Decade rankings: 111-120
As a lead-in to our preseason coverage, CBSSports.com continues to rank each Division I-A program over the next few weeks based on its performance this decade. We're calling it The Golden Decade.
The list continues with Nos. 91-110.
91. Louisiana Tech: Jack Bicknell III won the WAC in 2001. The Bulldogs are rebounding under Derek Dooley.
92. Ball State: The Cardinals haven't been terrible this decade. They just haven't been good, until 2008. You wonder which way they will go after the administration drove Brady Hoke out of town.
|
|
| Mike Price has his UTEP Miners headed in the right direction. (US Presswire) |
94. San Jose State: Dick Tomey has brought tons of credibility to this program. The current president of the American Football Coaches Association has won 23 games in four seasons.
95. UTEP: Mike Price's night in Pensacola is the best thing that ever happened to UTEP. 'Bama's disgraced former coach has won eight twice in El Paso and might have his best UTEP team in '09.
96. UAB: One bowl this decade, playing in the shadow of Alabama, Legion Field is a tomb, won only six of its past 30. Then, there's the bad news. ...
97. Indiana: The Big Ten's worst program has lost more than 70 games this decade. It suffered the tragic loss of coach Terry Hoeppner two years ago.
98. Baylor: Longest active bowless streak among BCS conference schools (15 years). All that could change in 2009.
99. Arkansas State: Steve Roberts has brought some stability to the other program in Arkansas. The Red Wolves have been 6-6 in three of the past four seasons.
100. Middle Tennessee: Head coach Rick Stockstill has shared a Sun Belt title and beat Maryland in his three seasons.
101. Kent State: High point of the decade: James Harrison went from undrafted free agent in 2002 to NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2008.
102. Ohio: Still hard to believe this is all Frank Solich could get after averaging almost 10 wins per year at Nebraska.
103. Buffalo: Despite winning the MAC last season, the Bulls still have the country's fourth-worst record since 2000 (25-81)
104. Wyoming: One winning season (2004) this decade.
105. San Diego State: One of the great mysteries of our time is why a campus located in one of America's finest resort cities -- in California, for gosh sakes -- with sun shining on it and good high school talent surrounding it, can't field a representative college football team.
Welcome to San Diego State, where the Aztecs have become one of the nation's moribund programs in recent years. The school of Don Coryell and Marshall Faulk has endured seven consecutive non-winning seasons. While the school figures out how to pay off Chuck Long (9-27 in three seasons), new coach Brady Hoke must figure what went wrong.
No problem, there. Hoke has few West Coast ties and seemed to make a lateral move when he left Ball State. We're not asking Hoke to land a Heisman winner (four have come from the San Diego area), but a nice, tall, strong-armed West Coast quarterback would be a nice start.
106. Louisiana-Monroe: The 2007 win at Alabama stands as one of the biggest upsets of the decade. Since then, the Warhawks are 5-8.
107. Louisiana-Lafayette: Rickey Bustle came from Virginia Tech in 2002 as one of the nation's hottest assistants. He has won six games in a season three times.
108. UNLV: This is the program you didn't hear about from Orrin Hatch. At the opposite end of the Mountain West playoff argument are the Rebels. The school has tried to hire coaches from established West Coast conferences but, for the most part, it hasn't worked. Former Southern California great John Robinson and former Utah offensive coordinator Mike Sanford have struggled this decade. The last bowl was in 2000 under Robby.
109. Tulane: Almost wiped off the map by a hurricane and the Tulane administration, the Green Wave fight on -- at a .368 winning percentage this decade.
110. North Texas: Since four consecutive Sun Belt titles earlier in the decade, the Mean Green are 8-39. The prospects are not good.
Next: Nos. 71-90
