5 Most Overrated Teams in the Preseason College Football Coaches Poll

College football rankings season is finally here, as the preseason Coaches Poll top 25 goes live and gives fans their very first impression of how people on the inside are stacking teams against each other heading into the 2026 kickoff.

Ranking college football teams this early in the game before anybody actually plays a down is not what you would call an exact science, and the 2026 poll shows us that voters are already split on who should be the No. 1 team in the country.

What teams in the Coaches Poll got a little too much love this preseason?

Ohio State

5 Most Overrated Teams in the Preseason College Football Coaches Poll — USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Coaches Poll ranking: No. 1

Make no mistake: the Buckeyes will be one of college football’s very best teams. Any team with Julian Sayin throwing the ball to Jeremiah Smith would be. But the best? Sure, they’re a national title contender right now, but when looking at the rate and quality of turnover on defense, calling them the best team might be an overstep.

A lot of invaluable tacklers are suddenly out of the picture, and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia has an uphill climb ensuring that their replacements are of the right caliber to keep Ohio State in the mix against what will be a much more difficult schedule this season.

Alabama

Coaches Poll ranking: No. 11

Kalen DeBoer lost some 15 starters from last year’s team, including his most important blocker and what was a very productive quarterback, leaving the Crimson Tide’s offense in limbo featuring a new, inexperienced signal caller and what has been a subpar line combination.

Not to mention a rushing attack that ranked among the very worst in college football, leaving too many structural questions for a team that faces a traditionally brutal SEC slate and ranks in the bottom half nationally in total returning snap percentage.

LSU

Coaches Poll ranking: No. 13

There’s every possibility that Lane Kiffin lives up to the massive expectations that await him and he takes LSU back to the College Football Playoff, but the road there involves reviving a program that won seven games and plays another ravenous schedule that includes early dates against Clemson, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M in a stretch that could derail everything.

Sam Leavitt steps in as the No. 1 ranked transfer quarterback, but he does so coming off a foot injury that kept him off the field since October after playing just seven games and he sat out the entire spring, with his last full season coming in 2024. This ranking reflects more the buzz around Lane Kiffin than it does LSU’s output on the field recently.

Penn State

Coaches Poll ranking: No. 17

Pollsters were once bitten by giving the Nittany Lions a No. 2 ranking last preseason, but clearly have enough confidence in Matt Campbell to risk being called twice shy after the former Iowa State head coach made the big move to Happy Valley.

But that confidence runs into a roster that brings back just four starters. Sure, Campbell brought some two dozen Cyclones with him, and important ones like quarterback Rocco Becht, but we are far from any verdict that this combination will actually work as intended.

And while they avoid Ohio State, Oregon, and Indiana on this schedule, that relatively easy slate itself may end up not telling us much about this team and how it would perform against quality opponents.

Clemson

Coaches Poll ranking: No. 23

Three big holes on the offensive line remain to be patched up in front of a brand new quarterback who will have basically no experience lining up against a Power Four defense. It’s not the best situation for the former College Football Playoff dynasty to have heading into this season.

Christopher Vizzina is another blue-chip recruit at quarterback, and while much of Dabo Swinney’s ongoing effort to prove Clemson is still national championship material rests in his hands, he’ll do it against a slate that includes road tests against LSU, Cal, Florida State, and Duke.

Not to mention the home tilts against national championship runner-up Miami and what should be a better South Carolina team. Whatever Clemson gets, they will have to earn it.

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