College Football Rankings 2011: 5 Teams That Are Still Overrated

Now that the first week of NCAA football games is complete, the updated college football rankings still contain teams that are overrated.

College football is notorious for having upsets, highly ranked teams dropping in the standings and teams not ranked in the preseason emerging as contenders. That is part of what makes the sport so exciting for many fans.

Although it is still very early in the season, there have been several instances of those three things already.

Here are five teams among the Top 25 that are overrated.

5. TCU Horned Frogs

The Texas Christian University Horned Frogs came into the 2011 season ranked 14th in the preseason polls.

It seems like that may have been a generous ranking by the preseason poll voters, as they lost their first game to the Baylor Bears by a score of 50-48.

That preseason ranking most likely stemmed from their successful season last year.

The Horned Frogs went undefeated behind quarterback Andy Dalton, who is now in the NFL. They ended their perfect season by defeating the fifth-ranked Wisconsin Badgers in the Rose Bowl.

However, it seems that Dalton may have taken the TCU magic with him when he left the school for the NFL draft.

TCU can still put up points, but their defense is obviously suspect after allowing 50 points to unranked Baylor. TCU is still ranked 25th in the the Associated Press poll, and they just don't have the schedule strength to make up much ground.

There are several other teams who deserve to be ranked in the Top 25, and TCU may be bumped out as soon as next week.

4. South Florida Bulls

In the preseason college football rankings, the South Florida Bulls were nowhere to be seen among the Top 25.

That all changed when they beat the previously 16th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish in their first game of the 2011 season.

The Bulls now find themselves ranked 22nd in the Associated Press poll.

However, their stay in the Top 25 will most likely be short-lived.

The Notre Dame team that they beat were themselves very overrated. They proved that to be true by falling to South Florida in their first game.

The South Florida Bulls deserve to be in the Top 25 after beating the Fighting Irish, but they probably won't be there for very long.

3. Michigan State Spartans

The Michigan State Spartans started the 2011 season ranked 17th in the preseason.

An uninspiring 28-6 win against lowly Youngstown State resulted in them maintaining that ranking in the updated polls.

The Spartans find themselves in a Big Ten division with three other highly ranked teams in the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Ohio State Buckeyes and the Wisconsin Badgers.

They also have a schedule that includes those three teams. It is highly unlikely that they will beat all of those teams this season.

Michigan State should enjoy their stay in the Top 25 while its lasts because all indicators point toward them dropping out of it at some point this season.

2. Oregon Ducks

In the preseason poll, the Oregon Ducks were ranked third in the nation.

That came following a season in which they lost a close game to the Auburn Tigers in the BCS National Championship game.

However, they got an extremely tough first game when they had to face the fourth-ranked LSU Tigers in Cowboy Stadium.

After a mistake-filled football game, the Ducks found themselves on the losing end of a 40-27 score.

Oregon had high hopes of making it back to the championship game this season, but those hopes took a critical hit when they dropped to 13th in the rankings after that first-week loss.

The Ducks have a lot of talent, but it looks like that talent may have been a little overrated.

1. Boise State Broncos

The Boise State Broncos entered the 2011 season ranked fifth in the national preseason poll.

That ranking came after they finished last season 12-1 with an impressive bowl victory over Utah.

However, Boise State might just be the most overrated team this year in college football.

Strength of schedule is their biggest weakness, as they have only one game remaining this season against an opponent currently ranked in the Top 25.

That team is TCU, who might not even be ranked by the time the Broncos face them.

Boise State did face 19th-ranked Georgia to start the season but did not impress anyone with their 14-point victory.

The Broncos will most likely continue to hold onto a Top-10 ranking in the national polls throughout the season, but their weak schedule means that they probably won't make it much further than that.