Back in 2007, Steward Mandel ranked the auto-bid BCS football programs by Kings, Barons, Knights, and Peasants.

I thought it might be interesting to revisit a couple of years later, throwing in some non-auto-bid BCS football programs...(italics is what Mandel wrote then)

Kings
Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Tennessee*, Texas and USC.

* Tennessee is the lone school in the group that caused any hesitation. The Vols would have been a no-brainer 10 years ago, but they have fallen off the map a bit lately. In the end, I figured those 100 fans in Montana still know "Rocky Top," the checkered end zones and that Peyton Manning went there.

Personally I have no problem with UT being in this grouping. I also believe both Georgia and LSU have a case for this level as well.


Barons
Auburn, Clemson, Colorado, Georgia, LSU*, Texas A&M, UCLA, Virginia Tech, Washington and Wisconsin.

* While LSU is clearly a premier program right now, its big-picture tradition does not match those of the 13 kings. However, if the Tigers were to add another national title here in the next couple of years, they may well graduate to that group.

Having elevated Georgia and LSU from this group to "Kings", I would elevate West Virginia, Pitt, Georgia Tech, and Oregon up to this level. I'd also place BYU and Utah at this level as well.

Knights
Arizona State, Arkansas, Boston College, Cal, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas State, Maryland, Michigan State, Missouri, N.C. State, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Stanford, Syracuse*, South Carolina, Texas Tech, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington State.

* In normal times, Syracuse would qualify as one of the barons, but they're just so darn bad and so irrelevant right now.

I agree with Mandel's comments regarding SU. I would also place Louisville at this level. Back in 2007, Mandel was torn regarding placement of the Cards between this level and Baron level. But there should be no doubt that this is where they belong for now.

I would place TCU and Boise State here. And I would also elevate Cincinnati and North Carolina from Peasant status to Knights status.

I'd also demote Oregon State, Oklahoma State, and Kansas State to Peasant level. If a program hasn't even reached .500 level in winning percentage they shouldn't be in this grouping.

Peasants
Arizona, Baylor, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Duke, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Northwestern, Rutgers*, South Florida*, Wake Forest and Vanderbilt.

* Rutgers is another program that could be on its way up a tier, and South Florida is here by default because it's essentially a start-up.

Agree with both Rutgers and South Florida. Rutgers needs to keep on winning and then win a Big Bowl game to move up to the next level. USF needs to be reviewed again in three years.

Although some might consider UConn similar to USF unfortunately their long history as a small college program is hurting their overall 1-A winning percentage.

Cheers,
Neil

Stewart Mandel is an idiot. But what else is new with somebody on ESPN? WVU is the 16th winningest NCAA football program of all time and Mandell has 23 schools listed above West Virginia. How does the 16th winningest program in NCAA history end up ranked behind more than 15 schools? Because there aren't enough people in the State of West Virginia to give the media any incentive to promote us. But WVU always gets the short end of the stick, sometimes AFTER we prove everybody wrong...

(04-11-2010 06:52 PM)omnicarrier Wrote:  Back in 2007, Steward Mandel ranked the auto-bid BCS football programs by Kings, Barons, Knights, and Peasants.

I thought it might be interesting to revisit a couple of years later, throwing in some non-auto-bid BCS football programs...(italics is what Mandel wrote then)

Kings
Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Tennessee*, Texas and USC.

* Tennessee is the lone school in the group that caused any hesitation. The Vols would have been a no-brainer 10 years ago, but they have fallen off the map a bit lately. In the end, I figured those 100 fans in Montana still know "Rocky Top," the checkered end zones and that Peyton Manning went there.

Personally I have no problem with UT being in this grouping. I also believe both Georgia and LSU have a case for this level as well.

I agree with all this completely.

Quote:Barons
Auburn, Clemson, Colorado, Georgia, LSU*, Texas A&M, UCLA, Virginia Tech, Washington and Wisconsin.

* While LSU is clearly a premier program right now, its big-picture tradition does not match those of the 13 kings. However, if the Tigers were to add another national title here in the next couple of years, they may well graduate to that group.

Having elevated Georgia and LSU from this group to "Kings", I would elevate West Virginia, Pitt, Georgia Tech, and Oregon up to this level. I'd also place BYU and Utah at this level as well.

I have no problem with your take on this one either although I might be privy to drop Washington down a level these days.

Quote:Knights
Arizona State, Arkansas, Boston College, Cal, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas State, Maryland, Michigan State, Missouri, N.C. State, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Stanford, Syracuse*, South Carolina, Texas Tech, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington State.

* In normal times, Syracuse would qualify as one of the barons, but they're just so darn bad and so irrelevant right now.

I agree with Mandel's comments regarding SU. I would also place Louisville at this level. Back in 2007, Mandel was torn regarding placement of the Cards between this level and Baron level. But there should be no doubt that this is where they belong for now.

I would place TCU and Boise State here. And I would also elevate Cincinnati and North Carolina from Peasant status to Knights status.

I'd also demote Oregon State, Oklahoma State, and Kansas State to Peasant level. If a program hasn't even reached .500 level in winning percentage they shouldn't be in this grouping.

I don't feel elevating North Carolina is yet warranted, could happen but hasn't yet. I'm on the fence about demoting Oklahoma State.

Quote:Peasants
Arizona, Baylor, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Duke, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Northwestern, Rutgers*, South Florida*, Wake Forest and Vanderbilt.

* Rutgers is another program that could be on its way up a tier, and South Florida is here by default because it's essentially a start-up.

Agree with both Rutgers and South Florida. Rutgers needs to keep on winning and then win a Big Bowl game to move up to the next level. USF needs to be reviewed again in three years.

Although some might consider UConn similar to USF unfortunately their long history as a small college program is hurting their overall 1-A winning percentage.

Cheers,
Neil

Agree with this one as well. I think UConn, Rutgers and South Florida are all on their way up. Not bad for the "Big Least!" (Please note the quotes to denote sarcasm for those of you who are very sensitive about expansion right now!) I would also consider Minnesota potentially on the way up a level too.

I would elevate some of what I'll call the Banished to here as well. These programs would be ECU, Houston, Tulsa, SMU, New Mexico, Nevada - Reno, Central Florida, Fresno State, Hawaii, Marshall, Ohio, Colorado State, Navy and Air Force. Others that have the potential to rise to Peasant quickly include Miami-OH, Ball State, Buffalo, Army, Colorado State, Memphis, Bowling Green, Temple, UNLV and Central Michigan.

The rest of 1-A make up the Banished. I call them Banished as in they have been (wrongfully) disenfranchised from the rest of the kingdom.