The Athletic is a subscription site with a paywall, so I am not going to copy and paste anything. However, to paraphrase, the author noted that for the first time Florida State, Nebraska, Texas and USC all will finish the season with losing records. He suggested that somebody put these four in a postseason exhibition showcase, saying that they would outdraw every New Year’s Day bowl game.
On a related note, I was thinking about which college football program has underperformed the most over the years compared to its reputation, resources, etc. In my opinion, Texas wins this one hand-down. Going back as far as the early 1980s when I started following college football, Texas for the most part seemed to be under-achieving. The one exception was when they won the National Title in 2005 with Mack Brown and Vince Young, but that didn’t last. As the flagship university in the state with the most talent and where football is a religion, it is hard to believe that Texas is as mediocre as it has been. And, they have not yet joined the SEC, where they will get the crap beat out of them if they don’t improve by then.
I agree, while I am very disappointed in the 'skers season, at least they lost to ranked teams and were in all of their games, I can see growth and potential. Texas lost to Kansas and did not look good in most of their losses. I don’t see where they are capable of getting much better.
And, in the mean time, USC fandom is delirious over the Lincoln Riley hire. They will no doubt be back to their obnoxious entitled selves even before Riley has coached a game.
What is it that makes USC that way.
I thought it was just us in the Midwest that thought about them that way. But I have heard it from a lot of people.
I think there are certain fan bases that have extended periods of success and develop a sense of entitlement.
As a side note, during the recent baseball playoffs I wrote a former classmate who lives in the Bay Area and told her I would be rooting for the Giants against the Dodgers. I added that although I live in Los Angeles, I am a contrarian when it comes to entitled local fan bases, namely the Lakers, Dodgers and USC. It was so fun when the Lakers were gawd awful for seven years and when the Dodgers had not won a World Series since 1988. Sadly, those are no longer true. It is only the USC fan base now that I can watch suffer.
To be fair, we used to be like that. Although we have had our share of humble pie this century.
But even when we were arrogant, we weren’t as bad as USC.
Many years ago I was driving in a part of the country during football season and was able to pick-up a Nebraska Cornhuskers football game on the radio. The announcers were arrogant as hell. I could tell they had spent a lot of time bragging about how great their football program was over the years.
As another example of arrogance, in 1990 I was in the Bay Area for a trip during the heyday of Joe Montana and the 49ers. The 49ers were playing the Falcons on the road, and the game got out of hand in the 49ers favor. I remember the radio announcers talking about how the Atlanta fans could then sit back and just enjoy watching the great work of art performance the 49ers were putting on.
As a follow-up, I caught a bit of a local sports talk radio show yesterday. One host pointed out that Lincoln Riley is only thirty-eight years old and has many years ahead of him, and he then said this would work out one of two ways for USC:
Riley takes USC back to its rightful place at the top of the college football world and keeps it there for many years while staying at USC until he retires.
Riley takes USC back to its rightful place and is so successful that the NFL comes calling and lures him away.
There is a long line of very successful College coaches that have failed miserably in the NFL.
And a very, very short line of those that were successful in both.
Quite true. And, I admit fully that I was wrong big-time about Pete Carroll when he took the Seattle job. I said that he would fail miserably and be back in college in a few years, just like others before him like Steve Spurrier.
Oh, I don’t really remember caring a lot, but I would have had the same opinion.
Jimmy Johnson comes to mind, he won two Super Bowls with Dallas and should be credited with Barry Switzer’s.
Going on memory, John Robinson had some decent years with the Rams before he ran out of gas at the end. And, Tom Coughlin did win two Super Bowls with the Giants and also took expansion Jacksonville to the AFC Championship game in five years.
Still, I agree with you that there are many more college coaches who flopped in the NFL. Nick Saban is the best modern-day example. The biggest coward was Bobby Petrino for how he told his players he had quit.