetts is the lone independent team without a win. There are three games on the Minutemen’s schedule that could end up being a win. First is an Oct. 21 home game against winless Georgia Southern University. A neutral location game against the University of Maine on Nov. 11 and a trip to Brigham Young University on Nov. 18 are the two remaining best chances for a win. Three good chances to get a win seem like a lot of games not to at least get one win.
San Diego State University is the lone undefeated team left in the Mountain West Conference. Games against Boise State University and Fresno State University in back-to-back home games on Nov. 14 and 21, respectively, are the last chances at a loss in the regular season. The Aztecs still have to play in the MWC title game to stay undefeated.
The Pac-12 has two undefeated teams from the same state: Washington State University and the University of Washington. The Cougars and Huskies play each other in the season finale on Nov. 25. Before the in-state showdown, both teams face Stanford University with Washington State on Nov. 4 and Washington on Nov. 10. The winner of the Nov. 25 showdown could end up in the conference title game.
Previously mentioned Georgia Southern is the last winless team in the Sun Belt Conference. The Eagles still have UMass to play as stated above but also have a couple of one-win teams left on the schedule: GSU hosts the University of South Alabama on Nov. 18 and at Coastal Carolina University on Dec. 2. Three games is a great chance to get a win, and most of the rest conference is weak, besides Troy University.
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