The Top 25 is always a great source for discussion. Teams in the Top 25 can be overrated or underrated based on many things. Sometimes, voters base too much on what happened during the last week or on the teams record without really digging into their schedule. Here’s a look at the five teams that I think were overrated in the most recent AP Top 25…
#5 Florida State Seminoles
The Seminoles are ranked #13 and based on their talent they certainly deserve that rating. Let’s take a closer look…
They lost to the team currently ranked 7th (Louisville) by 43 points and they lost to the team currently ranked 22nd. Their only victory over a team currently in the Top 25 was their season opening win over Ole Miss (who is ranked 23rd).
The Seminoles are uber-talented but their accomplishments on the football field should have them ranked closer to 25th than their current ranking of 13.
#4 Nebraska Cornhuskers
The Cornhuskers are the 8th ranked team in the country. The main reason for their high ranking is that they are undefeated and they have a victory over Oregon.
Here are the teams the Huskers have victories over (and their records):
Fresno State 1-6
Wyoming 4-2
Oregon 2-4
Northwestern 3-3
Illinois 2-4
Indiana 3-3
Maybe the Cornhuskers are the 8th best team in the country but there’s simply no way to know that based on the schedule they’ve played. The Huskers are a huge beneficiary of this being a year with a few really good teams at the top of the polls and a lot of mediocrity below those teams.
#3 Auburn Tigers
Auburn’s #21 ranking is basically because it has two quality losses in which it didn’t lose by a ton of points. The Tigers beat Mississippi State (who isn’t very good) and they beat LSU (who hasn’t beaten anybody but is a name team).
Auburn has Arkansas and Ole Miss in back-to-back weeks. They won’t be ranked after those games. Auburn isn’t horrible, and they are better than I thought they’d be this season, but they also don’t deserve their current Top 25 ranking.
#2 LSU Tigers
The LSU Tigers are the 25th ranked team in the country. They have wins over Jacksonville State, Mississippi State, Missouri, and Southern Miss. They lost to the only two teams they’ve played that are considered “good”.
LSU is in the same boat as Auburn. The voters have looked at their record and their reputation. Considering that they are 4-2, and a team that is thought of as usually being very good, the voters have added them to complete their ballot without really researching what they’ve done on the football field so far this season.
Since firing Les Miles, they’ve beaten Missouri and Southern Miss. The wins over those college football behemoths (no offense to Missouri and Southern Miss fans) has catapulted the Tigers into the Top 25.
#1 Baylor Bears
Baylor might be a very good team. The problem is, we have no way of knowing if they are or not. The Bears are ranked #9 in the country.
Here are the teams they have beaten:
Northwestern State 1-5
SMU 2-4
Rice 0-6
Oklahoma State 4-2
Iowa State 1-6
Kansas 1-5
They have a win over a decent Oklahoma State team and the rest of their victims have a combined record of 5-26.
At this point of the season, Baylor is the poster boy for the term paper tiger. At some point this season, we will find out if the Bears deserve their high ranking.
