Preseason Coaches Poll: Top 3 Overrated, Underrated Teams
Preseason Coaches Poll was released this week. Here are the three most overrated and underrated teams heading into the 2016 college football season.
With the release of the 2016 preseason Coaches Poll, we take a look at the teams that are overrated and underrated.
There’s nothing more overrated than saying something is overrated, since something has to actually be rated first before it can be overrated – or underrated, for that matter.
The 2016 Coaches Poll actually is a rating of how good or bad college football teams are coming into the season. Which three teams are overrated in the preseason Coaches Poll, and which three are underrated?
Top Three Overrated Teams
– No. 7 Stanford
Stanford is among the nation’s best-coached teams, and it’s able to reload in a hurry, but it was also gutted by personnel losses after winning the Pac-12 title and the Rose Bowl. This isn’t the best team in the Pac-12, it’s not the best team in the Pac-12 North, and it’s probably not even better than the third-best team in the North behind Oregon and Washington.
Where Stanford Should Be Ranked: 18
– No. 12 Ole Miss
There are a whole bunch of key parts of the puzzle needing to be replaced.
Chad Kelly is one of the nation’s best quarterbacks, but does the offense have any running backs? Will the retooled receiving corps be up to snuff? Ole Miss will eventually be a top 25 team, but the preseason No. 12 ranking is going off the assumption that all the great talent lost off last year’s team can be quickly replaced. Florida State might have something to say about that in the opener on September 5th.
Where Ole Miss Should Be Ranked: 27
– No. 13 Houston
Blurb cheerfully withdrawn if the Cougars beat Oklahoma in the opener.
This is a good, strong team with a fantastic quarterback in Greg Ward Jr., along with a slew of Big 12 transfers, but the secondary is just okay, the offensive line is just okay, and compared to lower-ranked teams like Georgia, USC, Washington, Oregon, UCLA and Florida, the entire team is just okay. Are the Cougars better than No. 23 Louisville? They’ll get their chance to show it late in the season.
Where Houston Should Be Ranked: 49
Top Three Underrated Teams
– No. 6 LSU
It’s LSU, and it’s Les Miles, so there’s always the fear something’s going to go wrong – especially with Brandon Harris at quarterback. But the Tigers are loaded with veterans, NFL talent, and enough experience across the board to start the season in the top three, if not No. 1. The preseason No. 6 ranking is hardly disrespectful – but it’s just not right.
Where LSU Should Be Ranked: 1
– No. 23 Louisville
By far, this is Bobby Petrino’s best team yet since coming back to Louisville, and it’s going to be good enough to at least split with Clemson and Florida State. Lamar Jackson might be the third-best quarterback in the ACC, but that’s not bad considering the top two might go 1-2 in the 2017 NFL Draft. The linebacking corps is stellar, the secondary a brick wall, and the offense about to explode. Get in early on the tech stock – the Cardinals just might end up in the College Football Playoff.
Where Louisville Should Be Ranked: 15
– No. 29 Boise State
The rankings aren’t supposed to predict anything, but considering the Broncos are a rock-solid lock to finish with double-digit wins – and they’re just good enough to be in the mix for the College Football Playoff if everything breaks right – this is the lowest they’ll be all season long. It’s not an awful ranking, but it’s an underappreciated one considering what’s about to happen.
Where Boise State Should Be Ranked: Mid-20s
