ESPN: Which schools should be considered college football royalty?

knapplc said:
Nebraska is in real danger of becoming Minnesota. The Golden Gophers have seven national championships to their name, but haven't been relevant on the national stage in fifty years. They're forever away from recruiting hotbeds and they haven't had a top-tier recruiting class since the major raters came into being. There are a lot of parallels between the two programs.
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not really! pretty much nothing in common but you can believe what you want.

 
SABER said:
knapplc said:
Nebraska is in real danger of becoming Minnesota. The Golden Gophers have seven national championships to their name, but haven't been relevant on the national stage in fifty years. They're forever away from recruiting hotbeds and they haven't had a top-tier recruiting class since the major raters came into being. There are a lot of parallels between the two programs.
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not really! pretty much nothing in common but you can believe what you want.
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I'm afraid we have more in common with them than you'd like to acknowledge. By joining the BIG, we got even closer.

 
IMO when you look at the history of college football you can't just look at a national title count or win count. You have to understand the fact that there are distinct eras to the history, and distinct teams that dominated those eras. There are really only a handful of teams that have experienced dominance in multiple eras. Michigan, Notre Dame and Ohio State probably have the longest history of dominance, IMO.

1880 - Walter Camp creates the line of scrimmage and many other new rules that transform the game from modified rugby to American Football.

1905 - After an escalation of violence and deaths in the sport, the NCAA is formed and creates a series of new rules, including the forward pass, that changes the game into it's modern form. This Era is characterized by a lot of innovation in formations and strategy as coaches tried to exploit the new rules.

1930 - Football starts to experience growth throughout the country, not just in the northeast and midwest. The rise of the South happens in this Era. College Football truly becomes a Nationally important sport. You could call this the "Golden Age" of College Football prior to NFL dominance.

1958 - The NFL Championship Game ushers in the Modern Era of football for both the NFL and College, with popularity for both fueled by television. The number of Bowl Games also expands throughout this era.

1994 - the 85-Scholarship Era begins, with dramatic increases in parity, Television Coverage, and Television money. This could also be called the BCS-era, which started in 1998. Oregon, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, and mid-majors like Boise State, Utah, TCU, etc. rise to prominence.

2020? - The SuperConference and Playoff Era begins??

 
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I've always thoguht of the same way as Knapp. I dont know how close we are are, but as year after year of irrlevancy ticks by, you can help but wonder the possibility.

I will say this. If programs like Oregon, Michigan St, Clemson, TCU, Baylor, and so on can rise to eliteness, why cant nebraska?

i know, some of those are in the "recruiting hot zones". But my rebuttal is, if that's so, then whey the hell werent they ever relevant before? They found a guy that got em there. That's all it's about. excuses are exactly what they are. And I think Nebraska is in a plenty good enough position to get back. Just piece the puzzle together is all it takes.

 
^^^^ We can get there. Certainly not out of the question. If Michigan State can make the Playoffs, there's no reason why Nebraska can't. Need good recruiting, good coaching and long-term focus.

 
While it seems so far away, the success like knapplc says is a few bounces away. One magical year is all it takes, run the conference table, get some bounces in the big games and it can happen. A four team playoff makes it so much more likely rather than going through the 24 team playoffs in FCS and D2, D3 do. Nebraska can do it.

Someone has to win, why not Nebraska?

 
knapplc said:
^^^^ We can get there. Certainly not out of the question. If Michigan State can make the Playoffs, there's no reason why Nebraska can't. Need good recruiting, good coaching and long-term focus.
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Exactly! We can, just need everything to fall into place.
 
Just do it soon. Some of us are getting pretty old and we'd like to see another NC. Ok, I'm not ready to kick the bucket but I had kids in grade school the last time it occurred. I think we can get there. The fan base here will make sure it happens - enough yelling by boasters, everyday fans and empty seats in the stadium (if the wait become much longer) will force the univ to hire a staff that will get it done. Maybe Mike R can get it done. He is getting some good recruits - let's see how he coaches this year. I am ok wt the list except for Texas being # 7 ahead of us and also I question Michigan being # 6 ahead of us

 
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Micheal said:
While it seems so far away, the success like knapplc says is a few bounces away. One magical year is all it takes, run the conference table, get some bounces in the big games and it can happen. A four team playoff makes it so much more likely rather than going through the 24 team playoffs in FCS and D2, D3 do. Nebraska can do it.

Someone has to win, why not Nebraska?
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For example, any number of combinations or running a few more seconds off the clock a few years ago would have netted a conference champions and - in all likelihood - a BCS bowl victory.

Would have shortened a lot of "how long" timelines.

 
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