Preseason College Football Rankings 2012: Teams Pollsters Are Sure to Overrate

College football season will be here before you know it, and after last year's exciting bowl season, fans around the country are eagerly anticipating the new season.

However, the pollsters are sure to overrate a number of teams who come into the year with a lot of buzz. Whether their recruiting class was good, they are returning a number of starters or something else.

Last year, the Florida State Seminoles were ranked No. 5 to start the season, but we quickly found out that they weren't close to the caliber of a top 10 team.

Let's look at three teams who will be overrated in this year's pre-season rankings.

West Virginia, Big 12

The Mountaineers have been very successful over the last decade with multiple BCS bowl wins, including last year's Orange Bowl.

However, West Virginia is moving to the Big 12 conference this season, where they will face far better competition than they have in the Big East over the years.

Teams such as Oklahoma, Baylor, Oklahoma State and Texas are all better than anyone in the Big East. With a weak defense, the Mountaineers will struggle to find success in their inaugural season in the Big 12.

Virginia Tech, ACC

The Hokies lost running back David Wilson, who is likely to be drafted into the NFL for next year, so young quarterback Logan Thomas will be relied on to carry the team throughout the season.

In an ACC that will be improved over last season, the Hokies could struggle to get back to the BCS. Virginia Tech had no quality wins last season, and against the two best teams they played (Michigan and Clemson), the Hokies were a combined 0-3.

Unless their defense dominates opponents, the Hokies won't reach 10 wins again next season.

Stanford, Pac-12

A good recruiting class that brought in some strong offensive linemen will help Stanford be competitive in the Pac 12 again, but they won't be in a BCS bowl for a third straight season.

The loss of Andrew Luck will be huge, and the Cardinal won't be able to recover from that loss and be a national title contender again after just one year.

Oregon will be the class of the conference next season, because Stanford does not have a quarterback than can dominate elite defenses.

2012 College Football Preseason Top 25

1. LSU 

2. USC 

3. Alabama 

4. Georgia 

5. Oregon

6. Arkansas

7. Florida State 

8. South Carolina 

9. West Virginia 

10. Michigan 

11. Oklahoma 

12. Kansas State 

13. Wisconsin 

14. Michigan State

15. Ohio State 

16. Stanford  

17. Nebraska 

18. Virginia Tech 

19. Clemson

20. Oklahoma State 

21. Texas 

22. TCU 

23. Boise State 

24. Notre Dame 

25. Florida