Perennial doormats for decades. Dan McCarney got them to a respectable level in the early 2000s, Matt Campbell has improved them further.
Dave Aranda at Baylor is an excellent coach, and Gary Patterson was an all-timer for overachieving coaches. But for me, Campbell and what he's done with ISU is the most impressive.
he's a legend. Didn't consider him just because he isn't the HC anymore...though i guess he could always just assume the role again like he has in the past. When he retired in '18, he had accounted for 40% of all wins in KSU history.
I am doing the Overrate and Underrated thing again but during the CFP Era. I have only 3 seasons so far. I took the preseason and final AP Poll and compared their rankings. I did not consider "Others Receiving Votes" ranking. If they are not ranked, I gave them a 26. I also considered their overall record for Overrated.
Underrated
1 Georgia Tech - unranked to #8
2 Mississippi State - unranked to #11
3 Boise State - unranked to #16
4 Missouri - #24 to #14
5 Arizona State - #19 to #12
no honorable mentions
1 Stanford - #21 to #3
2 Houston - unranked to #8
3 Iowa - unranked to #9
4 Oklahoma - #19 to #5
5 Michigan - unranked to #12
HM - Clemson - #12 to #2
HM - North Carolina - unranked to #15
1 USC - #20 to #3
2 Penn State - unranked to #7
3 Western Michigan - unranked to #15
4 Washington - #14 to #4
5 Virginia Tech - unranked to #16
HM - Oklahoma State - #21 to #11
Overrated
1 Oklahoma - #4 to unranked (8-5)
2 South Carolina - #9 to unranked (7-6)
3 Auburn - #6 to #22 (8-5)
4 Stanford - #11 to unranked (8-5)
5 LSU - #13 to unranked (8-5)
No honorable mentions
1 Auburn - #6 to unranked (7-6)
2 USC - #8 to unranked (8-6)
3 UCLA - #13 to unranked (8-5)
4 Georgia Tech - #16 to unranked (3-9)
5 Oregon - #7 to #19
HM - Georgia - #9 to unranked (10-3)
1 Michigan State - #12 to unranked (3-9)
2 Notre Dame - #10 to unranked (4-8)
3 Ole Miss - #11 to unranked (5-7)
4 TCU - #13 to unranked (6-7)
5 UCLA - #16 to unranked (4-8)
HM - Tennessee - #9 to #22 (9-4)
HM - Houston - #15 to unranked (9-4)
HM - Iowa - #17 to unranked (8-5)
11 preseason ranked teams (7 Top 15) finished unranked