As the year comes to an end it is always nice to look back and reflect. With the College Football Playoff now in full swing and filling the headlines we are reminded of some of the top teams in the sport of college football.
But what about the others? The teams who made a name for themselves for all the wrong reasons and could not quite figure things out this year.
Here are the 5 most disappointing teams this college football season:
This season was a complete disaster from start to finish for Florida State. Things looked bright for the Seminoles coming off an undefeated regular season, ranked in the top-10, and a win total of 9.5.
After the world watched them get upset in Week 0 in Ireland things went downhill and they went downhill fast for Mike Norvell's team.
With three bad losses to start the year and highly touted transfer quarterback DJ Uiagalelei playing just about as bad as a QB can, FSU quickly fell out of all college football conversation and into the forgotten. The Noles only got one win this season against FBS opponents and were outscored by 185 points in FBS play.
In terms of preseason expectations to what the outcome actually was, the 2024 Florida State Seminoles season may be one of the most disappointing of all time.
With over 20 starters, including star running back Ollie Gordon II, returning from an Oklahoma State team that made it to the Big 12 Championship game last year, many, including myself, had high hopes for the Cowboys in 2024.
Instead Mike Gundy had his first losing season with the program since the year he took over back in 2005. While the team did compete in most games this season, they suffered some close crushing losses, most notably in a Friday night game at BYU that included a touchdown in the final seconds by the Cougars which I believe completely sucked the life out of this team for the rest of the year.
Gordon rushed for 852 yards less than he did in 2023, seventh year QB Alan Bowman kept getting benched as he was a complete disappointment, and the defense gave up 35.6 points per game; the perfect recipe for a bad season.
Ole Miss spent some serious money this past offseason and assembled a roster that had them considered as a legitimate contender for the national championship.
A favorable SEC schedule and loaded roster still was not enough for this team who fell just short of even making it into the playoff. Two losses surely would have been good enough to make it in but the Rebels dropped three games including two embarrassing ones at home against Kentucky and at Florida.
Now the Rebels are once again preparing for a bowl game that they surely would rather not be in, and Lane Kiffin can do nothing but post on X to make his case for why his team should have made it in.
Miami will find themselves in a similar boat to Ole Miss when looking back at 2024 as a disappointment. The Hurricanes spent a bag on transfer QB Cam Ward, had an extremely easy schedule, and looked like they had a cake walk to a CFP berth.
But once again the let down game bug strikes as they lost late in the year to Georgia Tech and Syracuse; both games in which the Canes were favored by double digits.
Not only is this year a disappointment for Miami fans, but also for all college football fans who lost out on the opportunity to watch Cam Ward in the Playoff. Ward played some spectacular football which got him an invite to New York as a Heisman finalist and for that reason much of the blame for this season falls on the defense.
While the first 10 win season since 2017 is nothing to be ashamed of, it does hurt when all it gets you is the chance to play for a giant pop-tart in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
Including a team on this list with a 7-5 record who was coming off a 3-9 2023 campaign and had a win total of 5.5 may be a bit of a stretch, but looking at where they were midseason to how they ended up is about as disappointing as it gets.
The Panthers started the year 7-0 with real hopes for an ACC Championship and playoff appearance. They ended the year with five straight losses and their last regular season win was on October 24th.
They say “it’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish” and after starting hot, how Pitt finished got them a trip to Detroit during Christmas for the GameAbove Sports Bowl, woof.