Dangerous times for Georgia, Michigan and Penn State
https://www.espn.com/college-football/insider/story/_/id/30280401/why-big-college-football-programs-georgia-michigan-penn-state-struggling
This makes me wonder what the magic number is for the top teams in a given stretch is. We all remember that OU stunk in the 90s, and Texas, too, for a time (even now?). More recently, we've seen Nebraska and Tennessee fall off a cliff, over a decade plus. Florida fell off, but seems to be relevant again.
FSU hasn't mattered in over 5 years and Miami in more than 10. But who has replaced them? How would you rate ND of the past 7-8 years? 2 undefeated regular seasons are special....but they haven't threatened to be the best program.
There's Bama and Clemson.....and OU and OSU seem bored winning their conference every year. With the PAC's absence from relevance, that must mean USC has been down and no single northern PAC team has mattered since Mariota left Eugene.
Penn State is 0-3, but they're 14th by S+P. I don't think there's anything wrong with their program, other than simply not being Ohio State. I do wonder about the B1G, though. Will the balance of power EVER shift west? In the SEC, the East was initially stronger, in the first 8-10-12 years, then the West stood up in a big way for a long time. Does divisional balance, even over decades matter?
Who matters now that didn't in 1999?