M.Sttoops says Arizona Top 25 program?

[stoopified]

I saw that comment on an ESPN interview the other day and my gut reaction was WTF?Don't get me wrong,I appreciate the job Mike has done at UA but I think he needs to put together a string of Top 25 finishes to claim a place as a Top 25 program.

Anyhow that brought to my mindthe question,who are the Top 25 programs in America? My first thought was that is a pretty easy question to answer,then I started writing down a list and discovered it isn't as easy as I thought.I think I came up with a Top 20 most people would agree with (I think) but the final FIVE of a Top 25,I had a list of about a dozen teams.

In any case here is my Top 20 list (in the order they occurred to me,not ranking them).

Oklahoma
Texas
Nebraska
USC
Alabama
Auburn
LSU
Ohio State
Michigan
Penn State
Notre Dame
Florida
Florida State
Miami
Georgia
Virginia Tech
West Virginia
Tnnessee
Texas Tech
BYU

Final five(seven) -Boise State-well they have been good for about 20 years but against a mostly lame slate

UCLA -historically a winner

TCU-solid history and willing to play anyone

Wisconsin- solid but unspectacular history

Arkansas-solid but unspectacular

Pitt- solid history with some greatness but struggling to get back from the fringe

Arizona- solid history but struggling from the fringe

[sooneron]

I would put oregon before I'd put AZ

[sooneron]

I also do not think that Mike was speaking historically. He was probably referring to the last couple of years. And yes, I saw the interview.

[rawlingsHOH]

I saw that comment on an ESPN interview the other day and my gut reaction was WTF?Don't get me wrong,I appreciate the job Mike has done at UA but I think he needs to put together a string of Top 25 finishes to claim a place as a Top 25 program.

Anyhow that brought to my mindthe question,who are the Top 25 programs in America? My first thought was that is a pretty easy question to answer,then I started writing down a list and discovered it isn't as easy as I thought.I think I came up with a Top 20 most people would agree with (I think) but the final FIVE of a Top 25,I had a list of about a dozen teams.

In any case here is my Top 20 list (in the order they occurred to me,not ranking them).

Oklahoma
Texas
Nebraska
USC
Alabama
Auburn
LSU
Ohio State
Michigan
Penn State
Notre Dame
Florida
Florida State
Miami
Georgia
Virginia Tech
West Virginia
Tnnessee
Texas Tech
BYU

Final five(seven) -Boise State-well they have been good for about 20 years but against a mostly lame slate

UCLA -historically a winner

TCU-solid history and willing to play anyone

Wisconsin- solid but unspectacular history

Arkansas-solid but unspectacular

Pitt- solid history with some greatness but struggling to get back from the fringe

Arizona- solid history but struggling from the fringe

Oregon is definitely at Top 25 program right now. They got it rolling pretty good.

BYU, no.

Texas Tech, no.

[badger]

Mike's worked hard at U of A. He deserves the recognition and kudos for rebuilding that craptacular program. The fact that ESPN didn't give them Gameday this week is a slap in the face

(and yes, I know that Aubie and Clemz have larger fanbases than Iowa and Az)

Go Mikey. Beat Iowa. Let your bro's alma mater get their signature wins during their in-conference schedule... like against Ohio State :D

[rawlingsHOH]

I also do not think that Mike was speaking historically. He was probably referring to the last couple of years. And yes, I saw the interview.

Right, I think he's putting a little too much historical thought into his current list.

[Mississippi Sooner]

USC shall not be ranked this year. :D


I just love that.

[OU_Sooners75]

I saw that comment on an ESPN interview the other day and my gut reaction was WTF?Don't get me wrong,I appreciate the job Mike has done at UA but I think he needs to put together a string of Top 25 finishes to claim a place as a Top 25 program.

Anyhow that brought to my mindthe question,who are the Top 25 programs in America? My first thought was that is a pretty easy question to answer,then I started writing down a list and discovered it isn't as easy as I thought.I think I came up with a Top 20 most people would agree with (I think) but the final FIVE of a Top 25,I had a list of about a dozen teams.

In any case here is my Top 20 list (in the order they occurred to me,not ranking them).

Oklahoma
Texas
Nebraska
USC
Alabama
Auburn
LSU
Ohio State
Michigan
Penn State
Notre Dame
Florida
Florida State
Miami
Georgia
Virginia Tech
West Virginia
Tnnessee
Texas Tech
BYU

Final five(seven) -Boise State-well they have been good for about 20 years but against a mostly lame slate

UCLA -historically a winner

TCU-solid history and willing to play anyone

Wisconsin- solid but unspectacular history

Arkansas-solid but unspectacular

Pitt- solid history with some greatness but struggling to get back from the fringe

Arizona- solid history but struggling from the fringe

Not a bad list....but here are the top 25 winningest programs (winning%) of all time:

1. Michigan
2. Notre Dame
3. Texas
4. Ohio State
5. Oklahoma
6. Alabama
7. Southern Cal
8. Nebraska
9. Tennessee
10. Penn State
11. Florida State
12. Georgia
13. Louisiana State
14. Miami (FL)
15. Florida
16. Auburn
17. Miami (OH)
18. Washington
19. Arizona State
20. Central Michigan
21. Virginia Tech
22. Colorado
23. West Virginia
24. Texas A&M
25. Georgia Tech

These rankings are courtesy of Stassen.com.
http://football.stassen.com/records/compute-request.html

[Mississippi Sooner]

Central Michigan. That's a name that wouldn't spring to most people's minds.

[Mike@DW]

I think your list is pretty good. There are more than 25 "top 25" programs the way i see it. I think of the term "top 25" as more of general description and reputation of a program, not that there are exactly 25 teams.

Just like any program, they go in up and down cycles. There are many factors that I would say to into a team being a "top 25" but one big difference is that their down cycles are not that low and their up cycles are national championship type.

Arizona State, not a top 25 team.
Oregon is getting there, but not a top 25 team
BYU, right on the edge

[swardboy]

I might give Arkansas a little more love...one national championship, powerhouse in the '60's ...."game of the century" 1969. But yeah, what have you done for me lately.

[rawlingsHOH]

Oregon is getting there, but not a top 25 team


It's about money, recruiting, facilities, and winning, right now, and Oregon is in there.

[PalmBeachSooner]

Maybe he was talking about the girls softball team.

[bent rider]

I would put oregon before I'd put AZ

What is the time frame?? In the last 10 years, definitely put Oregon before Az, in fact forget about Arizona, when is the last time they played in the Rose Bowl. Answer: not even once. Even Ariz State has played twice. I like Mike Stoops, but Ariz fans have to be the most delusional out there.

BYU was great in the late 70s and 80s during the Lavell Edwards era. They did absolutely nothing before that. Ever since, solid, but not spectacular. Since 2000 you'd have to give the nod to Utah (two BCS bowl wins, 8-straight bowl wins), Boise State (two BCS bowl wins) or TCU (one BCS bowl game) over BYU (5 time repeat Las Vegas bowl games, meh).

[BillyBall]

I still think of the Sand Aggies as the goofy cousin of Texas. Historically I would have A&M over them.

[Soonerwake]

I'm guessing the reference is top 25 program right now. In that case, I would incorporate historical data (all-time), but give more weight to recent success, i.e. last 20 years.

In that case, OU is number one and the rest suck.

Oh yeah, this was about Arizona. No idea.... :D

[jumperstop]

I'm guessing the reference is top 25 program right now. In that case, I would incorporate historical data (all-time), but give more weight to recent success, i.e. last 20 years.

In that case, OU is number one and the rest suck.

Oh yeah, this was about Arizona. No idea.... :D

My thoughts exactly :D

[Soonerwake]

I still think of the Sand Aggies as the goofy cousin of Texas. Historically I would have A&M over them.

I like a term for them I read here years ago, semi-retarded. You know, the semi-retarded cousin that you see at Christmas that won't stop talking about his latest money-making scheme and how he will be sporting a new Trans-Am this time next year, all the while unaware of the fact that the rest of the family has moved to the other room without him. Oh wait, maybe that was our Aggie brethren. :eek:

Nevermind. Nothing to see here.

[stoopified]

Not a bad list....but here are the top 25 winningest programs (winning%) of all time:

1. Michigan
2. Notre Dame
3. Texas
4. Ohio State
5. Oklahoma
6. Alabama
7. Southern Cal
8. Nebraska
9. Tennessee
10. Penn State
11. Florida State
12. Georgia
13. Louisiana State
14. Miami (FL)
15. Florida
16. Auburn
17. Miami (OH)
18. Washington
19. Arizona State
20. Central Michigan
21. Virginia Tech
22. Colorado
23. West Virginia
24. Texas A&M
25. Georgia Tech

These rankings are courtesy of Stassen.com.
http://football.stassen.com/records/compute-request.htmlI'm talking about all facets of what makes a great program- not just wins and losses but also tradition,level of competition and recent (last 20 years) history .That is why C.Michigan,Miami,Oh.,Colorado ,Washington,aTm,ASU are not on my list,what have any of these teams done to be relevant recently,if ever?

[stoopified]

To get back to my original point,UA is not at this point a Top 25 program,for the record they are not historically either(they rank #50).

I would agree Oregon should be on that list BUT if you include UO,you can't exclude TT.The two schols are very close record-wise over the last 20 years or so.People seem to forget that Leach and Dykes are the two winningest Coaches. in Tech football.

To be on my list teams have to be strong now nad have some history.

[texaspokieokie]

criteria must be established for a list of this nature.

TT under spike was not as good as when leach was there. (IMHO)

[Breadburner]

What no Okie St you god ***** Mother ***** OU biased sons of *****......

[texaspokieokie]

they made the top 25 in wrestling.

[OUthunder]

Va Tech ain't done ****.

[Breadburner]

they made the top 25 in wrestling.

Lol....heh

[NorthernIowaSooner]

Go Mikey. Beat Iowa. Let your bro's alma mater get their signature wins during their in-conference schedule... like against Ohio State :D

bob, mike and mark all went to iowa so hes beating up his own alma mater if he wins, he lost last season in his return to iowa city. ron went to youngstown state if anyone cares

[Collier11]

Mikey has done an unreal job at Zona, ive said it before but alot of people dont realize how bad that program was before he took over. If he leads them to 8+ wins again this year for the 3rd straight year id say they are a top 25 program

[Leroy Lizard]

Sometimes news come to me rather slow, but I didn't realize Seth Littrell was Mike's offensive coordinator.

Not sure how that one got by me, being a genius and all.