College football 2023: Most overrated, underrated teams by Power 5 conference
By John Scimeca
Big 12
Most overrated: Texas
It’s an annual rite of passage to place big-time expectations on the Longhorns in the preseason, and this year is no exception. This team has resources unknown to any other football program besides about 6-7 teams in the country, it has all-world talent, and it’s playing its last season in the Big 12 before moving to the SEC.
But we say these things about Texas every year. There’s not a winning culture in Austin, no matter who the head coach has been in the past 14 years. Mack Brown, Charlie Strong, Tom Herman, and Steve Sarkisian are all well-respected coaches that seem to lead the Longhorns to mediocrity after misplaced preseason hype.
Texas is ranked No. 11 in the AP preseason poll and is the favorite to win the Big 12, which would mark the program’s first conference title since 2009.
Texas has a 61-51 record in the past decade. In that same span, Baylor, Kansas State, TCU, and Oklahoma State have amassed more conference wins than the Longhorns. Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy has beaten four different Texas head coaches in Austin during that time.
Quinn Ewers will probably put up big numbers. The team will probably whip up some lesser opponents and might even play Alabama close again early on in the season. But I don’t expect to see clutch plays in big moments out of this Texas squad in 2023.
Most underrated: Kansas
Despite last season’s successes, the Jayhawks still finished 2022 with their 14th consecutive losing record. Last year’s squad managed the most wins (6) since 2008 and shocked plenty of people behind the quarterback play of Jalon Daniels, who was knocked out for a month after leading Kansas to a 5-0 start.
The defense must improve — after all, it allowed 35.5 points per game, the worst mark in the Big 12 — to keep Kansas in the rankings of respectability. For the preseason poll, Kansas was picked to finish ninth out of 14 Big 12 teams for 2023.
In the team’s last four games of 2022, the defense gave up 50 points per contest, which resulted in four consecutive losses. If the Jayhawks can get more steps behind an improved secondary in 2023, the team will greatly surpass expectations.