Reasonable Greenstein?

We'll see how things pan out going forward. I acknoweledge the points you're making, but I truly think we're entering a new phase. Teams without a historic base to stand on will find it harder and harder to get ahead. Those with a history (Texas) can regain some standing, but the longer they're down the harder it'll be to get back.

The playoff means it's even more important to be very good, which means more emphasis on getting top recruits. The craziness we've seen this cycle will intensify. In the B1G it'll be OSU and Michigan and the rest will struggle to keep up. Iowa got lucky this year and was embarrassed by Stanford. With a playoff system the cream rises, is rewarded, and the rest diminish in stature.

Which is why I'm happy we have Harbaugh now. 

in his take on the most likely scenario on the immediate future of college football.

Mick, even in your opposition you made statements that actually lend credibilithy to his beliefs. In the schools you named, only one - Miami - has removed itself from possible inclusion as a perennial threat, and that was done voluntarily.

You are correct in pointing out the Tide was down, significantly by its own standards,,after Bear retired but always within reach of regaining its former standing among the elite by being just one correct hire away. Same is true of USC. Now this is a school that came as close to any other in doing a Miami by the fact they hesitated for a number of years on correcting its one major obstacle, restoration of the area immediately surrounding its campus to nothing more than an "acceptable" level. After McKay, the area continued its downward trajectory that even the return of John Robinson was not significant enough to return it to its previous stature. But once the real problem was mitigated to a level that did not cause potential recruits to immediate dismiss it from consideration, with once correct hire they were immediate contenders again. Even with its recent history of mediocrity, by today's standards, their roster is filled with enough talent that if they handed it to Saban or Harbaugh, they would be back to the top of their conference. Don't know if this coach is the right one, but with that talent and continually bringing in more, the hire, and it will be recognized when it happens, is the only thing preventing them from being at the elite level right now.

Likewise with TX. Everyone else in that state is merely existing until TX gets the hire correct. Strong, and we've seen it in many places, is simply an example of a good coach not being the correct hire for a given school. Don't know if he has earned the right to have great added to his name, a necessity for what's about to occur. Miles is a good coach, good enough to legitimatelly earn the distinction of running the top program in the SEC, but again, only until Saban was able to rebuild Bama, complete with modern weaponry.  Louisiana will always have enough instate talent to be a cut above most programs in that area, but its population is simply too small and its pull not great enough to draw players away from other areas of the country.

Now back to Miami. You are not incorrect about the massive talent in that state. However its first run at glory was marked by as much "unacceptable behavior" as the number of on-field wins. It was so bad that its alum decided to give greater power to its President than its football coach. Imagine that. And along with that shift of power was the understanding by the President none of its sports programs would ever be allowed to bring such nationwide embarrassment to that school again. Richt is actually the perfect hire for them, but they are faced with so many logistical obstacles such as not having a stadium on campus, if Mark is able to simply win at the pace he did at GA, always underperforming as judged by Bulldog fans, he will stay at Miami as long as he wishes because the victories he brings will always be free of a possible stigma. This is fine with Miami.

OSU, for a number of reasons, but most significantly refusal to accept BIG champs as satisfactory for retaining its head coach, is the only major program I can think of that has not had to rebuild significantly in the past half century. . For the same reason that Lloyd went from the comfort of a "life-time" job as head coach to the realization he would be gone within three years, is the same reason Cooper was not going to stay in Colombus, despite a winning pct. greater than Lloyd's, His performance vs. UM was simply not cutting it, and again winning at OSU is not, in itself, sufficient reason to retain the head coach. Hell, Tressel's major trangression - as seen by those that run that program - at OSU was getting caught, He would still be there if the evidence hadn't reached a level where they were forced to dismiss him. But despite scholarship reductions, they couldn't force players already there to leave and Urb walked into a roster fully equipped to win at a rate unprecedented, even at OSU. And its quite obvious he has had no problem adding to it, sometimes at the misfortune of other coaches, Durkin for example.

ND is another school that has earned its inclusion as "top ten all-time program" and despite an almost twenty year hiatus from relevancy, getting the hire correct with Kelly, at least to the degree of matching its all-time winning pct allows it to be in a position that two to three years of solid recruiting, and its not difficult there with the built-in advantages of being ND, of realizing this will allow them to make periodic and very real runs at the brass ring. Hell, he may very well be the coach that will continue to grow until he is unquestionably of the quality needed there. He is pretty damn good, afterall.

Hell, Michigan allowed itself, despite everything it had accomplished prior to 1950, to  fall directly into the middle of the pack, conference wise and nationally by two accepted, but in hindsight, questionable back-to-back hires of longer than a little while. One coach, accidentally, as history would point out, recruited possibly better than anyone prior to him, that when Canham took a chance on a young man from OH, even with all the immediate attrition to follow by implementing standards, almost Harbaugh like in nature, he inherited a group that possessed more future All-Amerifcans than in any other five year period in Michigan history. Such is the power of the right program, coupled with the right hire. And if it would not have been for his realization of what Michigan had accomplished historically, while at the same time displaying a priority on academics of such a nature that it would become, if not already so, a university universally recognized as among the best. Recognizing and embracing what he had inherited, his mission was to separate it, as much as possible, from all others, thereby offering an undprecedented emphasis on producing, in his opinion a school that offered the best blend of academics and sports. And he did quite well using this as his primary recruiting tool. Imagine,a son of Ohio recognizing and campaigning for such an abitious undertaking.

The one constant among all these schools mentioned and that Don pointed out, other than Stanford, who could be one hire in the other direction from removing itself, based on whether they determine if recent success is to be included it its priorities going forward, is that all these schools, since the time the game was introduced, have managed over the history of the game, to be recognized as the "Top All-Time Programs" in the history of the sport. With that, and it has been borne out due to the highs and lows being a part of the history of each, is the recognition that any and all are capable, with a few decisions, to jump right back to previous held recognition as being among the best.

It would be wrong to not include OU in that group simply because they, too, are members, and they have done so maintaining Wilkinson's blueprint of recruiting within a 500 mile radius of campus, an area as saturated with football talent as any in America, the majority of which is found on the southern side of the border, with a willingness that would be foolish not to acknowledge and reciprocate the interest shown them from those not falling within this radius.  I sincerely doubt that NE, now that it has removed itself from playing in the same area as OU, and experiencing the same degree of success, thereby access to the same talent level, will be able to return to the level of success it once enjoyed. By joining the BIG, it also agreed to instituting policy that would guarantee increased academic performance on a level with other BIG schools, not a bad thing in itself, but one that certainly carries a price tag with it, and part of that price would be an obvious increase in tuition, yet another factor that cut off one of its primary resources to talent, homegrown walk-ons that for years dotted their roster, along with FullBacks in the form of OL AAs that had to do nothing more than find access to a tuition requirement of 3500 per year as recently as the 1980s, a figure that I don't think, especially considering financial aid packages most found as excessive. Yes Osbourne, Devaney and those before them, even Yost, enjoyed some truly unique advantages in regard to football scholarships.

This is why I hesitate to include NE in this group and have question marks concerning TN. But understanding Fl. State, and FL are both "Johnny come lately's" in regard to all time top programs, a sustained level of superior performance is going to necessitate a degree of shake up. Clemson, likewise, is at a level that another decade of on-field success could easily make it neccessary to include them.

Harbaugh's job in his first year on the field  coupling wuith adding to the massive upgrade in athleticism across the board in his first recruiting cycle, is a very real warning shot.

I cannot say I disagree with Don's dislike at what I also see as the likely result of the institution of cfb playoofs, simply because I enjoyed college football, as I knew it while growing up and the future eliminates some of the long held traditions I loved, such as PAC 12 and Big X guaranteed matchups in the Rose Bowl. Hell, fans of other areas enjoyed the obviious implications of successful campaigns, if it meant nothing more than arguing over the real champ based on last season's results. But changes; they are real, and I have to say I think Don has expressed what I too feel is going to be the likely immediate future of this game.  Some will be included. The majority will not receive invites to the dance.