AP Preseason Top 25 College Football Poll: 5 Things That Matter, Overrated, Underrated, Winners, Losers
The 2021 AP preseason top 25 college football poll was released. Here are the topics that matter with the overrated and underrated teams, and the winners and losers.
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2021 Preseason Top 25 Analysis
Overrated | Underrated | Oklahoma Respect
AP Poll is still fun | Winners & Losers
AP Preseason Top 25
5. Who is, technically, overrated in the 2021 AP Preseason Top 25 College Football Poll?
Everyone likes to say things are overrated and underrated, but who’s rating them? The AP is, so at least by projection – and it’s all subjective, obviously, compared to the CFN 2021 Preseason Rankings 1-130 – here are five possible overrated teams.
No. 8 Cincinnati
Cincinnati will end up being ranked high all season long considering it really is very, very good, and if it beats Notre Dame it’ll certainly be worth of the top ten call. However, it’s the yearly struggle when it comes to Group of Five programs.
Can Cincinnati beat the Irish? Absolutely. Can it beat Indiana, too? Yeah. But it’s the constant beatdown of Power Five team after Power Five team that makes the teams in the top conferences so strong. Again, this is a great Cincinnati team, but it’s also getting by rankings-wise a wee bit on a 2020 schedule without a win over a Power Five program.
How many American Athletic Conference teams are ranked in the top 25 besides Cincinnati? Exactly.
– Cincinnati Preview
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AP Top 25 College Football Poll, Rankings: Preseason 2021
No. 10 North Carolina
It’s nitpicking time here – North Carolina is more like a top 15 team going into the season than top ten. Yes, it did a nice job reloading some of the key positions, and yes, Sam Howell will be some NFL team’s starting quarterback next year at this time, but the Tar Heels lost a whole lot of firepower off a team that went 8-4.
– North Carolina Preview
No. 17 Indiana
Like all preseason college football rankings, they’re based on what happened the year before, who’s returning, and a little bit of brand name momentum. However, Indiana finished last year losing to Ole Miss and – give the Hoosiers credit for getting the job done – was able to rock in a bad year for the Big Ten East.
Partially because QB Michael Penix Jr. – who should be okay – is just coming off a knee injury, and the East should be stronger, this is more of a fringe top 25 team than 17.
– Indiana Preview
No. 22 Coastal Carolina & No. 23 Louisiana
Right here, right now, you have to bet Junior’s juice money on Utah or Auburn or Michigan or Oklahoma State vs. Coastal Carolina or Louisiana … you’re not taking the Chanticleers or Ragin’ Cajuns with total certainty.
The Sun Belt stars are terrific, but this is getting a tad cheeky considering Liberty – who returns everyone and beat Coastal Carolina last year – is technically ranked 29th.
– Louisiana Preview | Coastal Carolina Preview
And then there are the …
2021 Preseason Top 25 Analysis
Underrated | Oklahoma Respect
AP Poll is still fun | Winners & Losers
AP Preseason Top 25
NEXT: AP Preseason Top 25 College Football Poll – 5 most underrated teams
4. Who is, technically, underrated in the AP Preseason Top 25 Poll?
If there’s an overrated side, there has to be an underrated group of teams, too. Again, to try being a bit different from when we did this for the 2021 Preseason Coaches Poll, five underrated teams in the AP Preseason Top 25 Poll are …
Appalachian State (0 votes)
The Mountaineers suffer from not being quite as splashy as Coastal Carolina and Louisiana were last year. In 2021, they’ve got the team in place to be every bit as strong as those two with the talent to win the Sun Belt.
– Appalachian State Preview
Texas Tech (0 votes)
In theory this should be a dangerous team that should probably be just outside of the top 25, and at the very least should receive a few AP votes. It returns just about everyone in a super-senior year and adds QB Tyler Shough from Oregon. It’s not going to win the Big 12, but be wary – it’s going to screw up a slew of top teams on the slate.
– Texas Tech Preview
UCLA (2 votes)
Don’t get weirded out if and when the Bruins get rocked by LSU to start the season. This is a very experienced, very dangerous team that’s been built up over the last few years under Chip Kelly. It’s a fringe top 25 team that only received two votes.
– UCLA Preview
Michigan (12 votes)
Talk about the big brand being down, this really is a top 25-caliber team based on talent and upside, but it didn’t get a lick of respect in the Coaches Poll and now it’s technically ranked 32nd in the AP.
– Michigan Preview
No. 20 Washington
The proof will come down to the September 11th game against Michigan, but the Huskies have a nasty defense and enough on the offensive line push into the preseason top 15.
– Washington Preview
2021 Preseason Top 25 Analysis
Overrated | Oklahoma Respect
AP Poll is still fun | Winners & Losers
AP Preseason Top 25
NEXT: AP Preseason Top 25 College Football Poll: Oklahoma gets the No. 2 respect
3. AP Preseason Top 25 College Football Poll: Oklahoma gets the No. 2 respect
There was a time not all that long ago when being ranked in the preseason top two of the AP preseason poll meant everything.
If you were 1 or 2 and won all your games, you were in the national championship mix – you pretty much controlled your own destiny – and you needed help if you weren’t in the preseason top two.
In a College Football Playoff era it doesn’t mean that much to be in the top two, or top four, or anywhere in the preseason polls and rankings, but it’s an interesting measure of respect.
It’s a nitpicking thing when it comes to who’s where in the top four, but it’s still a big thing for a program to show where the expectations are. Again, of course all that matters is to be close, and just getting into the final top four means everything, but this really might be Lincoln Riley’s best Oklahoma team yet and the AP voters recognized it.
And then there’s the part of this going forward that everyone will focus on – the SEC.
Oklahoma might still technically be a Big 12 program, but its heart and mind is off to the SEC. That means the Just Means More conference has the top two teams in the preseason AP poll, four of the top six, and with Texas, seven of the top 21.
A third of the preseason top 21 will soon belong to one league. With the Big Ten having five teams in the top 21, the big conferences are only going to be more important.
But back to Oklahoma and what this ranking means, the pressure is on – and that’s a good thing.
Just winning another Big 12 championship isn’t enough, and just getting to the College Football Playoff isn’t enough. Oklahoma has a team good enough to at least play for the national championship – at least the AP voters think so.
2021 Preseason Top 25 Analysis
Overrated | Underrated | AP Poll is still fun
Winners & Losers | AP Preseason Top 25
NEXT: AP Preseason Top 25 College Football Poll: Yeah, it’s still a big deal
2. AP Preseason Top 25 College Football Poll: Yeah, it’s still a big deal
It’s still fun.
I know, I know, I’m the first to always point out that the College Football Playoff rankings coming out in early November need all the focus and scrutiny – you should start now, CFP, and put a camera on what should be a fully transparent process, and … sorry, more on that another time – but the preseason rankings are all a part of the the puzzle with that panel of judges down in Grapevine, Texas.
Don’t think for a second that the human element in deciding the College Football Playoff top 25 isn’t influenced in some way by the prevailing overall belief reflected in the rankings.
At the very least, the AP and Coaches polls set the tone and expectations going forward. They’re a part of the rhythm of the football season with a history going back to 1936.
It’s cool to continue to compare and contrast how the AP rankings have worked over more than 80 years, and how there’s still so much interest from college football fans.
It’s a badge of honor to be ranked in this thing. No matter what happens, Coastal Carolina and Louisiana can thump their chests that they’re preseason AP top 25 football teams.
Iowa State is seventh – IOWA STATE. That’s an amazing distinction for a program that’s had to claw its way to get to this point.
Cincinnati – CINCINNATI – is ranked ahead of Notre Dame, Florida, USC, LSU, and Penn State.
Indiana – INDIANA – is ranked ahead of Penn State, Iowa, and Michigan.
Blow off crusty old blowhards like me – this thing is still a big deal.
It’s the middle of August, it’s still summer, and the Preseason AP Top 25 Poll is out.
The world isn’t totally in the tank quite yet.
2021 Preseason Top 25 Analysis
Overrated | Underrated | Oklahoma Respect
Winners & Losers | AP Preseason Top 25
NEXT: AP Preseason Top 25 College Football Poll Winners and Losers
1. AP Preseason Top 25 College Football Poll Winners and Losers
– Winner: Sun Belt. Two teams are in the top 23. Poo poo this all you want – and I have – but your Sun Belt conference has more teams ranked in the top 25 than the rest of the Group of Five conferences combined. And it has more than the …
– Loser: Big 12. Considering Oklahoma and Texas are in the conference in body but not spirit, the Big 12 has only one top 25 ranked team – Iowa State. Oklahoma State is 26th, but this is an issue.
– Winner: Independents. The Group of Five conferences came up with a total of nine teams with a few votes. Notre Dame (9), Liberty, BYU and Army all received at least two votes – that’s more than any Gof5 league, including the …
– Loser: Mountain West. No Mountain West team was even close to getting into the top 25 – Boise State and Nevada each received seven votes – and defending champ San Jose State received as many votes as you did. The Spartans at least got 18 votes in the Coaches Poll.
– Winner: Pac-12. Oregon (11), USC (15), Washington (20), Utah (24), Arizona State (25). I’d argue that UCLA and Stanford are closer to being top 25 teams than not, but getting five teams in is a good start to a season.
– Loser: ACC. Clemson (3), North Carolina (10) and Miami (14) isn’t bad – there’s something to be said for having three teams in the top 15 – but that’s it. Worse yet, NC State and Boston College – with 14 and 2, respectively – were the only other teams to receive a vote.
– Winner: Wisconsin. 12 is a whole lot of love being given to a team coming off a slew of problems in 2020. It’s probably close to right, though, unlike …
– Loser: Northwestern. The defending Big Ten West champ comes back just as strong, and it received a grand total of eight votes – technically ranked 33rd.
