Quote Originally Posted by Matty Dispatch View Post
It would be nice if MSU, or Iowa State, or Kentucky, or three dozen other school had a snowball's chance in hell to win something significant. College football is romanticized because players are doing it "for the love of the game". Well, they are getting a scholarship too, and many wouldn't be playing if they weren't. You can structure CFB like the NFL but still have all the tailgating and the traditions and the band and the cheerleaders and all the things you love about CFB. Except it would be better because teams other than the same handful could actually win something.
We had chances in 1999 and 2014 and shit the bed both times. The reason Bama and schools like Bama are always good is because they put a lot more emphasis on being the best and have had DECADES of success to use with recruits to entice them to campus. It is what it is.

I was thinking about this yesterday, as a matter of fact. And yeah, I get tired of seeing the same ol' shit every year too but I really don't think we're that far off from being a pre-season top 25 team every year. We just have to keep our program at the same level (minimum) as it is now and continue to win.

The reason the usual suspects keep making the playoffs is
1) they're usually really good
2) they get the benefit of the doubt when they lose a game (see Auburn almost making it if they won the SEC).
3) many blue blood programs are overvalued every year (Notre Dame, Texas, Ohio State, etc).

We're getting better recognition as an athletic department, which will help. 2014, 2015, 2017, and our football coaching search have done a lot to raise perceptions about MSU to the national media. Other sports (WBB and baseball) being top tier also help.

It's frustrating but I don't think the answer is some kind of regulated draft or artificial restriction of who can go where.