The 20 most overhyped college football teams of the last 20 years
1999: Arizona Wildcats
Few teams have fallen so far so fast. Dick Tomey led the Arizona Wildcats to a 12-1 record in 1998, and a No. 4 final ranking in the AP Poll – the best in school history. Led by explosive running back Trung Candidate and the quarterback duo of Ortege Jenkins and Keith Smith, Arizona began the 1999 campaign ranked No. 4 in the AP Poll, which was the highest preseason ranking ever for the program.
The Wildcats entered the Pigskin Classic in State College against No. 3 Penn State with an opportunity to position themselves for national championship run. Instead, the Nittany Lions embarrassed Arizona 41-7. The loss dropped the Wildcats to 15th in the AP Poll, and three weeks later a 50-22 loss to Stanford at home dropped Arizona from the rankings altogether. Arizona was competitive all season, and picked up wins over No. 22 USC, which helped the Wildcats improve to 5-2, Arizona couldn’t overcome the stench of the Week 1 disaster.
After close losses to Oregon and Washington at home (with a 33-7 victory over UCLA in the Rose Bowl sandwiched in between) and Oregon State in Corvallis, Arizona travelled to Tempe with bowl eligibility on the line. A 42-27 loss to the rival Sun Devils marked the fourth loss in the final five games for the Wildcats.
A season that began with Rose Bowl and national championship aspirations ended with Arizona sitting at home with a 6-6 record, unranked. It would be 15 years before the Wildcats began a college football season ranked in the Top 25.