Overrated, underrated teams in Coaches Poll top 25 college football rankings

The preseason Coaches Poll top 25 college football rankings went live on Monday, giving fans their first look at a semi-official poll heading into the 2025 season.

Texas made history by earning its very first No. 1 ranking in any preseason poll, but it was a close call, as the Longhorns earned 28 first-place votes from the coaches.

Ohio State was a close second with 20 first-place votes, followed by Penn State with 14, and Georgia, Notre Dame, and Oregon rounding out the top seven, all of which made the College Football Playoff last season.

Making a preseason poll is always hard work, given those crafting them have no hard information to base their votes on since teams haven’t played any games yet.

That fact has led some fans to wonder if preseason polls are even necessary, but it’s a given they’ll be around for the foreseeable future, even if their early prognostications may later be proven false.

What decisions might the coaches look back on with regret from this preseason poll?

Overrated, underrated teams in Coaches Poll top 25 rankings

Overrated: Michigan

Overrated, underrated teams in Coaches Poll top 25 preseason college football rankings for 2025 — Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Coaches’ ranking: No. 14

Two signature wins over Ohio State and Alabama to close out last season give the Wolverines considerably better momentum to build from than they had for most of the year, when their dismal passing offense ranked 126th in the country in output.

No. 1 overall recruit Bryce Underwood could be the answer to that puzzle at quarterback, but there are still questions around the skill players around him at wide receiver and running back, and on a defense that has to replace some important contributors, too much to warrant a top 15 ranking so soon.

Underrated: Clemson

Overrated, underrated teams in Coaches Poll top 25 college football rankings in 2025 — Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK

Coaches’ ranking: No. 6

Two of the coaches gave the defending ACC champions their first-place vote, but the Tigers are still stuck behind Georgia and Notre Dame, a puzzling decision given their continuity at the most important position compared to those two teams.

Cade Klubnik returns as QB1 after a career year in which he scored 43 total touchdowns, he’s working behind one of college football’s most veteran lines, and has an elite receiver room at his disposal to repeat that success.

That’s not even mentioning a defensive rotation led by new coordinator Tom Allen featuring game-changing talent along the line. Boasting some of the nation’s best returning production, Clemson should be in the top five over the Bulldogs and Irish.

Overrated: South Carolina

Coaches Poll top 25 college football rankings overrated, underrated teams — Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

Coaches’ ranking: No. 13

LaNorris Sellers and Dylan Stewart alone likely moved several coaches to place the Gamecocks so high in the preseason poll, and it’s true they are, respectively, some of the best quarterback and defensive talent in the SEC returning this coming season.

But there are major concerns at wide receiver, in the backfield after Raheim Sanders’ departure and with Rahsul Faison’s eligibility still up in the air, and as Carolina has to replace three NFL Draft selections on the defensive line.

Even with all that firepower, the Gamecocks still went 9-3, so a regress could be in order for this team in 2025.

More: ESPN top 25 rankings | Phil Steele’s AP poll

Underrated: Louisville

Coaches Poll top 25 college football rankings overrated, underrated teams in 2025 — Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Coaches’ ranking: Unranked

Things could go either way for the Cardinals, who boasted one of college football’s best offenses a year ago, but also a defense that lost four games by one score, including a puzzling defeat against 21-point underdog Stanford.

Miller Moss steps in at quarterback as a transfer from USC, where he threw 6 touchdowns against this Louisville team in a bowl game, and he’s working alongside star back Isaac Brown and receiving options Chris Bell and Caullin Lacy.

Defensively, the Cardinals debut a brand new secondary, which could be a blessing in disguise after ranking 100th against the pass last season, but this team could cause serious trouble in statement games at Pittsburgh, Miami, and SMU, and at home against Clemson.

Overrated: Tennessee

Coaches’ ranking: No. 18

College football’s most surprising quarterback situation is yet to be resolved, even though Joey Aguilar looks like the man to succeed Nico Iamaleava after the latter’s shocking exit.

Aguilar comes with proven production, posting over 6,700 yards passing with 61 all-purpose touchdowns the last two years, but he’s also prone to turnovers, throwing a pick on a career-high 3.6 percent of his throws last fall.

He may not have a ton of help in the wide receiver department, where the Volunteers are remarkably thin, and the offense also just lost star rusher Dylan Sampson, who scored 22 times last season.

Tennessee’s defense should remain strong despite losing edge rusher James Pearce, but even on that side of the ball, there are concerns with cornerback Jermod McCoy’s recovery from an ACL tear and Boo Carter’s position with the team is itself an open question amid some unexplained behind the scenes problem.

Underrated: Indiana

Overrated, underrated teams in Coaches Poll top 25 preseason college football rankings — Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Coaches’ ranking: No. 19

Coming out of nowhere in Curt Cignetti’s debut to rank second in the country in scoring and to return not just enough of that offense, but much of this team’s defense and to barely get out of the top 20 was a peculiar decision by the coaches.

Sure, the Hoosiers won’t surprise this time around, and they probably won’t be quite as dominant, but they have a schedule to definitely play another 10-win season.

Fernando Mendoza steps in from Cal to replace Kurtis Rourke at quarterback and he has the capacity to replace that production, throwing for more than 3,000 yards last season, and he has Elijah Sarratt back at receiver after posting 957 yards and scoring 8 times.

Overrated: Ohio State

Overrated, underrated Coaches Poll top 25 college football rankings — Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Coaches’ ranking: No. 2

Let’s start with the good news for the Buckeyes: they still have college football’s best wide receiver in Jeremiah Smith, who leads what could be the nation’s best receiver corps, and Caleb Downs is back at safety to man what should be a quality pass defense.

The bad news? Losing two all-star coordinators who were pivotal to last year’s title run, their quarterback, two thousand-yard backs, key edge blockers, a star center, and elite pass rushers pose too many questions to warrant a top-five ranking this early.