What’s next for college football’s most unlikely 4-0 teams?

There are some significant surprises among college football’s undefeated teams through four weeks of regular-season action in the 2021 season. Which 4-0 teams are pretenders, and which teams actually have staying power?

Just a month ago, preseason chatter for conference title and national title contenders focused on several programs that have awkwardly tumbled from the conversation.

Remember when many touted UNC quarterback Sam Howell as a Heisman candidate with a top-10 squad? How about the consideration that Texas A&M could make the College Football Playoff for the first time, or that Clemson was set to reload for another CFP run? Iowa State, too, entered the season as a top-10 team set to challenge Oklahoma for the Big 12 title.

After four weeks of the 2021 college football season, there are some notable surprises among the remaining undefeated teams.

Just one month into the 2021 season, and the Tar Heels have two losses after last Saturday’s ugly 45-22 loss to Georgia Tech. The Aggies nearly lost to a struggling Colorado squad before snapping a nine-game winning streak against Arkansas at Jerry World. The Tigers couldn’t take advantage of two missed field goals in the fourth quarter to beat NC State, who defeated Clemson in overtime to hand Dabo Swinney and D.J. Uiagalelei their second loss of the season. And finally, the Cyclones failed on a two-point conversion attempt late in a 31-29 loss to Baylor, resulting in their second loss of the month.

On the flip side of these notable failures by some big-name programs, several under-the-radar programs have stolen the spotlight to begin this season. The biggest question comes down to which programs will maintain their newfound success. Some teams, undoubtedly, may have simply gotten the lucky bounce in order to pull out the upset win.

Here’s a look at the six most unexpectedly upstart 4-0 programs of 2021 and their chances of continuing that success in October: