Exactly how the hell do I turn a 1* school into a powerhouse?

[OGKing]

No matter how hard I try, I never suceed, matter of fact, ive never made a 1 / 2 star team into a powerhouse...its sad.

[LivingLegend]

Beat a few ranked schools
Raise the schools/coach prestiege
Get a couple high ranked recruits (creating one from the city/state of said school makes it easier.)

[OGKing]

Thanks..new mexico state pips are ca, texas, florida..no one wants to join the school though lol

[Bullet Sponge]

It's important to have a decent season at a 1-star (like .500 at least) to get to 2 stars, then a winning season to get to 3. There is a world of difference recruiting with each star raise.

The tricky part is having that winning season with a 1-star. It sounds like you've got the sliders/difficult set to make it a decent challenge (good!). You have to shoot for that good season. You need to look at your personnel and run the offense/defense that suits them, not just what you want to run. You might have to cultivate a decent team by redshirting some juniors and seniors to hold them back until the freshman/sophomores develop and field a more complete team. And pray for transfers.

[goh]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bullet Sponge

You need to look at your personnel and run the offense/defense that suits them, not just what you want to run

Especially with custom playbooks. There's some complete non-sense that can be turned to gold.

[GKEnialb]

Schedule FCS or low-tier where possible to get some wins so your prestige will go up - don't worry about strength of schedule until you have a few stars under your belt. Stick to recruiting teams from your state or pipelines (unless somebody is actually interested in you) and don't spend much effort on the highly ranked players - a 1 or 2 star player is still probably better than what's on your team now.

[lbh24]

Quote: Originally Posted by GKEnialb

Schedule FCS or low-tier where possible to get some wins so your prestige will go up - don't worry about strength of schedule until you have a few stars under your belt. Stick to recruiting teams from your state or pipelines (unless somebody is actually interested in you) and don't spend much effort on the highly ranked players - a 1 or 2 star player is still probably better than what's on your team now.

Co-sign on all of this.

Year 1: Schedule teams you will beat out of conference. Give yourself a good path to 6-7 wins and go to a bowl game. Recruit the heck out of 1-2* guys in-season, then use your extra off-season hours to find some 3* guys that no one has offered yet (and may never offer) and pursue them -- promise them insta-playing time and no redshirt. Basically, sign anyone who's willing. As GK said above, they're probably better than the talent you have now anyway. Don't worry about needs so much -- everything is a need.

Year 2: You might have to do the same thing schedule-wise, especially if your talent was senior-heavy. DON'T REDSHIRT unless you are stacked at that position. If you had a big recruiting class in Year 1, step it up a tad and go after only 2* and a couple 3* guys, but be careful. Only go after the 3* guys who show interest. Don't try to force it and end up with nothing.

Year 3 and beyond: This is where it gets tricky because not every one is at the same spot. I played two 1* dynasties on '12. In one (Eastern Michigan), the school's star was rising with every year (Year 1, 10-4 with MAC Champ appearance; Year 2, 8-5 with bowl win over Wake Forest). I received a huge talent upgrade with OSU running back Carlos Hyde transferring my way after Year 1, so I entered Y3 with a stud-caliber back and used a power run scheme the next two years to go 11-3 and 10-4 with multiple wins over BCS teams (including an OT win at Florida). But even with that said, the school's highest prestige was 4* and at no point was I ranked. I think the closest I got was going into week 13 one year, I had received a handful of votes in one of the polls.

In the other (as Washington State), the inherited talent and my recruits (even though I actually had some pretty high-ranking classes) never really clicked, and even in Year 3 my wheels were spinning as I was having to play JV High School teams OOC and cross my fingers that something would go my way in-conference in order to make a bowl game.

You just have to be patient. For all the things that are unrealistic in '12, this is not one of them. Bad teams (especially those that are not in BCS Conf's) take a while to get respect. If you have your difficulty/sliders set realistically, you're going to get blown out in years 1 and 2 by good teams, meaning it's going to take a while before you can really try to prove yourself

[TDenverFan]

I know IRL if you have 2 FCS foes you need 7 wins to make a bowl. I don't know if this is in the game or not, but I'd try to avoid it.

A Good OOC Schedule year 1 would be:
Tulane
Western Kentucky
FCS
FAU

Also, it's easier to beome a powerhouse in a smaller, weaker conference. Playing as Wazzou, you would face USC and Oregon yearly, while as North Texas you're playing FAU and FIU yearly.