Three top-5 teams from the preseason AP Poll have already had their seasons go sideways by Week 6.
Preseason No. 1 Texas went down again on Saturday, losing in The Swamp to Florida to fall to 3-2. Remember, the Longhorns stumbled right out of the gate, losing in Week 1 at Ohio State, so suddenly Texas has 2 losses before Week 7 even arrives.
Texas wasn’t the only preseason top-5 team to stumble on Saturday. Penn State, which was ranked No. 2 in the preseason AP Poll, somehow found a way to lose to a previously winless UCLA team, 42-37, at the Rose Bowl. Yes, the Nittany Lions allowed 42 points to the Bruins, who were 0-4 going into the matchup. Like Texas, Penn State is also now 3-2 and wondering where its season is heading in early October.
Last on this infamous list of preseason top-5 teams gone bad is Clemson, which was No. 4 in the preseason AP Poll but got off to a 1-3 start. Sure, the Tigers finally rebounded on Saturday with a blowout victory at North Carolina to get to 2-3, but the damage has already been done on their 2025 season.
Here is the shocking post on Saturday night that told the sad story of these 3 teams:
Yes, there is a lot of season still left to be played, but Texas, Penn State and Clemson have a long way to go to even remotely capture the glory that was supposed to be theirs this fall.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
