The preseason Coaches Poll dropped on Monday, giving the first official set of rankings heading into the 2024 college football season. Plenty of familiar faces appeared at the top with Georgia, Ohio State and Texas collecting every first-place vote.
In general, the coaches stuck to conventional logic. Only one team in the top 15 finished unranked last season -- Utah, which played the 2023 season without starting quarterback Cameron Rising. A few other high-upside teams joined the mix, like No. 19 Miami and No. 22 NC State. However, the real interest was in the middle.
Putting together a preseason ranking is exceptionally difficult, and different voters approach it in unique ways. Some will value recent success and pedigree. Others look to production and development cycles. A few go different directions altogether and lean on gut feel. While each method has its own logic before any games are played, here are a few of the teams in the preseason Coaches Poll top 25 who clock in as either overrated or underrated.
Overrated: No. 8 Michigan
The reigning national champions start the season at No. 8, and it makes sense why. Almost every title winner starts the year on the cusp of the top five with a chance to repeat. After losing coach Jim Harbaugh to the NFL, along with a boatload of talent on both sides of the ball, it's a little harder to make the case. Gone are quarterback J.J. McCarthy, running back Blake Corum, virtually every offensive lineman and receiver. While a few key playmakers return on defense, linebacker Junior Colson and DB Mike Sainristil were the leaders last year, and both are in the NFL.
For a little historical context, this is the first time a coach has left a national championship team since Tom Osborne in 1997. Nebraska went 9-4 and finished ranked No. 19 in the final AP poll the next season. Michigan could easily be right on the nine-win line and still have a successful season, but top 10? Not now.
Underrated: No. 11 Missouri
The Tigers quietly blew through the SEC last season and finished with 11 wins and a Cotton Bowl victory over Ohio State, one of the biggest postseason wins in program history. Despite returning almost the entire core, headlined by superstar wide receiver Luther Burden III, Missouri was left outside of the top 10.
By every metric, Missouri should be in the top 10. Most power ratings have the Tigers right there. The schedule means that Mizzou has a fairly clean pathway to repeating as a 10-win team in the SEC. The Tigers have players that will contend for All-America status. Certainly compared to a few of the teams mentioned in this article, Missouri stands above.
Overrated: No. 10 Florida State
The last time we saw the Seminoles, they were undermanned and getting blown out 63-3 in the Orange Bowl against Georgia. FSU made plenty of upgrades since then, but many key contributors from last year's team are gone. Essentially every key player is gone on offense, including FSU's top quarterback, running back, tight end and two top receivers.
Florida State hit the portal hard again, bringing in 17 transfers to the No. 7 class. Especially on defense, players like EDGE Marvin Jones and CB Earl Little from Alabama have high upsides. But still, with so many moving pieces, there's no reason to rank Florida State ahead of programs like Missouri, Utah or even Tennessee.
Underrated: SMU (NR)
The Mustangs finished the 2023 season as a top-25 team after winning their first conference championship since 1984. Despite returning the vast majority of its production from the title-winning season, SMU starts the year outside the top 25. Quarterback Preston Stone is one of the nation's most underrated quarterbacks, and he has an incredible collection of skill talent around him. The defense might be the most underrated part of the team with a secondary that would play almost anywhere.
Granted, SMU faces a new challenge as a new member of the ACC. While there's plenty of context, the Mustangs are 0-5 against power-conference teams over the past two seasons. The skepticism is logical, but expect SMU to flip the narrative.
