College football's biggest underachievers in 2025: Penn State, Clemson, LSU fell well short of expectations

For several college football programs facing elite expectations and graced with talented rosters, the 2025 season failed to go as planned. There was no better representation of that during bowl season than Penn State matching up with Clemson in the frigid Pinstripe Bowl, a far cry from playoff laurels.

Parity rose to the highest degree this fall and most preseason projections were left in smoldering ruin by midseason when it became clear that many of college football's perceived titans failed to do what was necessary to win big.

One of the wildest coaching carousels in recent memory ensued and a few of these underachievers will start fresh in 2026. 

Here's a look at the 2025 season's biggest whiffs ahead of next week's national championship game.

1. Preseason hype too much for Penn State

Imagine telling yourself in August that James Franklin would be Virginia Tech's head coach by season's end? You wouldn't have believed it. After retaining a number of key players who led the Nittany Lions one win shy of a national championship game appearance last season, Franklin and Penn State fell quickly as a preseason top-3 team. The double-overtime loss to Oregon was tough to stomach, but nothing compared to what the next several weeks would involve, including the colossal setback at UCLA the next time out.

Franklin was fired after an unfathomable three-game slide in Big Ten play took Penn State out of the national rankings altogether, a shocking faceplant for a program that appeared to have turned the corner under his regime. Franklin leaves the program with the second-most coaching wins all time in Happy Valley with 104 victories, tied with Rip Engle and behind the legendary Joe Paterno. However, his tenure will primarily be remembered for how it ended. Not the good times.

Nittany Lions by the numbers under Franklin

• 15 straight losses to opponents ranked inside the AP poll's top 6
  
• 2-21 mark against the top 6; second-worst by any FBS head coach all time
  
• 2025 team became first FBS squad since 1978 to lose consecutive games as 20-point favorites
  
• Combined 4-17 against Ohio State and Michigan

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2. Clemson's stunning collapse 

This was supposed to be the year for Dabo Swinney, who was equipped with a roster that rivaled some of the best he's had at Clemson over his decade-plus tenure. Instead, the Cade Klubnik-led rocket ship never lifted off the ground with a payload that failed to ignite, resulting in the Tigers' worst season since 2010. From preseason top-5 to six total losses following its no-show against Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl, Clemson's stock tanked extremely fast earlier and never regained traction after home losses to SMU and Duke pushed the Tigers to rock bottom.

Swinney's hire of former assistant Chad Morris as his new offensive coordinator isn't all that encouraging after moving on from Garrett Riley, but the Tigers were able to retain a few of their most talented playmakers including wideout T.J. Moore. From the outside looking in, it feels like the Morris hire and Clemson's newfound willingness to go after transfer portal talent will determine what's left of Swinney's tenure in Death Valley.

Morris brought a tempo-drive scheme to Clemson for the first time in 2011 after the Tigers finished 6-7 during Swinney's second full season as coach. Over the next four years, Clemson went 42-11 overall with record-setting production offensively, led by quarterback Tajh Boyd, who developed as an All-ACC passer under Morris. Will the same happen with projected 2026 starter Christopher Vizzina? Swinney's counting on it.

3. LSU tanks under Brian Kelly

When you guarantee a College Football Playoff appearance and it doesn't happen, well, that's all you get at LSU. Pressure was mounting on Kelly before the Tigers signed a top-flight transfer haul last cycle, so needless to say LSU needed to maximize its talent this season to convince decision-makers they had the right guy in charge. The season deteriorated after a loss at Ole Miss, the final nail coming with Texas A&M's beatdown in Baton Rouge. The Tigers were in win-now mode searching for their first playoff berth since 2019 and Kelly blamed just about everybody but himself for the program faltering under his watch. After moving to No. 4 following early wins against Clemson and Florida -- who each turned sour -- LSU dropped to 5-3 with an anemic offense before the plug was pulled.

In the aftermath of his firing, Kelly filed a lawsuit over the buyout situation to get the full $54 million he is owed, per his contract, but LSU claimed then-athletic director Scott Woodward didn't have the authority to fire him and had yet to send him a formal letter of his firing at the time of his filing. Kelly's attorneys later sent LSU a letter claiming the school was dragging out the firing process and doing their client harm in terms of finding a new job. Now that the dust has settled on the 2025-26 coaching cycle, Kelly remains unemployed while handsomely rich.

4. South Carolina regresses to pretender status

For a program emanating promise after nearly reaching the CFP for the first time in 2024, the nationally-ranked Gamecocks were humbled early by Vanderbilt and Missouri before finishing 1-7 in SEC play under fifth-year coach Shane Beamer. South Carolina blew a 27-point halftime lead at Texas A&M and squandered a late advantage against Alabama at home before hitting its season-low in the finale against Clemson. Quarterback LaNorris Sellers underperformed, the offensive line was atrocious and Gamecocks play-caller Mike Shula was canned after only one season.

Gamecocks' paltry offensive production under Mike Shula

• Scoring offense: 19.7 PPG (16th in SEC, 119th nationally)
• Total offense: 294.1 YPG (16th in SEC, 131st nationally)
• Rushing offense: 100.8 YPG (16th in SEC, 128th nationally)
• Passing offense: 193.3 YPG (15th in SEC, 104th nationally)
• Third down conversions: 32.5% (15th in SEC, 127th nationally)
• Sacks allowed: 34 (15th in SEC, 134th nationally)
• Turnovers: 13 (13th in SEC, 97th nationally)

5. Colorado hits downward spiral

From taking accountability following the worst loss of his coaching career to banning players from postgame interviews, this was a tough year for Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes. Now 16-21 at Colorado over three seasons, the first year post-Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter was supposed to bottom out with bowl eligibility -- not an embarrassing 3-9 finish that featured three Big 12 losses by 24-plus points. Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter was serviceable at quarterback, but not exactly the difference-making splash Colorado expected while heralded freshman Julian Lewis preserved his redshirt with only four appearances.

There's considerable pressure on Sanders in Boulder after several personnel department and coaching staff changes followed the program's second tumultuous season in three years. Colorado only signed a dozen players in its 2026 recruiting class from the prep ranks, a group slotted outside the top-50 nationally per 247Sports' rankings, and has lost 36 players to the portal since its season-ending loss to Kansas State.

Sanders said last summer the Buffaloes "wanted to win at all costs" and sidestepped questions about his future amid health concerns. However, after his second losing season since arriving at Colorado ahead of the 2023 campaign, Sanders must generate positive momentum in 2026 or he could be headed toward an ill-fated ending as coach.