The list below is sorted by "underratedness." The teams at the top of the list were the most underrated (final poll standing furthest above preseason poll standing); the teams at the bottom of the list were the most overrated (final poll standing furthest below preseason poll standing). Any team not mentioned was unranked in both preseason and final polls.
| Team | Delta | Preseason Consensus |
Final AP Standing |
| Texas Christian | +23 | - | 3 |
| Georgia Tech | +18 | - | 8 |
| Mississippi State | +15 | - | 11 |
| Arizona State | +13 | 25 | 12 |
| Missouri | +12 | - | 14 |
| Boise State | +10 | - | 16 |
| Arizona | +7 | - | 19 |
| Ohio State | +5 | 6 | 1 |
| Utah | +5 | - | 21 |
| Baylor | +4 | 11 | 7 |
| Michigan State | +5½ | 9 | 5½ |
| Kansas State | +3 | 21 | 18 |
| Louisville | +2 | - | 24 |
| Wisconsin | +2 | 15 | 13 |
| Clemson | +1 | 16 | 15 |
| Georgia | +1 | 10 | 9 |
| Memphis | +1 | - | 25 |
| Oregon | +1 | 3 | 2 |
| Marshall | 0 | 23 | 23 |
| Mississippi | 0 | 17 | 17 |
| Alabama | -2 | 2 | 4 |
| Nebraska | -2 | 24 | - |
| UCLA | -3 | 7 | 10 |
| Washington | -4 | 22 | - |
| Florida State | -4½ | 1 | 5½ |
| Southern Cal | -6 | 14 | 20 |
| Texas | -6 | 20 | - |
| Texas A&M | -7 | 19 | - |
| Notre Dame | -8 | 18 | - |
| Louisiana State | -13 | 13 | - |
| Stanford | -14 | 12 | - |
| Auburn | -17 | 5 | 22 |
| South Carolina | -18 | 8 | - |
| Oklahoma | -22 | 4 | - |