re: College Football Programs that Used to be Powerhouses but will never come back

Actually the fact that Ohio State has pushed their recruiting base into PA has been one of the reasons for the fluctuations with Penn State over the past 20 years. I have not really researched Pitt football but from the outside looking in I believe their biggest issue is the lack of resources

It was common knowledge that the top high school players from PA went to either ND if Catholic and Penn State if not. Since joining the Big Ten this has changed

If you research PA high school top 50 list since the early 90's you will begin to see the drain of talent from Penn State to other universities.
This has changed since Urban Meyer has taken over maybe the reason for the resurgence in Penn State and Pitt
Malik Hooker was the only PA player at Ohio State last year

I believe Syracuse will never be a national power at football again.

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Hyped every year? This is how I know you're a fricking idiot, and therefore, your post has zero credibility

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You are awfully touchy. Seems OP touched a nerve. But I guess I would be upset too if my once storied program had been a bag of dog crap the last 10 years

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It's a marvel to me what Nebraska did for so long

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No, it isn't.

Big 8 Nebraska has very advantageous special scholarship programs and lax academic requirements that other schools didn't.

Big 8 Nebraska had a "County Scholarship Program For Deserving Nebraskans". Every county in the state was allotted one full ride scholarship. The football program was allowed to use these for in-state players who then "walked on". It was a way around the scholarship limit and allowed for all the corn-fed linemen to be "free" in terms of not having to spend a football scholarship on them.

Big 8 Nebraska ALSO - and here's the real kicker - allowed on partial qualifiers and even some non-qualifying guys by exception. So they were able to comb Ohio for Ohio kids who couldn't qualify at OSU, comb Florida for kids FSU and UF couldn't get in, go out to California and nab guys that Pac schools wouldn't allow on campus, etc.

When the Big XII was formed, UTx, who was aware of WHY Nebraska was so good, made certain that both of those practices were abolished by the Big XII charter. No more partial qualifiers! In so doing, they gelded Nebraska. Now nutless without their bench full of partial qualifiers and home-grown kids who didn't have to have football scholarships, Nebraska fell from their lofty perch and is what you see today.

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allowed for all the corn-fed linemen to be "free" in terms of not having to spend a football scholarship on them.

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Thats not all they were fed if you catch my drift.Nebraska was way ahead of other
schools when it came to S&C along with the "science" that went along with it.

Lets just say they were very fortunate PED testing wasn't exactly a priority in Lincoln
in the 70's.80's and 90's.

I think you have to differentiate between former Powerhouses that have already died to that status and the former Powerhouses that are still nationally relevant, but are obviously on track currently to losing that status.

FORMER POWERHOUSES ALREADY DEAD

1. Minnesota- The Gophers were AP National Champions in 1936, 1940, 1941, and 1960. They racked up nine Top 10 finishes between 1936 and 1962.... since 1963, they have zero Top 10 finishes and only two Top 25 finishes.

2. Army- Army won the National Title in both 1944 and 1945. They also finished in the AP Top 5 in 1946, 1949, 1950, and 1958.... since 1959, they've managed one lone Top 25 finish (#25 in 1996).

3. Ole Miss- The Rebels finished in the AP Top 20 on 13 occasions during the 20 seasons from 1952-1971, including four consecutive Top 5 finishes in 1959, 1960, 1961, and 1962.... In the 45 seasons since 1972, Ole Miss has just six Top 20 finishes and one lone Top 10 finish (#10 in 2015).

FORMER POWERHOUSES ON THE ROAD TO BEING DEAD

1. Nebraska- The Huskers were the epitome of college football royalty from 1963-2001. They finished ranked in the AP Top 25 in 37 of those 39 seasons, including 33 straight from 1969-2001. They finished in the Top 10 in 28 of those 39 seasons... and in the Top 5 in 13 of those 39 seasons. They won the National Championship in 1970, 1971, 1994, 1995, and 1997. In the most recent 15 years, Nebraska has zero Top 10 finishes and only three finishes in the Top 20.

2. Tennessee- The Vols won National Titles in 1951 and 1998. They amassed 13 Top 5 finishes between 1938 and 2001, as well as 23 Top 10 finishes during that time frame. In the past 15 seasons, Tennessee has zero Top 10 finishes. It's been ten years since they finished in the Top 20.

DISHONORABLE MENTIONS:

Pittsburgh- The Panthers' success is probably too sporadic for them to have ever been labeled a "powerhouse." However, any program that has 2 National Titles to their name and pretty much zero shot of ever winning another one has got to be mentioned. Pitt won National Titles in 1937 and 1976. They finished in the AP Top 5 in 1936, 1937, 1963, 1976, 1980, and 1981. In the most recent 33 years, Pitt has zero Top 10 finishes and only four Top 25 finishes.

Other teams that aren't quite on the path yet but need to be on notice: Penn State, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Miami.

texas university is going to struggle going forward. They hired Charlie Strong, and after firing him the best they could get was Herman. Now that A&M is not in the picture recruits are not giving the sips the time of day. The exposure, prestige, and enthusiasm all left when A&M moved to the sec. Most of the tu history is based on false accomplishments. They don't deserve half of their national titles. Just in 2005 alone A&M nearly derailed their bid for a title. And in the Rose Bowl the refs clearly blew a call when Vintz Young's knee was down.

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Michigan prior to Harbaugh, etc.

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Harbaugh still has not done shite.

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Other teams that aren't quite on the path yet but need to be on notice: Penn State, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Miami.

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Funny, 3 of 4 you mentioned pretty much achieved their greatness when they were independents. Much easier to do when you don't belong to a conference and you
can set your schedule.

I think PSU and UM can be back just because of the huge influx of revenue
from the new big 10 TV contract...about $50 million per team

Miami can get it done on access to talent alone.No other P5 school has more talent within an hour and 1/2 drive of their campus.

Notre Dame is gonna be a tough road to climb back to the top.