Rankings Reckoning: College Football's 5 Most Disappointing Top-10 Teams of the 21st Century
This article lists the five most disappointing top-10 preseason college football teams of the 21st century, highlighting their failures to live up to expectations during the season. The rankings are based on how far each team fell from their projected success in the preseason.
The preseason rankings in college football have become increasingly scrutinized over the years, leading to several high-profile disappointments among top-10 teams. From 2001 to 2017, five teams ranked in the top 10 at the start of a season but failed to live up to expectations. The University of Oklahoma, Michigan State, South Carolina, USC, and Tennessee all suffered significant setbacks in their respective seasons, while others, such as Alabama and Ohio State, defied preseason rankings with impressive turnaround performances. These underwhelming results have led some to question the reliability of preseason rankings in predicting a team's success.
