Looking Ahead: Biggest Keys To Winning A National Title

When trying to decide which teams have a realistic shot to win a national title, there are a number of factors to consider. Recently ESPN's Joey Galloway and David Pollack discussed some of those factors and went in-depth on what they thought were the biggest keys to winning it all in a season affected by a pandemic.

In a typical college football season, there are a number of factors that go into putting a national championship-caliber team on the field. You need the right combination of coaching, talent, hard work and even a little luck at times.  

Generally speaking, there are usually just a handful of teams that enter a season with a realistic shot at winning it all. More often than not it comes down to just two, maybe three teams, that are just that much better than everyone else. 

However, the coming season is looking like anything but typical. In fact, due to the current pandemic, it looks like fans are in store for what could likely be the most difficult season to date. 

Under these unusual circumstances, teams with experienced quarterbacks will have a leg up on everyone else. Having veteran leadership at the most important position on the field is the biggest key, according to ESPN analyst Joey Galloway. 

“When you have a leader at quarterback who has won a lot of games, played a lot of good football, guys can follow that guy," Galloway said on "College Football Live." "Because this isn’t normal. We’re not out practicing like we normally do, so you look at teams that have veterans and great playmakers. They’ll have the best chance in this situation because they won’t have the same amount of practice time and work out on the field together. Those teams that have good quarterbacks coming back, they have the best chance.”

If there is any team built to win under these conditions, it is Clemson. Not only do they have that veteran quarterback, but they also have what many consider to be the best quarterback in the country in Trevor Lawrence. 

One of Lawrence's best traits is his poise, and that calm demeanor could pay big dividends for the Tigers in the coming season. 

Another thing the Tigers have that will be extremely important is depth. Dabo Swinney has made it a point to build as much quality depth as possible on his teams and having it will be as important as ever under these conditions. 

ESPN analyst David Pollack thinks having that kind of depth could be the most important factor of all.  

“To me, it’s about depth,” Pollack said. “You’re talking about a pandemic. You’re talking about testing, about quarantine rules that they’re going to have in place. You better have depth at every position. You better know, this year more than ever, when you’re going to lose someone. So who does that benefit? The same old teams we talk about every single year."

"Go down the list. Clemson, so much depth. Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia. Those are the teams every year we see, when somebody gets hurt, they’re okay because they’re recruiting at such a high level over the past several years that they have multiple guys at multiple positions, especially in a year like this with the pandemic.”