It would have been great to have Stanford in addition to the four corners schools solely based on market and history. Andrew Luck did not take his job without a clear vision from Stanford brass itself. They can become a bama if they want to. Stanfors and USC are private university with almost unlimited funds. They decide to spend the money? Everybody will take a step back.
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Then apparently Stanford doesn’t want to, based on their last six seasons.
And if they don’t want to, then we don’t want them.
That’s like saying that if Vanderbilt, Rice, Northwestern, or Duke “wanted to,” then they could be big football powers.
Doesn’t quite work that way; perhaps they and their alums simply don’t want to keep up in today’s NIL universe, because they don’t care that much about football.
That makes them undesirable.
Lol…NIL is in it’s early infancy.
The larger college football playoff is in year ONE.
15 years from NOW, except for a few bluebloods with bottomless pockets, the college football hierarchy will be completely different.
Look for the Stanfords, SMUs, Houstons, Georgia Techs, UCFs, Vanderbilts, etc of the world to consistently be in the mix for a National Championship.
Give it Time!
We are in for DRASTIC changes in the next decade plus as NIL gets more sophisticated and market based…they will have endless $$$ supply due to the numerous corporations in their market that the small market schools CANNOT compete with
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Not Stanford.
Their people don’t care.
Nor GaTech/UCF unless something really changes. Fan bases aren’t large/people don’t care, or in UCF’s case, aren’t rich enough.
SMU will get by as long as they have oil barons.
Vanderbilt……no. Just no.
Houston will contend, but more because of TP and JUCOs than NIL, UNLESS we get a sugar daddy, in which case the sky’s the limit.
really…you have a crystal ball?
Stanford just hired a GM, something that 98% of other schools, including the University of Houston , have YET TO DO so they seem like they are developing a plan to me.
Georgia Tech is starting their dominant era…they had the highest TV ratings, out of all ACC schools, last year…expect that to grow
SMU will be a player EVERY YEAR now and will start to build fan momentum
Vanderbilt destroyed Alabama this past season which would have been a 0% possibility over the last decade…two ships passing in the night
Houston will get more sweet NIL deals/ sponsorship from local area corporations like ExxonMobil, Chevron, Memorial Hermann and the thousands of others we ill tap into . No sugar daddy needed AS LONG AS WE HAVE A PLAN TO TAP INTO THE RESOURCES
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Having a GM won’t help that much if they lack fans and their alums don’t care.
sure it will…the Astros hired a bright innovative “outside the box” GM in Luhnow and suddenly they went from a team with 3 100 loss seasons, with NOBODY IN THE STANDS and abysmal TV ratings to a decade long dynasty up there with the Los Angeles Dodgers, record TV ratings/attendance, and a new national reputation.
Astros have fans.
Stanford……OH LORDY!!!
Ya know what I think is funny?
I used to run into Stanford grads in my first career. Ya know what they often volunteer, without getting asked? That they were one of the people that got into Stanford WITHOUT athletics.
That should give you an indication of just how much disdain there is for sports among much of Stanford’s alumni base.
No GM is going to change that. Or at least, it’s going to be VERY hard.
Just like at Rice!
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Astros averaged about 20k (46% occupancy) the 3 years before their 2015 playoff run.
I remember, their TV ratings were so bad…that some games only had about 20,000 watching on TV as they were in the middle of a network dispute…basically they were NOT on TV.
Not good!
Nowhere close to what Stanford has to overcome.
Any MLB team team in pennant contention will have plenty of fans in this town.
Stanford will never have a lot of fans for the reason I just explained.
A GM won’t change that.
We will just disagree…Stanford is a Sleeping Giant.
There is not a single more dominant composite Collegiate Athletic Program than Stanford, as they have won 26 of the last 30 Director’s Cups (Complete Dominance) showing their commitment to ALL ATHLETICS (something Rice has NEVER done).
Their athletic alums are some of the greatest in their respective sport, especially Tiger Woods.
And on Football, one of their greats are coming home to be GM and currently, they have one of the best RBs in the NFL.
In 15 years, they will be a perennial College Football Power…just watch!
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Golf ain’t football.
Stanford’s football glory days were pre-NIL.
Unless one of their rich fat cats steps forward to be a sugar daddy, don’t look for a resurgence.
Yes, and the first step is being only a handful of Universities to hire a position whose sole job is to manage strategic NIL acquisitions and roster composition, aka a General Manager.
The Cardinal’s hiring of Luck marks an innovative turn in how football operations work. At Stanford, Luck’s role will be over the head coach on the organization chart, and he’ll work in concert with the coaching staff on personnel decisions.
If this is their Jeff Luhnow…you owe me something more than a “you were right” …lol
Again, I predicted that Stanford will start to become a force BEFORE they made the Luck move. They are poised to be DOMINANT…the Bay- Area posers will follow once they are good.
Vandy is loaded with $.
They are in a booming market (Nashville). Plenty of NIL opportunities to go around there.
Both Stanford and Vanderbilt could be great football programs, but the type of kids that go there are not likely to be motivated by football rather instead Olympic sports/golf/tennis etc
Therefore, the chances that they will be dominant programs as oppose to southern public schools for example, is unlikely
Maybe add in Rice. If their alumni and administration begin to allocate money to their athletics, they can become a threat. At least to us. They we are loaded with $ too.
But look at their student demographic
They probably could care less about football
Rice is a school where you either go to get a scholarship as an athlete, or you are likely from a wealthier background to get your undergraduate degree
It isn’t like Alabama or Texas where kids actually care about football
That’s true. They would have to make an “exception” for football players. Meaning their gpa wouldn’t have to be very high.
I excluded Rice because they are not P4 and do not have a path, now had they pulled a SMU…different story.
That TV money is still very helpful in running the operations/coaching side of a football program.
Now, on Rice …let me put it this way.
After the SWC, of the 4 castaways, Rice had the resources /money+ Academic reputation + attractive market + large stadium to be the first Castaway to find a way back to a Power Conference.
INSTEAD…they are the ONLY SWC Castaway that has yet to find a home in a Power Conference.
That’s how little they care.
So was Tulane
SMU’s academic requirements are no where near as rigorous as Rice/Tulane
Just be rich and you can get into SMU