The five biggest preseason coaches poll snubs

Of the teams that finished last season in the top-15, seven weren’t ranked at all in the preseason Coaches Poll.

That includes five that finished in the top-10 — national runner-up TCU, Tennessee, Penn State, Washington, Tulane and Florida State.

With that being said, here are the five biggest snubs from this year’s preseason Coaches Poll, which was unveiled Monday.

Iowa 

A different Big Ten West team, Wisconsin, was ranked No. 21 in the preseason Coaches Poll. You could make a case that Iowa deserved to be ranked there instead if you were simply picking between those two teams, especially after the Hawkeyes added players like ex-Michigan QB Cade McNamara, former Michigan tight end Erick All and ex-Ohio State wide receiver Kaleb Brown to a roster that already included some standouts like early-round NFL cornerback prospect Cooper DeJean. Either way, Iowa has the talent (and the schedule) to have a shot of being in the range of 9ish wins during the regular season. Maybe even more. That’s far from outrageous. The only ranked teams the Hawkeyes have on the schedule are No. 7 Penn State and the aforementioned Wisconsin. 

Miami

In terms of potential 2024 NFL draft picks, Miami is right up there with expected ACC top contenders Clemson and Florida State. For the Hurricanes, that includes early-round possibilities like defensive lineman Leonard Taylor, safeties Kamren Kinchens and James Williams, offensive linemen Javion Cohen, Matt Lee and Zion Nelson as well as defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor. If QB Tyler Van Dyke can bounce back from a rough 2022, which seems possible under new offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson, Miami could be a team that improves by at least a few wins from last year’s 5-7 record. Van Dyke was 13 of 19 for 184 yards with a touchdown in the Hurricanes’ spring game. Should Miami find a way to beat Texas A&M in Week 2, it could easily end up being 5-0 heading into an Oct. 14 matchup against star QB Drake Maye and North Carolina.

Kentucky

Kentucky has won at least eight games in three of the last five seasons. This year could make it four of six. Even after losing QB Will Levis, the expectation around the program is that the Wildcats are better than last year’s team that finished 7-6, including on offense. In addition to landing ex-NC State QB Devin Leary, who some scouts regard as an early-round NFL draft prospect, Kentucky also upgraded at other spots through the portal like running back and the offensive line. It was a big deal, too, that the Wildcats got offensive coordinator Liam Coen back after a year as the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams. Under Coen, Kentucky was fifth in the SEC in scoring offense in 2021. Without him, the Wildcats ranked last in 2022.

South Carolina

It won’t take long to get a good feel on Shane Beamer’s squad. South Carolina opens the year with a matchup against the aforementioned Drake Maye and North Carolina before then traveling to face back-to-back defending national champion Georgia two weeks later. Nevertheless, there’s optimism around the program, at least partly based on the progress of QB Spencer Rattler and the Gamecocks’ offense under new offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains.

South Carolina closed the regular season last year with wins over then-No. 5 Tennessee and No. 8 Clemson. In those two games, Rattler threw for a combined 798 yards and accounted for nine total touchdowns. The much-maligned former Oklahoma transfer now appears set to build on that under Loggains heading into his second season with the Gamecocks. It will help being surrounded by some other NFL prospects on offense such as All-SEC wide receiver and top-three round NFL prospect Antwane Wells and tight ends Josh Simon and Trey Knox, who both have draftable grades from NFL scouts entering the year.

Arkansas

After reaching top-10 status at different points each of the last two seasons, the Razorbacks should once again be a respectable team in the SEC West. Although the division is full of quality squads good enough to finish with winning records, the Razorbacks have a veteran leader in QB KJ Jefferson who’s better than many on a national level seem to realize. Jefferson is viewed by at least some NFL scouts as an early Day 3 type prospect and has some other high-level talent around him like running back Raheim Sanders, who ranked second in the SEC last season with 1,443 rushing yards. Arkansas also has at least a few other NFL prospects, including multiple along the defensive line (Eric Gregory and Trajan Jeffcoat) in addition to another defensive lineman that Razorbacks coaches are expecting to break out this season following an impressive spring, former LSU transfer Landon Jackson.