Alabama-Birmingham, Arizona, Purdue and Southern Mississippi were the only programs nationally to receive a grade of D- from USA Today writer Paul Myerberg in his report card of all 134 Football Bowl Subdivision teams for the 2024 season. Florida State, Kent State and Oklahoma State were the only programs to receive an F grade.
Myerberg explained, "The grades consider overall performance compared to preseason expectations, with added weight given to how a team performs in key games against rivals and other high-profile opponent." Arizona and Florida State are the only teams to receive a grade of D- or F who began the season in the top 25.
Florida State might have been the only team nationally that had a more disappointing season than Arizona. The Seminoles were 10th in both 2024 preseason polls. Arizona was 21st in both preseason polls. Oklahoma State was 17th in the Associated Press Top 25 and 18th in the US LBM coaches preseason polls.
Oklahoma State was picked third in the Big XII preseason poll with 829 points and 14 first-place votes. Arizona was picked fifth in the Big XII preseason poll with 762 points and three first-place votes. The Cowboys and Wildcats were joined by Utah who was picked first in the preseason poll and Kansas as disappointing 2024 Big XII teams.
2024 CFB Team Grades from @USAToday
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ASU, A+
Boise St, A+
Colorado, A
Oregon, A
UNLV, A
BYU, A-
SJSU, B
Cal, B-
CSU, B-
New Mexico, B-
WSU, B-
UCLA, C+
Fresno St, C
Hawai'i, C
Washington, C
Nevada, C-
USC, C-
Utah, C-
Utah St, C-
Air Force, D+
Ore St, D+
Stanford, D+
SDSU, D…
Alabama-Birmingham finished the 2024 season 3-9 and Purdue and Southern Mississippi finished 1-11. Among the teams receiving an F grade, Florida State was 2-10 in 2024, Kent State was the only winless team in FBS at 0-12 and Oklahoma State finished 3-9.
Arizona and Oklahoma State did not play in 2024. Seven of their nine Big XII opponents were the same Arizona went 1-6 versus their common opponents and Oklahoma State 0-7. Oklahoma State was the only team to finish with a winless record at 0-9 in the Big XII this season after starting 3-0 in non-conference play.
Arizona finished 80th in the ESPN Football Power Index. Among the teams with D- grades, UAB was 118th in the FPI, Purdue 120th and 132nd. The BPI rankings for the teams who received an F are Florida State 88th, Kent State 134th and last and Oklahoma State 68th.
There will be a lot of pressure on Arizona, Florida State and Oklahoma State entering the 2024 season. The Wildcats, Seminoles and Cowboys finishing with a combined record of 9-27 after all three began the season in the rankings were among the biggest shocks of the 2024 season.