Aug. 20, 2007
IOWA CITY — If the University of Iowa football program lacks respect in the preseason, it makes up for it by the end of the year. That was the finding of a study conducted by ESPN.com, which rated a team’s preseason ranking in the AP top 25 poll and compared it to where that team finished the season.
The Hawkeyes were joined by Boston College and Maryland for being the eighth most underrated programs in the nation over the past 10 years. Only teams that were ranked in at least three of the 10 preseason polls or final polls from 1997-2006 were included in the list of overrated and underrated teams.
Read the entire article in ESPN.com
Iowa had six winning seasons during that span, including five in a row from 2001-05 which also included three consecutive 10-win seasons from 2002-004.
The most underrated program is Washington State; the most overrated is Florida State. Three other Big Ten schools made the lists — Wisconsin is the fifth most underrated, Ohio State is tied with Nebraska as the fifth most overrated and Michigan is the eighth most overrated.
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