College Football Rankings Week 4: Overrated and Underrated Teams in the AP Poll

Week 4 of the College Football season brought another shakeup in the AP Poll. Not quite the chaos of earlier weeks, but still plenty of head-scratchers. Here are my top three most overrated and underrated teams right now.

Overrated

Illinois Fighting Illini, No. 23

Illinois remaining in the Top 25 is laughable. They are 3–1, but nothing about this team screams contender. Their “best” win is over 2–2 Duke, who already lost to Tulane. Last week’s 53-point humiliation against Indiana told the real story. Illinois rushed for a grand total of two yards. Two. Through four games they have only 502 yards on the ground. Luke Altmeyer can sling it around, but he is not dynamic enough to make up for a run game that is completely broken. Until Illinois shows balance and beats a real opponent, they have no business anywhere near the poll.

Iowa State Cyclones, No. 14

AP voters are still riding preseason expectations, and Iowa State is the latest example. The Cyclones edged Kansas State in the Dublin opener, but that game looks worse every week as the Wildcats have fallen apart. The Wildcats are 1–3 with a single win over FCS North Dakota by three points at home. Iowa State has since handled South Dakota, barely survived Iowa, and only got past 1–2 Arkansas State by a touchdown. That 4–0 record looks shiny, but the product on the field does not match the ranking. They should be fighting for the back end of the poll, not sitting comfortably at 14.

Michigan Wolverines, No. 19

Michigan looks solid on paper. A 3–1 record, a road win at Nebraska, and the only loss coming to Oklahoma in Norman. But watch the games and you see the flaws. Bryce Underwood is talented, but he is not ready. He has two touchdown passes all season, and against Oklahoma and Nebraska combined he hit less than half his throws with no scores. Running the ball only carries you so far against top competition. Without a credible passing game, Michigan is headed for a fall. They are holding down a top-20 spot, but they are much closer to dropping out than climbing up.

Underrated

Auburn Tigers, NR – Receiving Votes (122)

The AP continues to ignore Auburn. This team has one loss, on the road at Oklahoma by a single score, and they are balanced on both sides of the ball. They opened with a win at Baylor which is nothing to scoff at. They have been stout against the run, holding Oklahoma to 32 rushing yards and Baylor to 64. Jackson Arnold has shown promise, and assuming he continues to cut down on the mistakes, Auburn becomes very dangerous. This team should be comfortably inside the top 20.

Missouri Tigers, No. 20

Missouri got written off before the season, but they are quickly proving people wrong. At 4–0, they are rolling behind Ahmad Hardy’s explosive running game and Beau Pribula’s efficient passing. The defense has been even more surprising. Kansas and South Carolina combined for negative rushing yards. The pass defense has holes, but when you make teams one-dimensional, you control the game. Missouri has dictated the tempo every week and deserves to be in the top 15.

USF Bulls, Receiving Votes (77)

USF has been better than anyone is giving them credit for. They are 3–1 with wins over Boise State and Florida and their lone loss is to Miami, the second ranked team in the nation this week. Their strength of record ranks top 20 nationally, and they are forcing turnovers at an elite clip with seven already this season. That kind of opportunistic defense changes games. USF has the profile of a ranked team, but the voters still have them sitting outside the poll and that is flat out wrong.

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