College Football Rankings: Notre Dame and 5 Biggest Disappointments This Season

Every year a number of teams enter the season with a good deal of hype, and often times they will live up to it, but then there are those teams that are utter disappointments. 

There are people who don't like preseason polls because teams fail to meet expectations, but the poll serves a good purpose, and it certainly gets fans excited about the upcoming season. 

It's tough to see some of these teams fall flat on their face so early in the season, unless you absolutely despise said team. Everybody has that one team that they just love to see lose. It's a part of the sport and a reason fans love college football so much. 

Fans are very passionate about college football, which is why these five teams have been huge letdowns to their fans so far this season.  

Notre Dame

The Fighting Irish began the season as the No. 16 team in the country, but then they lost their first two games by consistently shooting themselves in the foot. 

Ten turnovers in the first two games is no way to start a season, especially from a team considered to make a run at the BCS. In fact, it wasn't until their fifth game of the season that they finally did not commit a turnover. 

Notre Dame began the year with hope, but they ended up being a huge flop. 

Florida State 

The Seminoles kicked off the 2011 season as the No. 6 team in nation, and it was believed they would run through the ACC with no problem. 

Most people expected them to lose to the Oklahoma Sooners, but then they followed that loss with another against the Clemson Tigers. 

They've had a bye week to recover, and they can certainly rebound from their 2-2 start, but this is not how many envisioned their season going. 

Texas A&M 

The Aggies started the season as the No. 8 team in the country, which was a surprise to a lot of people. We knew they had the talent, but they needed to prove they could deliver in the early big games.

Now the Aggies find themselves at 2-2 and ranked at No. 24. However, they should really be undefeated and possibly a top five team in the country.

Texas A&M had solid leads in their last two games against Oklahoma State and Arkansas, but they choked big time and lost both games. They're going to have a good season, but it could have been much better if they knew how to close out games.

Ohio State 

 Yes, the Buckeyes lost Terrelle Pryor and Jim Tressel and had four other players suspended for their first five games, but it was still believed they would put up a good fight and be undefeated or at least lose only one game.

Ohio State entered the season as the No. 18 team in the country, and in their two toughest games of the season thus far they've only managed 13 points. We knew the offense would struggle, but nobody expected it to be this bad. 

The Buckeyes defense was supposed to carry them while their top offensive players served their suspension. However, they haven't made the plays when it counted the most, letting their fans down in the process. 

TCU 

The Horned Frogs began the season at No. 14, but that ranking quickly faded after they gave up 50 points and lost to the Baylor Bears in Week 1. A year ago, TCU only allowed Baylor to score 10 points. 

TCU had to replace a few key offensive starters, but they were counting on their tough defense to come through in case the offense started slowly.

For whatever reason, TCU remained in the top 25 after the loss to Baylor. I guess they just didn't want to be ranked though because they lost in Week 5 against SMU in overtime when they failed to even get a first down. They gave up 40 points this year, but last season SMU only scored 24. 

Now the Horned Frogs are unranked, and it's very unlikely they will get back in the Top 25. It's a huge disappointment not just to their fans but to all non-AQ schools out there that were hoping someone other than Boise State would help represent the small schools. 

These teams can still rebound because there is plenty of time left in the season, but there's no denying they've been big disappointments after five games of the 2011 season.