Don't believe that? Well, you haven't seen one snap of Alabama 2014, but you already know they're on

This is the 2 nd part on defining "eliteness." In part 1, which you can find here and should read first, we had a solid discussion on what it means to be an elite team for single season.  Now, we're going to talk about being perceived louisiana swamp tours as an "Elite Program."  As in the first post, this is supposed to make you think about your own definition of an Elite Program, whether or not Clemson has an Elite Program, and then if not, what Clemson needs to do to get there in your mind?  Ideally, I would like this to be an agreed upon definition by most of the STS community and a work in progress that we can refer back to in the future.  For example, after an exchange with Razzmctazz, I realized that my use of the term "Consensus Opinion" wasn't as representative of a description here as the terms "Collective louisiana swamp tours Opinion" or "Majority Opinion." Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE This is long so feel free to read it in installments.
College football at the highest level is a perception sport. There is no 125 team round-robin tournament.  There is no mandatory scheduling that makes all the conferences play against each other.  There is no computer program that we fully trust to objectively list the best teams in order (yet).  There is only the perception of team strength by fans, writers, louisiana swamp tours coaches, and now in 2014, a playoff selection committee.
As the perception gets better, so does recruiting, ticket sales, TV contracts, alumni support, and (wait for it) "Collective Opinion."  Therefore, Non-Elite programs are running uphill to field an Elite Team and Elite Programs are running downhill to field one.  Statistically louisiana swamp tours that truth pans out.  Since 1994, the average FBS team has an Elite Season 5.7% of the time.  Elite Programs have an Elite Season 44.4% of the time.
I expect that we could all list the Elite Programs that will fit my definition below.  Where I let the definition of an "Elite Team" find me in post 1, I generally knew who the "Elite Programs" were in this post.  I also knew that while the perception of a team can change from week to week, the perception of a program is less volatile.
louisiana swamp tours You've probably heard before louisiana swamp tours that college football is cyclical and it certainly is that.  Princeton, Army, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Miami were all once "Elite Programs" in college football.  In 2014, they are not.
Researching these ups and downs, I learned some possibly surprising things that do NOT affect our perception of "Eliteness."  Despite louisiana swamp tours what Alabama Fan says, it's not about number of National Championships in the past.  How many people know that Princeton can lay claim to 23 National Championships?  Eliteness is more about what have you done for me lately.  Anything that happened more than 20 years ago is vaguely relevant on a national scale.
I also learned louisiana swamp tours that Conference Championships do not mean as much as Conference Perception.  In 2011, the ACC Champion was perceived to be beneath all the AQ conference's Champions and ranked 17 spots below the SEC West Division 3rd Place team.  Enter ACC wins over LSU, Ohio State, louisiana swamp tours and Auburn and by 2013, the ACC Atlantic Runner-Up is perceived to be above the Big 12, Pac 12, and AAC (old Big East) Champions.
Another thing I learned about Eliteness is that while money, facilities, autonomy, or your own TV network helps your program be more successful, we still only respond  to what we see on the field with our own eyes.  Most feel comfortable touting a team with a high level of sustained on-the-field domination over a period of years.
Don't believe that? Well, you haven't seen one snap of Alabama 2014, but you already know they're one of the best teams in college football. Notice I didn't say "think."  I said "know."  Think about that.
has either played in the National Championship game within the past two years,  been in the NC game and had another elite season in the past three years, has been Elite three times in the past five years, four times in the past ten years, six times in the past 20 years, or 10 times in the past 30 years.
With that, here is the "Elite Programs" chart by year from 1994 to 2013.  The "E" designates Elite Seasons for that team. "NC" means that they played for the National championship in the past three years.  A bolded team name means that they are currently an Elite Program.
Two teams knocking on the door of Elite Program status right now are Michigan State and South Carolina. If either of these teams turn in an elite season in the next two years, the definition here says that the perception will shift and these programs will have elite status. As a Clemson fan since 1977, I never thought this would happen, but since I’ve been following Elite perception for several years now, I feel confident in the definition’s accuracy. The silver lining is that, if they become an Elite Program, we’ll get a shot to elevate ourselves every year at their expense.
If this does happen for Gas Pumper Nation before it happens for us, we have seen the luxuries louisiana swamp tours afforded to Elite Programs. In 1998, Elite Programs #4 Ohio St. and #8 Florida made BCS bowls while #3 Kansas State did not. In 1999 we saw #6 Kansas St. passed over for a 2 nd time to the benefit of Elite Program #8 Michigan. In 2000, we saw Washington defeat Miami and then Miami beat FSU during the season and all three teams end up with one loss. The obvious choice, Washington, was passed over for Elite Program FSU to go the NC game.
Oklahoma and USC were Elite Programs in 2004 and undefeated Auburn was not. They’re still talking about how Auburn got screwed. When Ohio St. and Michigan reemerged as Elite Programs in the mid-2000s, they were afforded the polite perception louisiana swamp tours that they were the two best teams all season until they both got humiliated by Florida and USC in their bowl games. We almost louisiana swamp tours had a total debacle in a Michigan/Ohio St. rematch for the National Title.
In 2009, Elite Program and undefeated Texas played for the NC over other undefeated teams Cincinnati, louisiana swamp tours Boise St., and TCU. If there was a playoff in 2009, which team gets left out? Or, should I ask, how many of those teams get left out? In 2011, LSU and Alabama were Elite Programs and Oklahoma State was not. Let’s have us that rematch instead of giving Oklahoma State their shot.
On the flipside, there are also some teams in danger of losing their Elite Program status in the near future. Those teams are Texas, Notre Dame, and Auburn. Texas hasn’t been elite since Colt McCoy got injured in the National Championship game in 2009. Since then, the program louisiana swamp tours has had a losing season (2010) and only finished in the top 25 once (#19, 2012). Mack Brown has been fired and the Charlie Strong era begins this year. In the midst of all the hype about their superior bankroll and championship louisiana swamp tours expectations, Charlie Strong is the man to take over after the man. Will he be the next Jimbo Fisher or the next Bob Davie? Personally, I’m hoping he’s the next Bob Davie just so that he can be fired and take Ed Cunningham’s commentator job.
Speaking of Notre Dame, the last time we saw them they were acting out a scene from "Deliverance" against Alabama in the NC game. The Elite Program definition says that we want Eliteness proven to be sustainable. So, since they did not follow up their elite year with another, we’re almost ready to consider that NC game appearance an aberration. They’ll have to have an elite season this year to maintain Elite Program louisiana swamp tours status.
Funny enough, I think half the people reading this are asking, "Since when is Notre Dame an elite program anyway?" and the other half are saying, "Notre Dame is ALWAYS an elite program." louisiana swamp tours I can listen to arguments on both sides, however, deep down inside, you know that Notre Dame is the least scary Elite Program to have to play. They are Ted Williams in the golf cart riding around Fenway while everybody claps for what he accomplished before they were born.
Moving on, I realized that in my "Elite Teams" post that I may not have focused on Clemson enough for some of you, so indulge louisiana swamp tours me while I remedy that in this post and take a trip back to the 80s. First, here are the "Elite Programs" from 1981 to 1993 for you. Elite Programs as of 1994 are bolded. Relevant NC's to the below comments are listed as well.
Having won the National Championship in 1981, Clemson, like Florida louisiana swamp tours State, Notre Dame, and Auburn today, was an Elite Program heading into the 1982, 1983, and 1984 seasons. Clemson was a near-elite program for the rest of the 80s, but never quite got back to elite status. This was because of three main reasons.
The first is the three years of probation in the early 80s. As we were in the middle of our undefeated season, two guys who never played for us came forward and said that a Clemson booster paid them. We were labeled cheaters in the media before we got a chance to defend ourselves to the NCAA and we were having our NC spat upon before we had even won it.  Then we were hurt by probation. We lost three years of televised games, an ACC title in 1983, and a major bowl game appearance in both 1982 and 1983. All of this punishment was for basically what Auburn would call "just another Tuesday louisiana swamp tours in January."
Our recruiting suffered and we bottomed out in ‘85 and ‘86. It took a couple years, but by 1987, we were back to near-elite again. By 1989, we could play with anybody in the country, and in one case, embarrass a top 5 team in the final AP poll on their home field. It was during this stretch where we took down Elite Programs at the time in Oklahoma, Penn St., and West Virginia. We had passed Georgia and were getting a lot of the best players in their state again.
The 1990 team was as talented of a team as I’ve ever seen at Clemson and hands down the best defense I’ve ever seen at Clemson (#1 Total Defense, #2 vs. the Run). Chuck O’Brien, Kenzil Jackson, and Wayne Simmons would’ve been the best LB corps in the ACC if they weren't backups for us. 11 defensive players in the 2 deep were drafted by the NFL and 5 in the first two rounds