5 teams outside preseason AP Top 25 who will finish the 2024 season ranked

So you didn't make the cut... Whatever, doesn't matter. All that matters for these teams is to go out there, take care of business and prove the Associated Press wrong for not having them ranked inside the top 25 from the start. Water will find its level eventually, but the preseason AP Top 25 Poll came out on Monday with the season starting in less than two weeks. I certainly had some thoughts on it...

For those of you who haven't had a second to check out the initial top 25, here's what the AP decided.

1. Georgia Bulldogs: 1,532 (46)
2. Ohio State Buckeyes: 1,490 (15)
3. Oregon Ducks: 1,403 (1)
4. Texas Longhorns: 1,386
5. Alabama Crimson Tide: 1,260
6. Ole Miss Rebels: 1,189
7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: 1,122
8. Penn State Nittany Lions: 1,060
9. Michigan Wolverines: 995
10. Florida State Seminoles: 971
11. Missouri Tigers: 927
12. Utah Utes: 887
13. LSU Tigers: 804
14. Clemson Tigers: 689
15. Tennessee Volunteers: 629
16. Oklahoma Sooners: 566
17. Oklahoma State Cowboys: 538
18. Kansas State Wildcats: 526
19. Miami Hurricanes: 492
20. Texas A&M Aggies: 292
21. Arizona Wildcats: 237
22. Kansas Jayhawks: 231
23. USC Trojans: 172
24. North Carolina State Wolfpack: 171
25. Iowa Hawkeyes: 140

These are the other teams that received at least one vote from the Associated Press this offseason.

• Louisville Cardinals: 111
• Virginia Tech Hokies: 77
• Boise State Broncos: 47
• SMU Mustangs: 33
• Iowa State Cyclones: 33
• Liberty Flames: 32
• Washington Huskies: 23
• West Virginia Mountaineers: 17
• Memphis Tigers: 16
• Nebraska Cornhuskers: 16
• Wisconsin Badgers: 15
• UTSA Roadrunners: 6
• Tulane Green Wave: 5
• Appalachian State Mountaineers: 4
• Kentucky Wildcats: 3
• Auburn Tigers: 2
• Colorado Buffaloes: 1

As you can see, there were only Power Four teams comprising the top 25. We had to get to the perceived 28th-best team in the country in the Mountain West's Boise State Broncos before we got to our first Group of Five team. So with that in mind, I want to now take a look at five teams currently sitting outside the AP Top 25 that I think have a real shot at finishing the season inside of it in the end.

Let's start with a team that I think could be a real force in its Power Two league by this time next year.

5. Auburn Tigers

I may be a year ahead here, but at some point in the next 18 months, it will present itself that Hugh Freeze was the right hire for the Auburn Tigers. Disgraced, ostracized, slimy, whatever. Auburn cares about winning above all else. They have not done enough of that during the College Football Playoff era. I think Auburn's lack of transfer portal interest this offseason says Freeze really likes this team.

I have the Tigers projected to be an 8-4 team this season in the even deeper SEC. While they are not a serious threat to make the playoff this season, they will upset someone who is to ruin their season. If this team gets to 9-3, they are definitely going to be a top 25 team. If they only got to 8-4, with the right marquee win or two, I would not be shocked if Auburn was the No. 24 team in the nation at 9-5.

Auburn was markedly better last year than under Bryan Harsin, so look for things to progress there.

4. Virginia Tech Hokies

Even though the Virginia Tech Hokies did not get enough votes to crack the top 25, I get the sense that the AP voters really like what Brent Pry is building over there in Blacksburg. It was a terrible first year there for him in 2022, but last season saw the Hokies make huge strides under his watch. Virginia Tech is in a group of about four or five ACC teams that could be good, but not playoff good.

One of the biggest reasons I am bullish on the Hokies this season is the growth and development of their starting quarterback Kyron Drones. This sport has many excellent signal-callers, but he seems to get lost in the shuffle for some reason. Like Auburn over in the SEC, Virginia Tech is going to upset someone to ruin their season. I think the Hokies stand a great shot to go 8-4 or even 9-3 in the ACC.

What makes me like them a bit more than Auburn is that they do not have to play true behemoths.

3. Appalachian State Mountaineers

I have the right to change my opinion between now and the start of the season, or Week 0 if you really want to put me up against a wall, but the Appalachian State Mountaineers may be my pick to win the Group of Five. Shockingly, the Sun Belt is the only Group of Five conference that has not sent its champion to the New Year's Six. App State has been a tremendous program for decades. It is time!

Even if they were to lose to Clemson early on in the season, running the gauntlet in the Sun Belt would be impressive. They also draw last year's Group of Five champion and fellow playoff contender Liberty out of CUSA this year. With this game being in Boone as opposed to Lynchburg, wouldn't you have to give the Mountaineers the edge in that one? If this team goes 11-1, they'll be a top-25 team.

Again, I need a bit more time to really dive into the Group of Five, but App State is looking really nice.

2. West Virginia Mountaineers

I am an idiot constantly, but the one thing that I was the biggest idiot about last college football season was my thoughts on West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Neal Brown. I wanted him fired into the sun faster than you can sing "Country Roads, Take Me Home!" Not only did he survive last season under a new athletic director, I feel that WVU may have an outside shot at making the playoff.

I don't know if the 'Eers' chances of making it in are as strong as say teams like the Arizona Wildcats, Kansas Jayhawks or Oklahoma State Cowboys, all of whom were ranked. However, they have a navigable schedule that will reward them for big wins. Again, there are no Oklahomas or Texases in the new Big 12. The power void at the top of the conference will help programs like WVU out a ton.

With my first passing through of their schedule, West Virginia might be as good as a 9-3 team here.

1. SMU Mustangs

Here is to being wrong, but if I had to push all of my chips into the middle of the table to pick a team who is currently outside the AP Top 25 that will finish the season ranked, I am going with the SMU Mustangs. Rhett Lashlee is a phenomenal offensive mind and is proving himself to be a good head coach, too. With SMU making the leap up to the Power Four, I can feel the momentum from Dallas.

While I am not willing to put the Mustangs in the same class of ACC contenders like Clemson, Florida State, Miami and North Carolina State, it wouldn't shock me if they replaced one of those four at the top of the conference. This team is probably going 8-4 or 9-3, but a lucky break for once could get them to 10-2. If SMU went 10-2 during its first year in the Power Four, that would be tremendous.

I have a strong feeling that SMU will finish the season firmly inside the top 25, possibly in the teens.