Greg McElroy Names Overrated Program In Preseason College Football Rankings

The college football season is inching closer and closer, and on Monday, we finally saw the official preseason rankings from the Associated Press .

ESPN analyst and host of Always College Football , Greg McElroy, picked apart the rankings on Monday's episode and touched on topics of which teams will finish unranked, who is underrated, and who he felt was overrated. The latter honor obviously being one that no fan wants to hear about their team, but one that McElroy feels strongly about when it comes to the Iowa Hawkeyes.

They finished the 2023 season with a 10-4 record, but head coach Kirk Ferentz was still forced to fire his offensive coordinator. A move that will likely make future holidays a bit awkward, considering his offensive coordinator was his son, Brian Ferentz.

The Hawkeyes' head coach turned to  Tim Lester who was formerly the head coach at Western Michigan before taking on an analyst role for the Green Bay Packers in 2023. They are known for always having a good defense, so a serviceable offense could move mountains for this team.

However, McElroy felt their ranking of No. 25 in the preseason poll and the overall common view on Iowa are far too high.

"The one team that I felt like is ranked a lot higher than they probably should be is Iowa," McElroy said . "It's not because I don't think Iowa is going to finish the season ranked. It's not because I don't think Iowa is going to be a good football team. They're always a good football team but the reason people have them in the top 25 is because of their schedule."

McElroy went on to explain that we shouldn't be basing how good we think a team will be based on last year, citing Liberty as an example.

"We could be fast-forwarding to the end of the year and Iowa could be 10-2. Doesn't mean they're going to be great though because what will their best win be? That would be my challenge. And based on what I'm hearing...doesn't sound like the offense is making the progress that we had hoped for Iowa this offseason."

If Iowa has another down year on offense paired with an elite defense, Hawkeyes fans will certainly be left scratching their heads. According to The Athletic , projected starting quarterback Cade McNamara was less than stellar at their recent Kids' Day. He reportedly completed 8-of-24 passes for 20 yards and also ended up throwing an interception that went for a pick-six.

According to FanDuel , Iowa's win total is at 8.5, which hints that a mediocre season could be expected. Something that ESPN's FPI also emulated as well, projecting that Iowa would muster just seven wins.

With the Big Ten only getting deeper because of conference realignment and Iowa no longer having the chance to beat up on the weak Big Ten West, this program may have a brutal reality check coming their way.

Related: Paul Finebaum Names Major College Football Program That Should Not Hire Deion Sanders