Is the era of Florida college football dominance over for good, or is the Sunshine State just in the midst of a temporary tropical depression? It depends whom you ask.
This past week, for the first time in 29 years ? since Dec. 6, 1982, back when Michael Jackson?s Thriller topped the charts ? the state?s teams were absent from The Associated Press Top 25 rankings. No Miami. No Florida. No Florida State. It marked the end of a remarkable run of 472 consecutive polls in which the Hurricanes, Gators or Seminoles, or some combination of the "Big Three," were ranked.
How dominant were the Florida programs?
Florida teams hold three of the five longest AP poll streaks in history. Florida State was ranked in the Top 25 for 211 weeks in a row from 1989 to 2001, Florida made the list 209 consecutive weeks from 1990 through 2002, and Miami was ranked 162 weeks in a row from 1985 through 1995.
In the 2000 year-end poll, Miami finished No. 2, Florida State No. 5 and Florida No. 10. Six years earlier, in 1994, Florida State was No. 4, Miami No. 6 and Florida No. 7. And in 1992, Florida State was ranked No. 2, Miami No. 3 and Florida No. 10.
Over the past three decades, they combined for 10 national titles and six Heisman Trophies. They supplied the NFL with 83 first-round picks over the past 20 years. And they combined for 36 top-5 finishes in the year-end polls during the 29-year streak.
Football fans can thank this state for Bobby Bowden, Howard Schnellenberger, Jimmy Johnson, Steve Spurrier, the Orange Bowl, Fun and Gun. And Tim Tebow, Michael Irvin, Deion Sanders, Emmitt Smith. Wide Right. Wide Left. The list goes on. Florida was the epicenter of football excitement.
But heading into last weekend, the Florida football forecast was cloudy, and Idaho, The Potato State (gasp!), had more schools in the Top 25 than the Sunshine State.
Miami and Florida State were 2-3, winless (0-4) in the ACC, and out of the national and conference championship conversation. The Seminoles, who started the season ranked in the top 5, had dropped three in a row. Florida?s 4-2 start could be excused, as the two losses were to No. 3 Alabama and No. 1 LSU, but it wasn?t enough to hang onto the No. 17 ranking.
The Oct. 8 weekend was the second time since Oct. 14, 1978, that all three schools lost on the same day. The Gators lost 47-11 at No. 1 LSU, Miami lost a 38-35 thriller at Virginia Tech, and Florida State lost 35-30 at Wake Forest. The other time all three state teams lost on the same day was Oct. 30, 2004.
The state?s Big Three fell out of the Top 25 while the likes of Boise State, Oregon and Houston climbed. The last of Miami?s five national titles was 10 years ago, and the Hurricanes are still seeking their first ACC title. Florida State, the one-time power under Bowden, hasn?t played in a BCS bowl game since the 2005 season. On Saturday, Florida State and Miami each got back to .500 with victories. Florida lost at Auburn to fall to 4-3.
The Hurricanes have had just one first-round draft pick the past four years (Kenny Phillips in 2008) after having 19 from 2001 to 2004. Three Seminoles have been first-round NFL picks over the past five years after the school produced 11 from 1997 to 2001.
ESPN college football commentator Danny Kanell, a former Florida State and NFL quarterback, said it is "very disappointing," to scan down the Top 25 and not see any Florida teams.
"When I played in the NFL, all the guys from the state of Florida had a certain sense of pride that we came from the best football state in the country, as far as high school and college football," he said in a phone interview. "When you saw another Florida guy, there was automatic respect. This state had something really special for a long time, and we got spoiled. The chance of that kind of dominance happening again is unlikely."
Kanell feels the absence of the three teams in the poll last week is "significant" and not just a temporary blip. "I think the days of FSU, UM and UF dominating the sport are kind of over because the game has changed."
He blames parity and "the emergence of a new kind of player." Kanell lamented the fact that a lot of kids today have a sense of entitlement and want to play right away, so they aren?t as likely to sit on the bench and earn their turn at a Miami or FSU.
(c)2011 The Miami Herald. Distributed by MCT Information Services
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bostonherald/sports/college/football/~3/amgtKQXFBF4/view.bg
julianna margulies dr oz kym johnson hakeem nicks hakeem nicks alpha lipoic acid 105.1
No comments:
Post a Comment