A Tale Of Two CFB Powers

Roundball Shaman

Four-Star Recruit
Here’s a look at two legacy successful college football programs.

Mystery Program #1 has the following win-loss records since 2014:
7-6
8-5
7-6
4-8
2-10
2-8

Mystery Program #2 has the following win-loss records since 2014:
9-4
6-7
9-4
4-8
4-8
4-5

The trajectory of these two programs are similar. First 3 years, not too bad. Last three years... ugh.

Who is Mystery Team #1? The Arkansas Razorbacks. And Mystery Team #2? Who else but the beloved Huskers.

The point? Huskers aren’t alone in being a successful program that can’t seem to find its footing. Tennessee also is close to fitting in with this same group. And some others.

You can change the pieces on your program chessboard but that doesn’t mean you’ll automatically get Checkmate. Other programs are going through the same things the Huskers are. There’s no magic formula to finding your mojo after you’ve lost it.

Teams like SMU, Baylor, Minnesota, Indiana (and Illinois?) seem to have hit upon the right formula of pieces arranged the right way. All of them were down (some for along time) and they have turned their ships around.

The Huskers can, too. Just like Frost’s first game in Lincoln as Head Coach, you never know when lightning is going to strike. And the chess pieces will all come together the right way.

 
An indication of just how far we've fallen is the comparison of the Huskers to Arkansas.  Arkansas?  Really?  When were their dynasties?  How many crystal trophies are in their trophy case?  The Razorbacks have exactly one undefeated season.  It was during the Lyndon Johnson administration.  

Say what you will about similar trajectories.  There's one big difference though.  We've been there before.   A few times.  Arkansas hasn't.  The Huskers will get back.  Eventually.  Definitely before Arkansas sniffs a playoff game.  /jmho

 
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I really hope we quickly move past comparing ourselves to Indy, Illinois, Minnie, SMU etc.... I'd prefer to look at OU, Bama, as teams that fell from grace but rose again.  I guess you can also look at FSU, UT and Miami as two teams wandering the desert save for FSU's year with Winston....I'd love a Clemson type turn around...We were like that with Bo. He just never pulled a Dabo. Maybe like you said, Frost can get everything to fit and the beast comes to life....

 
Arkansas a CFB Power?

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Here’s a look at two legacy successful college football programs.

Mystery Program #1 has the following win-loss records since 2014:
7-6
8-5
7-6
4-8
2-10
2-8

Mystery Program #2 has the following win-loss records since 2014:
9-4
6-7
9-4
4-8
4-8
4-5

The trajectory of these two programs are similar. First 3 years, not too bad. Last three years... ugh.

Who is Mystery Team #1? The Arkansas Razorbacks. And Mystery Team #2? Who else but the beloved Huskers.

The point? Huskers aren’t alone in being a successful program that can’t seem to find its footing. Tennessee also is close to fitting in with this same group. And some others.

You can change the pieces on your program chessboard but that doesn’t mean you’ll automatically get Checkmate. Other programs are going through the same things the Huskers are. There’s no magic formula to finding your mojo after you’ve lost it.

Teams like SMU, Baylor, Minnesota, Indiana (and Illinois?) seem to have hit upon the right formula of pieces arranged the right way. All of them were down (some for along time) and they have turned their ships around.

The Huskers can, too. Just like Frost’s first game in Lincoln as Head Coach, you never know when lightning is going to strike. And the chess pieces will all come together the right way.


Mystery Team 1 had Bret Bielema (without Barry) as its head coach.

 
More relevant Mystery Legacy Programs since 2014:

Mystery Team #1

13-1

10-3

10-3

7-6

5-7

5-5

Hint: it rhymes with Blorida Blate

Mystery Team #2

6-7

5-7

5-7

7-6

10-4

6-3

Hint: it rhymes with Blexas

Conclusion: it's hard to win a lot all the time.

 
I think the more fair comparison was in Shatel's article in Sunday's paper about Wisconsin.  When Alvarez took over the culture sucked and nobody cared. Once he got players to buy in and the culture changed, I believe the rest is history. 

 
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Changing The Current Husker Vibe

Husker fans: Won’t it feel good to hear the following kinds of comments about the Huskers and their Head Coach one day soon?...

“When we were 2-4, I was one of the people asking for (his) dismissal. Now I am eating crow and it tastes great!”

“Best thing about (him) is he will make your son a good player but also a better person. The team was happy about the win today, the biggest emotion they showed was for the coach. Parents of recruits take note that your son is going to get a good education, grow as a man and play football if you let him play for (him).”

“We need to appreciate the fact that we have a coach that loves this university and loves these kids. THIS MAN ABSOLUTELY LOVES TO TEACH AND NEEDS TO BE AROUND YOUNG MEN, WHAT A ROLE MODEL!”

“It is so good to see (him) having fun, smiling, jumping up and down, etc.”

“I am so damn proud of this team. They have amazing heart and compete like champions.”

“The No-Quit attitude of these kids is directly attributed to the coaches.”

Won’t it be nice when these kinds of comments are made about the Huskers? If you were wondering, these are comments from Fighting Illini fans about Lovie Smith and the Illini.

Many Illini fans were off the Lovie Train. Now they’re back on and enjoying the party. Huskers take note. It can happen that fast.

 
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