It’s a lot easier to label teams overrated than underrated. To call a program underrated, you need more than a decent hunch - you need a team with a modest public projection and a real path to beating it.
With that in mind, four teams stand out heading into the 2026 college football season.
BYU fits the bill. The Cougars have been tough to pin down over the last two seasons in a Big 12 defined by parity, and that league still hasn’t produced a College Football Playoff winner in the 12-team era.
Still, BYU handled everybody on its schedule last year except Texas Tech twice. Kalani Sitake remains in place, and he’s a lot better at this job than he gets credit for.
On offense, Bear Bachmeier is back after a season nobody expected him to start, and now the true sophomore brings a full year of starting experience with him. Running back LJ Martin is also returning.
There’s a real chance this is the year BYU breaks through and wins the Big 12, even if the rankings haven’t caught up.
Michigan is another team that feels easy to overlook. The Wolverines finished 9-3 last season, and then the offseason brought a national scandal and the firing of Sharrone Moore.
But the coaching change may end up being a step forward, not back, with proven winner Kyle Whittingham coming in from Utah and Jason Beck joining as the offensive coordinator. The roster has a strong blend of transfers and returners, including WR JJ Buchanan and former 5-star QB Bryce Underwood, who enters his second season as a starter.
If Michigan’s roster is at least as good as it was a year ago and the new staff gets more out of it, there’s a strong case for a top-15 ranking.
SMU also belongs on this list. A road trip to Berkeley on the final day of the regular season kept the Mustangs out of the ACC Championship and likely cost them a second straight College Football Playoff berth.
Even so, Rhett Lashlee has built something real in Dallas, and the expectation is that it keeps rolling. SMU’s portal haul wasn’t flashy, but it was targeted, with additions made to patch holes rather than chase headlines.
Kevin Jennings is back for his third season as the starter and looks fully healthy after dealing with nagging injuries last year. The Mustangs were a thorn in Miami’s side a season ago, and even though they don’t meet in the regular season, the expectation is that they’ll see each other in Charlotte for the ACC Championship.
Auburn is the final team here, and there’s plenty to like about the direction it’s headed. Last season, the Tigers were lopsided: elite on defense, shaky on offense with QB Jackson Arnold.
This offseason brought in Alex Golesh as head coach, and he made a smart move by keeping Defensive Coordinator DJ Durkin and most of that defense intact. Golesh’s offensive background at South Florida matters here, too, especially with QB Byrum Brown and receivers Kesean Singleton and Jeremiah Koger following him to Auburn.
That combination gives the Tigers a real chance to turn things around quickly, and Auburn’s home-field advantage only adds to the appeal.
In Other News...
Keshaun Singleton Is Turning Into A Real Auburn Test Case
Keshaun Singletons August was a little different from most of Auburns receivers. He spent 13 days at the Marriott Grand National during fall camp, a stretch coach Alex Golesh said was good for Singletons focus and development as the Tigers worked through the early part of preseason preparation.
Golesh, who has known Singleton for five years, sees the talent clearly and believes there is still another level for the receiver to reach. The message around Singleton is less about ability than about consistency and off-the-field focus, with Auburn viewing him as a player whose maturity and process could determine just how high his ceiling climbs. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Showed Alex Golesh Exactly What He Needed In Camp
The first fall camp scrimmage gave Alex Golesh a clear message about where Auburn still had work to do, especially when it came to tackling. By the time the Tigers came back for their second scrimmage, the head coach said the group had shown improvement, a sign that the defense was absorbing the lessons from a camp built to sharpen game-day habits before the season opener against Baylor.
Golesh has also leaned into the value of longer, fast-tempo drives in practice, using fall camp to put the Tigers in the kind of situations they will have to handle once the games count. Auburn is still moving through its camp schedule with the opener approaching, and the scrimmages have given the staff a better read on how close the team is to playing at the pace and physical standard it wants. [Read more 🡒]