This week is the first week since the 1982 season that neither FSU nor Miami was ranked in the top 25.

Are the 'Noles and 'Canes simply going through a slump and both will be back in years to come? Is this just a bump in the road like Miami had in 1997?

OR

Have FSU and Miami seen their best days? Have they come back to the pack?

Those 2 programs are experiencing a down cycle similar to ND and Penn St. If there is one thing I am sure of is they will be back. FSU may be back before Miami as they have been down a little longer than Miami. The State of Fla provides too many advantages in recruiting for these programs to be down too long. Whether they get back to winning 2 or 3 championships in a 4 or 5 year period is a different story.

I, also think the fact that USF and UCF and FIU and Fl Atlantic are also D1a now, along with other schools like Louisville and Pitt poaching that Fla talent, has something to do with the decline of Miami and FSU. These programs used to always have great talent on the bench waiting for their turn to play. Now, a little bit of that talent has other choices in state to play for. Places that they can play at right away. USF may not be a big 3, but its in a bcs conference where enough of their games are on national tv. Ucf laso has some games on national tv. Those are a couple of alternatives to get some playing time right away.

I think the rest of college football has caught up with them. Miami plays in a dump, so what athlete in his right mind would go play at a school with such horrible facilities. I wouldn't. The coaching position there is a no-win situation. If you don't win or contend for the national championship there every year, your job is on the line. Who wants that headache?

Frankly, I think it's great for college football to see a changing of the guard. The same schools winning it every year makes for little fan interest everywhere except for the school doing the winning. Look at the SEC. They have 5 or 6 schools capable of winning a national championship almost every year. That makes for great fan interest. And by looking at the attendance figures, you will see what I mean.

The Big 10 is in a similar situation, albeit with fewer schools capable of that calibur of play. But the principle is the same. Their attendance figures are on a par with the SEC. If Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse, and South Florida can step it up, the BEast, even though it is the smallest BCS conference, can have similar financial success.

Rutgers, just outside of New York City, is a sleeping giant. If the City of New York takes the Scarlet Knights into their heart, there will be few teams able to compete with the kind of fan interest they could generate. All they need to do is keep winning.

Pittsburgh always recruits well, but they never seem to play up to the level of their recruiting rankings. I don't know why. Maybe they need to borrow the Mountaineer coaching staff. ;-) But they have been playing well this year, and seem to be making big strides in the right direction.

South Florida has been building steadily, and I think they will soon step it up to be on a par with anyone. They just need to keep doing what they have been.

Syracuse has been there. And to look at their recent resurgence, I think they are on the road back.

UConn and Cincinnati need major work. Cincinnati has played well at times, but they keep falling short. UConn I wonder about. They have been an enigma since joining the rest of the BEast football programs in Division 1A. They are sitting on a gold mine, but have yet to find the motherlode. I hope both programs get it on the ball soon.

The future looks very bright for the BEast. Perhaps we should call this the ressurection conference, since we were declared dead last year. We're back.

Thanks for posting this. I was actually going to make a post asking for this information. When is the last time each of them, individually, were not ranked? I agree with Cuseroc that the addition of four other Division I-A schools in Florida, plus the unheralded increase in out of state recruiting competition, have siphoned off some talent from the Hurricanes and Seminoles.

This is a good thing for everyone else, just bad for those two schools, because no one likes to see the same teams dominating all the time. Florida State and Miami will probably both rebound and continue to be good, but they just be a couple of names on an expanded list of schools capable of winning national titles each year, rather than the biggest dogs in the yard.

Krocker Krapp Wrote:When is the last time each of them, individually, were not ranked?

The last time Miami wasn't ranked was 1998 or 1999, I believe. Not sure about FSU.


Here is a great site for polls...

http://www.soonerstats.com/fb/polls/index.cfm

cuseroc Wrote:Those 2 programs are experiencing a down cycle similar to ND and Penn St. If there is one thing I am sure of is they will be back. FSU may be back before Miami as they have been down a little longer than Miami. The State of Fla provides too many advantages in recruiting for these programs to be down too long. Whether they get back to winning 2 or 3 championships in a 4 or 5 year period is a different story.

I agree. I think the two are going to have some down years, like the schools you mentioned. Also throw Nebraska in there, they are rising out of their hole. I don't think we're going to see either be as dominant as FSU was in the '90's or Miami in the late '90's/early this decade, but they will return to great seasons in the future.

Until UofL beat them, Miami had the longest ongoing AP streak, going back to 1997 or 1998. Not sure about FSU's individual streak, but the last time both were unranked was around a quarter century ago. I give a rough estimate of a year because I have seen different years listed. However, ESPN flashed a graphic this week showing the last time they were both unranked. They gave 1979 as the year, and made fun of the 3 studio guys and where they were at the time. It was something like:

Rece Davis was in middle school
Lou Holtz was a fairly new coach at Arkansas
Mark May was a JR at Pitt
E, S, P, & N were just 4 letters, as the station was only 1 or 2 months old & largely unknown

I think Miami's and FSU's problems are different...

FSU's problem is not recruiting. They are still getting alot of the best players, their roster is stacked. FSU's main problem is coaching, namely the offense, it's time for new offensive blood. The Seminoles haven't been the same on offense since Weinke/Richt left. Maybe this off season, Bobby B. will replace his son in the offensive coordinator job, he must if he wants to get FSU back to winning consistently.

Miami's problem is recruiting. Every since Coker has taken over, Miami's talent has dwindled every year. The U, would be well served to get a great recruiter in there and to get that program back going again.

ucatsin2k7 Wrote:I think Miami's and FSU's problems are different...

FSU's problem is not recruiting. They are still getting alot of the best players, their roster is stacked. FSU's main problem is coaching, namely the offense, it's time for new offensive blood. The Seminoles haven't been the same on offense since Weinke/Richt left. Maybe this off season, Bobby B. will replace his son in the offensive coordinator job, he must if he wants to get FSU back to winning consistently.

Miami's problem is recruiting. Every since Coker has taken over, Miami's talent has dwindled every year. The U, would be well served to get a great recruiter in there and to get that program back going again.

Bingo! Florida State's problem is nepotism, Miami's problem is Coker's inability to recruit, and he isn't a great X's and O's coach. He can't get the most out of less, and only coasts off the best. Coker should thank Butch Davis for his luscious lifestyle and time in the sun. Then he needs to give Davis his national championship ring.

FSU has been the same act for about 5 years now. I don't ever see them getting out of it. Bowden has always been a delegator and that worked when you had Richt and Amato as coordinators, it doesn't work if you don't have elite coordinators. I concur with those who say that if they fire Bobby's son things could improve.

Coker basically hasn't done a thing good since he took over. He took over one of the most talented teams ever and won a national title with players most of us could have coached to an undefeated record. The talent Davis left there was insane. Every year since they have gotten progressively worse, their offensive lines have been awful the last few years. They'll hire a big name coach this offseason and will be amoung the elite again within two years.

One thing hurting both these teams is even though Florida has tons of talent it doesn't seem like all three schools are ever elite at the same time. Florida is in great shape under Meyer and their may only be room for one other top 5 program in Florida. Personally, assuming Miami makes a good hire, I think it will be Miami that joins Florida at the top.