College Football 2011: Top 10 Teams That Can't Afford a Down Season
With the NFL bickering and arguing over piles of cash, college football remains in high gear and will be ready to pounce on any void left by their big brothers.
As we speak, I am sure coaches are knee deep in their recruiting process, while also trying to figure out the identity of their team for the next season. While the college football season may be short, there is no break in this high pressure arena.
The following are the programs where the pressure is the highest; the teams whose fans will not tolerate a down season, and/or the coaches whose career won't persevere after it.
No. 10: Florida Gators
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New Florida Gators head coach, Will Muschamp, will have a soft landing in 2011 as Florida opens up with home games against the incredibly over-matched Florida Atlantic and Alabama Birmingham.
It will be all uphill from there.
Florida will face five teams in the top-25 from last season, and Muschamp's honeymoon period will come to an abrupt halt if they should begin to tumble.
The Gators finished just 4-4 in the SEC and 8-5 overall in 2010—a record well below the lofty standards this program has set.
Anything less than that in 2011, and Will Muschamp may be a one and done coach while Florida begins to lose a little of their recruiting pull.
No. 9: USC Trojans
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Lane Kiffin inherited a program that was about to be sanctioned, and had some of the highest expectations in the nation. This is not the most enticing combo.
Then the A.D. that hired him was let go, and Kiffin soon found himself working under an A.D. who was hired in part to ensure the program cleaned up its image.
And Lane Kiffin's image is anything but clean. The point is: Kiffin is on a short leash.
The Trojans finished Kiffin's first season with an underwhelming 8-5 record. I don't see Kiffin surviving anything beyond a three-loss season.
The USC program also needs a bounce back, or they will surrender the Pac-12 powerhouse throne to the Oregon Ducks.
*Wild Card/Pulling One Out Prediction For 2011: Jeff Fisher will be the USC coach in 2012.
No. 8: Oregon Ducks
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Speaking of the Oregon Ducks... The Ducks program managed to garner a little attention from the NCAA this past offseason.
It is always in a coach's best interest to follow up that kind of thing with a strong season.
While it is hard to see Chip Kelly falling on any kind of hot seat, if the Ducks tumble to mediocrity in 2011, the university may decide it is best to go in a new direction.
The Ducks also sit on the verge of becoming a perennial national championship contender. If they can keep their name near the top of the polls in 2011, we may all be witnessing a new dynasty.
If they slip, this will just be another case of a good program that had a great season.
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No. 7: Alabama Crimson Tide
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Until 2009, it had been a while since Alabama held its once familiar perch atop the college football world. Once they regained it, the fans put on the glory like an old familiar sweater. It fit so nice they never wanted to take it off.
While Nick Saban reached the pinnacle, he also rose the bar of expectations to an almost unreachable level.
In light of that, Alabama's 10-3 record was a disappointment in 2010. While I don't think Saban will be on the hot seat with another similar season, I do think that the fans will grow restless.
And in the mega-competitive SEC, every year is a battle for conference relevance.
No. 6: South Carolina Gamecocks
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South Carolina had a very solid 2010 outing. They finished 9-5, but they ended on a sour note with a 26-17 bowl game defeat to Florida State.
Now is the time for Steve Spurrier to lead this program around the corner, and take that final step to championship contender status.
It is year seven of the Gamecock's Spurrier experiment. This, more than any season, will define if Spurrier can turn them into one of the beasts in the college football landscape, or just another solid team in the SEC.
No. 5: Michigan Wolverines
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Well, the Rich Rodriguez era didn't work out. He was canned after the mighty Wolverines limped to a 7-6 overall and unacceptable 3-5 Big Ten record.
So while Brady Hoke is not expected to institute a new system and lead the Wolverines to the top of the polls in 2011, you better believe the restless Wolverine fan-base is not eager for more losing conference records.
This is a program in need of a bounce back year and a bowl win after last season's bowl game debacle.
This is a program that is in danger of slipping out of the ranks of elite college football programs.
No. 4: North Carolina Tar Heels
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It was a screwy 2010 for North Carolina. They began with legitimate championship hopes, but those quickly crumbled as numerous key players were found to be in violation of NCAA rules and were forced to miss the season.
Despite that, they still pieced together an 8-5 record that included a bowl win. Butch Davis has this program on the verge of something special.
Yet with the scandal of last season, Davis finds himself at the head of a program that is teetering on the edge of either being a power or an afterthought.
No. 3: Notre Dame Fighting Irish
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Notre Dame is the program that can never afford a down season, but seems to get nothing else. They also always seem to have top-rated recruiting classes, hence the recent trend of the revolving door at the coaching position.
While they showed some promise in Brian Kelly's first season, they still finished 2010 with an underwhelming 8-5 record.
It was also a season marred by the tragic death of a young student, Declan Sullivan, while filming practice atop a tower in high winds.
So while Kelly's predecessors received three years, I think Kelly will be gone if this team doesn't drastically improve.
More importantly, to everyone not name Brian Kelly, this is a program that needs something to stop its slide into the depths of irrelevance.
No. 2: Ohio State Buckeyes
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On the field, it was a fabulous 2010 season for Ohio State as they finished off their 12-1 season with an impressive win in the Sugar Bowl.
Off the field...not so much. It appears as if the players were cheating and the coach knew about it. That is not good.
In fact, Tressell's transgressions were enough for him to essentially suspend himself for five games in 2011.
It remains to be seen if the NCAA will be content with that punishment or if they will tack on more. One thing that is clear, is that this program needs to find some way to stem the tide of all their suspensions and piece together a solid 2011 campaign.
If they can't, these are the kinds of things that can find one down season leading to an era of down seasons.
No. 1: Nebraska Cornhuskers
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The 2010 season started off a lot better for Nebraska than it ended. They began the season 9-1 before losing three of their last four games—including a bowl game loss to a Washington Husky team they beat 56-21 earlier in the season.
Throw in the fact that Bo Pelini also had an instance of getting a little too hands-on with a player, and you have a coach and a program that needs a solid 2011 season.
The Nebraska faithful want to see that this is the team that started the 2010 season, and not the one that finished it.
They are hungry for their program to return as a national power. A step-back will almost certainly cost Pelini his job, not to mention any progress the Nebraska program has made thus far.
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