Unexpected successes make the best stories in sports, and every year college football features several teams that either outperform expectations or surge out of nowhere.
We remember these programs fondly as surprise teams. The phrase must be taken as a relative term, though, because college football fans aren't going to see 10 programs ascend out of seemingly nowhere to reach double-digit victories.
Rather, some rosters are built to contend in conference play, while others might be a seven-win squad that are capable of pulling an upset that shakes up the national rankings or league standings.
If a respective program indeed becomes a sleeper team in 2017, it'll happen behind a couple victories in a select group of key matchups.