The 2018 college football season ended in a predictable manner, with Clemson and Alabama meeting in the national championship game for the third time in four years after opening as the top two teams in the AP poll. But even when national title races are easy to forecast, every season features a handful of teams that experience breakthroughs, reaching benchmarks that they had not hit in several years or even decades.



Sometimes, these breakthroughs are a sign of things to come. Other times, they’re an anomaly. What happens next? Let’s look back at last season’s breakout teams and assess where they’re heading.



Florida



2018 breakout (No. 7 in final AP poll): Florida won the SEC East as recently as 2016, but last year’s No. 7 AP poll finish was its best since Tim Tebow’s senior year in 2009, and it featured its most watchable offense since then, too. The Gators’ offense had not finished in the top 50 nationally in passing...