Phil Steele reveals three under-the-radar teams in college football

Everybody loves an under-the-radar team making a run towards the College Football Playoff. There’s few people better to deliver prediction on which teams are in prime position to do than college football analyst Phil Steele.

Steele appeared on the Josh and Swain show on 99.1 The Sports Animal and named three under-the-radar teams for fans to watch out for: Clemson, Notre Dame and Wisconsin.

“First one I’m going to throw at you is my number one surprise team — a non-top-10 team that I think has a chance of making the playoffs — and that’s Wisconsin,” Steele said. “I gotta be honest with you, I was skeptical of Luke Fickell coming in and going to more of a pass offense with Wisconsin, a team that’s been geared to the run. But as he pointed out to me in our long conversation, Tanner Mordecai, a pretty capable quarterback, and they’re not abandoning the run game. They’ve got Braelon Allen. They’ve got Chez Mellusi. They got a big offensive line. He feels it’s going to open up more space for those guys, and they’re going to have just as effective a run game.

“They’ve got eight starters back on defense after only having three last year. They’ve got a dream schedule. Their road games are against Washington State, Purdue, Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota. All of them fall in the winnable category. They are my No. 1 surprise team or a team that could come out of nowhere and actually make the playoff, especially after being seven and six last year.”

Phil Steele likes Clemson and Notre Dame heading into the 2023 college football season

While Wisconsin is a deep sleeper for the College Football Playoff, Phil Steele’s other two teams are likely to be ranked near the top 10 of the preseason polls — if not in them themselves.

“With Notre Dame, their problem last year, first of all, they had a first-year head coach,” Steele said. “Secondly, they had a backup quarterback in Drew Pyne at the quarterback spot. This year, they’ve got Sam Hartman, one of the best quarterbacks in college football. He’s got a deep stable of running backs. One of the top offensive lines in the country. Marcus Freeman knows defense. He’s got eight starters back on the defensive side of the ball. When you look at their schedule, they get Ohio State at home. They get USC at home. I think the both of those are winnable games. The one game I’ve got them an underdog in all year is at Clemson. If they go 11-1, I think they have a legitimate shot at the playoff.”

The Fighting Irish went 9-4 last season. They last appeared in the College Football Playoff in 2020.

That was also the last time Clemson made the College Football Playoff. After appearing in the College Football Playoff six straight years in a row, the Tigers missed out each of the last two seasons.

Steele believes the trend will reverse back this fall.

“Speaking of that Clemson team, I’ve seen a lot of preseason top 25s that don’t even have Clemson in the top 10 this year,” Steele said. “They’re not going to be favored to win the ACC. Florida State is this year when the media poll comes out. But I love this Clemson team. Talking to Coach Sweeney as I did this year, he told me the defensive line doesn’t have the star power of the 2018 group. But this group is deeper in talent and experience than the 2018 group. If you have that good of a defensive line, you’re going to be a contender.

“You’ve got Cade Klubnik at quarterback, (Will) Shipley and (Phil Mafah) at running back. Their best offensive line they’ve had in the four years, some threats at wide receiver and one of the best defenses in the country. Then you factor in their schedule. Their road games are against Duke, Syracuse, Miami of Florida — not easy but winnable — NC State and South Carolina. I’ve got Clemson favored in all 12 games this year. I think they run the table go 12-0. While nobody’s talking about them as one of the top four teams as opposed to past years, I think Clemson gets there this year.”