AP Top 25 Preseason College Football Poll: 5 Things That Matter, Overrated, Underrated, Winners, Losers 2022

The 2022 AP preseason top 25 college football poll was released. Here are the 5 things that matter with the overrated and underrated teams.

The 2022 AP top 25 preseason college football poll was released. Here are the topics that matter with the overrated and underrated teams, and the winners and losers.


CFN Predictions of Every Game
ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | Pac-12 | SEC
AAC | C-USA | Ind | MAC | M-West | Sun Belt
CFN Preview 2021: All 131 Teams
2022 Bowl Projections | Preseason Rankings 1-131
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5. Who is, technically, overrated in the 2022 AP Top 25 Preseason College Football Poll?

It’s all subjective, obviously, but who’s overrated and who’s underrated compared to the CFN 2022 Preseason Rankings 1-131? Here are five possible overrated teams.

No. 5 Notre Dame
Totally nitpicking here. Notre Dame is going to be terrific. There’s no excuse to not be in the CFP mix – even after starting the season against Ohio State – and nothing less than a New Year’s Six bowl game will be okay.

Five is a wee bit high considering how strong Michigan should be and with Oregon, Utah, and USC all knocked down a peg. The Irish should be around 10ish instead of top 5, but it’s hardly a crazy ranking.
Notre Dame Preview

No. 6 Texas A&M
In theory Texas A&M should be No. 6 good, and the talent level is there after this latest loaded recruiting class, but the program might be a year or so away from being worth this much respect.

Outside of that new haul of talent – which matters, of course – is A&M about to make the leap from unranked like it was at the end of last season to the top 6? Top 20, yes, but gut feeling – the voters remember the Alabama win of 2021 and ranked accordingly.
Texas A&M Preview

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No. 10 Baylor
100% getting it that we might be on the wrong side of the Baylor call this year. The defense will be great, the offense just fine, and … the Big 12 will be stronger. Rankings shouldn’t be predictive and need to be based on how good the teams are, but compared to a slew of Others Receiving Votes teams – more on that in the Underrated section – Baylor at 10 is a tad rich.
Baylor Preview

CFN Preseason Rankings

No. 16 Miami
I like Miami, you like Miami, we all like Miami. Warm weather, cool program, Mario Cristobal taking over, Tyler Van Dyke a rising star quarterback – 16 is too high. The Canes aren’t there yet. It’s not horribly off – they should be top 25 – but ahead of Arkansas, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and Ole Miss? No.
Miami Preview

No. 22 Wake Forest
PLEASE forgive how gross this is to consider a young man’s medical condition as a factor in any sort of football analysis, but to be fair, I would’ve put Wake Forest in the Overrated category before the announcement of Sam Hartman’s non-football related medical issue.

Talent-wise – and if the teams were playing on the field in Week 1 – give me at least ten Also Receiving Votes programs over Wake Forest. Tennessee, Penn State, LSU being front and center.
Wake Forest Preview

And then there are the …

2022 AP Top 25 Preseason Analysis
Overrated | Underrated
Most loaded Also Receiving Votes ever?
Don’t like the Top 25, just wait
Winners & Losers

NEXT: AP Top 25 Preseason College Football Poll – 5 most underrated teams

AP Preseason Top 25 College Football Poll: 5 Things That Matter, Overrated, Underrated, Winners, Losers

The 2021 AP preseason top 25 college football poll was released. Here are the 5 things that matter with the overrated and underrated teams.

The 2021 AP preseason top 25 college football poll was released. Here are the topics that matter with the overrated and underrated teams, and the winners and losers.


Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

CFN Preview 2021: Team Previews, Rankings, Features
AP Poll Rankings Greatest Programs of All-Time
2021 Preseason USA Today Coaches Poll Top 25

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2021 Preseason Top 25 Analysis
Overrated | Underrated | Oklahoma Respect
AP Poll is still fun | Winners & Losers
AP Preseason Top 25

5. Who is, technically, overrated in the 2021 AP Preseason Top 25 College Football Poll?

Everyone likes to say things are overrated and underrated, but who’s rating them? The AP is, so at least by projection – and it’s all subjective, obviously, compared to the CFN 2021 Preseason Rankings 1-130 – here are five possible overrated teams.

No. 8 Cincinnati
Cincinnati will end up being ranked high all season long considering it really is very, very good, and if it beats Notre Dame it’ll certainly be worth of the top ten call. However, it’s the yearly struggle when it comes to Group of Five programs.

Can Cincinnati beat the Irish? Absolutely. Can it beat Indiana, too? Yeah.  But it’s the constant beatdown of Power Five team after Power Five team that makes the teams in the top conferences so strong. Again, this is a great Cincinnati team, but it’s also getting by rankings-wise a wee bit on a 2020 schedule without a win over a Power Five program.

How many American Athletic Conference teams are ranked in the top 25 besides Cincinnati? Exactly.
Cincinnati Preview

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No. 10 North Carolina
It’s nitpicking time here – North Carolina is more like a top 15 team going into the season than top ten. Yes, it did a nice job reloading some of the key positions, and yes, Sam Howell will be some NFL team’s starting quarterback next year at this time, but the Tar Heels lost a whole lot of firepower off a team that went 8-4.
North Carolina Preview

No. 17 Indiana
Like all preseason college football rankings, they’re based on what happened the year before, who’s returning, and a little bit of brand name momentum. However, Indiana finished last year losing to Ole Miss and – give the Hoosiers credit for getting the job done – was able to rock in a bad year for the Big Ten East.

Partially because QB Michael Penix Jr. – who should be okay – is just coming off a knee injury, and the East should be stronger, this is more of a fringe top 25 team than 17.
Indiana Preview

No. 22 Coastal Carolina & No. 23 Louisiana
Right here, right now, you have to bet Junior’s juice money on Utah or Auburn or Michigan or Oklahoma State vs. Coastal Carolina or Louisiana … you’re not taking the Chanticleers or Ragin’ Cajuns with total certainty.

The Sun Belt stars are terrific, but this is getting a tad cheeky considering Liberty – who returns everyone and beat Coastal Carolina last year – is technically ranked 29th.
Louisiana Preview | Coastal Carolina Preview

And then there are the …

2021 Preseason Top 25 Analysis
Underrated | Oklahoma Respect
AP Poll is still fun | Winners & Losers
AP Preseason Top 25

NEXT: AP Preseason Top 25 College Football Poll – 5 most underrated teams

AP Top 25 College Football Poll, Rankings: Preseason 2021

Where do all the top teams rank in the preseason AP Top 25 college football poll? Which teams just missed out, but received votes?

Where do all the top teams rank in the preseason AP Top 25 college football poll? Which teams just missed out, but received votes?


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2021 AP Preseason Top 25 College Football Poll

Click each team for the CFN 2021 preview.
Number in parentheses is where each team finished in final 2020 AP rankings.

Others Receiving Votes
Oklahoma State 107, Ole Miss 106, TCU 40, Liberty 36, Auburn 32, NC State 14, Michigan 12, Northwestern 8, Boise State 7, Nevada 7, BYU 6, Ball State 6, Houston 5, Boston College 5, UCF 5, West Virginia 3, UAB 2, Army 2, UCLA 2

25. Arizona State Sun Devils 125 (NR)

24. Utah Utes 176 (NR)

23. Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns 208 (15)

22. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 232 (14)

21. Texas Longhorns 350 (19)

20. Washington Huskies 449 (NR)

19. Penn State Nittany Lions 456 (NR)

18. Iowa Hawkeyes 513 (16)

17. Indiana Hoosiers 549 (12)

16. LSU Tigers 631 (NR)

15. USC Trojans 660(21)

14. Miami Hurricanes 663 (22)

13. Florida Gators 728 (13)

12. Wisconsin Badgers 743 (NR)

11. Oregon Ducks 968 (NR)

CFN Preview 2021: All 130 Team Previews

10. North Carolina Tar Heels 999 (18)

9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 1009 (5)

8. Cincinnati Bearcats 1014 (8)

7. Iowa State Cyclones 1160 (9)

6. Texas A&M Aggies 1223 (4)

CFN 2021 Preseason Rankings 1-130

5. Georgia Bulldogs 1364, 3 1st place votes (7)

4. Ohio State Buckeyes 1393, 1 1st place vote (2)

3. Clemson Tigers 1447, 6 1st place votes (3)

2. Oklahoma Sooners 1462, 6 1st place votes (6)

1. Alabama Crimson Tide 1548, 47 1st place votes (1)

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