| Dynasty? What Dynasty? Bob Loblaw |
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Nothing gets the sports world talking like a dynasty, or the possibility of one. Who’s the greatest? Is this team better than one
from 30 years ago? Who would have won if this team had played this one? All questions with no answers, giving the talking heads a
never-ending platform from which opine till the end of time.
What is a dynasty and how do you know if you are seeing one? That is the tougher question. Consistent excellence, marked by
winning and contending for championships at the highest level, is normally the barometer (or, as Kramer would pronounce it,
“thermometer”). In today’s fast paced sports world of instant information, opinions, and instant gratification, dynasties are harder to
find; parity and the pressure to win have led many teams to improve to catch a piece of the fan’s desires. What we can be sure of is
that dynasties don’t last forever and as quickly as things change in college sports, the teams that once ruled the games are no
longer at the top of the heap.
With that in mind, my staff and I have compiled 3 football programs and 3 basketball programs that have dropped from the
mountaintop in recent years, not always going from great to bad, but at least back to the pack that they once ruled over. Yes, I know I
could have included other college sports, but seriously, when was the last time you watched college baseball or tennis?
FOOTBALL:
Florida State:
For 14 years in a row, (1987-2000) Florida State finished the year in the Top 5. In almost all of those years they were one game
away from playing for or winning the national championship. Two national titles, two Heisman winners, scores of NFL draft picks,
and 9 straight ACC titles after they joined the league were won by the Seminoles. From 1982 -1996 they were 13-0-1 in bowl games.
Players like Charlie Ward, Warrick Dunn, Deion Sanders, Marvin Jones, Peter Boulware, Lavernous Coles, Peter Warrick, Chris
Weinke, and many others were fixtures in Tallahassee, leading the Seminoles to the top of college football every year. Their battles
with Miami were often National Title playoff games with the winner moving on and the loser suffering their only loss of the season.
Amazingly, FSU or The U played in the National Title game 14 times over a 20 year span.
Since 2001 though, the Seminoles have lost their tomahawks. They have not finished the season in the Top 10 since 2000.
That coincides with the drop-off at QB and the offense in general that has taken place since offensive mastermind Mark Richt left for
Georgia. FSU has not had a top-flight quarterback since and their offense, once Indianapolis Colts-like, now often struggles to score
and produces turnovers that lead to losses. Teams like NC State, Clemson, and Wake Forest, who were once minor bumps on the
Seminoles schedule before the important games, have beaten FSU in recent years. Is Bobby Bowden past his prime, has the
modern game and player passed him by, are Florida, Miami, and out-of-state teams taking more of the in-state Florida talent away?
Someone will need to sit down and figure these things out if the Seminoles are to get back to winning 10 games a year anytime soon.
MIAMI:
For almost 20 years, the Hurricanes were the Yankees of college football. Miami won 5 national titles between 1984 and 2002,
and 6 other years they were effectively in a playoff type setting and would have won the title had they won one more game, an
impressive run to say the least. Miami littered the NFL with players year after year, including a record 6 first round picks in the 2004
NFL draft. Vinny Testaverde, Jim Kelly, Steve Walsh, Michael Irvin, Ray Lewis, Bennie Blades, Santana Moss, Andre Johnson, Reggie
Wayne, Clinton Portis, Rohan Marley, Ed Reed, Warren Sapp, and on and on and on with star players. Maybe they were getting
money from rappers while they were there, maybe they didn’t all go to class, but they did what was important: they won football
games. They did not lose at home for 10 years and had 2 Heisman winners. A dynasty to say the least.
But where has it gone? Since their thrilling overtime loss to Ohio State in the 2002 National Championship game, Mimi has
been very ordinary. Once Butch Davis’s players left, Larry Coker was not able to sustain the excellence and the program has dropped
in the rankings. Off-field issues (or on-field like the brawl), lack of a solid quarterback since Ken Dorsey, and joining the ACC where
they have to play the same teams year in and year out in a conference setting, half the games away from home, have all contributed
to the decline. The U is hoping Randy Shannon, the new head coach and a former player from the glory years, can lead Miami back
to the days when their play on the field overshadowed the actions off of it, and they were a formidable hurdle to anyone’s national title
hopes.
NOTRE DAME:
I’m not gonna put the effort forth again, please refer to my article from before on the state of this sleeping giant.
In the nest edition of Dynasty, no, not the TV series, I’ll give you my list of the basketball dynasties that have sunk back to earth.
Until then, stay classy San Diego, or wherever it is that you people live.