5 teams that don't deserve their spot in college football preseason top 25 rankings ft. Clemson 

The return of college football is only a few weeks away. This means it will not be long before the first top 25 of the 2024 season is released.

The top 25 will be the first chance for fans to see where their team is compared to the others. But, while the official list has not been released yet, college football analysts like Greg McElroy have already made their predictions.

Using his recent prediction as a baseline, here are five teams that do not deserve their spot in the top 25.

Five teams that do not deserve their ranking in the college football top 25

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Notre Dame is always going to be in the conversation for the higher spots in the rankings. Its independent status combined with playing a selection of ACC programs and assorted others means it will have a small advantage over other programs.

McElroy thinks the Fighting Irish are coming into this season as the sixth-best team in college football. While they are a strong team, this rating seems overly optimistic.

In the offseason, Notre Dame has been improving its offense, which struggled at points last year. It brought in former Duke quarterback Riley Leonard to lead this team. There are high hopes surrounding Leonard, but he is coming off an ankle injury, and if not fully recovered, it could cause problems for the Fighting Irish. Their wide receivers have been slightly improved with Kris Mitchell, but the absence of Audric Estime could again lead to problems if his replacements do not live up to his level.

Penn State Nittany Lions

The Penn State Nittany Lions have long been the third-best program in the Big Ten, behind Ohio State and Michigan. The 2023 season was a repeat of this, and quarterback Drew Allar led a team that had a strong defense.

2024 is a different picture of the Big Ten and Penn State. The team had to replace both coordinators in the offseason, and questions are still being raised about Allar's performance. With the expanded Big Ten, Penn State will struggle to remain a top-10 team.

However, McElroy had ranked the Nittany Lions as the eighth-best team above the likes of Missouri, Tennessee and Clemson — all teams that are strong enough to beat them.

Florida State Seminoles

2023 was a good season for the Seminoles. They won the ACC championship with an unbeaten season and were on course for a spot in the College Football Playoffs. Then, the committee chose the Alabama Crimson Tide over them.

2024 will not be like 2023 due to the absence of quarterback Jordan Travis and wide receiver Keon Coleman, two key parts of the Florida State offense from that year.

The Orange Bowl hammering against the Georgia Bulldogs may not be a sign of things to come for the Seminoles, but they are not expected to retain their ACC championship.

Greg McElroy ranked them as the 13th-best team. While they are strong enough for the top 25, this seems too high for this year's Seminoles.

Clemson Tigers

This team's ranking is related to the previous team's ranking. Unlike Florida State, the Clemson Tigers had a disappointing 2023 season. This was mostly due to many of the program's key players being injured for most of the season.

Clemson is a different team this year. The Tigers are healthy and have barely lost any players in the transfer portal. They will likely take back their ACC title from the Seminoles this year.

Yet, Greg McElroy has ranked the Tigers as the 14th-best team, one spot behind the Seminoles. Clemson could easily make a run for the national championship this year and should at least be a top-10 team.

West Virginia Mountaineers

The West Virginia Mountaineers had a revival season in 2023. Going 9-4 and defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Duke Bowl, it was statistically the best season they have had since Neal Brown took charge in 2019.

Most of this newfound hope has come from quarterback Garrett Greene, who had a breakout season and recorded 2,406 yards with 16 touchdowns. Going into his senior year, many expect Greene to improve on these numbers and help West Virginia to some needed victories.

McElroy ranks the Mountaineers as the 23rd-best team. While some may think that this is accurate, Greene has the potential to lead this team to the top 20.