College Football Rankings: 5 Frauds in the Week 5 Polls

We are four weeks into the college football season, and as usual, you have teams ranked in the Top 25 who have no business being ranked that high.

A good argument could be made that there should be no rankings of college football teams until October. There are simply too many unknowns to make an accurate list of the top teams.

There are teams ranked in the Top 25 right now that will not be ranked at all at the end of the season, and there are teams that are ranked too high simply because they have not lost any games against extremely weak schedules.

Let's take a look at five teams that are over-ranked or simply should not be ranked in the polls right now.

No. 15 Baylor

You would think the voters would have learned their lesson last year.

After beating Texas in 2010, the Baylor Bears entered the Top 25 with a 7-2 record. Baylor quickly fell back to earth by losing its last four games of the season to end the year at 7-6.

Baylor looks very similar to the 2010 version, just with a little more offensive firepower.

Junior quarterback Robert Griffin III has been sensational, completing more than 85 percent of his passes for more than 320 yards per game with 13 touchdowns and no interceptions. Griffin only has 12 incompletions on the year.

The issue with Baylor is its defense. Despite playing a very weak schedule of TCU, Stephen F. Austin and Rice, the Bears are struggling to stop teams on offense.

Baylor is allowing 26.3 points and 363 yards per game, which includes a weather-shortened game with SFA. The Bears are allowing 152 yards per game rushing on 4.5 yards per carry. The pass defense is not much better, allowing a 60.4 percent completion rate and 211 yards per game.

When Baylor starts playing some real teams with good offenses, it will struggle to simply outscore its opponents, which is what it has done through three games.

You have to give Art Briles credit for resurrecting a dead program, but Baylor is not a Top 15 team by any stretch of the imagination.

No. 8 Nebraska

Like Baylor, Nebraska bears an amazing resemblance to last year's team.

NU had a great defense last year but struggled to score on offense; it particularly struggled to pass the ball when it had to. Opponents would put eight in the box to force the Huskers to pass, and they would be unable to execute.

Nebraska is 4-0 with wins over Tennessee-Chattanooga, Fresno State, Washington and Wyoming—and it still cannot pass the ball and has surprisingly struggled on defense.

The Huskers are only completing 50 percent of their passes on the year. Taylor Martinez is a great running quarterback but is still mediocre through the air.

The Blackshirts are allowing opponents to rush for four yards per carry. Overall they are giving up 349 yards per game.

When Nebraska meets an opponent that will force it to pass the ball to win, Nebraska is going to lose. You will see that this weekend when it plays Wisconsin.

NU is a Top 25 team, but it is nowhere close to a Top 10 team right now.

No. 17 Texas

Has anyone ever received more credit for a one-point win over a mediocre BYU squad?

Texas was coming off a 5-7 season and somehow found itself in the rankings to start the season. After wins over a 2-2 BYU team and a 2-2 UCLA team, the Longhorns find themselves ranked in the Top 20.

Texas' biggest weakness is in the secondary, where it is very young. No one has tested that secondary yet.

BYU refused to throw the ball more than 10 yards down the field and almost beat Texas in Austin. UCLA is a running team that quit on the field in the game against Texas. Head coach Rick Neuheisel will be fired at the end of the season.

Texas has displayed very little pass-rush and has yet to face a very good offense. Expect to see Oklahoma, Baylor, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M put up huge numbers on the Texas defense.

Do not be surprised if the Longhorns also struggle in games against Iowa State and Texas Tech.

One could make an argument that Texas will end the season 8-4 and therefore deserves to be ranked around No. 25, but that is it.

This is not a Top 20 team.

No. 23 Florida State

FSU pounded Louisiana-Monroe and Charleston Southern and then lost to Oklahoma and Clemson.

The Seminoles struggle to run the ball, averaging only 79.5 yards per game, and are simply not an effective offense without starting QB E.J. Manuel on the field.

If Manuel remains sidelined with injuries, the Seminoles will struggle to make a bowl game. They have not proven anything on the field yet this year and do not deserve to be ranked in the Top 25.

No. 24 Illinois

Illinois is 4-0 and broke into the Top 25 this week at No. 24.

If Illinois has shown us anything since Ron Zook took over, it is that it cannot be trusted.

The Fighting Illini have scraped by in close wins over a good Arizona State team and an average Western Michigan team. When Illinois gets into its conference schedule and faces teams that can stuff its running game, it will struggle to move the ball because it still has passing issues; right now the Illini are only averaging 182 yards passing per game.

Illinois could realistically go 6-0 and continue to move up the rankings because it plays Northwestern and Indiana in its next two games.

But do not let the record fool you—this is another 7-5 or 8-4 Ron Zook team.