5 college football teams that will be worse than you think in 2024

For someone to be better, that means somebody else has to be worse. That is the case in all levels of sports, as there are only so many wins to be had each year. With teams poised to bounce back, others will regress massively. While it may not be a major regression for some of these college football teams, I have plenty of reasons why I am fading every last one of them next season.

Whether it be player attrition, coaching staff changes, conference realignment, or a no-good, very-bad schedule, all of these can be reasons why teams we usually trust can underachieve. We seem to be in the clear after an offseason unlike I have ever seen since I first started covering the sport nearly a decade ago. What I have learned along the way is anything and everything can happen in this game.

So what I am going to do today is highlight a grand total of five college football teams, all of whom I would consider to be blue-bloods, that are not going to have seasons worth writing home about. Expectations are sky-high for many of them, but the odds are stacked against them heading into next season. While some of these teams will still achieve anyway, I can say for certain not all of them will.

Here are five major regression candidates to be had across college football heading into next season.

5. Florida State Seminoles could be worse with D.J. Uiagalelei now at QB

Admittedly, I still think Florida State has a halfway decent shot of winning the ACC again next year and making it to the College Football Playoff, albeit an expanded one. However, it is hard for me to be overly optimistic about the Seminoles replacing Jordan Travis with D.J. Uiagalelei at the quarterback position. They were in the mix to land Cam Ward, but his brief entry into the NFL Draft thwarted them.

Right now, I would have the Seminoles on a shortlist of about six teams who can realistically win the ACC. They are in the same probable contender tier with Clemson. Right behind them would have to be teams like Miami and North Carolina State. I also think that Louisville will be very good once again, as well as Georgia Tech continuing its upward trajectory under Brent Key as the Jackets' head coach.

Frankly, it is hard to be better than 13-1. While not getting blown out in the Orange Bowl would be a huge plus for the 'Noles, I have a hard time seeing them being markedly better than the very best teams in the ACC next year. This league is going to be so chaotic. While the conference champion will get a top-four seed, I am not so sure that Mike Norvell will have this team making the 12-team playoff.

Florida State is a top-four team in the ACC, but I am skeptical that they have a top-four quarterback.