Helmet Team Ranking Exercise

[FearlessF]

Michigan
UNL
PSU

[TyphonInc]

M*ch*g*n
Penn State
Nebraska

Things I think about not on OAM's list:
Who gets more press coverage.
Who gets ranked high by name recognition alone.
Who other schools would be more excited to play/beat.
Hall of Fame coaches
BCS Wins / Playoff Appearances

Things I consider from OAM's list:
All time wins
National Titles
Heisman's
Recent success
Conference Titles

[DevilFroggy]

Michigan
Nebraska
Penn St

Michigan was an easy #1, the other 2 were very close.

[ELA]

Michigan
Nebraska
Penn State

[Anonymous Coward]

I expected this to be a lot tighter between PSU and UNL. Only 15% to 20% of the polls are in, but it looks like a route.

[ELA]

It's odd that they are close, but in my mind it's clear.

I've said I don't think either qualifies for my list of helmets, but they are the first two out with Nebraska #8 and PSU #9

[Temp430]

Michigan
Nebraska
Penn State

[Kris61]

Michigan
Nebraska
Penn St

[Cincydawg]

Would Nebraska have been higher in say 1995?  Penn State?  Michigan?

I think these three programs are examples of how this metric can diminish over two decades or so.

Give it another 20 years and if any continue with rather lackluster performance, I think they will drop further (duh) and be surpassed by a program like Clemson or FSU if they keep it up.

[TyphonInc]

Would Penn State have been higher with out the Sandusky atrocities?

Putting my 1995 glasses on, I don't think UNL passes *ich. *ich was operating at a pretty high level in the 90ies as well. in '95 UNL was just finishing up there best 3 year run ever, a type of run that gets in the discussion of being a helmet, but when your already a helmet the type of run expected, and 1 super class does not vault you past the all time winning-est team, who is also playing at high rate.

[Cincydawg]

I meant higher overall.  I agree they would not have been above Michigan then.

They might have edged out say Oklahoma or Ohio State back in 1997 or so?

Speculation.  I'm pondering how much mobility there is in these rankings, e.g., how long it takes to drop or gain a tier.

And it's not a zero sum game.  Tier One for example would contain 7,8,9,10 programs, perhaps.

[FearlessF]

I meant higher overall.  I agree they would not have been above Michigan then.

They might have edged out say Oklahoma or Ohio State back in 1997 or so?

Speculation.  I'm pondering how much mobility there is in these rankings, e.g., how long it takes to drop or gain a tier.

And it's not a zero sum game.  Tier One for example would contain 7,8,9,10 programs, perhaps.

I think there would have been good discussion after the 99 season that Nebraska might have passed or on the verge of passing OU, but not tOSU

then Bobby Stoops came up with the 2000 championship

[Cincydawg]

It gets too complex, but our ranking might change if done each decade, even not meaning 1940.

Would we have had Ole Miss and Minny "up there" in 1960?  Oklahoma might then have been 1 or 2.

Of course, part of the helmet thing is having "been there" over many decades.  That is why many have FSU just shy.  FSU in 1970 would be well down, Miami as well.  Nebraska in 1970 would still be up there.

That top tier changes slowly, I think, which is why it is a top tier and rarified air.

[Anonymous Coward]

Would Nebraska have been higher in say 1995?  Penn State?  Michigan?

I think these three programs are examples of how this metric can diminish over two decades or so.

Give it another 20 years and if any continue with rather lackluster performance, I think they will drop further (duh) and be surpassed by a program like Clemson or FSU if they keep it up.

They way I see it, dreaming of becoming a Helmet may be boringly hopeless for outsiders and being discarded may be boringly impossible for insiders.

By observation, I think there are presently 10 Helmet teams (ND, Michigan, Texas, OSU, Alabama, USC, Oklahoma, UNL, PSU, and Tennessee) whose prestige was "permanently set," roughly around the year 1970, making them the first such examples (of permanently set prestige) in CFB history.  And as no one has entered or left my set of Helmet club membership since, we don't have any evidence that it could happen.

So I'm not convinced that 20-straight lackluster-on-average seasons could accomplish anything to drop them. 20+ certainly hasn't done that for Notre Dame. To make engaging those possibilities useful, we first need evidence of an unequivocal transition in or out.