The 20 most overhyped college football teams of the last 20 years

2002: Nebraska Cornhuskers

Several big-time college football programs underachieved in 2002. Among them, Florida and Washington both began the year ranked in the Top 10, but fell out of the AP Poll altogether by season’s end, and No. 18 Michigan State began with high expectations only to fall to 4-8.

But the biggest underachiever was a Nebraska football team ranked No. 10 in the preseason poll that stumbled to a 7-7 final record after three straight losses at the end of the season, capped by a 27-23 defeat at the hands of Ole Miss in the Independence Bowl.

It’s never easy to replace a legend, and Frank Solich came under fire often during his tenure as head coach of the Huskers following Tom Osborne’s Hall of Fame career. Solich led Nebraska to 42 wins in his first four seasons at the helm, and the 2001 Cornhuskers finished No. 8 in the country after posting an 11-2 record. But expectations weren’t extremely high since the No. 10 preseason ranking was Nebraska’s lowest since 1992.

Solich led the Huskers to a 3-0 start, and the team climbed to No. 8, but Nebraska plummeted after an embarrassing 40-7 loss to an unranked Penn State squad in Happy Valley. A 36-14 loss at No. 19 Iowa State was just as damning and the Cornhuskers fell out of the AP Top 25.

Nebraska picked up Big 12 Conference wins against Missouri, Texas, A&M and Kansas to secure a bowl bid, but were beaten by ranked conference opponents No. 7 Texas, No. 11 Kansas State and No. 13 Colorado to post a losing record in the league for the first time since 1961.

Solich and the Huskers won nine regular season games in 2003, but Solich was fired, and Nebraska has yet to finish in the Top 10 since his departure.