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Final Grades For Every College Football Team, Conference: How Did Everyone Do In 2020?

The grades and analysis for every college football team and conference for the 2020 season. How did everyone do?

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

This is it. It’s the final look-back on the 2020 college football season, and then it’s time to move on with our lives.

How did everyone do?

The final grades get a wee bit of a break in some spots because of what it took to simply get on the field in this insane year, so the grades are based almost all on what happened on the field.

How did each team and each conference do based on their original expectations? The final grades are in …

ACC Team Season Grades

ACC Season Grade: B+

The bowl season might have been a total dud, but the ACC got two teams into the College Football Playoff – forget that both Clemson and Notre Dame were rocked; they got there – meaning North Carolina could get into the Orange.

Having Notre Dame in the mix was fun, the league was entertaining, and outside of miserable years from Duke and Syracuse, it was relatively evenly balanced with just enough curveballs – like Florida State shocking North Carolina – to keep it interesting.

2019 Final Grade: C-

Boston College 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 6-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 67
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 48
2019 Final Grade: B-

The program made a quick transformation under head coach Jeff Hafley. There’s a whole lot of tweaking that needs to be done, a bit more defense would be nice, and there was a whole lot of bum-slaying happening in the win column, but it was a fun year with good fights against Clemson and North Carolina.

Clemson 2020 Season Grade: A-

2020 Record: 10-2
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 2
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 3
2019 Final Grade: A+

Yeah, Clemson is at least supposed to play for the national title every year now, but it won another ACC title, got to another College Football Playoff, and had another wonderful year. There’s absolutely nothing routine about any of that.

Duke 2020 Season Grade: D

2020 Record: 2-9
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 51
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 92
2019 Final Grade: C+

There were two blowout wins over Syracuse and Charlotte, but otherwise this was a total nightmare of a year. The defense that was supposed to be okay went bye-bye in a hurry, there wasn’t a turnover the offense didn’t like to give up, and it got ugly in big loss after big loss.

Florida State 2020 Season Grade: D

2020 Record: 3-6
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 33
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 83
2019 Final Grade: C-

The first year under Mike Norvell was horrible. To be fair, there were COVID issues and it was a rough offseason, but you’re Florida freaking State. You’re not supposed to have a sad college football team. There was a stunner over North Carolina, but the other two wins were over a miserable Duke squad and against an FCS program.

Georgia Tech 2020 Season Grade: C-

2020 Record: 3-7
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 65
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 82
2019 Final Grade: C-

It wasn’t a great run, but in the total overhaul of the program’s style, second-year head man Geoff Collins came up with three wins against Florida State, Louisville and Duke. However, the Yellow Jackets were Syracuse’s only win and there were way too many blowout losses.

Louisville 2020 Season Grade: C-

2020 Record: 4-7
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 32
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 69
2019 Final Grade: A

The Cardinals were hoping for a whole lot more coming off a strong first season under Scott Satterfield. A 1-4 start was tough, a 2-6 beginning was tougher, but closing out with a 45-21 win over Wake Forest showed promise for 2021.

Miami 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 8-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 19
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 2
2019 Final Grade: C-

Considering where the program was at after 2019, starting out 8-1 was great before getting rocked by North Carolina and losing the bowl – and QB D’Eriq King – against Oklahoma State. Even so, it was a good step forward under Manny Diaz.

North Carolina 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 8-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 17
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 14
2019 Final Grade: B+

It took a few weird twists and turns to get there, but the Tar Heels turned out to be close to what they were supposed to be. There was a shocking loss to Florida State and a dud against Virginia, but they rocked Miami and got to the Orange Bowl. Even more than that, it was a fun campaign.

NC State 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 8-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 44
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 37
2019 Final Grade: D

There’s never a reason to complain about being 8-4 at NC State, unless there’s a blowout loss to North Carolina and a disappointing bowl defeat to Kentucky. Yeah, the Pack missed Clemson and Notre Dame, and they had a whole slew of winnable games, but it was still a good run. This year, take the eight wins.

Notre Dame 2020 Season Grade: A

2020 Record: 10-2
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 15
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 5
2019 Final Grade: B+

Don’t get caught up on what the season wasn’t. Notre Dame got rolled in the ACC Championship and in the College Football Playoff, but … it was in the ACC Championship and the College Football Playoff. So it’s not Alabama and it’s not Clemson – whatever. It was an outstanding year by any reasonable standards.

Pitt 2020 Season Grade: B-

2020 Record: 6-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 18
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 41
2019 Final Grade: B

Opt-outs and injuries kept the season from being better than it was, but the Panthers closed strong with wins in three of the last four games as the offense woke up. Two of the losses – NC State and Boston College – were each by a point and there weren’t any great wins.

Syracuse 2020 Season Grade: D

2020 Record: 1-10
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 52
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 9
2019 Final Grade:C-

The Orange never blocked anyone, lost its starting quarterback early, lost a few key parts to the secondary to opt-outs, and only managed a home win over Georgia Tech. They dropped the last eight games, but they battled in a slew of decent close losses, but … no, you don’t lose at home to Duke this year.

Virginia 2002 Season Grade: B-

2020 Record: 5-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 31
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 45
2019 Final Grade: A

No one was expecting a second straight run to the ACC Championship game, and the 1-4 start made that clear. However, the Cavaliers won four straight – starting with a shocker over North Carolina, which provided a little hope, and … a 33-15 loss to rival Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech 2020 Season Grade: C+

2020 Record: 5-6
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 16
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 42
2019 Final Grade: B

The 5-2 start wasn’t a mirage, but it pushed up the expectations. To be extremely fair, the program was never quite right all year thanks to virus issues. There was a strong win over rival Virginia, but that came after losing four straight – including to Liberty – in a disappointing second half of the season.

Wake Forest 2020 Season Grade: B-

2020 Record: 4-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 39
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 40
2019 Final Grade: B+

It stunk to lose the final three games, but the Demon Deacons were generally what they were supposed to be. The 45-21 loss to Louisville was the only true dud of the five losses, and collapsing in the bowl loss to Wisconsin wasn’t fun, but beating Virginia and Virginia Tech was fun.

NEXT: American Athletic Conference

American Athletic Conference Team Season Grades

AAC Season Grade: B

Cincinnati got to the New Year’s Six – keeping a good run going for the conference to get into the high-profile game – but the league totally bombed its bowl season when it had a chance to make a splash. The rise of Tulsa was fun, Memphis, UCF and SMU brought the offense, and there were plenty of good game, but UC was the only team that finished the year ranked.

2019 Final Grade: A-

Cincinnati 2020 Season Grade: A

2020 Record: 9-1
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 50
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 9
2019 Final Grade: A

It took a walk-off field goal from a team with College Football Playoff talent to finally beat the Bearcats. The bowl loss to Georgia was rough, but the program won a conference title, had many arguing about a possible CFP spot, and hung punch-for-punch with one of the elites.

East Carolina 2020 Season Grade: C+

2020 Record: 3-6
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 91
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 99
2019 Final Grade: C-

The 52-38 win over SMU showed just what the team was capable of – and what it probably could’ve been. Consistency hasn’t exactly been a thing with the Pirates over the years, but they pulled up out of a 1-6 start to close strong.

Houston 2020 Season Grade: C-

2020 Record: 3-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 69
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 86
2019 Final Grade: D

To be fair, few programs had a harder time getting things going or finding a game on a regular basis. However, considering 2019 turned into one big scrimmage to get ready for 2020, being this mediocre wasn’t okay. The first four losses were acceptable against strong teams, but getting hit by Hawaii 28-14 in the bowl was a clunker.

Memphis 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 8-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 60
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 50
2019 Final Grade: A

It was supposed to be a bit of a rebuilding year under a new head coach, and it wasn’t the huge season of 2019 – with an American Athletic Conference championship and New Year’s Six appearance – but there ere a few nice wins, a bowl victory, and the loss to Cincinnati was acceptable.

Navy 2020 Season Grade: C-

2020 Record: 3-7
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 75
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 88
2019 Final Grade: A

Navy is supposed to be better than this, and the offense is supposed to be far, far better. The 3-2 start was okay, but one of the losses was a blowout to Air Force. The team dropped the last five games, with the offense scoring a total of just 13 points in the final three games including a loss to Army.

SMU 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 7-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 88
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 64
2019 Final Grade: B+

The Mustang love was a bit overblown in 2019 after a hot start, and this year’s team was really about where the program is. It was good enough to beat Memphis, and it was able to win the games it was supposed to … until getting whacked by East Carolina in the season finale.

Temple 2020 Season Grade: D-

2020 Record: 1-6
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 71
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 110
2019 Final Grade: B

Temple is supposed to be a whole lot better than this. It only beat a USF team – by two – that didn’t beat an FBS team, the offense struggled, and the last five losses of the six were relative blowouts.

Tulane 2020 Season Grade: B-

2020 Record: 6-6
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 79
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 65
2019 Final Grade: B-

It was SO frustrating. It was an inconsistent season with great performances in wins over Army and Memphis, but misfires against Navy and Houston – to go along with an 11-point bowl loss to Tulane – were annoying.

Tulsa 2020 Season Grade: A

2020 Record: 6-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 94
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 3
2019 Final Grade: C

It was supposed to be another lost season for Tulsa, but instead it pushed Oklahoma State in the opening loss, went on a six-game winning streak in thrilling fashion, and lost to a fantastic Cincinnati team in the AAC Championship on a walk-off field goal. Yeah, losing to Mississippi State in the bowl game – including the ugly finish – was bad, but don’t dismiss how good it was that it was in a bowl hanging with an SEC team.

UCF 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 6-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 30
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 70
2019 Final Grade: B

To be extremely generous with the grade, the Knights were missing a slew of guys from the start and the losses were to the two teams in the AAC Championship – Tulsa and Cincinnati – by one in a firefight with Memphis, and in the bowl to a dominant BYU. It’s UCF, it should be better, but under the circumstances the season was okay.

USF 2020 Season Grade: D

2020 Record: 1-8
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 101
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 113
2019 Final Grade: C-

It’s not like anything was expected in the first year under head coach Jeff Scott, but at least the program showed promise. The 58-46 loss to UCF was fun, two of the losses were by a total of three points, and … the only win was over The Citadel from the FCS.

NEXT: Big Ten

Big Ten Team Season Grades: East

Big Ten Season Grade: D

The league got through it, but it was awful. There were too many bad games, too many injuries, too many opt-outs, and too many issues. The quality wasn’t good, and overall it was just … awful.

Ohio State was able to get to the national championship, but it took a whole slew of hoops to jump through just to get it to the Big Ten Championship and to be in a position for the CFP.

It was a fun year for Northwestern and Indiana, and Iowa was solid, but Wisconsin was awful – at least offensively – Penn State was awful, Michigan was awful, Michigan State was awful, Nebraska was awful, and Minnesota and Illinois took a step back.

2019 Final Grade: B+

Indiana 2020 Season Grade: A-

2020 Record: 6-2
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 49
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 23
2019 Final Grade: B

The Hoosiers became the second-or-third best team in the Big Ten, beat Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin, and pushed Ohio State harder than anyone but Alabama. It’s Indiana football – it was a marvelous season right up until losing to a mediocre Ole Miss team in the Outback Bowl.

Maryland 2020 Season Grade: B-

2020 Record: 2-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 73
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 52
2019 Final Grade: D

Considering it looked like 2020 was going to be a total disaster following the 43-3 loss to Northwestern in the opener, a shocking comeback win over Minnesota and a win over Penn State changed all of that. The team might have finished 2-3, but after Week 1, it showed promise and potential for 2021.

Michigan 2020 Season Grade: D+

2020 Record: 2-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 10
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 59
2019 Final Grade: B

Michigan went 2-4 and it didn’t even play – and lose to – Ohio State. It’s acceptable – it really is – to lose to the elite teams, but the program doesn’t lose to the mediocre under Jim Harbaugh. It lost to the mediocre this year.

Michigan State 2020 Season Grade: C-

2020 Record: 2-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 40
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 5
2019 Final Grade: C+

2-5 will never be okay at Michigan State, but in the first season under Mel Tucker there was a win over Michigan, and a win over Big Ten West champion Northwestern. The offense didn’t show up against Iowa and Indiana, and the gajillion turnovers against Rutgers weren’t okay, but call 2020 a dry run for the new coaching staff.

Ohio State 2020 Season Grade: A

2020 Record: 7-1
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 1
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 2
2019 Final Grade: A

The Buckeyes fought their way through all the drama on and off the field to win the Big Ten Championship, beat Clemson in the College Football Playoff, and suffered their only loss to Alabama in the national championship. Yeah, Ohio State is supposed to win it all every year, but this was an incredible campaign even with the rough end.

Penn State 2020 Season Grade: C-

2020 Record: 4-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 8
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 56
2019 Final Grade: A-

The Nittany Lions caught a bad break in the opener against Indiana, but they kept on losing in the worst start in over 100 years of the football program. However, give them credit for fighting back with four straight wins – all by double digits – to close strong.

Rutgers 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 3-6
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 85
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 60
2019 Final Grade: D

Greg Schiano won three games in his first season. Would anyone have been shocked if it was a winless campaign dropping every game by double-digits? If you told Scarlet Knight fans before the season that their team would beat Michigan State, Purdue and Maryland, and would take Michigan into overtime, and be competitive throughout, they’d have taken it in a heartbeat.

NEXT: Big Ten Team Season Grades: West

Big Ten Team Season Grades: West

Illinois 2020 Season Grade: C-

2020 Record: 2-6
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 70
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 71
2019 Final Grade: B-

The grade is based on expectations – Illinois was exactly what it was supposed to be. It was just good enough to hang around in a few games, decent enough to stun Nebraska, and awful enough to get destroyed by Penn State and Wisconsin. Even so, coming off a big bowl season in 2019, the program needed to do more.

Iowa 2020 Season Grade: B+

2020 Record: 6-2
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 27
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 17
2019 Final Grade: B+

An argument could’ve been made that this was the third-best Big Ten team by the end of the season, and at the very least was in the top four. It closed with six straight wins, beat Wisconsin by 21, blew out Penn State and Minnesota, and … lost to Purdue to open things up, and blew a lead to Northwestern.

Minnesota 2020 Season Grade: C

2020 Record: 3-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 20
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 53
2019 Final Grade: A-

After a huge 2019 the team started 2020 with a big, fat thud. It couldn’t stop a Michigan offense that – as it turned out – was awful, and then came the giant choke of a loss to Maryland. Beating Purdue and Nebraska was fun, but it was a step-back season with all the momentum gone.

Nebraska 2020 Season Grade: C

2020 Record: 3-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 47
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 55
2019 Final Grade: C-

Enough. Start winning already, Nebraska. Losing to Ohio State Northwestern and Iowa this year – all on the road was fine, but losing by 18 at home to Illinois? Losing at home to Minnesota? It wasn’t a totally disastrous season, but it was yet another dud under Scott Frost.

Northwestern 2020 Season Grade: A

2020 Record: 7-2
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 53
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 10
2019 Final Grade: D-

Yeah, there was a weird loss to Michigan State, and losing the Big Ten Championship wasn’t fun, but it’s Northwestern, and it got to the conference title game for the second time in three seasons and rolled past Auburn in a bowl. Never take winning for granted in Evanston.

Purdue 2020 Season Grade: C+-

2020 Record: 2-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 58
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 61
2019 Final Grade: C-

The win over Iowa to start the season was great, and going 2-0 was wonderful, but the four straight losses the rest of the way wasn’t fun. Purdue got hosed in the Minnesota game, but if you’re losing to Minnesota, Rutgers and Nebraska this year, something is wrong.

Wisconsin 2020 Season Grade: C

2020 Record: 4-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 11
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 25
2019 Final Grade: A-

The Badgers get just a wee bit of a break here. They’re supposed to be playing for the Big Ten Championship every year, and the D was just that good, but the offense went through one of its worst three-game runs in years scoring 20 points in three losses. COVID and too many injuries to skill parts made the season a struggle, but they win the rivalry game over Minnesota and beat Wake Forest in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

NEXT: Big 12 Team Season Grades

Big 12 Team Season Grades

Big 12 Season Grade: B

The bowl season helped make everything all better with the conference going 5-0.

The year got off to a rough start with an 0-3 home run against the Sun Belt, Oklahoma lost two games early to effectively knock the conference out of the College Football Playoff hunt right away, and those Sun Belt losses – especially Iowa State’s loss to Louisiana – dragged down the national profile.

However, Iowa State made up for the early gaffe with a great run and a big bowl win, Texas played a whole slew of thrilling games, TCU rose up late, Kansas State was good early, and even with Kansas and Baylor having big problems, it was still a decent conference season overall.

2019 Final Grade: C-

Baylor 2020 Season Grade: D

2020 Record: 2-7
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 42
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 87
2019 Final Grade: A

It was supposed to be a rebuilding year under new head man Dave Aranda, but the program was an overtime last year of probably going to the College Football Playoff and this season it beat Kansas State by one and took home the free space game against Kansas.

Iowa State 2020 Season Grade: A

2020 Record: 9-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 36
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 16
2019 Final Grade: B-

Yeah, there was a loss to Louisiana to open things up, but the Cyclones played in the Big 12 Championship, got to the Fiesta Bowl – with the program’s best bowl win ever in a great performance against Oregon – and earned a whole lot of national respect.

Kansas 2020 Season Grade: F

2020 Record: 0-9
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 72
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 104
2019 Final Grade: C

There was nothing there. Losing to Coastal Carolina was better than it seemed at the time, but the Jayhawks suffered through blowout loss after blowout loss until the regular season finale in a 16-13 loss to Texas Tech. They were outscored overall 414 to 142.

Kansas State 2020 Season Grade: C+

2020 Record: 4-6
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 41
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 58
2019 Final Grade: B

The season started with a loss to what turned out to be a mediocre Arkansas State team, rallied back with four straight wins including a shocker over Oklahoma, and ended with a five-game losing streak. Injuries mattered, but the team got on a slide and couldn’t stop.

Oklahoma 2020 Season Grade: A-

2020 Record: 9-2
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 6
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 6
2019 Final Grade: A

The Sooners kept on improving, got some key parts back, and overcame two tough early losses to win their last eight games including the Big 12 Championship – again – and ripped up Florida in the Cotton Bowl. However, OU did lose those two games, and in all year to have been that fourth seed in the College Football Playoff, this was the year to do it if there was just one loss.

Oklahoma State 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 8-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 22
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 19
2019 Final Grade: B

Oklahoma State was supposed to at least play for the Big 12 Championship. Winning it would’ve been another story, but the talent and experience were there to at least play for it. It didn’t, it was stunned by TCU lost to both Texas and OU, but eight wins were okay and there was a nice bowl win over Miami.

TCU 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 6-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 34
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 44
2019 Final Grade: C-

The season was fine, and it got better as the year went on with a 5-1 record to close. The early losses to Iowa State and Kansas State were close, and losing to Oklahoma wasn’t anything to get into a twist over. In a normal year with a normal non-conference slate, the team is probably 8-4.

Texas 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 7-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 14
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 18
2019 Final Grade: B

It wasn’t a run to the College Football Playoff, or even the Big 12 Championship, but the three losses to TCU, Oklahoma and Iowa State all could’ve gone the other way and the blowout bowl win over Colorado was strong. It was a decent season, but not good enough for Tom Herman to stick around.

Texas Tech 2020 Season Grade: C

2020 Record: 4-6
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 56
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 79
2019 Final Grade: C-

It might have been a bit of a disappointment win only one decent win among the four – 34-27 over West Virginia – but the team gets credit for being more than just competitive against Texas and Oklahoma State. This was fine for this weird year, but head coach Matt Wells has to come up with a whole lot more in 2021.

West Virginia 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 6-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 55
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 43
2019 Final Grade: C

It was an uneven year, and the offense is still going to have to show up under Neal Brown, but it was the only team to beat TCU over the second half of the season, there was a bowl win over Army, and it was a winning campaign in a rough year. Consider it a decent step forward.

NEXT: Conference USA Season Grades

Conference USA Team Season Grades: East

Conference USA Season Grade: C

The curveball of the Marshall late season meltdown took down the league’s best team, but UAB was happy to fill the void and take the conference title. Losing the highest-profile team late hurt, and the disastrous bowl season didn’t help the league.

In a mostly all-conference season, only four teams finished with a winning record – but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Southern Miss and Middle Tennessee were surprising bombs, but UTEP won three games, UTSA had a winning season, and there were enough teams at the same level to make it an interesting year, even if the quality of football wasn’t exactly scintillating.

2019 Final Grade: C-

Charlotte 2020 Season Grade: C+

2020 Record: 2-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 115
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 116
2019 Final Grade: A-

It’s hard to get too down on the 49ers considering they weren’t supposed to have a big year. Four of their six games were against teams that went bowling and another was against Duke. It would’ve been nice, though, to get to .500.

FIU 2020 Season Grade: D-

2020 Record: 0-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 110
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 125
2019 Final Grade: C+

It wasn’t expected to be a great year, and the Golden Panthers managed to go under the low bar. This was the only FBS team to lose to an FCS team. The 36-34 battle with a strong Liberty team kept the grade from being an F.

Florida Atlantic 2020 Season Grade: B-

2020 Record: 5-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 87
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 101
2019 Final Grade: A

It was a bit rebuilding year after Lane Kiffin left for Ole Miss, but Willie Taggart put together a great D, the team got a bowl game and finished with a winning season. For 2021, though, a little offense would be nice.

Marshall 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 7-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 90
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 67
2019 Final Grade: B

It was close to being amazing. The Thundering Herd rolled through their first seven games before the offense totally tanked in the final three. The 20-0 loss to Rice, the misfire against UAB in the Conference USA Championship, and the loss to Buffalo in the bowl game ended everything with a thud – and the firing of head coach Doc Holliday.

Middle Tennessee 2020 Season Grade: C-

2020 Record: 3-6
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 10
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 119
2019 Final Grade: D+

It was a wildly inconsistent year that was way too much of a struggle. This is supposed to be a bowl team, and it wasn’t close to being that good. The Blue Raiders pulled out of an 0-4 start winning three of their last five games, but the three victories were by a total of 12 points.

Old Dominion 2020 Season Grade: Incomplete

2020 Record: 0-0
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 121
2019 Final Grade: D-

CFN 2020 Final Rankings: Not Ranked

Old Dominion didn’t play this season

WKU 2020 Season Grade: C

2020 Record: 5-7
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 97
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 115
2019 Final Grade: A-

The problem was 2019. It ended on such a high note thanks to a great bowl win that the expectations were a bit higher. However, all five wins were against the weak and the sad, the offense didn’t get past 24 points until nine games in, and this time around, there wasn’t any magic in the bowl game, losing to Georgia State by 18.

NEXT: Conference USA Team Season Grades: West

Conference USA Team Season Grades: West

Louisiana Tech 2020 Season Grade: B-

2020 Record: 5-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 89
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 103
2019 Final Grade: A-

It was a 5-5 season with a bowl appearance, and the Bulldogs beat eventual Conference USA champion UAB, but it was a disappointing year coming off a strong 2019. The offense didn’t do enough, the defense had issues, and … 5-5. This year, that’s fine.

North Texas 2020 Season Grade: C-

2020 Record: 4-6
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 108
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 118
2019 Final Grade: D

The Mean Green couldn’t play a lick of defense, and it proved costly in a rough finish and embarrassing bowl loss to Appalachian State. There weren’t any impressive wins, there were awful losses to Southern Miss and Charlotte, and there were way too many blowouts.

Rice 2020 Season Grade: B-

2020 Record: 2-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 116
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 106
2019 Final Grade: C-

The Owls had no luck whatsoever trying to find any consistent games, but they managed to battle in losses to UAB and Middle Tennessee, and they won twice including one of the shockers of 2020 with a 20-0 win over an unbeaten Marshall.

Southern Miss 2020 Season Grade: C-

2020 Record: 3-7
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 98
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 117
2019 Final Grade: B-

It started with an 0-3 start, there was an early coaching firing, there were more losses, and it all finished up with a stunning 45-31 win over Florida Atlantic. Give credit to the team to keep fighting through the adversity.

UAB 2020 Season Grade: B+

2020 Record: 6-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 82
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 62
2019 Final Grade: A-

There weren’t a whole lot of great wins, but they got the one win that mattered. The Blazers weren’t that fantastic, and they got hosed out of playing in a bowl game – the bowl was canceled – but they won the Conference USA Championship with a great win over Marshall.

UTEP 2020 Season Grade: C

2020 Record: 3-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 127
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 121
2019 Final Grade: D

Look, it’s UTEP. Any win is a good win for a starting program that hasn’t been able to be on the right side of anything over the last several years. However, two of the three wins came against FCS teams and the other was over a ULM squad that went winless. However, the Miners were far, far more competitive than they’ve been in a while.

UTSA 2020 Season Grade: B+

2020 Record: 7-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 119
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 102
2019 Final Grade: C-

There was a loss to a mediocre Florida Atlantic team, but that was on the road. That was the only one of the five defeats against a team that wasn’t strong. Winning seven games and going to a bowl game is special for a program that’s just getting used to having a little success.

NEXT: Independent Bowl Grades

Independent Team Season Grades

Independent Season Grade: A-

Considering how much scrambling had to be done – and with UConn and New Mexico State not playing, and Notre Dame spending a year in the ACC – it was a fantastic run for the independents.

UMass was the only down part of this. Not having a great Irish team didn’t matter with Liberty and BYU putting up phenomenal seasons, and with Army coming up with a nine-win campaign and a good bowl performance against West Virginia.
2019 Final Grade: C

Army 2020 Season Grade: A-

2020 Record: 9-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 99
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 66
2019 Final Grade: D+

The Knights won nine games, got to a bowl game and pushed a far more talented West Virginia team to the edge, the O worked, there were enough blowout wins to make it a fun run, and … oh yeah. It beat Navy and Air Force in back-to-back weeks.

BYU 2020 Season Grade: A

2020 Record: 11-1
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 66
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 13
2019 Final Grade: C+

The only loss was on the road against a great Coastal Carolina team it had about ten minutes to prepare for. Every other win was dominant, the bowl victory over UCF was impressive, and the program restored the pop again.

Liberty 2020 Season Grade: A

2020 Record: 10-1
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 112
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 11
2019 Final Grade: B+

So the one loss came on the road at NC State on a blocked kick. That the Flames were even in that position was fantastic. They beat two other ACC teams and handed Coastal Carolina its only loss of the season in a phenomenal Cure Bowl. There were a TON of layup games, but 10-1 is 10-1.

New Mexico State 2020 Season Grade: Incomplete

2020 Record: 0-0
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 128
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: Not Ranked
2019 Final Grade: D

New Mexico State didn’t play this season

UConn 2020 Season Grade: Incomplete

2020 Record: 0-0
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 130
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: Not Ranked
2019 Final Grade: D

UConn didn’t play this season

UMass 2020 Season Grade: D

2020 Record: 0-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 126
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 127
2019 Final Grade: D-

Give the program some credit for giving it a go, and the grade is slightly generous considering absolutely nothing was expected this year, but … there’s 0-4, and there’s UMass 0-4. Not only did it lose all four games – to good Group of Five teams – but it lost by a combined score of 161-12. The Minutemen scored one more touchdown than you did this season.

NEXT: MAC Season Grades

MAC Team Season Grades: East

MAC Season Grade: B

It was as good a season as it could’ve been asked for considering the late start and the lack of games across the board. Buffalo was fun, Ball State roared to a MAC title and a bowl win over Mountain West champion San Jose State, and there were a slew of fun games.

Bowling Green, Akron, and Northern Illinois were awful, but the other nine teams were all competitive among each other.
2019 Final Grade: C

Akron 2020 Season Grade: C-

2020 Record: 1-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 129
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 123
2019 Final Grade: F

The Zips won a game. Considering that wasn’t a given going into the season and coming off a disastrous 2019, that’s a plus. They got destroyed too often, but at least they showed a sign of life going forward.

Bowling Green 2020 Season Grade: D-

2020 Record: 0-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 125
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 126
2019 Final Grade: C-

Dude, you lost to Akron. The Falcons went winless being outscored by a total of 225-57. The only reason why it’s not an F is because they are who we thought they’d be.

Buffalo 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 6-1
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 83
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 63
2019 Final Grade: B

To be way too harsh for a 6-1 squad that took down a solid Marshall team in a bowl game, it lost the one game it had to win. Buffalo was the best team in the MAC, it had the most talent, and it got dropped by Ball State in the conference championship by ten.

Kent State 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 3-1
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 106
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 89
2019 Final Grade: A-

Could the momentum of the great finish to the 2019 season continue? Yeah. It’s Kent State – any winning season is a good one. There weren’t any great wins among the three, and the 70-41 loss to Buffalo was crazy, but it was a fun four-game November.

Miami University 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 2-1
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 111
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 93
2019 Final Grade: A-

It was only a three-game season, and Buffalo rolled 42-10, but the RedHawks handed eventual MAC Champion Ball State its only loss and whacked around Akron.

Ohio 2020 Season Grade: C+

2020 Record: 2-1
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 96
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 109
2019 Final Grade: B-

There were only three games, one of them was against a mediocre Central Michigan, and the Bobcats lost. They got to play two of the MAC’s miserable teams – Akron and Bowling Green – and won.

NEXT: MAC Team Season Grades: West

MAC Team Season Grades: West

Ball State 2020 Season Grade: A

2020 Record: 7-1
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 92
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 46
2019 Final Grade: B-

So there was a loss to Miami University. Your 2020 Ball State Cardinals went on a seven win run after that, took down Buffalo for the MAC Championship, and won a bowl game for the first time in school history. That’ll do.

Central Michigan 2020 Season Grade: C+

2020 Record: 3-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 107
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 105
2019 Final Grade: A-

It was a rebuilding year, and the team was close to what it was supposed to be, but it couldn’t get that one good win over a solid team to have a winning season. It’s hard being a middle-of-the-road MAC team after playing for the conference championship.

Eastern Michigan 2020 Season Grade: C

2020 Record: 2-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 113
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 107
2019 Final Grade: B

Just when it seemed like it was going to be a totally lost year, the Eagles shocked Western Michigan and beat Northern Illinois to end on a high note. It’s Eastern Michigan, so it does what it does best and played close games. It was on the wrong side of too many.

Northern Illinois 2020 Season Grade: D-

2020 Record: 0-6
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 117
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 122
2019 Final Grade: C

Northern Illinois used to be beautiful. It used to be a MAC powerhouse that was consistently nasty, and now it’s a winless program. It was competitive at times, and it didn’t catch a schedule break with the Akron and Bowling Green free spaces off the board, but no. 0-6 isn’t acceptable.

Toledo 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 4-2
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 104
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 98
2019 Final Grade: C

Toledo is supposed to be in the MAC Championship mix every season and at least is expected to be a player – and it was. There weren’t any great wins among the four, but the loss to Western Michigan was by three on one of the weirder plays of the year, and the other was by three to eventual MAC champ Ball State.

Western Michigan 2020 Season Grade: B-

2020 Record: 4-2
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 103
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 97
2019 Final Grade: B-

Everything was RIGHT THERE for the taking in the MAC. This was supposed to be one of the league’s best teams, but it struggled to get through the first four games. The Broncos won them all, and then dropped a home date to a mediocre Eastern Michigan before losing 30-27 to eventual MAC Champion Ball State.

NEXT: Mountain West Season Grades

Mountain West Team Season Grades

Mountain West Season Grade: B

UNLV was a dud, and Utah State had an awful year, but it turned into one of the more surprising and even Mountain West seasons in a shortened run. The rise of San Jose State was a blast – forget the issues before the debacle of a bowl loss – Nevada was fun, Hawaii had a few strong moments, and the energy brought in with six – make it seven after Utah State made an in-season chase – new coaches gave this weird season a sense of hope going forward.
2019 Final Grade: B+

Air Force 2020 Season Grade: B-

2020 Record: 3-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 74
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 80
2019 Final Grade: A

The Falcons were never able to get the season going with just six games, and their only losses were to San Jose State, Boise State – the two teams that played in the Mountain West Championship – in a 10-7 fight to Army. There weren’t any great wins, but they would’ve had a much stronger record if they were able to play a full conference slate.

Boise State 2020 Season Grade: B-

2020 Record: 5-2
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 43
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 49
2019 Final Grade: A-

The Broncos were out of the New Year’s Six hunt with a 51-17 blowout to BYU – they were missing some key parts, though – lost the Mountain West title, and only played seven games. The record wasn’t bad, but it’s Boise State. Either it wins the conference title or the season missed.

Colorado State 2020 Season Grade: C-

2020 Record: 1-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 86
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 100
2019 Final Grade: C-

There was a fun win over Wyoming, and … that was about it. The team only got to play four games, lost by double-digits in the three losses, and then it was over. It was hardly the start hoped for under Steve Addazio.

Fresno State 2020 Season Grade: C-

2020 Record: 3-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 77
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 96
2019 Final Grade: D+

There’s a little bit of a free pass given considering the Kalen DeBoer era started in a rough time and with work to do, but the Bulldogs started the season getting rocked at home by Hawaii, and it finished with a loss to a mediocre New Mexico team. All three wins are against the Mountain West bottom feeders.

Hawaii 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 5-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 78
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 74
2019 Final Grade: A-

It was an uneven year, but the Rainbow Warriors were able to do what they were expected to. They came up with a few nice wins, handed a good Nevada team a loss, and stunned Houston by 14 in the bowl game. It’s a winning season in the first year under Todd Graham – that’s good enough.

Nevada 2020 Season Grade: B+

2020 Record: 7-2
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 95
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 57
2019 Final Grade: C+

It’s not fair, but the expectations went up as the season went on. The win over San Diego State closed out a 5-0 start, but a loss at Hawaii kept it out of the Mountain West title. Beating Tulane in the bowl game closed a very good season in a strong way.

New Mexico 2020 Season Grade: B-

2020 Record: 2-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 118
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 95
2019 Final Grade: D-

The Lobos get a few grading breaks in the first year under new head man Danny Gonzales. They never got a true home game among the seven, they did the Hawaii trip, and they still managed to keep improving with two decent wins over Wyoming and Fresno State to close and create a little momentum for 2021.

San Diego State 2020 Season Grade: C+

2020 Record: 4-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 61
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 73
2019 Final Grade: B

The Aztecs beat three bad teams and rolled past Hawaii, but that was about it in Brady Hoke’s first season. The defense was still good and the offense was a bit better, but the Aztecs lost to the four strong teams on the slate.

San Jose State 2020 Season Grade: A

2020 Record: 7-1
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 100
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 47
2019 Final Grade: B

One of the greatest seasons in San Jose State history got derailed before the bowl game disaster against Ball State. When fully healthy, the team won all seven games by double-digits including the Mountain West Championship. If nothing else, the season proved that it really is possible to win college football games at San Jose State.

UNLV 2020 Season Grade: D-

2020 Record: 0-6
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 109
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 120
2019 Final Grade: D

The Rebels weren’t supposed to do anything amazing in the first year under Marcus Arroyo, and they didn’t. They not only went winless, but they lost every game by 13 points or more. To be fair, they were the underdogs in every game, but it would’ve been nice to be a bit more competitive.

Utah State 2020 Season Grade: D

2020 Record: 1-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 80
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 114
2019 Final Grade: C+

A total clunker early on, the Aggies didn’t get any offense going – scoring 45 points in the first four games – parted ways with head coach Gary Andersen, and scored just seven in the season finale against Air Force. So why not a flaming F? The 41-27 win over New Mexico helped.

Wyoming 2020 Season Grade: C-

2020 Record: 2-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 76
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 85
2019 Final Grade: B

The team that was good enough to obliterate Hawaii 31-7 on the way to a 2-2 start gave Colorado State its only win of the year and lost to New Mexico. However, it pushed both Nevada and Boise State – there was simply no consistency to the campaign.

NEXT: Pac-12 Season Grades

Pac-12 Team Season Grades: North

Pac-12 Season Grade: B+

It was weird, it was random, it was off, and it could be argued that the fourth-best team in the conference won the Pac-12 title, and …

It was a BLAST – at least on the field.

The Pac-12 packed in a whole slew of fun into a short season. No other conference had as many wildly entertaining games, so who cares if the teams weren’t all that great? Arizona was awful, but it gave USC a tough run. UCLA, Stanford’s win over Cal, Oregon vs. Oregon State, Arizona State vs. USC, the league played good game after good game.
2019 Final Grade: C

California 2020 Season Grade: C

2020 Record: 1-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 38
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 72
2019 Final Grade: B

It’s not fair – the team never had a chance to get its season going. It lost in tough heartbreakers to Oregon State and Stanford and beat Oregon, but it played just four games. The record was a disappointment, but it was a better team than that.

Oregon 2020 Season Grade: B-

2020 Record: 4-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 9
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 28
2019 Final Grade: A

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Oregon won the Pac-12 Championship, but this year that game at USC was just another conference battle. The Ducks were without a slew of key parts from the start, managed to get their shot, and they won. However, they lost three of their last four games, were outclassed by Iowa State, and lost to rival Oregon State.

Oregon State 2020 Season Grade: C+

2020 Record: 2-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 54
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 51
2019 Final Grade: B-

The Beavers might have played well in several games, and they were competitive in almost all of the losses, but they dropped five of them. The win over Oregon is always going to make the season, but they lost their last three games after it.

Stanford 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 4-2
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 35
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 31
2019 Final Grade: D+

The Cardinal quietly had a nice run in the shortened campaign. They didn’t have starting QB Davis Mills for the opener against Oregon, and lost a fight against Colorado, and then ripped off four straight wins in a very fun bounce-back campaign.

Washington 2020 Season Grade: B+

2020 Record: 3-1
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 21
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 26
2019 Final Grade: B-

It wasn’t bad considering it was just a four game run. New head coach Jimmy Lake was able to get out to a 3-0 start but lost in a tight battle against Stanford. Just as it was expected to go play for the Pac-12 Championship, it couldn’t, and the season was over. It was a good tone-setter, though for 2021.

Washington State 2020 Season Grade: C

2020 Record: 1-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 46
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 76
2019 Final Grade: C

Don’t just look at the 1-3 record under Nick Rolovich in his first season. There was a good win over Oregon State to start things off, and that was it. Yeah, the Cougars were only able to play three more games and lost them all, but they were to Oregon, USC and Utah. That’s forgivable.

NEXT: Pac-12 Season Grades: South

Pac-12 Team Season Grades: South

Arizona 2020 Season Grade: D

2020 Record: 0-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 37
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 90

The only reason why it’s not an F is because of a strong opening performance in a 34-30 loss to USC on the road. The Wildcats weren’t awful against UCLA or Colorado, either, but no wins, a 70-7 loss to Arizona State, and a fired coach … that’s not a fun season.
2019 Final Grade: D+

Arizona State 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 2-2
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 64
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 35
2019 Final Grade: B

The Sun Devils only played four games, but they almost had USC in a wild opener, lost a thriller to UCLA, and annihilated their arch-rival Arizona 70-7. This was a good team that didn’t get a shot to do more.

Colorado 2020 Season Grade: B+

2020 Record: 4-2
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 59
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 30
2019 Final Grade: C+

For what the program had to work with in this weird, shortened season, it was as close to as fantastic as possible for Karl Dorrell’s first run. It went 4-0, lost to Utah, and lost to Texas in the bowl game – that’s fine. It was a campaign to build on.

UCLA 2020 Season Grade: B-

2020 Record: 3-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 57
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 32
2019 Final Grade: D+

Another losing record might not be all that great, but all four losses were really, really, really close. The program became far more competitive under Chip Kelly, the offense worked, the defense wasn’t bad, and even in the shortened season it was a fun run.

USC 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 5-1
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 13
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 24
2019 Final Grade: B

The wins might not have been smooth, but the team found ways to win. However, in the one game the team had to have, it clunked. It wasn’t like this was a special Oregon team, and the Trojans couldn’t come up with the Pac-12 Championship victory at home. That was it. That was what the season was about but going 5-1 was hardly awful.

Utah 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 3-2
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 26
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 27
2019 Final Grade: A-

It was supposed to be a bit of a rebuilding year, and Utah had the rough break of not being able to start until late November. The early losses to USC and Washington were to two of the Pac-12’s best teams, and then the team improved enough to start rolling just in time for the season to be over.

NEXT: SEC Season Grades

SEC Team Season Grades: East

SEC Season Grade: B

The conference got another national championship and finished with four teams in the top 13, but there were issues.

Remember, it was almost all an SEC vs. SEC schedule, so the teams were beating up on each other – it’s part of the reason why the records were lousy. LSU fell off a cliff, Tennessee and South Carolina fell off a bigger cliff, Mississippi State was shockingly weird-bad, and Vanderbilt just never showed up. However …

Georgia and Florida were fun, it was a good first year under Eliah Drinkwitz at Missouri, and Arkansas became one of the biggest surprises of the 2020 season. Texas A&M was CFP-worthy, Kentucky and Ole Miss won bowl games, and again, the conference had the best team in college football.

2019 Final Grade: B

Florida 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 8-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 7
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 7
2019 Final Grade: A-

Unfortunately, all anyone will remember was the total clunker of a Cotton Bowl loss to Oklahoma when too many key guys were out – that’s not fair. The Gators got to the SEC Championship, pushed Alabama better than anyone else, and … gacked away any shot at the College Football Playoff with a home loss to LSU.

Georgia 2020 Season Grade: C+

2020 Record: 8-2
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 4
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 8
2019 Final Grade: A

To be mean to a team that lost to Alabama and Florida away from home – no shame there – the talent was in place to be in the mix for the national title, the quarterback situation wasn’t right until it was too late, and to cut through the nice-nice – oooooh, it beat the Group of Five team in a bowl. It took a late rally and field goal to get by a Cincinnati team that needed a walk-off field goal to beat Tulsa.

Kentucky 2020 Season Grade: B-

2020 Record: 5-6
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 25
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 36
2019 Final Grade: B

Plenty of things were made a whole lot better with a bowl win over NC State. The Wildcats never got going, only beat the four worst SEC teams on its schedule, and were hit by double-digit losses against the killers on the slate. But that bowl win ended things on a big-time high.

Missouri 2020 Season Grade: B-

2020 Record: 5-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 45
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 33
2019 Final Grade: C+

The expectations were near nothing in the first year under Eliah Drinkwitz against an all SEC schedule, but a big midseason run changed everything. The Tigers won five in six – with the only loss coming against Florida – before the defense collapsed late. Even so, 5-5 in this crazy year was great.

South Carolina 2020 Season Grade: D

2020 Record: 2-8
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 29
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 81
2019 Final Grade: D+

The team had the talent to at least be a tough out, and it came up with a win over Auburn, but that was it. A coaching change, closing with six straight losses, and the offense going into the tank weren’t part of the plan, but it’s not like any of it was shocking.

Tennessee 2020 Season Grade: C-

2020 Record: 3-7
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 28
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 75
2019 Final Grade: B

The only reason the grade isn’t a whole lot worse is the 2-0 start over a South Carolina team that was functional at the time and the 35-12 win over Missouri. The offense failed – it didn’t score 20 or more in six of the last seven games – the team seemed to get worse as the season went on.

Vanderbilt 2020 Season Grade: D-

2020 Record: 0-9
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 63
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 91
2019 Final Grade: D+

There were only three close games among the nine losses – one was in the opener against Texas A&M – but Sarah Fuller being the first ever female player in FBS history was cool. On the whole, though … ugh. No wins, blowout after blowout, 17 points or fewer in seven of the games, and the end of the Derek Mason era – it was a rough run.

NEXT: SEC Season Grades: West

SEC Team Season Grades: West

Alabama 2020 Season Grade: A+

2020 Record: 13-0
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 3
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 1
2019 Final Grade: B

Let’s see … there was a 13-0 season, an SEC championship, a historic Heisman winner, and a national championship. That’s pretty good. 2020 Alabama did the impossible and exceeded the National Title Or Failure expectations.

Arkansas 2020 Season Grade: A-

2020 Record: 3-7
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 68
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 34
2019 Final Grade: D-

Before the season, find anyone who thought the Hogs weren’t going to lose every SEC game by double-digits. Blow off that they won just three games. Under Sam Pittman, they beat Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Tennessee, and they were competitive against everyone but the league’s superstars.

Auburn 2020 Season Grade: C+

2020 Record: 6-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 12
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 21
2019 Final Grade: B+

It was a slightly better team than it got credit for or what the record might show. There weren’t any amazing wins, and the loss to South Carolina was inexcusable, but in most normal worlds, losing to Georgia, Texas A&M, Alabama, and – after the head coach got fired – to the second-best team in the Big Ten (Northwestern) isn’t all that bad. But it’s Auburn. Going 6-5 doesn’t work.

LSU 2020 Season Grade: C

2020 Record: 5-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 5
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 29
2019 Final Grade: A+

Obviously the season was a dud coming off the all-timer 2019 run, but give the team credit for fighting late and making something out of a dead campaign in a total rebuild. The O woke up to shock Florida and hang 53 on Ole Miss – 5-5 isn’t all that bad after the 3-5 start.

Mississippi State 2020 Season Grade: C

2020 Record: 4-7
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 24
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 38
2019 Final Grade: C

Beating LSU was a mirage to start the season. The offense sputtered all year, the only win in an eight game run was against a Vanderbilt team that went winless, and then … Year One under Mike Leach ended strong. The O got going against Missouri, and the bowl win over Tulsa was better than it seems.

Ole Miss 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 5-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 48
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 22
2019 Final Grade: C-

Lane Kiffin got the offense going in the rough 1-4 start, and then it all came together winning four of the last five games with a victory over Mississippi State and a bowl win over Indiana. The D needs to be a LOT better, but the O is going to keep being fun.

Texas A&M 2020 Season Grade: A

2020 Record: 9-1
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 23
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 4
2019 Final Grade: B-

The one loss? At Alabama when Jaylen Waddle was fully healthy. That’s it. That’s the only sin. The Aggies might not have been all that breathtaking, but they managed to win each of the last seven games – including the Orange Bowl over North Carolina – by double-digits.

NEXT: Sun Belt Season Grades

Sun Belt Season Grades: East

Sun Belt Season Grade: A

This would’ve been an A+ if Coastal Carolina was able to get past Liberty in the Cure Bowl overtime thriller. It was the dream season for the conference with a 3-0 record against the Big 12, Coastal Carolina becoming a national thing, Louisiana only losing to the Chanticleers, and Appalachian State, Georgia State, and Georgia Southern were all strong.

Yeah, ULM didn’t win a game, Arkansas State was a massive disappointment, and Troy was just okay, but South Alabama and Texas State were competitive despite their records.

Two Sun Belt teams finished ranked in the top 15. It was all good.
2019 Final Grade: B

Appalachian State 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 9-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 62
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 68
2019 Final Grade: A

The Mountaineers didn’t win the Sun Belt Championship – they weren’t even among the two best teams in the conference. They won the bowl game over an overmatched North Texas, and there weren’t any bad wins, but the bar has been set a championship high for this program.

Coastal Carolina 2020 Season Grade: A+

2020 Record: 11-1
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 120
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 12
2019 Final Grade: B-

Welcome to our 2020 Team We Were The Most Wrong About, and it wasn’t even close. The Chanticleers became a national thing, beat BYU, won the Sun Belt title – at least, technically, half of one – and went to overtime against Liberty in the best bowl game of the post-season.

Georgia Southern 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 8-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 84
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 78
2019 Final Grade: B

The Eagles got to a bowl game – blowing out Louisiana Tech 38-3 – and finished with a solid eight-win season, but it lost to rival Georgia State and couldn’t beat the Sun Belt’s stars. There isn’t a bad loss among the five and all of them were in close fights.

Georgia State 2020 Season Grade: B

2020 Record: 6-4
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 114
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 77
2019 Final Grade: B+

The only thing keeping the grade from being higher was a 59-52 loss to a mediocre Arkansas State team. The 51-0 drop-kicking from Coastal Carolina didn’t help, but the Panthers beat rival Georgia Southern on the way to closing out with three straight wins including a dominant bowl victory over WKU.

Troy 2020 Season Grade: B-

2020 Record: 5-6
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 105
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 84
2019 Final Grade: C-

It was a good year, but it could’ve been a whole lot stronger. The blowout win over Arkansas State on the road was good, pushing Coastal Carolina in a 42-38 loss was nice, but four of the losses were by a touchdown or less.

NEXT: Sun Belt Season Grades: West

Sun Belt Season Grades: West

Arkansas State 2020 Season Grade: C-

2020 Record: 4-7
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 93
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 112
2019 Final Grade: B

The program is past the point of not at least being a factor in the Sun Belt title chase every year, and losing five in a row before closing out with a win over a winless ULM isn’t okay. Beating Kansas State and Georgia State was cool, but the defense didn’t come through this season.

Louisiana 2020 Season Grade: A

2020 Record: 10-1
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 81
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 15
2019 Final Grade: A-

The Ragin’ Cajuns handed Iowa State its worst loss of the season, the only defeat came in a. 30-27 fight with a fantastic Coastal Carolina team, they finished as – technically – co-Sun Belt champs, and they won a bowl game in a ten-win campaign in the COVID season. That’s pretty good.

South Alabama 2020 Season Grade: C+

2020 Record: 4-7
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 123
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 108
2019 Final Grade: D+

The four-win campaign actually wasn’t that bad considering the coaching change, but after a 3-2 start going 1-5 the rest of the way was a disappointment. The offense managed 17 points or fewer in all five of those losses, but it went against the Sun Belt stars and Troy.

Texas State 2020 Season Grade: C

2020 Record: 2-10
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 121
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 111
2019 Final Grade: C-

Yeah, it was only a two-win season, but the offense started to work and the team became far more competitive and far more interesting. It pushed Boston College on the road, hung around with most of the Sun Belt stars, and gave SMU problems.

ULM 2020 Season Grade: D-

2020 Record: 0-10
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 124
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 124
2019 Final Grade: C+

It’s an unfair grade considering the preseason ranking and the final one matched, but 0-10 is still 0-10. It was supposed to be a rebuilding run, but still … winless? The program is better than that, but the O was a clunker and the D a disaster.

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