I went with FSU, but that's a tough one. USC is certainly a candidate based on how well their recruiting has gone. However, considering their success (even factoring in their weak conference) I could not vote for them. OU & Ohio St have had trouble in the NC games, and Texas hasn't done anything without VY, but their success outside of those games precludes them. Clemson's expectations haven't been very high for most of the decade, so I couldn't vote for them. They are consistently under-performing, though. UGA isn't out of it yet this year, but if they don't at least win the SEC then Richt will have to be viewed as an underachiever. ND's recruiting rankings haven't been that high except for the past 4 years, and they were fairly good for 2 of those. Weiss has definitely underachieved. No team has done as poorly this decade with classes ranked as high as Florida St.
tOSU for lack of crytsal despite having a sweater vest wearing coach with the balls to even wear it. Serious going in twice vs. an underdog SEC team and leaving 1st loser does not bode well for their expectations.
Texas They have had an extremely stable program for a decade while others in the conference have struggled quite a bit, including A&M. They have been successful at recruiting as well. All they have to do is beat Oklahoma every once in a while and you would think they could win the conference championship. One conference championship since 1996.
You get a pass if you won a MNC. So Texas, OU and Miami are out. I think either Michigan or FSU. I would not consider Clemson since they have not been consistently in the top 10 in recruiting like Michigan and FSU has. Tennessee would be 3rd on my list.
USC with out a doubt. They have had the most hyped team, coach and recruiting classes of any program this decade "only" to win one MNCG, if I'm a fan of USC I would be disappointed.
