The 2020 Preseason Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports was released. Here are the topics that matter with the overrated and underrated teams, and which conference got the most respect.
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– 2019 Preseason USA Today Coaches Poll Top 25
5. Who is, technically, overrated in the Coaches Poll?
It’s way too easy and lazy to call something overrated or underrated, unless someone is actually doing the rating. The Coaches’ Poll just did the rating and rankings.
So who’s overrated? At least, according to the CFN Preseason Team Rankings – based on how good the teams are to start the season – the five most overrated teams are …
No. 13 Texas A&M
Call this the We Know Who The Starting Quarterback Is ranking. The Aggies are very, very good, and they have the experience and talent to be right there in the mix for big things around QB Kellen Mond, but this is still a team that should be around the 20s going into the season with 13 being a humongous ranking from the coaches.
– Texas A&M Preview
No. 16 Oklahoma State
Call this the We Know Who The Superstar Running Back Is ranking. We’re quibbling here. Oklahoma State is loaded with as much offensive firepower as anyone in the country starting with RB Chuba Hubbard. But that defense … it’s fine. Not great, but fine. The Cowboys should be around the 20s behind USC, Iowa, and others. Being this close to the top 15 is a wee bit of a stretch.
– Oklahoma State Preview
No. 21 UCF
There’s no real beef with the ranking – there are about 15 teams that could’ve made the top 25, and UCF is one of them. Of course the team can hang with just about anyone, but this is more of a fringe top 25-team in terms of overall depth and talent – the O line needs a little time before it crushes – than a sure-thing in the 25. Remember, there’s a difference between playing in the AAC and dealing with the weekly grind of a Power Five league. The bigger problem is with …
– UCF Preview
No. 22 Cincinnati
This is a massive amount of love for a team whose calling card last year was a win over a mediocre UCLA and a bowl win over a Boston College program in transition. The passing game is just okay, the offensive line is just okay, and the depth is just okay. This is a top 40ish team with 22 a really, really big reach.
– Cincinnati Preview
– CFN 2020 Preseason Rankings 1-130
No. 25 Iowa State
Sort of like Texas A&M this year, in general, preseason voters like to know who the starting quarterback is, especially if he’s a superstar. The voters know Brock Purdy, but Iowa State at 25 is a whole lot of love. There’s experience, and this is hardly anything that bad, but the Cyclones should be around the 30s and snuck in.
– Iowa State Preview
And then there are the …
NEXT: The five most underrated teams in the Coaches Poll …
4. Who is, technically, underrated in the Coaches Poll?
Pitt
Last year we put Minnesota here after it received one vote. Pitt got a grand total of one vote this year – Louisiana and SMU got 3, Tulane got 5.
There’s a good chance this is the second-best team in the ACC, or at least right there with Notre Dame in this strangest of years. The Panthers either have the most dangerous defensive front in college football, or they’re at least in the top five. The offensive line is strong, and there’s enough across the board to be flirting with the top 15 overall in the rankings.
– Pitt Preview
South Carolina
You received as many votes in the 2020 Coaches Poll as South Carolina did.
For what seems to be the 19th straight season, the Gamecocks are here in our Underrated category. The talent is there, even if the results haven’t been. Going into this season they have guys on defense to hang with anyone on the slate – especially since there’s no Clemson this year – and overall, the parts are in place to be a whole lot closer to the top 25 than this.
– South Carolina Preview
No. 15 Michigan
It’s hardly an egregious error putting the Wolverines outside of the top ten, but perception is hard to shake. Their biggest problem? Voters remember what’s the freshest, but there’s no sin in losing to Ohio State and Alabama last year. This year’s team is loaded at running back and should have among the nation’s best statistical defenses. Don’t punish the program because it’s not Ohio State
– Michigan Preview
No. 24 Virginia Tech
The Hokies are in the bucket of Could Have The ACC’s Second Best Team bucket. The ranking isn’t all that bad, but with the LOADED defense returning, a dynamic star QB in Hendon Hooker, and with attention a bit off this year, watch out – this is probably a top 15 team not getting its due.
– Virginia Tech Preview
No. 29 Kentucky
How many years does Kentucky have to win games in a We Figure It Out way before you give it any respect? This is a better team coming into the season than Iowa State (25), Cincinnati (22), UCF (21), Utah (20) with the defense and coaching to have slid into the 20s.
– Kentucky Preview
NEXT: Notre Dame matters even more now
3. Notre Dame matters even more now
The ACC has been the Big One, Little 13 over the last several years with Clemson the dominant force.
The conference was fun last season, and it’s going to be a blast this year, but it would take a colossal gag by the Tigers/a huge upset for any of the other 13 ACC teams to finally win this thing.
But there’s another school in the mix this time around.
Clemson was the preseason No. 1 team last season, but the only other ACC team in the rankings was Syracuse at 22.
This year? North Carolina is 19th and Virginia Tech 24th, but that’s it for the 25 after No. 1 Clemson. Notre Dame is No. 10, and it’s a part of the conference as a full-on member schedule-wise – and now the league has its No. 2 team.
Clemson actually has a top ten conference team to deal with, and on the road on November 7th in South Bend. It seems like a million years ago since it wasn’t the runaway obvious pick to win the ACC, but now the coaches have spoken, and the Irish are expected to be good enough to be that challenger.
Miami was eighth in the 2018 preseason rankings, and it went on to have a 7-6 season. Florida State was fourth in the 2017 preseason, and it also went 7-6. The Noles were also fourth in 2016, and they went a solid 10-3 but missed out on playing for the ACC title because it lost to Clemson.
Notre Dame is eligible to play for the ACC Championship and it’s able to go to the Orange Bowl as a member of the conference. With the top two teams in the 15-school ACC playing for the title, the importance of the Catholics vs. Clemson battle just became more real.
NEXT: The SEC and Big Ten are at it again
2. The SEC and Big Ten are at it again
Everyone outside of the SEC likes to rip on the SEC for being overrated, overloved, overhyped, and over-everything else.
But there’s a reason.
The SEC has been occupying about 25% of the NFL drafts lately, and the number gets to around 40% when you throw in the Big Ten.
Two leagues have most of the talent, most of the top programs, and most of the top teams, but it’s the SEC that continues to get the most respect, and these ranking show it with three of the top five – LSU (5), Georgia (4) and Alabama (3) – from the conference, and six of the top 13 when throwing in Florida (8), Auburn (11) and Texas A&M (13).
Think about it for a moment. Almost half of the teams in a 14-team conference are considered among the top 13 overall in college football, and then add in Tennessee (26th), Kentucky (29th) and Mississippi State (39th) and the SEC had nine teams get ranked overall.
The Big Ten got its share of respect with Ohio State at two and Penn State at seven. With Wisconsin (12), Michigan (15), Minnesota (18) and Iowa (23) in there, the conference has six of the top 23 teams in the country. However, it drops off from there with Nebraska – with just three votes – and Indiana with one vote the only other teams getting acknowledged.
In all, 13 of the top 26 teams come from the SEC and Big Ten. We were promised there wouldn’t be any math, but that’s half of the poll with two conferences.
ACC: Clemson (1), Notre Dame (10), North Carolina (19), Virginia Tech (24) with four teams in the top 25. However, with Louisville (33), Miami (34) and Virginia (37), there was other representation.
Big 12: Oklahoma (6), Texas (14), Oklahoma State (16), Iowa State (25) with four teams in the top 25. With Baylor at 31st, and with Kansas State and TCU also receiving votes, seven of the league’s ten teams were acknowledged.
Pac-12: Oregon (9), USC (17), Utah (20) with three teams in the top 25. Arizona State (27) and Washington (32) were at least close. Washington State received six votes, Cal five, and Stanford 2.
NEXT: Final Overall Thoughts, Observations
1. Final Overall Thoughts, Observations
– As always, here’s your reminder for this time of year. The Coaches Poll -and the AP to follow in a few weeks – are just fun exercises. They’re still a big deal, and they still help to shape public perception, but the College Football Playoff rankings are it. They’re the ones that matter, and they’re the ones that have to be scrutinized hard.
– Before the CFP, the preseason rankings were a gigantic deal – start in the top two, win out, and you were playing for the national title no matter what anyone did. Now, there’s a new generation of fans who recognize these for what they are, however …
– In this time when nothing is normal, it’s August and the preseason Coaches Poll is out. Take a moment and just enjoy the hope that we’ll have a college football season.
– Here’s the deal. You take 21-25 (UCF, Cincinnati, Iowa, Virginia Tech, Iowa State) and I’ll take 26-30 (Tennessee, Boise State, Arizona State, Kentucky, Memphis). To go even crazier, give me Mississippi State (9 votes), Stanford (2 votes), Pitt (1 vote), Kansas State (1 vote), South Carolina (no votes) and I’ll beat your bottom of the top 25.
– It’s not the job of the coaches to be wacky or go against what they believe, but they didn’t go on any real limb here – putting Oklahoma State at 16 doesn’t quite qualify. They moved down LSU from No. 1 in the final 2019 rankings to five, bumped up Clemson, Ohio State and Georgia, and threw Alabama in there at the three. The 2020 preseason top ten all finished in the top 11 last season with Minnesota – finishing at 10 – the lone team not being back up in the lofty status.
– “The most disrespected team in the entire poll, though, is Minnesota.” I wrote that here last year after the Gophers got just one vote, and they ended up tenth in the final polls.
– My most disrespected team in this year’s preseason poll? Pitt is on the top of the list with just one vote, but where’s the love for Washington? It’s at 32, and I defy you to find any investor-type who was deep in love with taking No. 15 Michigan in the opener against the Huskies had the two played.
– Pet peeve when it comes to rankings – they’re not predictive; they’re an indicator. The goal of the preseason rankings isn’t to come up with where the teams will be at the end of the year; it’s to show how good everyone is now. With that in mind …
– Michigan finished 19th in the final rankings. Texas finished 26th. Those were the only two teams in the 2019 preseason top ten that didn’t the only team in the 2019 preseason top nine that didn’t finish in the top 11 – Minnesota and Penn State crashed the final party. In 2018, five schools in the previous top ten didn’t finish there.
– In this year with conference-only schedules – with the Big 12 playing one extra game – the final records are going to be strange. There aren’t cupcakes like there normally are, so it’s very possible for a great team to be 7-3. Three long-winded blurbs later, the point? Expect the 2020 preseason coaches poll top ten to look a whole lot more like 2018 at the end than 2019.
– Again, and I can’t stress this enough. It’s 80 degrees out where I am, it’s early August, the ACC released a schedule today, and we have a Coaches Poll. Enjoy this.
