Preseason College Football Rankings 2012: Teams Destined to Be Underrated

Trying to predict the best teams for the upcoming college football season while in the midst of spring practice is a fool's errand. Farewells are still being wished, graduated starters replaced and young players shifted from position to position.

Truth be told, to even begin to cobble together a Top 25 before October (especially six months ahead of time) is a futile effort. Such a list is about as permanent as a sandcastle at high tide.

Nonetheless, there will be plenty of fawning over the USCs, Alabamas, LSUs and Oklahomas of the world by early May, if not earlier.

So who might spring up from the rest of the field to contend for the BCS (and more) in the fall?

South Carolina

Quick—name the four teams in the SEC that won at least 11 games last season.

Alabama, LSU, Arkansas and...you've got this...c'mon...South Carolina!

Ding ding ding! That's right, folks. Steve Spurrier led the Gamecocks to their first 11-win campaign in school history, yet couldn't quite pull out a second consecutive SEC East title despite edging Georgia early on.

Take away Auburn's miraculous game-winning drive and the impact of Marcus Lattimore's absence in the loss to Arkansas, and we may have spent time talking about the other USC as a national-title contender in late November and early December.

The losses on defense are heavy—five starters, including Stephon Gilmore and All-American Melvin Ingram, as well as defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson—but there's still plenty of talent there, led by sophomore defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.

Offensively, the ol' ball coach will have Connor Shaw under center from the start. Meanwhile, if Lattimore's knee is good to go, the Cock-N-Fire offense could be among the best in the country.

Michigan

Let me get this straight. Michigan wins 11 games, including an all-important win against that team from Ohio and a thrilling Sugar Bowl victory over Virginia Tech, and might not even crack the Top 10 in preseason polls?

That's likely to change once the Wolverines win a few games and pollsters get excited about the Maize and Blue again.

That's not to say that all's necessarily well in Ann Arbor, though. Brady Hoke and company have suffered some heavy losses in the trenches on both sides of the ball.

However, the defense should be even better in year two under Greg Mattison, who engineered a masterful turnaround. Denard Robinson will also be back to leaving his opponents hopelessly chasing after his shoelaces. 

Wisconsin

Elsewhere in the Big Ten, deja vu is the operative phrase at spring camp in Madison. As was the case in 2011, Wisconsin will enter the upcoming season with a rebuilt offensive line, a transfer from the ACC in at quarterback and Montee Ball as the primary ball-carrier after suffering defeat in the Rose Bowl.

Danny O'Brien will be hard-pressed to measure up to the near-Heisman performance of Russell Wilson, but has all the tools and physical gifts to be a more-than-effective fill-in this season.

The bigger issue for the Badgers may be on the sideline and in the booth, after losing six assistants—most notably offensive coordinator Paul Chryst—to other gigs.

That being said, as long as there's plenty of talent in pads, Bret Bielema's boys should be just fine, especially in a wide-open Leaders Division.

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