Vanderbilt and 5 other teams that have completely destroyed preseason expectations

This college football season has been incredible so far. So many upsets, so many teams that were supposed to be good are bad and vice versa.

In the SEC, No. 24 Vanderbilt has probably been the biggest surprise of the 2024-25 season. Usually basement dwellers in arguably the toughest conference in the country, the Commodores have a tradition of making fans wonder why they're even there in the first place.

Naturally, they were picked to finish last in the preseason SEC media poll. Now, however, Vanderbilt is 6-3, ranked for the second time this season and bowl eligible for the first time in six years (2018).

Talk about blowing expectations away. Fourth-year head coach Clark Lea brought in New Mexico transfer quarterback Diego Pavia and he's surprised every SEC foe he's faced with how creative and efficient he's played.

Five other FBS teams that blew preseason expectations out of the water this year

Army (8-0) - AAC

The Black Knights from West Point were picked to finish fifth in the AAC preseason poll - although one person did predict they'd finish first and so far they look like a genius. Eight games later and No. 18 Army looks unstoppable, boasting the fifth best defense in the country and creeping towards a College Football Playoff berth.

With four games remaining, Army looks destined for the AAC championship game but it still has some tough tests ahead. No. 10 Notre Dame awaits on Nov. 23 and, of course, its annual rivalry game with Navy stand between the Black Knights and an undefeated season. If they can clear those hurdles, it's going to be very tough for the committee to exclude them from the 12-team bracket.

SMU (8-1) - ACC

If it wasn't evident from the first couple weeks, the ACC preseason media poll was disastrously wrong. Florida State sits in the basement and traditional juggernaut Clemson is floundering after a second loss. Enter the No. 13 SMU Mustangs in their first season as ACC members, picked to finish seventh.

SMU currently trails only No. 4 Miami (9-0) in the conference standings and it could become the program farthest West to appear in the ACC championship since Louisville last season. Just three games remain on its schedule and all are very winnable after it toppled undefeated Pittsburgh in Week 10. Even if it stumbles and falls short of playing in Charlotte, SMU fans can be very proud of their team's season.

Arizona State (6-2) - Big 12

Similar to Vanderbilt, the Sun Devils were picked to finish last this season in the Big 12 preseason poll. They only won three games last year and second-year head coach Kenny Dillingham is still developing the program. Clearly he didn't get that message. ASU has doubled its win total after just eight games and is still in the hunt for the Big 12 title, believe it or not.

It's unlikely they make it to Dallas to compete for a trophy (too many things have to go their way) but playing in a bowl game just one year removed from a self-imposed postseason ban and an ugly recruitment violation scandal from the previous administration is a huge improvement. The future is bright in Tempe and don't be surprised if they're actually playing for the conference title in 2025.

Washington State (7-1) - Pac-12

Most if not all the college football world wrote off what was left of the Pac-12 and assumed it would just be absorbed into the Mountain West at some point. The season isn't even over and it's already been announced the Pac-12 is the one doing the absorbing of most of the Mountain West for 2026. On top of that, one of the remaining Pac-12 schools is in the AP Top 25 and threatening to complicate the College Football Playoff picture.

No. 20 Washington State has dominated a majority Mountain West schedule and is sitting right up there with Army and No. 12 Boise State (7-1) in trying to snag the final spot in the playoff. After the drama of last year with all those departures, I don't think anybody thought there would be this good of football being played in Pullman. The Cougars have the 20th best offense in the country and are certainly making folks look twice when they see their name on television.

Navy (6-2) - AAC

Despite a Week 10 loss to a clearly inferior Rice team (I blame the hours long weather delay), the Midshipmen still defied all expectations to be nationally recognized for a good chunk of the season. They were ranked and undefeated going into a Week 9 loss against Notre Dame on neutral turf after being picked to finish 11th in the AAC.

Once in the outer edges of the playoff picture, Navy now sits squarely outside it but that's certainly not where anyone thought they'd find them entering the season. The team only won five games in 2023 but its clearly on a trajectory to exceed that total by a significant margin this year.