Once again, there’s plenty of data to suggest the Big 12 Conference is, by far, the most underrated college football conference in America.
In a new study put together by Action Network‘s Brett McMurphy, the most underrated college football teams based on preseason rankings and final rankings since 2014 included nine Big 12 teams on the Top 25 list.
The list also included the majority of the Top 10 being from the Big 12, in Cincinnati, TCU, UCF, Arizona, Houston and Oklahoma State. Six of the Top 10 underrated programs are in the Big 12!
Top 25 Most Overrated College Football Teams (Per Brett McMurphy)
- Northwestern
- Cincinnati
- TCU
- Missouri
- Kentucky
- UCF
- Arizona
- Houston
- Louisiana
- Oklahoma State
- Tulane
- Navy
- West Virginia
- Mississippi State
- Kansas State
- Coastal Carolina
- Minnesota
- Syracuse
- Wake Forest
- Western Michigan
- Fresno State
- Iowa
- Liberty
- Colorado
- Georgia Tech
Maybe, if the AP voters did a better job, they would reflect on this and realize they continuously undervalue Big 12 football teams. And by the way, when you look at how McMurphy put together the list of “overrated” college football teams, there is only one Big 12 team on that list, which is littered with Big Ten and SEC programs.
McMurphy calculated the list by looking at each of the last 10 seasons and teams would get positive or negative points for each position they finished above or below their preseason ranking in final poll. Teams with most positive points were underrated, while those with the most negative points were overrated.
Who is most likely to be on the list of “underrated” Big 12 teams this season? Given the wide-open nature of the conference, it’s anybody’s guess.
