Has there ever been a time before this where traditionally powerful teams slipped into irrelevance?

For the past 10 or more years, these programs have completely gone backwards and the future looks worse.

Miami
Nebraska
USC
Fsu (after losing Jimbo)
Michigan
tu
Tennessee

Meanwhile, teams like Texas A&M are trending up. When was the last time there was a power shift like this? Do they continue to die or will the be "back"?

Be nice if Bama joined that group

Michigan is 9-1 ranked in the top 10 and not counting last year Harbaugh's worst season is 8-5.

I will take the "wait and see" approach with Tennessee, yes right now they are down and digging themselves out of the deep hole their last 3 coaching hires have caused, but what i have seen from them in year 1 under Heupel, has them trending in the right direction. Will it hold or continue after year 1, we can wait and see.

Now t.u. can stay in futility forever for all i care.

Are we really trending up? Lost to 3 average teams with a 50/50 chance against lsu.

I could see all the teams listed except for Nebraska (and maybe Miami) making it back to prominence at some point. All these programs have money and fan support to be big time programs.

Nebraska feels different. It's in a location most aren't looking to go and hasn't done anything of significance since making the Big 12 title game before leaving for the BIG. I think their future will mimic Iowa. Some good seasons and some bad. Difference is Iowa accepts what they are and Nebraska thinks they should be a title contender every year.

Miami doesn't have a real fan base. They could rise again with a big coaching hire, but last time they were good they were also caught cheating and NIL evens that playing field.

InnocentBystander99 said:

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Michigan is 9-1 ranked in the top 10 and not counting last year Harbaugh's worst season is 8-5.

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Harbaugh's biggest issue right now is the "not beating tOSU" hanging over his head. If he can start doing that consistently he will be fine and Michigan will continue to move forward.

Drake aTm said:

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Miami
Nebraska
USC
Fsu (after losing Jimbo)
Michigan
tu
Tennessee

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Michigan is interesting. By public opinion, Harbaugh is underperforming. By sheer numbers, however, he has Michigan performing similar to Lloyd Carr and back to normalcy following Hoke and Rich Rod.

Miami is also interesting. Historically, they're not a great program. They just had a phenomenal 20 year run from the 80s to early 00s. It's been 17 years since joining the ACC (the end of their run) and they've only finished ranked 6 times but never in the Top 10.

Media may play a big role in how we perceive these teams.

I feel like USC is in the same boat.

Do they really have the support for football? It just doesn't feel like that administration is as invested in that program as they use to be.

Miami and FSU aren't blue bloods. Not sure Tennessee is either.

Kozmozag said:

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Are we really trending up? Lost to 3 average teams with a 50/50 chance against lsu.

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…..with a back up QB. Stfu

My daughter was class of 15....lol

Kozmozag said:

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Are we really trending up? Lost to 3 average teams with a 50/50 chance against lsu.

With a back up QB and rebuilt O-line.

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We are trending up. On pace to win 9+ Games with our backup QB in a year where our whole team was riddled with injury.

In the last year we Showed we can beat Bama and Showed we can do the dang thing in a NY6 bowl

And we're on pace to sign a top 3 recruiting class with a chance to even edge out Bama or UGA.

We are trending up. Look at this program since 2014 and you'll see it's headed to the moon with GME.

Kozmozag said:

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Are we really trending up? Lost to 3 average teams with a 50/50 chance against lsu.

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SHEESH

Can't look at everything in a vacuum and Ole Miss is well above average.

Obviously they want to beat Ohio State but the bigger issue is that Harbough is 3-4 against Michigan State and also has a terrible bowl record.

blue blood is such a stupid antiquated term. means absolutely nothing.

Salute The Marines said:

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Miami and FSU aren't blue bloods. Not sure Tennessee is either.

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If they aren't then tu isn't either. Tennessee has 6 national championships. Miami has 5. Florida St has 3. Texas CLAIMS 4 but actually has 3. The horns claim 1970, a year in which they got blown out by ND in the Cotton Bowl but the rightful owner to the 1970 national championship is Nebraska(who also claims 1970). If all of these schools are "blue bloods" based on national championships from DECADES ago then Minnesota should tower above all of them as an "elite blue blood". Minnesota has more titles than Florida St and Texas combined. My point is the "blue blood" designation is irrelevant. All throughout the 70s and 80s, fans wondered when Minnesota would be "back" just like Tenn, Nebraska, FSU and the lowly horns now…some people can't help themselves to live in the past.

There's the answer I was looking for.

So Minnesota was the only program who had success in the past that never bounced back ?

Nebraska is looking like the next Minnesota to me. Same with Miami

Nebraska got absolutely KILLED by tu/the Big12 eliminating partial qualifiers. That was their bread and butter and the backbone of their program. Kstate handled it a bit better by going the JUCO route, but Neb was a bit too stubborn to "stoop" to that level. Also, not much of an incentive to play in Lincoln unless you are a Neb native (a renowned HOTBED of CFB talent).

Miami got killed by their own Administration. They still feel like they should be a private school with education as the MAIN priority, eliminating the talent pool which led to their rise to prominence (inner city "thugs"/atheletes).

Conference realignment and tv money have really changed the landscape of college football. Before, NU ruled the Midwest in recruiting just like Miami and fsu ruled Florida and had a decent OOS presence. Tu dominated Texas etc. Kids now can go anywhere and be on tv and compete for NC's. The realignment really had an effect on the so called blue bloods. As well, the game is a 180 compared to 20-25 years ago.

Kozmozag said:

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Are we really trending up? Lost to 3 average teams with a 50/50 chance against lsu.

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If you cannot see the trend -- Recruiting, playing, winning - Jimbo's record in SEC play, at home etc... then you are blind or just dumb

This program is light years ahead of where it has ever been. Dont be obtuse

TexAg15 said:

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Kozmozag said:

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Are we really trending up? Lost to 3 average teams with a 50/50 chance against lsu.

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…..with a back up QB. Stfu

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that Jimbo offered a scholly to.

RogerTheShrubber said:

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Nebraska got absolutely KILLED by tu/the Big12 eliminating partial qualifiers. That was their bread and butter and the backbone of their program. Kstate handled it a bit better by going the JUCO route, but Neb was a bit too stubborn to "stoop" to that level. Also, not much of an incentive to play in Lincoln unless you are a Neb native (a renowned HOTBED of CFB talent).

Miami got killed by their own Administration. They still feel like they should be a private school with education as the MAIN priority, eliminating the talent pool which led to their rise to prominence (inner city "thugs"/atheletes).

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Nebraska had a reputation for developing homegrown offensive line talent and utilizing it to create a powerful rushing attack in the Tom Osborne system. Once Osborne retired, and Nebraska thought winning "only" 9 games on occasion under his disciple, Frank Solich, was unacceptable and unwisely fired him, they lost their way. I can almost guarantee you that many Husker fans can point to the firing of Solich as one of their biggest mistakes, even if they won't admit it.

Miami is a blue blood for many but not me. More of an extended flash in the pan type.

Well ... most of those aren't true "blue bloods," at least to me. Most are good programs, probably one tier down, but not the real blue bloods of the sport. Those would be:

Alabama Crimson Tide
Georgia Bulldogs
Michigan Wolverines
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Ohio State Buckeyes
Oklahoma Sooners
Texas Longhorns
USC Trojans.

Of this list only three are struggling ... USC, tu, and Nebraska. The Huskers woes and the challenges they face are well documented and are the one team on the list that could fall into historical obscurity.

The real turmoil is in the next tier of teams ... Clemson, Florida, Florida St., LSU, Miami, Oregon, Penn St., Tennessee, Washington, UCLA. This group is really up and down

Speaking of Nebraska, this is a BRUTAL piece on their program by Pat Forde at Sports Illustrated:

https://www.si.com/college/2021/11/08/scott-frost-returns-nebraska-football-2022

Mac94 said:

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Well ... most of those aren't true "blue bloods," at least to me. Most are good programs, probably one tier down, but not the real blue bloods of the sport. Those would be:

Alabama Crimson Tide
Georgia Bulldogs
Michigan Wolverines
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Ohio State Buckeyes
Oklahoma Sooners
Texas Longhorns
USC Trojans.

Of this list only three are struggling ... USC, tu, and Nebraska. The Huskers woes and the challenges they face are well documented and are the one team on the list that could fall into historical obscurity.

The real turmoil is in the next tier of teams ... Clemson, Florida, Florida St., LSU, Miami, Oregon, Penn St., Tennessee, Washington, UCLA. This group is really up and down

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I largely agree, but you HAVE to put Tennessee back on your blue bloods list. They are truly one of the great programs in college football; I suspect they will return to greatness in the East soon enough.

Different teams have different issues:

USC excelled while there were no NFL teams in town and they were the big show. If you couldn't be seen courtside at a Lakers game, you wanted to be seen at a Trojans game. They reaped the resulting money and exposure to recruits.

Miami similarly excelled from 1983 to 2003. Dolphins generally won a wild card game and then lost while the Hurricanes were winning national championships. Before that, Dolphins were making deep runs and going to the superbowl. Though the Dolphins got worse, Hurricanes never recovered after Coker, and Bobby Bowden and Steve Spurrier became huge problems for them that they have never recovered from. I though Richt was going to be the answer, but it seemed he was more interested in relaxing in Miami than winning.

Nebraska's problems were already covered above.

FSU is a good coach away from returning to prominence.

Michigan's biggest problem is the population leaving the midwest and moving to the south. But they're on the right track and I think will become a consistent 2nd to Ohio State like LSU used to be to bama.

Tennessee just hasn't recruited as well as Florida and Georgia and they can't quite be as selective in their coaching searches. SEC East is a lesson in good coaching. Fulmer, Spurrier. Urban, and Smart are elite coaches with elite reults. TN will have a few good years, but generally stay 3rd in the east unless they can find a good, young coach and give him enough time. Very difficult to do.

t.u. however, is by far the biggest embarrassment in the history of ALL sports as far as I'm concerned. They spend more money than anyone, they're in the largest city without real professional sports, they are (along with us) in the absolute best physical location in terms of proximity to elite recruits, and they have the history and facilities and fan support to dominate every year. They have their own tv channel! If they could get even one above-average coach, they could win a lot. They can win conference titles with an average coach, and should be able to win it all with just a good coach (not even great or elite). How they've been this bad for a decade+ is inexcusable and embarrassing (and I'm loving every minute of it!).

Is Tennessee a blue blood

Maybe not but they were consistently competitive and won titles . I have actually been a bit surprised. Heupel seems to have them going in the right direction.

Other than Michigan. OP is correct but others have taken their place. Georgia, Clemson (off yr to be sure), Oregon.

Tennessee isn't a blue blood. They had a good streak for a while but are nowhere near the same level as a true blue blood.

AggieInMichigan said:

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Obviously they want to beat Ohio State but the bigger issue is that Harbough is 3-4 against Michigan State and also has a terrible bowl record.

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Ah. I didn't realize he was that bad against MSU as well, it's just not the game the media / talking heads focus on when measuring Michigan's success. So I guess there are 2 teams he needs to start beating with more consistency.

Drake aTm said:

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There's the answer I was looking for.

So Minnesota was the only program who had success in the past that never bounced back ?

Nebraska is looking like the next Minnesota to me. Same with Miami

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I could easily see ALL of the above (Nebraska, Tenn, Miami, FSU, Texas and even USC ) NEVER bouncing "back". We all know why for Nebraska. For USC, the West Coast no longer has any interest in football. FSU was fortunate to have two great coaches back to back(one who coached to age 80). And Texas? They had a run in the 60s. They declined in the 70s. They were bad in the 80s. They were bad through much of the 90s. Mack got it going from 2001-2009 and they have been bad for the past 12 years…quite simply over rated