Heretic;486838 wrote:The problem with UC is simply the stigma of being the "little brother" to other schools. They were a good team last year that got dismantled against a team from a superior conference in their bowl game AFTER their coach left to go to a higher-profile college that, to be honest, was inferior on the field. ND, however, is a traditional power with that NBC-backing thing going on. There are few programs in the country that can contend with that (basically the perennial top-of-the-top teams from the best power conferences)...and a "we're starting to establish ourselves as a potential power" team has no chance. UC will get a handful of elite talent and a lot of sloppy seconds from more prestigious schools because they're in the same recruit-zone as OSU and ND. It's hard to overcome that.
As an OU grad, I think some of the reason that the MAC is getting worse and worse is because teams like UC and Northwestern have improved. Secondary teams in the region have been taking steps to be contenders and the more low-tier teams are suffering. But those secondary teams are realizing the reality that breaking through the glass ceiling and being a perennial power is a lot tougher than simply being a semi-consistent 15-30 ranked team.
Good points. Let's be honest, in college football you have the elite's (OSU, USC, TX, FL, etc.) and then you have everyone else. The teams that fall into the second category have less margin of error than the upper crust. Consistently being a top 25 is very difficult to do at those schools since any one thing can become a major setback. Face it, there really is not a reason for any of the elite schools to ever be a sub .500 team because of the advantages they have in terms of recruiting and less coaching transition (albeit, it has happened before).
As I indicated before on either this or another thread, this UC roster is comprised of 65 Freshmen and Sophomores. That is not going to cut it at the BCS level regardless of how good those kids are, particularly at positions like OL and DL. Sure you get the one or two that are really good, but you can't expect a team to excel at this level with such youth.
A major problem for UC is that they are on their third coaching regime in six years. The kids that are seniors this year are the kids that were recruited the year Mark Dantonio left and a little known from CMU named Brian Kelly took over. In the world of recruiting, those types of classes are called shell classes. They are called shells because inevitably, the class is disrupted by coaching changes and the kids who were initially targeted end up going elsewhere due to the change. Likewise, the new coach has little opportunity and time to get guys of substance on board. For this reason, UC has a very small and frankly, not a very good senior class. UC's freshman class this year, is in the same boat. However, you don't expect freshman to compete right away anyway
