Think for a second about the last time the words “Iowa Hawkeyes” were in the same sentence with “Rose Bowl,” “undefeated,” or “national championship” before the team even played its opening contest.

Iowa’s No. 9 preseason ranking is its highest since 1988, and with an Orange Bowl win fresh on fans’ minds, the Hawkeye hype machine is running at full throttle.

Some might say there was a similar type of excitement in 2005 and 2006, and in these cases, Iowa failed to live up to expectations, finishing a disappointing 7-5 and 6-7, respectively.

And in 1988, Iowa started the season ranked No. 9 but lost the opener to Hawaii and fell out of the top 25 after the third week of the season. The Hawkeyes ended the year 6-4-3 overall.

Simply put, Iowa hasn’t been the best when it comes to high expectations.

But there’s something different about this team, something that makes me believe it can transcend the hype and make a run at the Big Ten title.

Maybe it’s because this Hawkeye team might be the deepest squad in recent memory.

Maybe it’s because head coach Kirk Ferentz has been blessed with the best defensive line in the country.

Or maybe it’s because Ricky Stanzi has leadership qualities unmatched by previous Iowa quarterbacks. The quarterback could lead his team into the Hawkeyes’ pink visiting lockeroom and it would follow.

Stanzi — who will be a third-year starter (think about how often that happens in college football) — realizes the mistakes he made last season. He has spent countless hours in the film room to learn from his 15 interceptions last season.

The depth at wide receiver is the best Ferentz has had in his 12 years at Iowa, and the same could probably be said for the defensive line.

And if getting bull-rushed by Adrian Clayborn, Karl Klug, and Christian Ballard isn’t bad enough for opposing quarterbacks, Brett Greenwood and Tyler Sash are there to cover all the gaps in the secondary.

Collectively, this group has just as much talent as any team in the Big Ten and most teams in the country, but the Hawkeyes still aren’t respected.

Opponents will say Iowa is overrated because it won four games last season by a total of eight points and were only a handful of plays away from finishing the regular season 7-5 rather than 10-2.

There probably wasn’t another team in Division-I football that was so close to being undefeated and yet so close to being 6-6.

Great teams find a way to win close games, and Iowa did just that. The Hawkeyes proved they could play with the best teams in the conference, and they have a trophy full of oranges to show for it.

But the Iowa players aren’t satisfied with just an Orange Bowl win.

Great teams live up to high expectations, and last season made the Iowa players realize what it takes to be an elite team in college football.

But maybe I’m jaded. Maybe I’m too quick to buy into the hype. Maybe all the expectations will cripple this team.

I don’t know; we don’t know — that’s the trouble with preseason predictions.

Eleven days until we find out.