over the past decade or so:

10. Florida St. - while they were very good during most of the first half of the past decade, their recent and rather dramatic downturn puts them on the list. For a school with their previous history that's also in a warm climate in a recruiting hot bed, they should never fall this far.

9. Minnesota - they're the only FBS program in a state with over 5 million people, are in a power conference, and are almost perpeutually mediocre.

8. Nebraska - even though Nebraska has a much smaller population than Minnesota, they have a much richer history and their performance since joining the Big 10 has been very unworthy of that history.

7. Miami (Fla.) - like FSU, they're in a warm climate, in a power conference, in a recruiting hot bed and, along with FSU and Nebraska, were among the nation's most feared programs from 1980's through the early 2000's. But recently, they haven't scared anyone.

6. USC - granted, they had to deal with sanctions from the Pete Carrol era. But for a program with such a rich history in a recruiting hot bed (in the nation's most populous state) and nearly ideal climate, their recovery from those sanctions has been agonizingly slow and inconsistent.

5. Texas - while they've had a recent resurgence, they've punched far below their weight for most of the past decade (in some seasons being borderline awful). With their resources, they should be a perennial top 5 program.

4. Rutgers - while you have to go way back to find a time when they might've been considerend a college football power, they're still the only FBS school in a state with nearly 9 million people that's also within the nation's largest metro area. And even though college football takes a backseat to pro football in the northeast, that's not enough of an excuse for their consistently terrible play, especially given their undeserving conference affiliation.

3. Tennessee - somehow, in recent years, they've managed to squander away a rich history that includes being a fully blue blooded member of the nation's top college football conference.

2. UCLA - like USC, they're in a recruiting hot bed, which also just happens to be the nearly ideal climate of the nation's second largest metro area (in its most populous state). But for a good part of the past decade, they've mostly sputtered between medicore and downright bad.

1. Illinois - easily the most underachieving program in college football, not just over the past decade but for a long time. They're the flagship school of a state with a population over 12 million (that includes the nation's third largest metro area), are in a power conference, and are almost always mediocre or worse.

BYU has underachieved over the past decade, but not as much as these schools.