As part of a project with the purpose of introgression of beneficial traits from the wild species Gossypium tomentosum and G. mustelinum into Upland cotton, G. hirsutum., we have created a series of backcross, selfed, and random-mated populations. Determining which population is ideal for breeding is an important question for interespecific introgression. Breeding using exotic parents presents unique challenges because good alleles are often masked by negative traits that are linked or epistatic to them. These interactions make recovery and discovery of beneficial alleles difficult from these populations. We demonstrate how the fiber qualities and agronomic characteristics of each population can be used to determine its usefulness for selection and breeding.