What does the word "down" mean in regards to conferences or powerhouse schools?

I know what it means, but I think the willy-nilly use of the word "down" as an excuse for why traditional powerhouse schools or conferences fail to win is embarrassingly pathetic.

The word "down" implies a lot.

The word "down" implies that over time traditional powerhouse schools will always be powerhouse schools. Or, when they experience "down" years, those schools will naturally rise to the top again.

The word "down" implies that non-powerhouse schools over time are not expected to elevate their program to powerhouse status and sustain that success.

The word "down" implies that any non-power program that experiences success only benefitted from a "down" conference and/or powerhouse schools.

The word "down" is simply an excuse for failure. Period. It's not a valid reason to explain away failure, because with all the implications that attach themselves to the word "down", one can imply that traditional power programs should never be "down" because they have such an incredible advantage over the "have nots".

When using the word "down", one must admit to himself that his school failed - no ifs, ands, or buts. Simple failure. And one must admit that if his power programs failed, that would imply that a non-power program succeeded, not due to luck, but rather due to the most basic reality of the situation - successful coaching and performance on the field.

Think about it like this:

The word "down" is used to describe a segment of mentally retarded people. Why? Nature failed them during the development process. Key word - failure.

When one attempts to explain away failure by using the word "down", they are in fact admitting to being an idiot because the reality is that their team and their coach failed. FAILED.

Some traditional programs experience periods of mental retardation and then correct the gene pool. Some traditional programs (such as Nebraska) birth a mentally retarded era and then all future eras are tainted with mental retardation which results in a once great program never fully restoring itself as a powerhouse. Some programs were initially born retarded but over time and with each new generation retardation is bred out of the program resulting in more and more success.

You cannot view college football in terms of being "up" or "down". You can only view college football in terms of "success" or "failure".