Preseason rankings in college football have become a hot topic of conversation nearly every July and August.
While the college football world still eagerly awaits the 2026 edition of the preseason polls, it’s good to remember that these rankings are somewhat of an inexact science.
It’s fun to argue and joust with other fans about where you believe your team should be slotted in the first edition of the official rankings of the , but sometimes being a highly ranked team heading into the year can be a death sentence.
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The combination of sky-high expectations and overlooking holes in the roster can lead to disastrous seasons for teams whose goals may have been a bit too lofty, and there’s plenty of historical precedent to prove it.
With that in mind, here are five of the most disappointing preseason top-10 teams from the 21st century.
Believe it or not, there was a time when the Oregon State Beavers were a budding powerhouse in college football.
The 2000 season was a glimpse into what the Beavers could be under the direction of head coach Dennis Erickson, featuring an 11-win season and a throttling of traditional blue blood Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.
All signs were pointing up heading into 2001, but for whatever reason, Oregon State bottomed out before they even had a chance to get things going.
After starting the season in the top 10, the Beavers dropped three of their first four games, including their opener against Fresno State.
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Oregon State fell out of the top 25 for good following a 38-7 beatdown against UCLA, and they were never able to recover from that point forward, limping to a 5-6 record and missing out on even making a bowl game.
While they did secure a win over a top-10 Washington team late in the year, 2001 will always be seen as a season of wasted potential in Corvallis.
Erickson would jump ship to the NFL the following season, and fans were left wondering what could have been.
We all know that preseason number one teams rarely go wire-to-wire and win the whole thing, especially in the modern era.
For the 2012 USC Trojans, winning the national championship was the furthest thing from their mind, as the presumptive pick to win the crystal football had it all come crashing down the minute the calendar flipped to November
Coming off a top-10 finish in 2011, the Trojans and head coach Lane Kiffin (yes, THAT Lane Kiffin) were finally eligible for postseason play following a two-year ban in the aftermath of the end of the Pete Carroll era in Southern Cal.
That wasn’t the only cause for celebration, as USC returned a litany of stars including presumptive number one overall draft pick Matt Barkley at quarterback, as well as two 1,000 yard receivers (Marquise Lee and Robert Woods), a 1,000 yard running back (Curtis McNeal) and Penn State running back transfer Silas Redd.
Even after an early season loss to eventual Pac-12 champs Stanford, the Trojans headed into late October still boasting a top-10 ranking w
