Real life NCAA ?: Do programs ever go from high prestige to very low prestige?

[sois]

Has a "six star" program ever gone down hill? Do teams go from elite to crappy?

Why I ask is because maybe this whole NCAA progression is not actually a problem. If a team like North Texas suddenly gets good and becomes a "four star program", will they ever regress in real life back to oblivion?

Once a team is good and has a nice following, do they ever go back to their sorry state?

I am not a major college football historian, so I don't know if this is possible. My own team in real life has maintained 3-4 star status for as long as I can remember so I really don't know.

I guess maybe the Aggies are a good example, if they keep being terrible, what happens? Is it possible for a team to ever get down to 1 star level if they've ever tasted glory?

Remember, this is all in regards to real life. I'd like to figure out how this should be working before I think of how to apply this to NCAA.

Thanks.

[lonewolf371]

Minnesota and Illinois both used to be a lot better. Best example is probably SMU. Also, there's Army. Just to name a few schools that used to be perennial national title contenders.

[DOSMedia4SC]

Even schools like USC go threw bad times. Look at Notre Dame. They have been awful in recent years.
Hell SC was pretty much mediocre from the late 80s up until the Pete Carroll era started in 01.
Tons of teams jump up and down. Look at Washington state. They are now the worst team in the pac 10 (yes UW is 5 times better even though they lost in the apple cup last year), but it was only 5 years ago Washington State was a top 10 team and in contention of winning the pac 10. They won it in 02. Brings up another great example, Washington. Washington has tons of history and is one of the more prestigious football programs out west, but it just hasnt been there since the 90s.
As for mid majors, look at Fresno. They used to be the ones on the top of everyones BCS buster list and now they are struggling for .500. Teams dont get to the top and stay at the top. Never really happens. Miami is another example. Florida State as well. Miami more so then florida state. Look at Auburn. It wasnt too long ago they went 13-0, and what were they last year? Like 4-8? Its actually hard to argue SEC teams because they automatically get 4 wins a year, so ill shy away from that.
Oh another great example is BYU. They wont a national championship back in the 80s and have never really been close to winning one since. SMU used to be fairly prestigious. I know something went on there, but I dont exactly remember what it was. All I think I remember is that they didnt have a football team for a while.
If you really want to see a stunning fact, go look up how much SMU pays June Jones right now.

This list goes on. Didnt Syracuse used to be a good team? I remember reading somewhere they went like 11-1 in 91.

[kingkilla56]

In my dynasties I have seen auburn Tennessee michigan miami and texas tech fall off the radar. And florida fell to 3stars but came back up.

[MBFranchise]

It works the other way too. South Florida just begun their football program something like 15 years ago and was ranked as high as #2.

I think the progression problem is overblown.

[Tovarich]

SMU was a power of CFB until they got the death penalty. 20 years later, they still haven't recovered. The traditional powers have some bad years, but they almost always bounce back.

[20Smash]

Quote: Originally Posted by kingkilla56

In my dynasties I have seen auburn Tennessee michigan miami and texas tech fall off the radar. And florida fell to 3stars but came back up.

I remember doing a dynasty on NCAA 07 (PS2) a couple years ago. What was crazy was that after 6 or 7 years, I decided to 'test' the market and, lo and behold, there was Nebraska as a 1-star program.

[doctorhay53]

Look up 'SMU football scandal' on google.