The Texas Longhorns and Penn State Nittany Lions suffered two of the most stunning losses of the college football season on Saturday, with the former suffering a 29-21 loss in the “Swamp” to the Florida Gators and the latter losing an unfathomable matchup with the UCLA Bruins, 42-37.
As SEC Network’s Brandon Zimmerman pointed out, Texas, Penn State, and the Clemson Tigers, the latter of which blew the doors of Bill Belichick’s North Carolina Tar Heels 38-10 in Chapel Hill, are 8-7 and were ranked No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4, respectively, in the AP’s preseason top 25.
Perhaps these preseason polls ought to be given a rest.
Big 12 poll looking foolish after Cincinnati upsets Iowa State, starts 4-1
Last year, the Big 12’s poll had the Arizona State Sun Devils ranked No. 16, dead last in the conference. ASU ended up winning the Big 12 Championship and giving the Longhorns a run for their money in the College Football Playoff’s second round. The Sun Devils had a first-round bye and were ranked No. 4.
The Cincinnati Bearcats are this year’s pick to make the Big 12 preseason rankings look like a jinx. UC has started 4-1 after a 38-30 victory over the Iowa State Cyclones and could be a College Football Playoff darkhorse behind quarterback Brendan Sorsby.
Notre Dame, South Carolina, Florida already racking up losses
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, South Carolina Gamecocks, and Florida were all ranked in the preseason top 15. Notre Dame proceeded to lose its first two games to the Miami Hurricanes and Texas A&M Aggies, South Carolina lost to the Vanderbilt Commodores and Missouri Tigers in consecutive weeks, and the Gators lost three of its first four games, including an 18-16 loss to the Group of 5 USF Bulls.
Across college football, we’re seeing that preseason polls are based on nothing, and age like milk.
It won’t stop them from being published, and other years it will be closer to the mark.
But 2025 has been an unpredictable ride, and that madness rose to a crescendo in Week 6.