USA Today Poll CFB 2011: 5 Teams Guaranteed to Be Unranked at Season's End

As we approach midseason, many teams have exposed themselves as frauds while others have exploded to prove they are for real.

There are still some, however, that haven't done either, and as they may be ranked, they certainly won't be by the end of the season.

A record can be deceiving to a lot of people. Claiming to be undefeated or a one-loss team does not make you "ranked" material. We take a look at who's ranked now that won't be in a few weeks and why they'll drop so quickly. 

No. 24 Baylor

The Bears may have a Heisman candidate heading their offense, but by the season's end, they won't be ranked. Baylor is 4-1 (1-1) with their only loss coming to Kansas State. Impressive at first, but at second glance you see their four wins are against Iowa State, TCU, Rice and Stephen F. Austin, all of whom are unranked.

The green and gold have a tough road ahead of them as well. They have two road games against ranked opponents over the next two weeks, heading to No. 23 Texas A&M and No. 7 Oklahoma State. In a few weeks they host No. 1 Oklahoma in Waco. In December have No. 21 Texas coming to visit. 

The Bears could possibly lose all four of those matchups, leaving them with at least five losses. There should be no teams with five losses in the rankings at the end of the year. 

No. 21 Texas

The Longhorns looked completely flat against No. 1 Oklahoma yesterday in Dallas. They are stuck with two QBs competing for a starting spot and Oklahoma's defense brought out the worst in both of them. 

Texas is 4-1 (1-1), which once again looks extremely impressive. However, UT's wins come against Rice, BYU, UCLA and Iowa State. Similar to Baylor, every one of those teams is unranked and not difficult to take down, even with two freshmen QBs.

Their road ahead is no cake walk either. They match up at home against No. 7 Oklahoma State whose offensive prowess can destroy their defense just as Landry Jones and OU did. They then finish out their season with three games against ranked teams: No. 18 Kansas State, No. 23 Texas A&M and No. 24 Baylor. 

Mack Brown and company will make a bowl game, but finishing this season ranked will be more than a challenge. 

No. 19 Michigan State

The Spartans are in a tough spot coming into Week 7. They are 4-1 (1-0) with a quality win against a weak Ohio State team. Staying ranked after the next three weeks and beyond would be a miracle for Michigan State.

They have some very weak wins against Youngstown State, Florida Atlantic and Central Michigan as well as a loss at Southbend to Notre Dame. The problem though is their next three games. The Spartans host No. 10 Michigan and No. 4 Wisconsin in consecutive weeks followed by a trip to Lincoln to face No. 14 Nebraska. That's a tough stretch to play for any team.

The Spartans may win out after those three tough games, but that shouldn't be enough to get them back into the rankings.  

No. 18 Kansas State

The Wildcats are undefeated this season so far, and that is not easy to do. I would actually be very much in Kansas State's favor except for a four-game stretch later this season that could ruin them.

Starting October 29, K-State hosts No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 23 Texas A&M and visits No. 7 Oklahoma State and No. 21 Texas. That is not an easy road for anyone and don't expect the Wildcats to come out of Austin ranked. 

Even solid wins against Miami, Baylor and Mizzou can't save the purple and silver from a four-game losing streak when it comes to voters. 

No. 15 Illinois

The Fighting Illini boast an undefeated record as well as solid wins over No. 20 Arizona State, Northwestern and Indiana. Their 6-0 (2-0) record is certainly something to be proud of, but going into the meat of conference play, Zook and company are going to have problems.

Illinois has to visit a tough Penn State team in a few weeks followed immediately by hosting No. 10 Michigan and No. 4 Wisconsin. Illinois will be on the fringe of teams who will be in the rankings, but voters will see recent losses as well as no trip to the conference championship and give them no love. 

The Fighting Illini will have a tough time over the next few weeks and even though they're undefeated now, expecting that to stick is wishful thinking.