In the next several years BSU will recede into its natural state of mediocrity and national irrelevance.
Their ridiculously impressive run has been largely sustained by Petersen's genius and his ability to create and sustain an aura of perennial national visibility, always on the verge of busting the BCS, always hovering near or in the top 10. This has enabled him to attract talent that would otherwise never consider playing for an inconsequential state school in a frozen truck stop of a town hundreds of miles from any town with decent weather and / or clubs. Comparable programs in better locations - Fresno (yes, I've been there, and it's a better location than Boise, as is Bakersfield), Utah, USU, SDSU, Hawaii - will begin to chip away at the athletes that have kept the BSU machine going.
Between 2008 and 2012 they lost a total four times in the regular season. The last time they lost three times in the regular season was 2005. But that year they had a three year starter coming back for the next year and rebounded quickly in spectacular fashion for 2006. Since 2002 BSU has had four undefeated regular seasons and four one-loss regular seasons, with three two-loss regular seasons and - before this year - only one three-loss regular season.
Much will depend on how they show next year - they're a good bet to lose to Ole Miss on August 28, and October 25 BYU will have a chance to gash them into another multiple loss regular season (and a third straight year outside of the program-sustaining life force of being the perennial BCS busting buzz).
Nebraska isn't a direct comparable but there's one parallel - no one actually wants to be in Lincoln, Nebraska - and once the aura of national relevance was punctured it started losing out on its biggest recruits to other programs. Resurgence happens (Texas, USC, Oklahoma and Alabama have all faded and surged back) but it doesn't happen in locations that suck, are freezing cold and where there is no institutional depth to help the lagging football team revive. USC, Oklahoma and Texas can bounce back from mediocrity in part because there is a critical mass of excellence and competitiveness around them - both in other sports and in their academic institutions. Florida State and Alabama can revive because they have deep histories of football tradition and sit in the middle of huge recruiting grounds and because they have huge followings who have little else to do with their lives.
Once Boise State is off the BCS buster radar for a season or two it will be nearly impossible to bring it back their recruiting prospects stop eating the grass.
farside-cows-eating-grass.jpg
Their ridiculously impressive run has been largely sustained by Petersen's genius and his ability to create and sustain an aura of perennial national visibility, always on the verge of busting the BCS, always hovering near or in the top 10. This has enabled him to attract talent that would otherwise never consider playing for an inconsequential state school in a frozen truck stop of a town hundreds of miles from any town with decent weather and / or clubs. Comparable programs in better locations - Fresno (yes, I've been there, and it's a better location than Boise, as is Bakersfield), Utah, USU, SDSU, Hawaii - will begin to chip away at the athletes that have kept the BSU machine going.
Between 2008 and 2012 they lost a total four times in the regular season. The last time they lost three times in the regular season was 2005. But that year they had a three year starter coming back for the next year and rebounded quickly in spectacular fashion for 2006. Since 2002 BSU has had four undefeated regular seasons and four one-loss regular seasons, with three two-loss regular seasons and - before this year - only one three-loss regular season.
Much will depend on how they show next year - they're a good bet to lose to Ole Miss on August 28, and October 25 BYU will have a chance to gash them into another multiple loss regular season (and a third straight year outside of the program-sustaining life force of being the perennial BCS busting buzz).
Nebraska isn't a direct comparable but there's one parallel - no one actually wants to be in Lincoln, Nebraska - and once the aura of national relevance was punctured it started losing out on its biggest recruits to other programs. Resurgence happens (Texas, USC, Oklahoma and Alabama have all faded and surged back) but it doesn't happen in locations that suck, are freezing cold and where there is no institutional depth to help the lagging football team revive. USC, Oklahoma and Texas can bounce back from mediocrity in part because there is a critical mass of excellence and competitiveness around them - both in other sports and in their academic institutions. Florida State and Alabama can revive because they have deep histories of football tradition and sit in the middle of huge recruiting grounds and because they have huge followings who have little else to do with their lives.
Once Boise State is off the BCS buster radar for a season or two it will be nearly impossible to bring it back their recruiting prospects stop eating the grass.
farside-cows-eating-grass.jpg
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