They may not be flying under the radar as much as the other teams on this list, especially after a New Year’s Day thumping of South Carolina in the Outback Bowl, but the Hawkeyes are on the brink of a run similar to the early part of the decade, when they won 31 games in a 3-year span. We’ve all heard about the 4 losses by a combined 12 points last year, but if the Hawkeyes had executed better late in those games, they could have legitimately been 3-4 wins better. A lot of that falls on QB Ricky Stanzi, who progressed well in his first season as the starter and showed a lot of poise late in the season. Workhorse back Shonn Greene is gone, but Jewel Hampton will lead a talented group of running backs that could see 3 or 4 guys get significant touches. The WR corp should be improved, with the addition of converted QB Marvin McNutt, a healthy Trey Stross, and talented freshman Keenan Davis. The line loses two key players but also returns one of the best tackle tandems in the nation and a wealth of experience. Two sparkplugs on defense, Mitch King and Matt Kroul, are gone up front, but 8 starters return and they have the ability to be as good as or better than last season’s top 5 scoring D. All 5 road games will be brutal, but double-digit wins is not out of the question for the Hawkeyes this fall.

3. Nevada
The Wolfpack’s unique Pistol offense was wildly successful last year, when Nevada finished 3rd in the nation in rushing offense and fifth in total offense. QB Colin Kaepernick became just the 5th QB in history to run for over 2,000 yards and rush for over 1,000. RB Vai Taua had over 1,500 yards after being buried on the depth chart at the start of the season. Both return along with 15 other starters. The flaw for the Wolfpack is defense, especially the pass D. But this year they return a pair of ends that each had double digit sacks and a lot of overall experience on defense, so look for them to make some improvements. The OOC schedule is tough, including games against Notre Dame and Missouri, but they have the talent on offense to hang with anybody and could wind up with 9+ wins.

2. Arkansas
The Razorbacks will boast probably the best offense no one will pay attention to. Ryan Mallet has as strong an arm as anyone in the country, and he will have a plethora of weapons at his disposal: RB Michael Smith, TE D.J. Williams, and a loaded WR corp. The problem for this team will again be the defense, which ranked last in the SEC last year. However, nearly all of that defense will be back and will (hopefully) be improved. The real decisive factor this year will be the rough road schedule. The Hogs have to travel to probably the 4 best teams in the conference in Florida, ‘Bama, LSU and Ole Miss. If Arkansas can take care of business at home and beat Texas A&M on the road, 7-8 wins is likely and 9 is not completely out of the question.

1. Illinois

It seems like Illinois under-achieves every year that Zook has been at the helm. Every off-season we here about what a great recruiter Zook is, and he has been able to put some insanely talented players on the field at Illinois. But with the exception of the 2007 Rose Bowl season, the results have not panned out on the field. This year the Illini return two All-American caliber players in QB Juice Williams and WR Arrelious Benn. Illinois should have no trouble scoring points, but the defense will need to improve on last season, when they allowed over 26 points per game. The Illini miss both Iowa and Wisconsin this year, and their two toughest conference tests will be right off the bat at Ohio State and against Penn State. If they can steal one of those games, the Illini will likely be favored in all of their remaining games and could end up in the hunt for the Big 10 crown.

When deciding who to use for our Top 5 Sleeper Teams, our main concern was picking teams we though would over-achieve; teams that will win more games than most predict. As such, these teams aren’t necessarily the teams that will be the most shocking, but rather the teams that have the potential for improvement. I’m sure there are some picks that many will disagree with, so sound off in our comments section!