College Football: 10 Teams in the Top 25 That Have Yet to Prove Themselves

The latest BCS rankings were unveiled on Sunday night, and although the computers and pollsters are supposed to rank the Top 25 teams in college football there are several programs that are living off of their preseason hype right now.

Numerous teams in the Top 25 are without a quality win thus far, and one highly ranked squad does not have a single victory against a team with a winning record.

Which teams have not proved they're worthy of being ranked? Click ahead to find out.

Louisville Cardinals

The Louisville Cardinals may be 7-0 this season and ranked No. 16 in the latest edition of the BCS standings, but Charlie Strong's squad have only played one quality opponent up to this point.

The only Football Bowl Subdivision team on Louisville's schedule that has a winning record through the first eight weeks of the 2012 college football campaign are the North Carolina Tar Heels, who are 5-3 on the year and have also been the beneficiaries of a weak schedule thus far.

Louisville has only managed to beat one of their last four opponents by double digits, which is extremely underwhelming given the fact the Cardinals lined up against the Florida International Golden Panthers (1-7), Southern Miss Golden Eagles (0-7), Pittsburgh Panthers (3-4) and South Florida Bulls (2-5).

Unfortunately, the Big East Conference will not allow the Cardinals to validate their Top 25 ranking since only two other league members are above the .500 mark. Fans will have to wait until bowl season to find out if Louisville can lay claim to a spot in the BCS rankings. 

Mississippi State Bulldogs

The No. 12 Mississippi State Bulldogs are one of 11 remaining undefeated teams in college football. Head coach Dan Mullen has fans dreaming of an SEC West title in Starkville, but there is no reason to believe in this team yet.

The only two opponents with winning records that the Bulldogs have played in their first seven games are the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (4-3) and the Troy Trojans (4-3), who are both members of the Sun Belt Conference.

The Bulldogs' unimpressive resume also features victories over the dysfunctional Auburn Tigers (1-6), Kentucky Wildcats (1-7), Football Bowl Subdivision newcomer South Alabama Jaguars (2-5) and the Jackson State Tigers (4-4) of the Football Championship subdivision.

Mississippi State's best win to date came against the Tennessee Volunteers in a 41-31 shootout at the friendly confines of Davis Wade Stadium.

The next three weeks will give the Bulldogs a chance to validate their 7-0 record as they will go on the road to face the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide, return home to play the No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies and travel to Baton Rogue to take on the No. 6 LSU Tigers.

Clemson Tigers

Another current BCS Top 25 member that has yet to prove itself through Week 8 of the college football season is the No. 18 Clemson Tigers, who were beaten soundly by the Florida State Seminoles after an impressive first half in their only game against a quality opponent this season.

The only other team on Clemson's schedule thus far with an overall record above the .500 mark are the Ball State Cardinals (5-3) of the Mid-American Conference.

The Tigers have managed to pile up points against the struggling Auburn Tigers (1-6), Boston College Eagles (1-6), Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (3-4), Virginia Tech Hokies (4-4) and Furman Paladins (2-6) of the Football Championship Subdivision.

Clemson's defense has allowed over 30 points in three of their last four games and will be tested by the Duke Blue Devils and No. 13 South Carolina Gamecocks before the season is over. 

Those two games are likely going to provide fans with enough evidence to gauge whether or not the Tigers are worthy of being ranked before the postseason.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

The fact that the No. 15 Rutgers Scarlet Knights are shooting up the BCS standings without a single victory over a Football Bowl Subdivision team with a winning record this season is a testament to the number of mediocre teams there are in college football right now compared to past years. 

The Scarlet Knights did manage to beat up on the Howard Bison, though, who are currently 5-2 in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Rutgers' unblemished resume includes victories over the Tulane Green Wave (1-6), South Florida Bulls (2-5), Arkansas Razorbacks (3-4), Connecticut Huskies (3-5), Syracuse Orange (3-4) and Temple Owls (3-3).

The final five weeks of the season should give college football fans a much better idea about how good the Scarlet Knights are since they will have to take on the Kent State Golden Flashes (6-1), Cincinnati Bearcats (5-1) and the unproven No. 16 Louisville Cardinals (7-0).

Ohio Bobcats

The No. 24 Ohio Bobcats are the lone remaining unbeaten team from outside of the major conferences, but not even the potential BCS busters have an impressive victory after their first seven games of the 2012 season.

The Bobcats beat a fractured Penn State Nittany Lions (5-2) team to open the season, and then followed that up with a 51-24 rout of the New Mexico State Aggies (1-6).

Since then, though, the Bobcats have struggled against some of the weakest teams in college football. Ohio needed a fourth-quarter rally to get by the Marshall Thundering Herd (3-4), 17 points in the final quarter of play to beat the UMass Minutemen (0-7) 37-34 and two late touchdowns to sneak past the Buffalo Bulls (1-6).

Ohio's other two victories came against the Norfolk State Spartans (2-6) of the Football Championship Subdivision and the Akron Zips (1-7).

The Bobcats will have to face three teams with winning records to close out MAC play, which wind up being the demise of Ohio's perfect season.

Georgia Bulldogs

Let me preface this slide by noting that the No. 10 Georgia Bulldogs are a legitimate Top 25 team, unfortunately there is no evidence on paper to prove that Mark Richt's squad is worthy of being ranked.

The Bulldogs' only game against a team with a record above .500 this season was a completely lopsided 35-7 loss to the No. 13 South Carolina Gamecocks in Week 5 of the 2012 college football campaign, which is not something that should be taken lightly.

Georgia opened the year with blowouts of the Buffalo Bulls (1-6), Missouri Tigers (3-4), Florida Atlantic Owls (1-6) and Vanderbilt Commodores (3-4), but the defense did not impress in any of those games supposedly because of multiple starters sitting out due to suspension.

Richt's defense has been at full strength for three straight weeks now, and it has not looked much different than it did through the first four games.

The Tennessee Volunteers (3-4) hung 44 points on the Dawgs defense, and last weekend the Kentucky Wildcats (1-7) gave Georgia quite the scare in a drawn-out 29-24 contest in the Bluegrass State.

Georgia will get a second chance to validate their BCS ranking this Saturday when the Bulldogs take on the No. 2 Florida Gators in Jacksonville, Fla., in the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.

Michigan Wolverines

Senior quarterback Denard Robinson and the No. 22 Michigan Wolverines beat the Michigan State Spartans for the first time in their last five attempts, but Brady Hoke's team has yet to validate their BCS Top 25 ranking.

In Michigan's only two games against ranked opponents, the Wolverines were blown out by the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide and turned the ball over six times in a brutal 13-6 loss to the No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. 

The Wolverines have only beaten one team with a record better than .500, which came at home against the Air Force Falcons (4-3) in Week 2. Michigan's other victories came courtesy of the UMass Minutemen (0-7), Purdue Boilermakers (3-4) and Illinois Fighting Illini (2-5).

Michigan will have a chance to prove they are a Top 25 team this weekend on the road against the Nebraska Cornhuskers and in their season finale against the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus.

Boise State Broncos

The only reasons the Boise State Broncos are ranked No. 21 in the latest BCS standings are because of their reputation and the lack of quality teams at the back end of the Top 25.

The Broncos have only played one team with a winning record this season and have not exactly dominated teams sitting at .500 through the first eight games of the year.

Boise State outlasted the BYU Cougars (4-4) in a 7-6 defensive stalemate, barely held off a furious rally from the New Mexico Lobos (4-4) on the road and lost their season opener to the Michigan State Spartans (4-4).

Head coach Chris Petersen's squad did manage to handle the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks (3-4), Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (0-7) and UNLV Rebels (1-7) with ease, but struggled against the mediocre Fresno State Bulldogs (5-3).

Not much will change for the Broncos' Top 25 status between now and the end of the season since they will only play two teams with more than one win to their names. 

Wisconsin Badgers

Much like everyone else in the Big Ten Conference, the No. 25 Wisconsin Badgers are lacking the quality wins that Top 25 teams have typically acquired through the first eight weeks of the season.

The Badgers have made adjustments on offense since their Week 2 loss to the No. 7 Oregon State Beavers, but their best victory is over the Utah State Aggies (6-2), who are a college football powerhouse.

Wisconsin also squandered a 17-point lead against the formerly ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-2), and the only other team over .500 that the Badgers have beaten this season is the Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-3).

Head coach Bret Bielema and Co. will have a chance to prove they deserve to be a Top 25 team with a victory over the undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes in three weeks.

USC Trojans

The USC Trojans make an appearance on this list, because their only resume builder to date is a 24-14 road victory over the Washington Huskies (3-4).

The Trojans lost their only game against a team with a winning record this season back in Week 3 when the No. 17 Stanford Cardinal topped USC 21-14 in Paolo Alto.

USC did manage to dominate the Hawaii Warriors (1-5), Syracuse Orange (3-4), Cal Golden Bears (3-5) and Colorado Buffaloes (1-6), who look like the worst team in the Pac-12 Conference right now.

The Trojans' other victory this season was a 38-28 struggle against the Utah Utes (2-5).

Needless to say, the Trojans have a lot to prove in two weeks against the No. 4 Oregon Ducks and in their season-ending tilt with the No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.