COTTRELL COLUMN: Who will surprise us this football season?

When it comes to Americans, there are few things we like more than a darkhorse.

From fantasy sports to actual sports to picking stocks on Wall Street, everyone’s always looking for that diamond in the rough.

I’m not immune to this, and you may recall me picking South Florida, Texas Tech and Wake Forest as darkhorse national title contenders last year.

Outside of Texas Tech, that didn’t go so well.

So, in another American pastime, I lowered my expectations this year and went looking for teams that are flying under the radar quite a bit that could potentially make some big-time noise in their conferences.

That was more difficult than it sounds, because so many teams have so many question marks going into this season.

But, once again, I managed to find three teams you should keep an eye on as the season progresses.

We’ll present them, once again, in alphabetical order.

Arkansas
Laugh if you will, but outside of the schedule, things stack up quite nicely for the Hogs this year.

Eighteen starters are back from last year’s team, and while you may remember them for how awful they were early in the season, they were a bumbling loss at Mississippi State away from actually making a bowl.

While the defense was horrendous, it was also very young, and all those guys are back after having to learn under fire.

But maybe the biggest thing the Razorbacks have going for them is a guy who, by the time he’s done, might be up there with just about any SEC quarterback in Ryan Mallett.

You may remember him starting several games for Michigan in 2007, including directing an upset of Penn State, while Chad Henne was hurt. He wasn’t a fan of Rich Rodriguez and transferred, so now he’s ready to start.

So the talent is absolutely there for a big year. The only thing that will prevent them from being a true contender is the schedule.

Arkansas has to visit Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss and LSU, so they won’t be winning any SEC titles this year.

But don’t be surprised to see them in the mix, and be even less surprised if they play spoiler for somebody (that Ole Miss trip is a prime candidate).

Clemson
Another pick that could potentially bring out some laughter in you, my dear readers, but hear me out.

The Tigers have 15 starters back from last year’s underachieving group, and are also rid of underachieving coach Tommy Bowden.

Dabo Swinney righted the ship impressively after taking over midway through last season, and now that he’s been given the reins on a permanent basis may actually be able to take Clemson to the next level.

Highly touted quarterback Willy Korn will finally get his chance to start, and still has C.J. Spiller to hand the ball off to.

The underachieving offensive and defensive lines all return after being thrown into action earlier than they probably should have been.

While this team is far from a sure thing — and they could absolutely still be as average as they have been — the talent level is high and they play in an ACC that is still so wide open.

If everything breaks right, they could easily win the Atlantic and maybe even get past Virginia Tech for the conference title.

Oregon
The Ducks, however, might be one of college football’s most intriguing teams.

They’ve changed coaches, going from Mike Bellotti to Chip Kelly, and lost several starters, but several key cogs from their hot finish to the season, including bruising quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, are coming back.

But maybe the biggest thing the Ducks have going for them is the fact that the Pac-10’s elite all have to come to Eugene, Ore., to play in one of college football’s toughest stadiums, Autzen Stadium.

USC, California and Oregon State all visit the Ducks, and while they’re not likely to beat all of them, don’t be surprised if they beat two and sneak their way into the Rose Bowl.

Well, maybe be just a little surprised.

Tim Cottrell is sports designer of the Opelika-Auburn News. He will write a weekly column on college football during the season. You can also read him on the O-A Sports Blog at oanow.com. He can be reached at 737-2511 or tcottrell@oanow.com.