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In 2016, the buzz was about college football programs like Colorado and Penn State.

Not too many people were talking about them at the end of the previous season, and both coaches were widely believed to be on the hot seat. Instead, they surprised the college football world in a big way, and with magical years the teams played for conference championships.

In sports, they're called sleepers.

According to Vocabulary.com, a sleeper is "something that succeeds when no one thought it would." That definitely describes the Buffaloes and Nittany Lions.

Yet not all sleepers are created equal. Whereas Washington would have been a good pick to be a sleeper in the Pac-12 and went on to land a spot in the College Football Playoff, Louisville would have been one too despite coming off an 8-5 season, along with Georgia Tech following a 3-9 year.

The tricky part is picking next season's sleepers beforehand, not just overall, but in each Power Five conference and division. Some of these will be a little more obvious than others, but all appear to be programs going in the right direction.