Ranking the 5 Most Fraudulent College Football Teams So Far This Season

You don’t have to be an expert in college football studies to know that preseason rankings aren’t what you would call an exact science, and that eventually there will be a ton of turnover across the top, middle, and bottom of the poll as the year wears on.

That was certainly true of the first month of the 2026 college football season, with six preseason ranked teams falling out of the poll after four games, and another six that weren’t among the top 25 finding their way onto enough ballots to crack the poll.

Who blew it already this season? Here are the five teams that were in position to do something great before stumbling out of contention in September.

Michigan

The 5 Most Overrated College Football Teams So Far in the 2026 Season — IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Preseason ranking: No. 16
Ranking in Week 5: Unranked

A controversial one-point win against a MAC opponent with that extra second added on, a slow start against UTEP, a last-second loss to Iowa, and now even the win against Oklahoma doesn’t look so good after what the Sooners have done, or not done, since then.

The Wolverines sit at a wobbly 3-1 after that gut-punch loss to the Hawkeyes. What should have been a statement Big Ten opener instead exposed familiar problems: lack of consistency, late-game execution failures, and an offense that fails to finish drives against quality defenses.

A previous close call against a lesser opponent only added to the sense that this team is living on borrowed confidence. With a brutal remaining schedule, the early narrative of a resurgent Michigan under new leadership already feels overstated.

Oklahoma

Preseason ranking: No. 10
Ranking in Week 5: Unranked

Elite defense or not, the Sooners are 2-2 and already looking overmatched in the SEC.

A thorough beating by Georgia complicated by a bundle of turnovers revealed an offense that has failed to take the expected step forward in Year 2 of the current regime, which faced a mandate to improve its blocking capacity and ground game this season. So far, OU’s backs put together rank 129th nationally in output.

Very inconsistent quarterback play and an inability to generate explosive plays have left Oklahoma still searching for an identity. What once looked like a potentially playoff-caliber roster now appears closer to the middle of a loaded conference, with little evidence yet that the talent will translate into sustained success.

Texas A&M

Preseason ranking: No. 8
Ranking in Week 5: Unranked

Coming off last year’s first, and brief, College Football Playoff appearance, the Aggies’ follow-up postseason hopes from a year ago have evaporated in real time.

A 35-6 thrashing at LSU followed an earlier home loss to then-unranked Kentucky, exposing serious defensive vulnerabilities and offensive stagnation, resurrecting concerns around quarterback Marcel Reed’s efficiency against better opponents that emerged last season. In 2026, Reed is completing 48 percent of his throws with 1 TD and 3 picks against SEC defenses and A&M averages 13.5 points in those games.

The program that briefly looked like a national contender under its current coach has quickly reverted to old patterns of inconsistency and frustration, with two early consequential losses already making the remainder of the SEC slate feel punishing rather than promising.

USC

Ranking the 5 Most Fraudulent College Football Teams So Far This Season — USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Preseason ranking: No. 14
Ranking in Week 5: No. 18

Lincoln Riley’s Trojans remain ranked despite clear red flags, the reddest of which was waved after allowing 41 points in a home loss to Oregon and backup quarterback Dylan Raiola in a game that everyone said going in they simply had to have.

The defense has surrendered 30 or more points in multiple consecutive games, including the Ducks disaster that felt all too familiar. And that was after they let winless Rutgers score 35 points the week before. Again and again and again it happens, regardless of the coordinator. Three of them now in the Riley era have not solved this problem.

Offensive flashes cannot mask the same structural issues that have plagued recent USC teams under Riley’s leadership. A ranking that still sits in the top 20 feels more like residual hype than earned respect after yet another defensive collapse.

Louisville

Preseason ranking: No. 24
Ranking in Week 5: Unranked

The Cardinals continue their Jekyll-and-Hyde act this season. Capable of beating ranked teams one week, they drop home games they have no business losing the next, as seen in the recent upset by Wake Forest.

Jeff Brohm’s teams have talent, yet the inconsistency simply still undercuts any claim of being a true ACC contender. Until Louisville proves it can handle the expected wins with the same focus it brings to the big ones, the early optimism remains hard to trust.

Add us as a preferred source on Google