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With a month of the 2023 college football season in the books, the ranking of the top teams is beginning to become clear. This season, it seems like a ton of programs are failing to establish themselves as title favorites, while others look like clear pretenders early in the year. We'll get more clarity as the season moves along, but there are already overvalued and undervalued teams ahead of Week 5.
Whether a team hasn't faced respectable competition or has looked impressive and exceeded expectations to this point, we have five programs that are improperly ranked this week.
It's time for the fourth article of a year-long series: Overrated and Underrated College Football Teams after the release of the weekly Associated Press Poll. All rankings listed are based on the AP Poll. When the College Football Playoff Rankings begin dropping ahead of Week 9, we'll pivot to focus on those standings instead.
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Overrated College Football Teams For Week 5
Florida State Seminoles: No. 5
Florida State opened the 2023 season with an impressive victory over the LSU Tigers. The Noles deserve to be ranked well inside the top 10, but a lackluster effort against Boston College and failing to put away an underwhelming Clemson team in regulation is concerning.
Florida State defeated Clemson 31-24 in OT snapping a 7-game losing streak to the Tigers.
It's FSU's first true overtime win on the road in program history. (OT instituted in 1996) pic.twitter.com/JaR276prLG
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 23, 2023
Mike Norvell's squad is undefeated, but there have been plenty of teams that have fallen down the rankings even after winning, and No. 6 Penn State and No. 7 Washington have looked far more impressive over the last couple of weeks. In college football, style points matter.
The team will now head to a bye week before continuing its ACC play in Week 6 against the Virginia Tech Hokies. The Noles have No. 17 Duke, No. 18 Miami, and No. 22 Florida remaining on its schedule. Time will tell if the top-five ranking holds up.
Tennessee Volunteers: No. 21
Tennessee's offense was explosive against UTSA in Week 4, putting up over 500 yards of offense and 45 points. However, the Volunteers should not be ranked ahead of Florida, who won the head-to-head matchup by 13 points, and Missouri, who is undefeated to this point.
JOE MILTON 81 YARD RUN TO START THE GAME 🤯 pic.twitter.com/tfyEsy41yp
— Vol Report (@AllVolReport) September 23, 2023
The Vols have South Carolina, Texas A&M, and Alabama on its schedule over the next month, so we'll see if they can play themselves back into the top of the SEC power rankings.
For now, it doesn't make much sense for Josh Heupel's squad to be ahead of the two SEC East foes with more impressive resumes.
Underrated College Football Teams For Week 5
Penn State Nittany Lions: No. 6
Admittedly, I have put Penn State in the "overrated" section a couple of times this year. After the 31-0 drumming of the Iowa Hawkeyes, it's time to flip the script. Iowa picked up just four first downs, while Penn State had 28. PSU has allowed just 8.75 points per game through four weeks and hasn't come close to taking an L.
Quarterback Drew Allar has not thrown an interception, and running backs Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton have combined for 483 rushing yards and seven scores.
Nice showing from Drew Allar tonight against a tough Iowa defense in the rain 💪 pic.twitter.com/yB6dZ7jNVk
— Caesars Sportsbook & Casino (@CaesarsSports) September 24, 2023
The Nittany Lions should walk into the October 21 battle against Ohio State on the road at 6-0, where we'll get to officially see what the team is made of.
Missouri Tigers: No. 23
Missouri has played down to its competition against Middle Tennessee State and Memphis, but the Week 3 victory over the Kansas State Wildcats should propel the Tigers over the likes of Tennessee, Florida, Ole Miss, and Oregon State.
By no means can we say Missouri is a legitimate contender in the SEC until the Week 6 matchup with LSU, but for now, they need a little more love in the polls.
The trio of quarterback Brady Cook, running back Cody Schrader, and wide receiver Luther Burden III could give Mizzou a chance to win any game on their schedule.
— Mizzou Football (@MizzouFootball) September 24, 2023
Kansas Jayhawks: No. 24
The Jayhawks have not won more than six games in a season since 2008. In fact, Kansas has won three or fewer games in 12 of its last 13 seasons (won six games last year.)
This Kansas team led by head coach Lance Leipold could be the best Jayhawks squad since its 12-1 season in 2007. While it's easy to discredit wins over Illinois, Nevada, and BYU -- that's a tougher schedule than most Power-five conference teams begin their seasons with.
🎥 Highlights from tonight's 38-27 win over BYU#RockChalk pic.twitter.com/NhqW3RvdWJ
— Kansas Football (@KU_Football) September 24, 2023
Could quarterback Jalon Daniels have the No. 3 Texas Longhorns on upset alert in Week 5? It will be fun to find out.
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