Now that the 2026 college football season is halfway over, four teams have easily been the biggest disappointments so far. Each entered the year ranked in the preseason AP Top 25, and two of them started inside the top 10. None of them have come close to living up to that billing.

Some of these collapses were easier to see coming than others. Here’s a look at the four teams that have fallen flattest through the first half of the season.

Texas A&M Aggies

The Texas A&M Aggies opened the season at No. 8 in the preseason AP Top 25, and they were the easiest of the four to predict collapsing. The roster that made the Aggies a contender last season looked much different heading into 2026.

Wide receiver KC Concepcion was drafted in the first round, and most of the offensive line moved on to the NFL. On top of that, offensive coordinator Collin Klein left to become the head coach at Kansas State. Losing that much talent and continuity at once is a tough hit for any program.

Quarterback Marcel Reed was also a major question mark. He wasn’t good against top competition last season, so he needed to take a massive step forward for Texas A&M to be as good as the projections suggested. That hasn’t happened.

Oklahoma Sooners

I thought the Oklahoma Sooners would be a sneaky-good team this season. They started at No. 10 in the preseason AP Top 25, and I expected quarterback John Mateer to play better with a healthy hand. The offensive line had shown signs of growth, too.

None of that has translated to the field. The Sooners can barely move the ball in most games.

To be fair, Oklahoma’s defense has been awesome. That’s why the Sooners beat Texas. However, an offense that relies on its defense making massive plays just to hang around in games isn’t sustainable, and it’s a far cry from the team I expected to see.

Penn State Nittany Lions

I never understood Penn State. The Nittany Lions were No. 18 in the preseason AP Top 25, and the media hyped a team that didn’t deserve it.

Matt Campbell was coaching a middling Iowa State team last season. He brought most of that team to Penn State, and everyone assumed it would be good. It’s not like Texas Tech and Joey McGuire relocated to State College. Iowa State was mediocre in 2025, and a new uniform wouldn’t change that.

Looking back, it’s clear the expectations were built on the Penn State name rather than the roster Campbell brought with him.

Washington Huskies

Lastly, I thought the Washington Huskies would be one of the more intriguing teams in the country. Quarterback Demond Williams Jr. is incredibly dynamic when he’s healthy and on the field.

The problem is that Williams hasn’t played at a high level since losing running back Jonah Coleman and wide receiver Denzel Boston. Those were his two most reliable weapons, and the offense hasn’t found a replacement.

The defense took a hit, too. Washington lost two of its top cornerbacks in Ephesians Prysock and Tacario Davis, and the secondary hasn’t been the same without them. Overall, the Huskies have been dealing with a lot of problems, and Williams has also been hurt for the past couple of games.