College Football 2015: Five biggest surprises of first half

Sep 26, 2015; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain during the first half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

With the college football season halfway over, here are the five biggest team surprises from the first half and whether it’s a fluke or has staying power.

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I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news, but the 2015 college football season is half over. That just means we’re closer to rivalry week, conference championship game, the Heisman presentation, bowl game announcements and finding out who plays in the College Football Playoff.

Before we fast forward entirely to the end of the season, let’s revisit the biggest storylines and the biggest team surprises from the first half of the season.

Surprises are a good thing, so the surprises you’ll see in following slides are of the pleasant variety. So while teams like Auburn and Georgia Tech are surprising in how poorly they’ve played in the first half, this article focuses on the pleasant surprises.

There are no shortage of candidates with so many great stories worthy of being in the spotlight, but there was only room for the five biggest surprises. Of the five, two are from the Big Ten, one from the SEC, one from the Pac-12 and one from the Group of Five conferences.

After reading through the list of the five biggest surprises of the season’s first half, please leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section and continue the conversation on social media.

Without further ado, here are the biggest surprises from the first half and whether it was a fluke or if we should expect similar things in the second half.

Next: Michigan