The college football season is less than a week away. Like each year, the preseason college football poll is stacked with overrated and the occasional underrated teams. Here are three teams that are overrated going into the 2015 season.
Alabama, AP No. 3
The name of the team is Alabama. That’s pretty much the only reason why the Crimson Tide are ranked in the top five.
It’s easy to understand. Alabama has been the most dominant team in FBS for almost the last decade, so it’s understandable why the general public would consider the Crimson Tide a strong contender for the national championship.
But even for Alabama, which seems to reload at will, this year will be more of a challenge than others. The offense will have to replace several starters from last year, and those include a starting quarterback and players who are in the NFL now. The defense will be strong as usual, but that secondary still needs some work. And the Crimson Tide avoid their usual light SEC slate, with games against Georgia, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Mississippi, LSU and an improved Tennessee squad.
There are other teams with less question marks that should be this high, and we’ll find out if this is the same old Alabama in week 1 when the Crimson Tide open as a 10-point favorite against Wisconsin. That number is built based on the perception of the SEC vs. the Big 10, so beware which team you’re taking.
Oregon, AP No. 7
Here’s another team that has been as dominant as any program in the last decade. But this number is based, once again, on the name being Oregon.
The Ducks have proven to be better than pretty much any team in the Pac-12, but this year is different. The Pac-12 might be the best conference in the nation, and these Ducks lost a Heisman trophy winning quarterback last season, in addition to having to replace several key starters that contributed mightily on last year’s national runner-up team.
And at some point the Ducks are going to regress without Chip Kelly. Mark Helfrich has helped keep the Ducks afloat, but he’s not in the same league as Kelly when it comes to recruiting and schematics. The Pac-12 is catching up and the Ducks just have too many people to replace from last year to keep its dominant streak alive.
LSU, AP No. 14
LSU suffered a down year last season by its standards. The Tigers went 8-5 and lost to Notre Dame in a bowl game.
Until proven differently, the Tigers just haven’t been competent at the quarterback position lately. There’s some optimism with one year of experience at the position, but until they prove something, it’s hard to predict the Tigers to win more than eight games this season.
Look at the schedule. The Tigers must face Auburn, Alabama and Mississippi on the road. Without a steady option at quarterback, the Tigers could take another step back, and head coach Les Miles may start to get some heat on his coaching seat.
