College football rarely follows the preseason script, and that's what makes identifying potential CFP crashers so fascinating this fall. The teams outside the initial AP Top 25 rankings are not supposed to matter in December, but several possess the quarterback play, roster depth and favorable schedule needed to force their way into the conversation. In the expanded CFP era, one hot month can change everything, especially for programs talented enough to survive an early setback.
Some of these unranked contenders are rebuilding under new leadership. Others are overlooked brands carrying legitimate conference-title upside. Looking back over the last 32 years of the AP poll, at least one team that started the season unranked finished inside the top 10 at year's end.
The opportunity is real for most, with several spotlight opportunities to force their way into the national discussion. Here are the unranked teams best positioned to wreck expectations, climb the selection committee's board and unexpectedly crash college football's biggest postseason party this season. What's to like: Jon Sumrall's blueprint travels.
His teams play fast, hit hard and rarely beat themselves -- three traits that can flip close games against a demanding schedule like the Gators face in the SEC this season. The Gators enter the final days of fall camp without an identifiable starting quarterback, but Sumrall is not bothered. Georgia Tech transfer Aaron Philo brings experience in Buster Faulkner's system, and Tramell Jones is a program favorite.
Florida retained a core and supplemented it with portal help at several needed spots. The roster is loaded at a couple of positions, particularly at wide receiver. Sumrall has won immediately at every stop, and Gainesville offers considerably more resources than he had at Troy or Tulane.
If the Gators establish an identity early and survive September, they possess the roster, coaching edge and home-field juice to crash the playoff conversation. The worry: Florida plays Georgia (in Atlanta), Texas, Ole Miss, Oklahoma and Missouri away from Gainesville, a brutal slate of games in hostile environments. When to pay attention: If the offense finds an early rhythm and the Gators beat Auburn on the road in Week 3 to start 3-0, that showdown against Ole Miss at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Sept. 26 will garner national attention.
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