The 2022 Preseason 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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5. Who is, technically, overrated in the 2022 Coaches Poll?
Everyone too easily fires out the terms overrated and underrated when it comes to teams, players, tacos, and just about every other aspect of life. But for something to be overrated, it has to be rated.
The 2022 college football teams were just rated in the Preseason USA TODAY Coaches Poll, and here are the five teams who appear to be ranked a tad bit too high.
No. 7 Texas A&M
This is a whole lot of respect being given to a team that has all the talent in the world, but is really, really, really young. Are the skill players strong enough? Can the team be more consistent? Can all the superstar recruits make an impact right away? This is hardly an egregiously high ranking, but top ten is a wee bit of a push for right now.
A&M Preview | Top 10 Players | Schedule Analysis
– CFN 2022 Preseason Rankings 1-131
No. 10 Baylor
To be totally fair to the Coaches Poll, we have a chronic Baylor underrating problem, so this might just be dead on right. However, a top ten preseason nod is too much love considering the defending Big 12 champs have a whole lot of reworking and tweaking to do.
Baylor Preview | Top 10 Players | Schedule Analysis
No. 16 Pitt
Like Baylor, there’s a good chance we might be missing what everyone else is seeing. The pass rush will be fantastic, and Kedon Slovis is a fine replacement for Kenny Pickett, but for a team that found lightning in a bottle last season, this top 16 ranking is assuming it’ll all happen again. It’s a top 25 team, but 16 is a tad high.
Pitt Preview | Top 10 Players | Schedule Analysis
– 2022 Preseason USA TODAY Coaches Poll
No. 19 Wake Forest
Wake Forest will put up big numbers, be a ton of fun, and it’ll win a lot of games against the teams it’s supposed to beat, and one or two against the good teams, too. However, is it better than Wisconsin, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Ole Miss? Not really. Is it better than unranked Iowa, Penn State, Tennessee, BYU, LSU, or Auburn? Not really. Is it better than North Carolina, who’s technically ranked 33rd? Ehhhh.
Wake Forest Preview | Top 10 Players | Schedule Analysis
No. 22 Cincinnati
It’s a good Cincinnati team, but a whole lot of great parts are gone – being ahead of Arkansas, Iowa, and a slew of other good Power Five programs is a bit too much respect. 22 isn’t terribly far off, but the ranking assumes it’s the best Group of Five program coming into the season. At the moment, UCF is close, Boise State and San Diego State are in that mix, and Houston – at least from the preseason look – should be higher than 25.
UC Preview | Top 10 Players | Schedule
And then there are the …