College Football Programs on the Rise

sondevil89

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Here's an article that discusses four former national powers that are on the rise. It was written before the start of the 2016 season so it's always fun to go back and see how they did with their predictions.
http://studybreaks.com/2016/08/10/4-col ... rams-rise/

Washington: The author noted that UW was considered a dark horse for the NC playoff and that ended up being pretty prophetic. Some detractors, (Pac-12 rivals), claimed that it was a down year in the Pac-12 but all the teams were at full strength with no sanctions unlike Oregon's NC playoff year where USC was under severe sanctions. In addition to that, two Pac teams finished in the top-4 and five teams in the top-20, hardly a down year.

Washington does indeed seem to be headed back to national prominence with a #4 finish and "way too early" preseason ranking of #4.

Miami: With five national titles, to say that they were a national power is an understatement, but they haven't had a 10 win season for over 10 years. They finished 2016 with a 9-4 season and a bowl win.

Miami's football future looks bright with a #20 finish and "way too early" preseason ranking of #14. They may not be back to national prominence, but they are definitely headed in that direction.

Pitt: Storied program with former players Larry Fitzgerald, Dan Marino, and Tony Dorsett among others. Once a top national team but have been very quiet for a number of years.

8-win season in 2016 and no early season ranking but the trajectory is in the right direction.

SMU: This program was really one of the nation's big powerhouses before they became the only college football team in history to be given the "death penalty" where their program was completely shut down for two full years. When it was reinstated they had to completely start over.

SMU won five games this season, and they have had very few winning seasons in the 30 years since they were shut down. SMU is the bellwether by which all sanctions are judged by and serves as a severe warning to schools that continually try to stretch the rules.

http://thebiglead.com/2017/01/10/colleg ... 25-2017/2/
 
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