By the numbers, BYU football is still the most underrated program in the nation

BYU football is the most underrated preseason college football team since 2014, according to a recent report from On3's Brett McMurphy, but this shouldn't be news to those who have followed the program over the last decade and some change.

They've been locked out of the College Football Playoff conversation, inarguably snubbed harder than any other program after posting a playoff-worthy resume -- complete with a road win over at-large playoff entrant, SMU, and only two losses -- and a 2025 campaign in which the team lost to just one team, fourth-ranked Texas Tech.

BYU fans are well aware that the greater college football-viewing public don't fully respect what Kalani Sitake has built in Provo, Utah, but even reports like this won't keep the AP voters from salivating over big-name brands like USC, Oregon, Notre Dame, Texas, and Miami at every turn.

Even with BYU football's power four conference membership, two consecutive 11-win seasons, and countless examples of competence at the national level, the disrespect continues to flow from the non-biased college football media.

The conversation gets even spicier when considering the remaining programs on this roll call of the under-appreciated and underrated.

The Big 12 Conference gets the brunt of national disrespect

BYU leads the way as one of eight Big 12 Conference programs on this list. That's right: eight programs listed as some of the most consistently underrated in the nation. That's more than any other conference, with the Big Ten having only three and the SEC posting five underrated teams. In order of appearance, TCU, Cincinnati, Houston, UCF, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and Arizona have been historically whiffed on by voters, proving over the course of the season that they deserved far more respect than they had been receiving.

Even with BYU football returning critical production at every position, another season for Kalani Sitake, and LJ Martin back for his senior campaign, last year's Big 12 runners-up are ranked 14th in the nation in the preseason. Even more baffling, Texas Tech has slipped out of the top 10 entirely.

The narrative has shifted, once again, against the Big 12's interests. If the top of the conference standings are competitive, the league is panned for having no dominant program capable of scuffing the SEC's freshly-shined loafers. If a team like Texas Tech rolls through the competition, the point of conversation turns to the Big 12 Conference's weakness. There is no winning for the BIg 12 Conference off the field -- they'll have to make their statement on the field this season.

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