Even with the countless hours spent evaluating transfer portal classes , incoming high school prospects, returning players, and coaching changes, there are always a handful of teams that surprise the national media and fans, outperforming preseason expectations or emerging as unexpected playoff contenders.

I wanted to take a look at three teams that aren't receiving much attention during the offseason and could potentially emerge as unexpected contenders in their conference, or even on the national level.

Two of these teams have been fairly consistent playoff contenders, but had an unexpected coaching change or even underperformed last season, which has led to some mixed expectations entering 2026.…