[doublespiral]

Yeah, the cultures on campus (and beyond) are vastly different.

The world revolves around football in Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, etc. - with God and country trailing a good ways behind.

That works in our favor with some recruits - e.g. Barry Sanders - but if a kid's whole life is football, it's going to be tough to pry those players away from the traditional powerhouses (and odds are low that they would have been devoted enough to academics to get past admissions anyway).

Stanford's appeal is very different. I think everyone on this board appreciates that - and I'm hopeful that a bunch of blue chippers each year will as well.

I don't think that it's unreasonable to believe that we can be in the hunt for conference championships and BCS bowls most years, but we'll stumble some years as well. Every program does. I am excited to see the general level of the program elevated and feel that it can continue.

It's great for the university and, to be frank, the NCAA should be cheering for us. College football needs folks to prove that this game can be played the right way - especially with the tragedy at Penn State and the laundry list of scandals at schools like Miami, University of Spoiled Children, tOSU, Georgia, Auburn, Oklahoma, etc.

[doublespiral]

Yeah, the cultures on campus (and beyond) are vastly different.

The world revolves around football in Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, etc. - with God and country trailing a good ways behind.

That works in our favor with some recruits - e.g. Barry Sanders - but if a kid's whole life is football, it's going to be tough to pry those players away from the traditional powerhouses (and odds are low that they would have been devoted enough to academics to get past admissions anyway).

Stanford's appeal is very different. I think everyone on this board appreciates that - and I'm hopeful that a bunch of blue chippers each year will as well.

I don't think that it's unreasonable to believe that we can be in the hunt for conference championships and BCS bowls most years, but we'll stumble some years as well. Every program does. I am excited to see the general level of the program elevated and feel that it can continue.

It's great for the university and, to be frank, the NCAA should be cheering for us. College football needs folks to prove that this game can be played the right way - especially with the tragedy at Penn State and the laundry list of scandals at schools like Miami, University of Spoiled Children, tOSU, Georgia, Auburn, Oklahoma, etc.