Not everyone in college football has the same goals in mind. There are 130 FBS teams, and historical context is important when judging the success of a season. Every year, several teams take a crucial step forward, achieving a tangible goal that they have not met in a while, whether it’s making a bowl game, reaching the AP Top 25 or winning a conference championship.



In late July, The Athletic analyzed what’s next for teams that achieved breakthroughs in 2018 (teams like Texas and Utah that have hopes of making another leap but were featured in last week’s article are not included in this story). Now, it’s time to look at the 2019 season and identify teams that have a chance to reach newfound levels of success compared to recent years.



Iowa State



Trend to break: Iowa State has not finished ranked in the AP poll since 2000 and has never finished better than 19th. It has not won a conference championship since going 2-0 in the...