The top 5 declining football programs heading into 2015

[GoSooners]

Have at it BigDaddy. This is right up your dark alley. I'm sure everyone will have their opinions on this.

http://saturdayblitz.com/2015/03/05/top-5-declining-college-football-programs-heading-2015/

 

[BigdaddyQH]

This guy was all over the place. I can understand Alabama being on the list. When you win all of those National Championships and then fail to make the Big game (even though we now have a playoff), people are going to think that your program is headed downhill. I aalso agree with Stanford. They play the same old stale offense. It finally caught up to them last season when they lost 5 games

Va. Tech has been in decline for quite a while now. Teh had 3 loss seasons in 2010, 11, and 12, and then followed those up with a 6, 5, and another 6 loss season last year. Much like Stanford, Tech's offense is just too old and stale for them to be legitimate contenders in the ACC.

Oklahoma is a good candidate for this list NEXT season, if they do not improve on a 5 loss season that included a humiliation at the hands of Clemson. If you study OU's 2014 season, you will see that they gave several games away, and were 8 poiints away from having their usual 2 loss season. I think it is a bit premature to put them on this list, especially at #1.

I do not know why Kansas State is on this list. They have good seasons and bad, just like any other team who does not get very many top recruits. Their 4 losses last season were to Auburn, TCU, Baylor and UCLA, all teams that were better than K-State going in. I think that if anyone thinks that Kansas State deserves to be on this list, they should really look at the talent that Snyder has to work with.

 

[Conan]

I almost posted my comments about Stanford but the phone rang and I was distracted.

The Stanford offense IMHO is in no trouble. Their failure to produce points last season was primarily due to Hogan's inability to be consistent as Luck's replacement. However they have some very talented players that are destined to produce this upcoming season. Barry Sanders Jr. may be one of them... according to how well he has played in practice thus far. He's being used as a receiver out of the backfield often. They also have a very talented group of receivers (e.g. Cajust.) Towards the end of last season Kevin Hogan looked pretty good and Shaw is in control over his offense. Their biggest problem was a slow start last season, however they finished off the year with a flair that went unnoticed because they had already been written off.

This season it's their defense that will likely suffer with only 3 starters from last season returning. Shaw definitely has his hands full with that scenario, especially with the Stanford D's vaunted reputation at stake. They did finish last year at the #2 spot in the nation in points allowed.

I wouldn't necessarily put them on this list but since they are near the bottom of it, and there's just a lot of dumb shit being said at this point, I couldn't care less.

 

[Conan]

This just occurred to me...
A lot of the press we see nowadays, especially at this point is in too many cases a figment of some sport hack's wet dream in a dark room. All this preseason information should only be taken seriously from reliable sources. Writers' opinions are often FOS.

All of this will make a lot more sense when the depth charts start coming out.

 

[GoSooners]

This just occurred to me...
A lot of the press we see nowadays, especially at this point is in too many cases a figment of some sport hack's wet dream in a dark room. All this preseason information should only be taken seriously from reliable sources. Writers' opinions are often FOS.

All of this will make a lot more sense when the depth charts start coming out.

I almost didn't even bother to post this. Like you said, lots of hack writers giving their worthless opinions this time of year. Plus I've never seen a well written article done in slide show format. As for the two Big 12 teams OU and KSU. OU has definitely been in decline for the past few years. Right now the best word to describe the Sooners is stale. They are stuck in the mud unless Stoops somehow figures out a winning formula. We'll see what new OC Riley can bring to the table. KSU basically hasn't changed. The problem for them is the same problem Stanford has. Everybody around them has gotten better. KSU has been replaced for now with Baylor and TCU. It is a joke even mentioning Bama in this article. Yeah, they haven't won a national championship in a whopping 2 years. And they fielded only the 2nd best recruiting class this past cycle. It looks like they are in a death spiral the likes of which only the greatest coach in the history of college football could pull them out of. The only 2 true declining programs on this list going into 2015 are OU and VT. And you never really know what Stoops will do when nobody's paying any attention to his team. I actually like when the spotlight is off the Sooners. They usually become good betting prospects when the hype isn't there.

 

[Conan]

For anyone looking around for an article by a writer that can be trusted, here is Ted Miller's
take off on this season's up-to-date notes. 10 of the most defining position battles.

 

[cloverleaf]

This son of a bitch is right on about Alabama heading toward the bottom of the SEC. Jesus, the recruiting class slipped to second this year after finishing No. 1 five straight years. The sorry ass coaching staff has gotten weaker...weak, no drive, not motivated and it will show because Saban (big contract) will start playing golf rather than watching opponents film.

As a long, long time Bama fan...I'm worried.

HORSESHIT!

 

[BigdaddyQH]

My way too early thoughts for this season. Alabama can easily lose two games this season. At Auburn and at Georgia. Tennessee can upset them at home if they fall asleep. 'Bama needs to find an offense. I do not see 'Bama in the playoff picture this season because I do not think they win the SEC West, which is not nearly as tough as people may think. Just look at their bowl record. The SEC West is now behind the Pac 12 West as far as toughest Divisions within a Conference goes. The SEC East will be very competitive.

THe Big 12 must be happy beause it is highly doubtful that the ACC ends up with a team that loses less than two games. This means that either Baylor, with their cream puff non-con schedule, or TCU, who hosts Baylor but plays both Oklahoma teams on the road, could end up with just one loss and back into the playoffs.

The Big 10 is simple. It is Ohio State vs the rest of the Conference. Urban Meyer is the best HC in College Football. The offense is loaded. An Ohio State loss in the regular season would be a major upset.

The ACC is probably the weakest of the conferences. Florida Stae must replace their QB and leader on offense. No one else has the ability to lose less than two games. The fact that an undefeated and defending champion Florida State sank to #3 in last season's playoff rankings shows just how weak many people on the Committee think the ACC actually is.

The Pac 12 is extremely competitive. Oregon goes to Michigan State, Washington, Arizona State, and Stanford, as well as hosting USC. A loss to Michigan State would force Oregon to run the Pac 12 table, something that they have not been able to do since 2010. The Pac 12 South is anyone's guess. UCLA and USC look very tough. Arizona and Arizona State will not be easy games for anyone. Utah can beat anyone. They lose to the Arizona teams, but defeat the Los Angeles team last season.

Last season it was very easy to pick the 4 teams that would appear in the playoffs. Ohio State, Oregon, and Florida State were just about locks, and Alabama was right there with them. All 4 made it. This season is different. Ohio State should be home free, but the rest is wide open. I do not see any team other than the Buckeyes going undefeated and very few, if any teams in the ACC, Pac 12, and SEC losing just one game. The Big 12 has a shot with two teams, but both must lose less than two games or they may be shut out again.

 

[rivercitybirdie]

OP, thanks for posting........ i like the alabama call. very gutsy and unique....... the rest are teams that are already declining... i would easily take VT and oklahoma to win more games this season that last.. K State i have no idea. historically a big JC player. not sure these days... stanford is pretty no-brainer to have a good chance to sink towards the bottom 3rd of the pac-12. these small elite schools face a ton of headwinds. harbaugh/shaw have done well but the trend (on-field and recruiting) is not good. USC seems to be the only private school that doesn't face private school issues that much (even ND seem to face these issues)....

if VT and Oklahoma have had good recruiting classes the last few years i wouldn't worry too much............... both coaches are perhaps long-in-the-tooth at their places. beemer especially

 

[GoSooners]

OP, thanks for posting........ i like the alabama call. very gutsy and unique....... the rest are teams that are already declining... i would easily take VT and oklahoma to win more games this season that last.. K State i have no idea. historically a big JC player. not sure these days... stanford is pretty no-brainer to have a good chance to sink towards the bottom 3rd of the pac-12. these small elite schools face a ton of headwinds. harbaugh/shaw have done well but the trend (on-field and recruiting) is not good. USC seems to be the only private school that doesn't face private school issues that much (even ND seem to face these issues)....

if VT and Oklahoma have had good recruiting classes the last few years i wouldn't worry too much............... both coaches are perhaps long-in-the-tooth at their places. beemer especially

Much of it does have to do with recruiting, whether people like to admit it or not. Plus everything about college football is circular, with every school going through peaks and valleys. All we really know for sure is what they've done in the past few years, not what they will do in the future. Sometimes all it takes is a Heisman quality QB to turn around a program. And you never know when one of them are going to come along. That's why in a way this article is random off season guess work. I think it's definitely guessing to say Bama is declining when they are still at the top of the heap in recruiting and coming off a Final Four appearance. Saban's coaching style isn't really much different than what he's always done. The only thing that has probably changed a little with them is the new offensive coordinator and the style of football they are having to transition to to keep up with these high flying offenses. It will probably require a little better than average QB going forward, unless Saban can put together the kind of lockdown defense he had 3 years ago. VT, KSU and Stanford have never been great recruiting schools. So you can't expect them to have the kind of success that they've had in past years. It's not so much the schools themselves, it's the teams around them who have changed. KSU will always be KSU because Snyder is the hardest worker in football. But after he leaves...who knows.

 

[BigdaddyQH]

I think we know eactly what happens to K-State when Snyder leaves. The last time Snyder left, K-State went 17-20, with 8 of those wins coming against patsy non-con competition. They also went 8-24 against Big 12 competition. I can't see anything else happening to them that would change that outcome when Snyder leaves again. This season K-State has another cream puff non-con schedule. They also host TCU, Oklahoma, and Baylor. Someone certainly has a chance of being upset in Manhattan.

 

[GoSooners]

I think we know eactly what happens to K-State when Snyder leaves. The last time Snyder left, K-State went 17-20, with 8 of those wins coming against patsy non-con competition. They also went 8-24 against Big 12 competition. I can't see anything else happening to them that would change that outcome when Snyder leaves again. This season K-State has another cream puff non-con schedule. They also host TCU, Oklahoma, and Baylor. Someone certainly has a chance of being upset in Manhattan.

KSU is a tough job, even for Snyder. Many may not remember, but during Kansas heyday under Mangino 10 years ago, Kansas was getting many of the best JC prospects out of Kansas, a hotbed for JC recruits. And KSU was slowly sinking into mediocrity under Snyder. It's why he retired the first time around. Then he got a second wind and came back after Kansas started going downhill. So yeah, it's a tough job, and geographically a tough school and location to bring in blue chip recruits.

 

[CoachCB]

Most of the teams on this list are a super star QB away from being 10-2 type teams (or better, in Alabama & Oklahoma's case). K-State and Va Tech are heading in the wrong direction. It's a shame too, as Snyder and Beamer are great coaches. As GS mentioned, CFB goes in cycles. For a team to be on top more than 5-10 years is tough. Bama has sustained it since Saban's 2nd year there. Oklahoma has had a great run w/ Stoops and have really only had a few truly disappointing seasons (sure, the fans will say it's more).

 

[loomis41973]

I don't see why everyone jumps to say Snyder is a great coach. He gets most of his talent via tons of juco transfers.....Not every program has that luxury

 

[GoSooners]

I don't see why everyone jumps to say Snyder is a great coach. He gets most of his talent via tons of juco transfers.....Not every program has that luxury

What luxury? Most juco's aren't blue chip recruits. They are usually the second choice and only fit certain immediate needs of any of the elite football programs. That's why Snyder is such a great coach. Most of the time he doesn't even crack the top 50 in Rivals recruiting. His talent level at KSU is closer to a MAC school than it is an elite Power 5 program.

 

[loomis41973]

Many great players go the JUCO route because they are too dumb or uninterested in education to qualify for a real school....they than go on to "qualify" to play for the highest bidder.

Are you really that naive?

 

[GoSooners]

Many great players go the JUCO route because they are too dumb or uninterested in education to qualify for a real school....they than go on to "qualify" to play for the highest bidder.

Are you really that naive?

loomis, you've said some of the most ignorant things tonight that I've ever seen from you on this forum. I expected better of you since you've been around here a while. There are very few highest bidders for JUCO recruits unless they are something very special. Most major college programs don't go the juco route unless there is an immediate need at a certain position. And there is a good reason for it. College coaches know the turnover rate is too hard to overcome when they bring in too many juco's. It's why they redshirt many freshman blue chip players out of high school. Even Snyder is starting to realize this. It's why he has been recruiting less juco's than he has in the past.

 

[CoachCB]

What luxury? Most juco's aren't blue chip recruits. They are usually the second choice and only fit certain immediate needs of any of the elite football programs. That's why Snyder is such a great coach. Most of the time he doesn't even crack the top 50 in Rivals recruiting. His talent level at KSU is closer to a MAC school than it is an elite Power 5 program.

Agree. It's hilarious someone would think it's an advantage to sign a lot of JUCO's. No, correction....it's stupid as hell to think that!

Teams like Bama, LSU, UGA, FSU, etc fill holes in the roster w/ JUCO's. Teams like K-State, New Mexico, Southern Miss, etc count on JUCO's to contribute and become star players.

Anyone who thinks Snyder is a "great" coach really doesn't know much about college football.

 

[RunLeeRun]

I'm sorry but I find it narrow-minded when people saying Bill Snyder isn't a great coach. Why? Because he is located in talent-drought region and takes in a few Juco's? Since most agree that the number of great Juco's is small, that just expounds his greatness. He develops players. The limited talent he gets, he fits them into his schemes like laser-cut pieces. He is the epitome of great. If he were in a talent rich region, he'd have his national title and you same people would be talking about him like you do Saban. And he came damn close to getting his title, taking a program that hadn't won a single game in 3+ years and turning it into a program in the hunt year after year. If it hadn't been for having to face Nebraska in it's greatest decade he may have gotten it. Politics probably would have given Michigan the title in 1997, but he was one game away in 1998 (TAM) and 99 (Nebraska). So funny, Gus Malzahn is a "genius" because he brought the single wing offense back to college football. BULLSHIT! Snyder was using it 10 years before Malzahn ever set foot in college football. Where do you think they got it from and named it after?

 

[CoachCB]

I'm sorry but I find it narrow-minded when people saying Bill Snyder isn't a great coach. Why? Because he is located in talent-drought region and takes in a few Juco's? Since most agree that the number of great Juco's is small, that just expounds his greatness. He develops players. The limited talent he gets, he fits them into his schemes like laser-cut pieces. He is the epitome of great. If he were in a talent rich region, he'd have his national title and you same people would be talking about him like you do Saban. And he came damn close to getting his title, taking a program that hadn't won a single game in 3+ years and turning it into a program in the hunt year after year. If it hadn't been for having to face Nebraska in it's greatest decade he may have gotten it. Politics probably would have given Michigan the title in 1997, but he was one game away in 1998 (TAM) and 99 (Nebraska). So funny, Gus Malzahn is a "genius" because he brought the single wing offense back to college football. BULLSHIT! Snyder was using it 10 years before Malzahn ever set foot in college football. Where do you think they got it from and named it after?

Preach it, brother!