I never got what was so cool about Angel; he didn't strike me as at all handsome (other than being buff--his face looked rather ugly to me).

And, yes, Xander and Cordelia were underappreciated, I think.

One thing that's struck me about rewatching Buffy in the past is that Buffy is always very clear (as is the program itself) that she's not the sharpest stake in the bundle. She's not a brainiac, or even particularly good at schoolwork, and she's conscious of it. She's attractive and somewhat athletic, but she's a star mostly to the viewer, not really to her classmates or her teachers.

Hope your throat feels better soon!