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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/OldVeterinarian9 on 2025-08-15 10:12:55+00:00.
To me, one of the great things about the sport of College Football is the way in which information is revealed to us slowly throughout the season. We start the season with (and develop as the season moves on) all of these assumptions. These assumptions then get tested on the field until slowly we develop a picture of what the national landscape looks like. A team, like say 2019 Minnesota (to say something nice about a rival), may start the season with low expectations and then gradually prove themselves until they finish the season in the top 10. Another team, like say 2016 Notre Dame (to underscore how universally our own teams may fall victim), may start the season ranked in the top 10 only to have a terrible year and finish 4-8.
The good teams reveal themselves to us throughout the year, but the highly ranked teams that underperform seem to often fall off unceremoniously early in the season.
With this in mind, are some of the most spectacular misses of the preseason polls?
A couple that come to mind for me:
- In 2024, Florida State started the season ranked 10th after barely missing the playoffs the previous year and they went on to go 2-10
- In 2018, I personally had high expectations for Wisconsin, who started the season ranked 4th after coming close to making the playoff the prior year, before they went 7-5 in the regular season.
- In 2010, following the departure of Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy respectively, Florida and Texas were both ranked in the top 5. They went on to go collectively go .500 in the regular season with Florida finishing 8-5 with a bowl win and Texas finishing 5-7.
What are some of the most spectacular misses of the preseason polls?