Rival Views: Most surprising team in AP Top 25?

Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney don’t always see eye to eye. In this edition of Rival Views, the two debate which team is the biggest surprise right now in the AP Top 25 poll.

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If you had told me Colorado would be in the Top 25 at the beginning of the season with wins over Stanford, Oregon and others, I would have told you that you’re crazy. Oh, and the Buffs also lead the Pac-12 South now over USC, Utah, UCLA and others picked ahead of them in all preseason polls.

Colorado was picked to finish dead last in the South, and only Oregon State received fewer preseason votes from the media in the entire Pac-12.

The Buffs have a somewhat tough finish to the season after games against UCLA and Arizona as they play Washington State and Utah at the end of November, but they are certain to go to a bowl game. And if they can pull an upset or two down the stretch they could be in the Pac-12 championship game.

Think about that for a second. This is a team that went 1-8 in conference last season, 0-9 the season before and had a cumulative record of 14-48 since 2011 heading into the season. Head coach Mike MacIntyre has done an amazing job with this Colorado team and it is playing with a confidence we haven’t seen in ages.

Western Michigan was supposed to have a great season, especially since it’s coached by P.J. Fleck, a young up-and-comer, and the Broncos are really talented on offense. But I don’t think anyone expected it to be this good and to have a legitimate shot at an undefeated regular season.

At 8-0 with games against Ball State, Kent State, Buffalo and Toledo left, Western Michigan is virtually guaranteed its first double-digit win season in program history. That matchup against Toledo to wrap up the regular season is probably the only major roadblock in the Broncos’ path to being undefeated.

No. 17 Western Michigan has been unstoppable this season, with an average victory margin of 44-19. It has already defeated two Big Ten teams in Illinois and Northwestern, and anybody who has seen the Broncos play this season could argue they’re better than many of the lower-level Big Ten squads. Those wins weren’t flukes.

Every team knows wide receiver Corey Davis is one of the best nationally, but nobody can stop him since he already has 49 catches for 739 yards and 11 touchdowns. He’s averaging more than 92 receiving yards per outing.

Quarterback Zach Terrell is having a phenomenal season, completing more than 72 percent of his passes for 1,995 yards with 20 touchdowns and only one pick. Two running backs have already rushed for seven touchdowns, and Jarvion Franklin has 909 rushing yards in eight games.

This all leads to Fleck, because he’s one of the hottest names in coaching circles and he’s assuredly being pursued by bigger jobs. Whether that’s Purdue, because Fleck has a lot of Midwest ties or some other opening, he could be a special hire.