Falling Giants

Penn State, Nebraska, and Notre Dame

These 3 schools strike fear into all opponents in college football. They represent the elite, the juggernauts of NCAA football...

...or at least they use to...

Times have changed in the world of college football. The Nittany Lions, Cornhuskers, and Fighting Irish are no longer seen with the same image the nation saw them for so long.

Penn State, home of 2 National Championships (1982, 1986) is a school in disarray. Fans find themselves looking at their 80 year old coach and asking, "What happened Joe Pa?" A very proud football school is continuously finding themselves attending low-marquee bowls. As for big games at Happy Valley, they all end in such similar plights (OSU 38-17). Other than the 1994 undefeated season, and a couple late 1990 seasons, the Lions have not found themselves in some serious national championship talk for quite some time.

Is a change needed?

Then there is Nebraska. The nation of Big Red. The land of Tom Osbourne and Tommie Frazier. Those names are about as ancient as the word "Mayans." Other than foolishly being chosen to go to the 2001 National Championship and getting destroyed by Miami-Florida, not much has been worth cheering for in Lincoln. The once proud school is being forced to settle for their 3rd and 4th choices for head coach. Frank Solich? Was not the school's first choice as well as Bill Callahan.

You can't help but wonder how far this school has fallen? Considering Callahan's team has pretty much quit on the season the bleeding will only continue for the Big Red faithful.

The 3 National Championships of the 1990s (1994, 1995, 1997) seem so far away...

And finally there is Notre Dame. The "favored son" of college football has been to back-to-back BCS bowls. Regardless of not rightfully earning the 2007 Sugar Bowl bid, the Irish nonetheless competed in those bowls. With that said, championship times have been gone for quite some time in South Bend. 1988 was the last time the Irish have won a National Championship. Furthermore, the Irish really haven't found themselves in the championship race late in the season since 1993.

3 legendary programs all falling and all soon hoping to stop the plunder. Currently, Penn State is 8-3, Nebraska 5-6, and Notre Dame a dreadful 1-9.

Hey there's always basketball season...