There is only one USC. This is its band.
https://youtu.be/vJyRisT-GB8
I know programs ascend and descend, but having colleged in the 1990s, I find the present conditions of FSU, Tennessee and Nebraska jarring to encounter.
A movie is not about what it's about; it's about how it's about it.
---Roger Ebert
Some questions cannot be answered
Who’s gonna bury who
We need a love like Johnny, Johnny and June
---Over the Rhine
Tennessee is the one that vexes me the most. They seemed bullet proof to a degree...SEC East, big big stadium and all the money they needed...FSU is located in the sweltering part of Florida that is really just South Georgia in a way....and they do not have the "U of" cred that Florida has...and Nebraska is in the midwest...isolated many miles from anywhere. Players seem to be gravitating towards warmer climates, the coastal regions, as a "general" rule.
As a BYU grad and long-time BYU football fan, I was ecstatic at the double-overtime outcome of the Tennessee game. After getting schooled by our arch-rival Utah week one, I figured we'd start the season 0-2 with the trip to Tennessee.
"We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." --M. Proust
I think the biggest issue for Tennessee is that their natural recruiting base has seen major encroachment from a number of "non-traditional" rivals" over the past ~10 years - namely Memphis, Mississippi State, Kentucky and Louisville. And going back a little further, Virginia Tech. And that's in addition to Saban generally getting whomever he targets within the SEC region. The UT talent level these days is down pretty noticeably from the Majors and Fulmer eras.
On a positive Tennessee note, at least the environment won't be subjected to as much incessant Rocky Top.
What silliness. OSU has barely missed the playoffs multiple times with only one loss, and had a very good case for being in each time they missed out, including the year that they had two losses. Of course their fans wanted them in each time... fan is a shortened version of fanatic. 9-3? Michigan would take a three-loss season as a sign of progress. OSU would consider it a failure.
Definitely. Don't neglect the top regional talent is now funneling to Georgia or Clemson with schools like Duke and State picking off a lot of the kids that might used to be second string at a place like UT. Missing out on the top recruits as well as the pipeline of reliable depth is a prescription for disaster. Toss in some horribly managed coaching searches and the Vols are starting to look like NC State Basketball for much of two decades.
A movie is not about what it's about; it's about how it's about it.
---Roger Ebert
Some questions cannot be answered
Who’s gonna bury who
We need a love like Johnny, Johnny and June
---Over the Rhine
OK, Lynn Swann is out as AD at Southern Cal (the real and only USC)... the program is in a bit of a mess, and who is going to clean it up, you ask?
None other than new President Carol Folt, she of the "let's spend $18 million dollars to defend unc against the NCAA."
Yes, I'm sure a veteran denier and obfuscator is just what USC needs...
I think every college President reports to the Board of Trustees or something similar.
At the cheaters Folt was told to protect the banners, which she did.
At USC I think she was told to clean up the mess Max Nikias left behind. She is doing so. And it is not just athletics where there were major problems.
Swann was the least qualified of the last 3 USC ADs, never should have been given the job and never should have accepted. It was basically the work of the major donor to the program.
A very safe bet is that the next AD will not be a former football star with no experience in athletic administration after Garrett, Haden, Swann. Interesting question is what does it mean for football coach Clay Helton. He had a great win over Stanford on Saturday. A new AD may want his guy as coach, but hard to fire a coach after a good season. Question - how good a season is good enough for Helton.
Hiring college Presidents who are good at raising money with no concept of what they are really doing is also not a good idea.
SoCal - Married to a Trojan