Forget who might be this year's Indiana. Who will be this year's 2025 Penn State?
Remember the Nittany Lions, perched third in this same US LBM Coaches Poll to open the last college football season? They merely had eight players selected in the most recent NFL Draft and another seven who signed undrafted free-agent deals.
They also fired their coach by the second weekend of October three games into what became a six-game losing streak.
Not far behind Penn State — in preseason rankings and in-season disappointment — was Clemson, which debuted at No. 6 and closed unranked, same 7-6 mark as the Nittany Lions and loser against Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl.
There were a handful
of candidates for this space but find below the five most overrated teams to begin the 2026 season.
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Alabama
The Crimson Tide lost 15 starters, 10 of them NFL Draft picks from 2025, including first-round selections Kadyn Proctor (No. 12) and QB Ty Simpson (No. 13). That specific loss, plus significant departures along an underperforming OL, and a very demanding schedule makes the odds long the 11th-ranked Tide return to the CFP. They have a five-game-in-six-weeks stretch that goes: at Mississippi State (Oct. 3), home against preseason No. 3 Georgia (Oct. 10), at No. 18 Tennessee (Oct. 17), home against No. 8 Texas A&M (Oct. 24) and at No. 13 LSU (Nov. 7).
LSU
I'm on record as a Lane Kiffin believer. But, he's taking over a 7-6 program with a ruthless schedule, a transfer QB in Sam Leavitt who hasn't played college football since Oct. 25, 2025 after he finally resorted to surgery for a Lisfranc injury suffered a month earlier and, while he's getting sued for a couple dudes he took with him to the Bayou from Ole Miss, Kiffin also knows notable is who he did not take: All-SEC running back Kewan Lacy, star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, etc.
Michigan
The Wolverines have been decimated by scandal since ... the entire 2020s. They also return 10 starters but only three on defense; Wink Martindale's group hardly was Sherrone Moore's problem the past couple years in Ann Arbor. Factor in a schedule that includes road tilts at Oklahoma, Minnesota, Oregon and Ohio State, plus home games against Iowa, Penn State and defending national champion Indiana — in addition to an entirely new coaching regime — and it's easy to see Michigan is out in front its football skis with this No. 16 ranking.
Penn State
The Nittany Lions return just four starters from within the program and are transitioning into a new coaching era under a fully employed, contracted coach for just the fifth time since ... 1950. Matt Campbell brought with him plenty of valuable players from Iowa State; note, the Cyclones didn't win the Big 12 in 2025 or even play for the title. Penn State won't be a Big Ten title-contender, either, in 2026. Though Penn State doesn't leave the Keystone State for a game until October, the program does have road games at USC and Washington, as well as being visitors in the first game at Northwestern's scintillating New Ryan Field — on a sold-out Friday night. Sure, Penn State dodges Ohio State and Oregon, but this placement (No. 17) is a bit too high even with one of the Big Ten's easiest slates.
Clemson
The good news is the No. 23 Tigers return two starting offensive linemen among their projected eight returning starters, five of them offense. That's still three holes on the OL, not to mention yet another new quarterback. Christopher Vizzina is a former blue-chip prospect with less than 75 career passes to show for his patience in Death Valley. He's also transitioning to a new offensive coordinator — Chad Morris — after learning for three years under Garrett Riley, who wasn't the play-caller who recruited Vizzina to Clemson. Plus, the Tigers have roadies at LSU, California, Florida State and defending ACC champion Duke, as well as home clashes against College Football Playoff runner-up Miami and intrastate rival South Carolina.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Preseason poll reveals most overrated teams in college football. Here they are
