They aren’t who we thought they were. Or at least who all the experts and pollsters and college football geniuses thought they were just a short couple months ago.

The 2026 college football season has repeatedly drawn comparisons to 2007, another year of utter chaos seemingly every Saturday, with teams moving up, down, in, and out of the national rankings with each passing weekend.

Now, as we near the final act of the regular season, with playoff selection right around the corner, it’s clear some of those preseason prognostications were just plain wrong.

Who are the biggest frauds in college football this year? These five impostors stick out.

Ohio State

Preseason ranking: No. 1
Ranking in Week 11: No. 20

Funny how some fans actually were saying that Julian Sayin was holding this Ohio State offense back. Well, after watching it crash and burn in two straight losses, it turns out the quarterback was actually pretty important to this unit before his arm injury.

Just a 1-point loss at Texas was the sole blemish on the Buckeyes’ record, a game they led by 20 on the road at one stage. Everything still seemed to be open to them, but Sayin’s absence resulted in ugly consecutive losses to USC and then Oregon.

Now out of the playoff bracket entirely, now 6-3 Ohio State faces questions around why the offense couldn’t adapt at quarterback, and why its defense ultimately gave way in games they should have won.

Texas A&M

Preseason ranking: No. 8
Ranking in Week 11: Unranked

The Aggies entered 2026 as a preseason top-10 team riding their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance last year. Now, they sit just 4-5 overall and 1-5 in the SEC. 

An offense that once looked functional has stalled badly against quality competition, producing single-digit or low-teens outputs in losses to LSU (35-6), Missouri (27-6), and South Carolina (17-9). 

Home dominance against lesser foes can’t mask the road collapses or the rapid drop in national efficiency ratings. What briefly looked like sustained progress under Mike Elko has reverted to some very familiar frustration.

Oklahoma

Preseason ranking: No. 10
Ranking in Week 11: Unranked

Ranked in the top 10 preseason, Oklahoma sits 5-4 and just 3-3 in the SEC. 

A signature upset of then-No. 1 Texas provided one lonely highlight, yet losses to Michigan, Georgia, Kentucky, and South Carolina, combined with an offense that has struggled to sustain much of anything, have kept the Sooners well outside contention.

OU was kept under 14 points in those first three losses, and currently ranks 108th in scoring and 114th in total offense.

Michigan

Preseason ranking: No. 16
Ranking in Week 11: Unranked

A preseason top-20 program with an elite defense has been undone by one of the nation’s least productive offenses. 

At 5-4 and 2-4 in the Big Ten, Michigan has dropped out of the rankings after a string of low-scoring affairs and losses to Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, and Michigan State. 

A narrow win over ranked Oklahoma at home gave the Wolverines and new head coach Kyle Whittingham some genuine early rhythm. But even in that game, their lackluster offensive showing raised some critical questions about the path forward.

Those questions were answered by the firing of offensive coordinator Jason Beck midseason. Some decent defensive metrics can’t paper over a passing attack that rarely generates consistent points or any real momentum.

Penn State

Preseason ranking: No. 18
Ranking in Week 11: Unranked

Expected to contend in the Big Ten under new leadership, Penn State opened 3-0 before a four-game slide that included losses to Wisconsin, Northwestern, USC, and Michigan. 

A late rebound with wins over Purdue and Washington has the Nittany Lions at 5-4 and 2-4 in conference play, but the early collapse from such a highly ranked status exposed a ton of inconsistency and a failure to capitalize on preseason ranking and talent.