The 3 most disappointing college football teams this season
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A month into the 2026 college football season, the preseason polls are already starting to look like works of fiction. For every team exceeding expectations, there’s another whose fan base is wondering what went wrong, and in some cases, whether the head coach will make it to November.
Nearly every team entered the 2026 season with high hopes for what they could accomplish this season, but three teams have been beyond disappointing considering their potential and preseason expectations.
3. South Carolina
It wasn’t long ago that Shane Beamer was seen as a rising star in Columbia, winning SEC Coach of the Year after a 9-4 season in 2024. Now he’s coaching for his job – and things aren’t going well.
After a disappointing 2025 season that saw the Gamecocks finish with just a 4-8 record and a 1-7 mark in the conference, South Carolina entered the season with high hopes. While South Carolina began the season ranked just outside of the top-25, the team has four potential first-round picks on the roster, highlighted by star quarterback LaNorris Sellers and top pass rusher Dylan Steward.
Four games in, it already looks like the season is headed for disaster as the Gamecocks are 2-2 and have lost seven straight SEC games.
The last two weeks have been brutal. South Carolina blew a 16-point second-quarter lead in a 41-34 home loss to Mississippi State. Then Alabama hopped out to a quick 35-3 lead before halftime on the way to a 49-18 blowout. And the optics haven’t been great, either, with Beamer preemptively chiding the media for what they were going to write after the Mississippi State loss and then getting in a verbal altercation with Steward on the sideline.
Now, Stewart is indefinitely suspended, South Carolina is in a complete free fall, and there are still four ranked opponents remaining on the schedule.
2. Texas A&M
After making the College Football Playoff last season in Mike Elko’s second year, Texas A&M entered 2026 ranked No. 8 in the preseason AP Poll with hopes of competing for an SEC title and another playoff appearance. Four games in, however, the Aggies are 2-2 and already find themselves out of the rankings entirely.
The collapse started at home against then-unranked Kentucky, which handed A&M a 31-21 loss at Kyle Field in a game the Aggies trailed by as many as 21 points. The loss snapped a 19-game home winning streak against unranked opponents, and it was A&M’s first loss to Kentucky since 1952, when Bear Bryant was coaching the Wildcats.
Things got even worse this week in Baton Rouge, where LSU obliterated the Aggies 35-6 in a game where Texas A&M managed just 197 total yards, and its second-longest drive of the night covered just 23 yards.
A team with legitimate SEC title aspirations now looks lost offensively, and the hole is already deep with the heart of the conference schedule still ahead. While the two losses were to teams currently ranked in the top 25, the reality is that Texas A&M looked largely uncompetitive in both of those games.
1. Oklahoma
After making the College Football Playoff last season, the Oklahoma Sooners entered the 2026 college football season ranked No. 10 in the AP Poll as Brent Venables’ squad was expected to be a contender in the SEC. Just four games in, the wheels are already starting to come off.
While Oklahoma’s defense has been strong and consistent, the offense has been a disaster. Against Michigan, Oklahoma managed just 289 total yards in a 17-10 loss. The next week, things weren’t much better against a far inferior opponent in New Mexico, as the Sooners had just 299 total yards in a 14-6 win. Against Georgia this week, it bottomed out. John Mateer committed three first-half turnovers, including a fumble returned 85 yards for a touchdown, as the Sooners fell behind 28-0 in a 41-13 loss.
Oklahoma finds itself with just a 2-2 record early in the season, and unfortunately, things aren’t going to get any easier as six ranked opponents remain on the schedule, including a showdown with No. 1 Texas on Oct. 10, followed by games against No. 8 Florida and No. 9 Ole Miss.
This is a team that entered the season with legitimate SEC title and national championship hopes. Just a quarter through the regular season, it’s looking more likely that the Sooners will be fighting for bowl eligibility than a playoff spot.
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