(AJ Mast/AP)

Preseason polls rank teams based on previous results, roster and potential, but when the teams actually step on the field, many often fail to live up to expectations. Last year was no exception. Several teams missed the mark on their preseason expectations, but none more than the five you'll read about this week.

Each day this week, the Doc will uncover the top 5 most underachieving teams of 2011 and what to expect in 2012.

No. 5 Notre Dame

2011: 8-5

Last year was supposed to be a defining season for the Fighting Irish, one that would put them back on the national map. With starting quarterback Dayne Crist and phenom receiver Michael Floyd returning, an improved running game, eight starters back on defense and a relatively light schedule, the Irish were ranked preseason 16th in the AP Poll and 18th in the USA Today Coaches Poll. A bowl was expected and there was even talk of a possible run for a BCS bid.

What Happened?

Perhaps it was the tumultuous offseason that included a Floyd

(US Presswire)Joe Paterno's famed statue on the Penn State campus will remain standing - for now.

According to ESPN.com, the Penn State Board of Trustees have voted to leave the statue in place despite cries for it to be torn down in light of Paterno's role in a university-wide scandal to protect assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, who was sexually abusing young boys on the Penn State campus.

"You can't let people stampede you into making a rash decision," a trustee told the website. "The statue represents the good that Joe did. It doesn't represent the bad that he did."

Despite allegations that Paterno willfully covered up Sandusky's actions, there are many who revere the late coach and want his Penn State legacy to stand in bronze form.

As a sophomore last season, LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu was a first team All-American, the Bednarik winner and the only defensive finalist for the Heisman. And oh, yeah, he earned that "Honey Badger" nickname too.

So, entering 2012, Mathieu (@TM7_Era) is widely expected to repeat the success of last year. And, on Friday night, he took to Twitter to declare himself the best player in college football. Quite capitally, in fact.

In the tweet precluding that, Mathieu declared that revenge was "best served like steak: well done," which inevitably induced a flood of Alabama and National Championship related tweets. (Though more people are likely to take issue with Mathieu's steak preference.) Just Monday, Mathieu and Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron exchanged banter on Twitter about the rivalry's next matchup on November 3 after Mathieu dared anyone to throw a corner or cross country route on him.

In the tweet immediately after his declaration, Mathieu made a prediction:

In all honesty,

(US Presswire)

The Big Ten/Pac-12 college football challenge is over before it even began.

In a joint statement by Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott and Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, the two sides agreed the series that was announced last December had met resistance by some Pac-12 schools and had to be scuttled.

When news surfaced of Joe Paterno's connection with a child sex scandal at Penn State, former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden proclaimed that he only wanted to remember the good things about his friend of 50 years.

"I don't remember the bad things," Bowden told the Palm Beach Post. "He didn't have many bad things."

And now he says he doesn't want anyone else to remember the bad things either. That's why during a radio interview with Cory Giger, Bowden asked for Paterno's famed statue on the Penn State campus to be taken down.

"Should his statue be removed? In my opinion, yes," Bowden said. "Now the reason is, Penn State's job now is to try to forget this thing. But every time somebody walks by and sees that statue, they're not going to remember the 80 good years, they're going to remember this thing with (former assistant coach Jerry) Sandusky.

"Just think, every time you go to a ballgame at Penn State and they shine a camera on that statue, that's going to be brought up again. So if I was Penn State, if I was Joe's family, I'd say, move on from all that stuff."

(US Presswire)

Former Penn State linebacker LaVar Arrington once defended the "Penn State Way" of keeping things in the family, but on Thursday he acknowledged he didn't really know that family at all.

"If you really think about it, how much do I really know [coach Joe Paterno]?" Arrington told the "Wetzel to Forde" radio show. "How much do we really know him? I know the coaching figure - just like with Jerry Sandusky, I knew the coaching figure. I mean, there's obvious ways of looking at this right now with 20-20 hindsight, but I didn't know the person I thought I did."

A new conference means new uniforms for Texas A&M.

Adidas rolled out some snazzy new Lone Star TECHFIT uniforms that were inspired by the uniforms Texas A&M teams used to wear in the 1970s.

According to A&M's website, "the Aggies' new look pays homage to the rich tradition of Texas A&M football and celebrates the bright future in College Station."

(Andrew Weber/US Presswire)

While many are waiting for the NCAA to step in and issue some sort of death penalty against Penn State for its lack of institutional control following the release of the Freeh report, which detailed a university-wide cover-up of sexual abuse by former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, the harshest penalties could be coming from the Department of Education (DOE).

John Infante, who created bylawblog.com and used to work for NCAA.org, stated on Twitter that: "Dept. of Ed could prohibit Penn State from receiving federal student aid…. Prohibiting a school from receiving federal financial aid is the DOE's death penalty. But we're in "If not here, then where?" territory."