Teams that always have pre-season hype yet rarely produce. Why is that?

[Bamabuzzard]

The first team that comes to mind is Clemson. I can't tell you how many years the "experts" have said "This is their year to make a title run" yet they never do it. However, for the most part seem to bring in excellent recruiting classes. Have their coaches been THAT BAD?

South Carolina also comes to mind when talking about the SEC teams that always get the pre season "team to watch out for". Granted they made it to the SECCG but good lawd they still managed to lose four games for the year. What is it about these teams (and others) that cause the experts to always predict greatness yet they never produce?

 

[GMacFan]

For Clemson, I'm not sure the desire to achieve has been there very much. They always have a few studs, but you don't get that sense of team unity or the whole team being on fire to win the game, which I think comes from the atmosphere around Clemson and fan expectations. They're just not crazy about football like other schools in the South are, and I think the team feeds off that.

As for USCe, they have never really been able to "stay up." They can get up for a game or two under Spurrier but they lose their composure...it's almost like they just stop caring down the line, they can't continue to play with that mental high. It's like they remember who they are.

 

[gamersfuel]

wisconsin

 

[Redwood Forrest]

Clemson and Iowa. It seems like every year one or both are preseason ranked in the top 10 or 15. Every year they struggle to make the top 20. I do not know why and like you I have wondered about it. The only answer I have is they are not Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, USC, & etc.

 

[GreatDanish]

Fanbases. I know it sounds weird, but that's my thought.
I think crazy fans encourage crazy dedication from team members.
Also, crazy fans make your home games nightmares for other teams, thus making it more difficult for other teams to beat you at home.
Crazy fans also travel to watch you play, so if you play a game at a neutral site, it can still be a home game for you in terms of fan attendance (Clemson vs. Alabama?). For road games, you have a much larger support system in the stands.

Some will say that those teams would have more crazed fans if they won more. But, I think the other way around is just as applicable. They would win more if they had more crazed fans.

That's not all of it. But, I think that is a part of it. Even in a down year for Southern Cal, if they played South Carolina in Dallas, they would have more fans in the stadium. There's more pressure for Southern Cal to not let down their fans. There's more noise when South Carolina has the ball. If South Carolina loses that game, it's not as big of a deal to their fans. Yada yada yada.

 

[In Hsv]

Notre Dame for the past 20 years..

 

[theBIGyowski]

you could probably throw Georgia in there as well

 

[TideprideRTR]

you could probably throw Georgia in there as well

Thats the first team to come to my mind! Can't wait to whoop their "dream team" in 2012!

 

[USCBAMA]

Oklahoma State.

 

[phipps1616]

auburn with a lake year after year gets put up there as one of the big boys and falls flat on there face

 

[Redwood Forrest]

The first team that comes to mind is Clemson. I can't tell you how many years the "experts" have said "This is their year to make a title run" yet they never do it. However, for the most part seem to bring in excellent recruiting classes. Have their coaches been THAT BAD?

South Carolina also comes to mind when talking about the SEC teams that always get the pre season "team to watch out for". Granted they made it to the SECCG but good lawd they still managed to lose four games for the year. What is it about these teams (and others) that cause the experts to always predict greatness yet they never produce?

After reading your question again I find I missed the part in bold. I think there are probably 20-25 teams each year who have the potential to make the title run. The experts usually give them these traits in common:

1. They have the players.
2. They have the coaching.
3. They have the favorable schedule.

But do they have the determination? Do they want to dedicate (hard work) themselves to the task? Or do they just want to get by on their talent and go through the motions?

 

[TidefaninOS]

you could probably throw Georgia in there as well

Yep - the first team I thought of, too.

 

[wood78221]

Sometimes I think that most people will throw USCe in there bc of Spurrier. Also Georgia, and Michigan comes to mind.

 

[crimson2713]

Notre Dame for the past 20 years..

The kings of overhype! It used to bother me that they would be ranked in the top 25 with 5 losses, but with a consistently dissapointing season, it doesn't affect me any longer.

 

[BamaBeta]

I guess I will be the jerk and say it but Virginia Tech should lead that pack. Yes they win the ACC and play in a BCS bowl game but that does not equate to title run. Out west, Arizona and Arizona State seem to get some hype that is undeserved.

 

[derek4tide]

Notre Dame for the past 20 years..

Yes. notre dame, where 5 star recruits go to disappear........

 

[gmart74]

i was in clemson for 7 yrs. my take on it is that they feel almost entitled to being a championship quality team. if you walk around clemson, they will talk about what a great football school it is and how their history and tradition is incredible. but then they would look lost when i asked them what they have done lately? they have played the last 10-15 yrs under no sanctions, in an incredibly weak conference, and they have been mediocre every yr. it is almost as if they think bc of danny ford and a championship way back before any of their current players were born, that they automatically will go out and be a great team. the worst bet in college football is clemson- you absolutely never know which team will show up. i remember one yr where they beat fsu, then lost to duke, then beat miami all in 3 weeks. i also remember where almost every huge thursday night game, they would get blown out of the stadium (this happened multiple yrs). tommy bowden was soft and his team was soft. if a team came out and punched them in the mouth on the first series, then they wuld roll over the rest of the game. plus their offense was embarassingly predictable once rodriguez left. the problem is it wasnt just under bowden that they were erratic. they were also like that with Hatfield and Tommy West. Now they are like that with Dabo. I think it is just a second tier program that doesnt realize they need to fight to become elite- they just already think they are and that is why they always seem to underperform.

plus the most exciting 25 secs in football really isnt all that exciting- a bunch of fat dudes trying not to fall down the hill isnt exactly amazing. s.car, miami and va tech are all much better intros. (of course ours is the best)

 

[Harmost]

I guess I will be the jerk and say it but Virginia Tech should lead that pack. Yes they win the ACC and play in a BCS bowl game but that does not equate to title run.

I can't recall Va Tech ever being hyped as anything more than a dark horse title contender, which they've lived up to. Otherwise, they do as they're predicted to do: win more than anyone in the ACC.

Miami of the last half decade comes to mind for me. They get a lot of hype because sportswriters seem to be dying to be the one to predict which former great is "back," and because they get some impressive talent. The problem is, their talent is scattered and their coaching has only ranged from very bad to bad.

 

[CrimsonProf]

Have y'all read Outliers by Malcom Gladwell? I think it would be helpful in this case.


I think that after one-hundred and twenty-five years of college football, there are about twenty schools that have built-in advantage so strong we might almost thing of it as genetic. Teams like Clemson, Georgia, Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, even Auburn - regardless of the one or two championships, they don't have championships in their blood. It's an expectation, maybe, but there is an absolute failure to comprehend what it takes to get there. We get that at Alabama. Texas does. Oklahoma and Ohio State and Nebraska and probably even Notre Dame get that. (ND may have lost it, though).

The other schools don't quite get it. Until they do, they won't win consistently, no matter the resources or the coach.

 

[BamaInMo1]

tOSU - every year. They always have this "amazing" dual threat qb who can do it all, including walk on water ( which is not true because other than GOD, Bear Bryant was the only one who could do that, lol ) and there's just no hope at all in anyone else even showing up to the game. Forget this past BCS bowl game for those who want to use Arkansas to say tOSU was not overrated. Arky was young at all skill positions and their lines were fairly young, too. Couple that with first time ever in a BCS bowl game and it's a reciepe for disaster. tOSU is way overrated.