College football's five most surprising teams of 2024 through Week 7

College football has been full of twists and turns in 2024. Upsets like Vanderbilt over Alabama, BYU over Kansas State, and Ole Miss with two losses only seven weeks into the season have fans in a tizzy.  The good thing for fans is that if their team has a loss or two early this year, there is still a strong chance they will make the College Football Playoff which has expanded to 12 teams in 2024.

As the season is only halfway over, more surprises are sure to come which could come as soon as this weekend. With all of these surprises have emerged a few individual teams that no one saw coming. These teams are still going relatively unnoticed and could be huge sleepers as we enter the second half.

Who are the most surprising teams in college football so far in 2024?

BYU Cougars

Just a few months after stepping down as head coach and presuming he would stay on as an assistant, BYU Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake’s career has taken a turn for the better in Provo. Sitake has the Cougars sitting atop the Big 12 standings and 6-0. Regardless of whether or not Sitake stays on after this year, the Cougars are poised for a breakout campaign in 2024, which would be the teams’ first double-digit win season under Sitake since 2021.

The Cougars have a promising schedule ahead of them after having already taken down 13th-ranked Kansas State. With only Utah and Arizona State looking to pose any challenge to the Cougars down the stretch, they could make a Big 12 Championship Game appearance, or even get a playoff berth. Not even Sitake himself saw this coming obviously.

Army Black Knights

If you watched the Black Knights in 2023, you may not be as surprised as many. However, the fact of the matter is the last time the Black Knights had a 6-0 start which they have right now was 1996. With starting quarterback Bryson Daily back at the controls after his first year as starting quarterback in 2023, the Black Knights are clicking on all cylinders.

Army is one of only two teams (Indiana being the other) that have not trailed yet this season. Head coach Jeff Monken is in his 11th season with the team and has already matched the team's total of six wins in the last two years in 2024. It could be an exciting second half for the Black Knights who currently rank 23rd nationally.

Navy Midshipmen

Army is not the only service academy making headlines so far in 2024. The rival, Midshipmen are right beside them at 25th in the AP poll and 5-0 so far this season.

The last time the Midshipmen and Army both started 5-0 was 1945. The Midshipmen are arguably even more of a surprise than the Black Knights considering they have not had a winning season since 2019. Secon-year head coach Brian Newberry has the Midshipmen poised to make a run at the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy and so much more.

Iowa State Cyclones

Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell had a lot of success during his time as the head coach of the Toledo Rockets, which propelled him to the head coaching job with the Cyclones in 2016.

During his time with the Rockets, Campbell led the club to nine wins three separate times.  Surprisingly, he has yet to replicate that in Ames. However, with Campbell on the hot seat heading into 2024, the Cyclones seem to have found their groove and are off to a 6-0 start and a ninth overall ranking nationally according to the AP poll.

The Cyclones have had elite quarterback play by quarterback Rocco Becht who has thrown for 1,438 yards and 10 touchdowns to only three interceptions. Wide receiver Jayden Higgins has also emerged as a premier wide receiver not only for the Cyclones but one of the best in the country with 39 receptions for 505 yards and five touchdowns so far this season.

While BYU, Kansas State and others are getting some hype still in the Big 12, the Cyclones still are not being talked about, yet continue to win.

Indiana Hoosiers

Curt Cignetti. That is the name of the first-year Hoosiers head coach that you will want to remember. In year one, Cignetti has turned around a Hoosiers program that has seen only nine combined wins in its last three seasons. Cignetti already has the Hoosiers at 6-0 and ranked No. 16 in the country.

Based on his track record of winning wherever he has been at the FCS level and FBS level with James Madison and now Indiana, watch for Cignetti to keep the Hoosiers soaring to new heights in 2024.