One of the most hotly anticipated games of this summer — especially for college football fans who are looking for anything to satiate their appetites during the offseason — is College Football 27, the latest offering from EA Sports.
The game is slated for a July release, but EA has been giving fans little breadcrumbs to tide them over, and one of the biggest appetizers they’ve dropped so far has been the team ratings.
I went through the overall ratings and found a few that raised my eyebrows. Some teams were rated too low, while others seemed far too highly rated.
Below, I’ll share with you three teams from each category that caught my eye, and if you think your team is rated too low or your rival is rated too high, don’t be afraid to sound off in the comments.
This narrative that the Georgia Bulldogs are cooked in the era of NIL and the transfer portal is a lazy one at best, and that’s coming from a fan of a rival SEC team to boot.
Head coach Kirby Smart has recruited like a madman since day one in Athens, and he hasn’t slowed down in recent years either.
On offense, the Dawgs have an experienced starter at quarterback in Gunner Stockton returning to go along with dynamite running back Nate Frazier and transfer portal addition Isaiah Canion at wide receiver.
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A veteran defense should lead the way for the Bulldogs, with studs like defensive tackle Jordan Hall and safety KJ Bolden giving Smart one of the saltiest defensive units in the country, and I fully expect Georgia to once again win the SEC.
Sleep on these mutts at your own risk.
Call me a “star gazer” all you want, but Indiana hasn’t recruited well enough to merit this high of a team ranking.
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I don’t even think the Hoosiers were one of the most talented teams in the College Football Playoff last postseason, and their performance was more a testament to head coach Curt Cignetti and his staff’s greatness.
Even their transfer portal class wasn’t anything to write home about this offseason.
Sure, it was ranked in the top 10 by 247Sports, but they only took 17 transfers, 11 of which were three stars.
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The only other teams in the top 10 of the transfer portal rankings to take fewer than 20 transfers were Miami and Ohio State, two teams who recruit well enough to not have to rely exclusively on the portal to get their talent.
Indiana isn’t there yet, and the fact that they lost their Heisman-winning signal caller gives me pause when it comes to their 90 overall rating.
I’ll never doubt coach Cig’s abilities as a coach, but I don’t think the Hoosiers are the second best team in the country from a talent perspective.
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Two things can be true at the same time: the Clemson Tigers have been one of the most disappointing programs in college football since the turn of the decade, but they’ve also been one of the more talented teams in the country during that time frame.
If overall team ratings are largely talent based, I’m not sure how Clemson can be slotted where they are in 2026.
While the Tigers aren’t known for using the transfer portal, they have consistently signed some of the best recruiting classes in the ACC in the last five years.
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Guys like linebacker Sammy Brown and wide receivers T.J. Moore and Bryant Wesco are still on this roster and have been recruited and developed the old-fashioned way.
I’m not going to sit here and argue that Clemson should be one of the highest-rated teams in CFB 27, but 83 is just way too low for my liking.
This is a perfect example of comparing rosters and poking holes in the rating system.
I understand BYU had a better year in 2025 than Clemson and might even be projected to have a better season in 2026, but you can’t look me in the eye and tell me the Cougars are appreciably more talented than the Tigers.
The recruiting rankings refute it. The disparity in transfer portal rankings is negligible at best. And I guarantee you the Tigers will have more players drafted next April than the Cougars will.
I understand BYU is expected to compete for a Big 12 conference title while Clemson has an over/under win total of 7.5, but when you put the two depth charts side by side, I just can’t see the Cougars being three overall points better.
If you were to hang out in Tuscaloosa for a weekend and listen to Crimson Tide fans talk about their team’s chances this year as well as the direction of the program, you would probably think 86 was too high of a rating for Alabama.
That’s just because every Tide fan is comparing their current state to the heyday of the Nick Saban era, but if you look at this roster objectively, you’ll see it’s littered with talent that makes an 86 overall rating dubious at best.
This team is still littered with five-stars and highly rated four-stars nearly across the board, and Kalen DeBoer has kept the Crimson Tide recruiting at an insanely high level throughout his time in T-Town.
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It remains to be seen whether the Tide can put it all together this season, but the talent is there and the rating should absolutely reflect that.
Threw you for a loop there, didn’t I?
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Yes, the Auburn Tigers have an overall rating of 83, which I actually don’t have a problem with, but their 86 rating on the offensive side of the ball honestly made me do a double take.
It’s no secret the Tigers recruited fairly well on that side of the ball under former head coach Hugh Freeze, but many of their best players hit the transfer portal after he was fired, including their top two receivers from last season, Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton Jr.
New head coach Alex Golesh brought over plenty of his players from his last stop at USF, including quarterback Byrum Brown, but it remains to be seen how American Athletic Conference standouts perform in the SEC.
I wouldn’t have a problem with Auburn having an 86 rating on offense come late October when more players have proven themselves, but right now there is just too much to be seen on that side of the ball to give such a high rating.
