I've been reading through the different threads on the Les Miles vs. Nick Saban debate.... Is Miles any good? What does he have to do to prove himself? etc., etc. One would think a 11-2 season would have most thinking he's on the right track.... but apparently not. You're a tough crowd!:shock: Here's what I'm thinking... In the NCAA record books, LSU has never ranked in the top ten programs, based on winning percentages, in any decade. The NCAA record book shows a decade to be the 00 thru the 09 seasons. I thought a decade was 01-00, but never-the-less... So, in the current decade, 2000-2009, LSU has a chance, a very good chance, to make history for the program. Current rankings, 2000 - 2005 (six seasons) 1) Miami 64-10 2) Oklahoma 67-11 3) Texas 65-11 4) Boise State 63-13 5) Georgia 60-17 6) Southern Cal 59-17 7) Ohio State 58-17 8) LSU 59-18 9) Virginia Tech 58-18 10) Louisville 56-19 If I were a diehard LSU fan, my challenge for Miles would be to finish out the decade keeping LSU in the top ten programs in the country. Saban was 48-16 in the first five years of the decade and Miles is 11-2 in the first of the last five years. He could go 37-14 over the next four years and match Saban... that's 9 wins a season against 3 losses... and splitting the four bowl games. Personally, I think LSU will do slightly better than that, maybe make it to the big game, but for Les to make his mark, getting LSU listed as one of the teams of the decade is fair enough! There's my two cents (as if someone had actually asked me!!!)
That's a pretty good idea Hawker. Damn, looking at that it appears that Les is having to make up for Saban's lethargic record.:yelwink2: Just kidding now, so don't anyone get upset.
In case you're interested, here's the top ten programs based on winning percentage, by decade since the 1950's: 1990’s 1980’s 1970’s 1960’s 1950’s 1) Florida State Nebraska Oklahoma Alabama Oklahoma 2) Nebraska Miami Alabama Texas Mississippi 3) Marshall BYU Michigan Arkansas Michigan State 4) Florida Oklahoma Nebraska Mississippi Georgia Tech 5) Tennessee Clemson Penn State Southern Cal UCLA 6) Penn State Penn State Ohio State Bowling G Ohio State 7) Michigan Georgia Notre Dame Ohio State Tennessee 8) Miami Florida State Southern Cal Missouri Penn State 9) Texas A&M Michigan Texas Penn State Maryland 10) Ohio State Auburn Arizona St. Memphis Syracuse Penn State is the only team to do it all five decades... looks like that run is coming to an end.
In case you're interested, here's the top ten programs based on winning percentage, by decade since the 1950's: 1990’s......1980’s......1970’s......1960’s......1950’s 1) FSU.......Nebraska...Oklahoma..Alabama....Oklahoma 2) Neb.......Miami........Alabama....Texas.......Mississippi 3) Marshall..BYU.........Michigan....Arkansas...Michigan St 4) Florida....Oklahoma..Nebraska...Mississippi.Georgia Tech 5) Tenn......Clemson....Penn St....So Cal.......UCLA 6) Penn St..Penn St....Ohio St......Bowling G..Ohio St 7) Mich......Georgia......ND...........Ohio St.....Tennessee 8) Miami.....FSU..........SoCal........Missouri.....Penn St 9) TA&M.....Mich.........Texas........Penn St....Maryland 10) Ohio St..Auburn......Ariz St.......Memphis...Syracuse Penn State is the only team to do it all five decades... looks like that run is coming to an end.
I for one never said the SEC was the most dominent conference; I said it was the toughest. It is easy for a weak conference to be dominent. For decades Nebraska and Oklahoma were the only two powerhouses in their conference so, with their weak schedules, it is easy to see why they made the list so many times.
