With a 19-19 record over the previous three seasons, the Iowa Hawkeyes weren't expected to do much this year.
"Kirk Ferentz is college football's third-longest tenured coach, but pressure is building," ESPN wrote this preseason.
"Is a return to a top-10 finish in the cards? Or top 30? Probably not in 2015," said USA Today.
But the Hawkeyes have put the pundits in their place. Their 9-0 start is a school record, tied with the 2009 team, and their 5-0 Big Ten record has them alone atop the West Division. Iowa didn't receive a single vote in the Associated Press preseason poll, but is now No.