Yesterday, I linked to a post that tried to determine if LSU is the Team of the Decade (Answer? Not yet, more likely USC at this point due to consistency). It got me thinking...we're almost done with this decade already. Only two more years. If USC and LSU are locked in a battle for TOTD status in college football, surely there's an equally nail-biting race going on, one that Syracuse football can be a part of...
Who is the Worst Team of The Decade?
As you'll see in a moment, thankfully, Syracuse isn't it. But they're not exactly far off either. Note, I only stuck to BCS conferences. I'd love to tell you it's cause my variables and excel spreadsheets were too massive and unwieldy to provide a controlled answer but in all honesty I was just being lazy. Still, I think the point it made.
Without further ado, I give you the contenders and current standings for Worst Team of The Aughts:
#12 Illinois
Total wins: 39
Bowl appearances: 2
Bowl wins: 0
BCS Bowls: 2
It's quite an impressive feat for a team with two BCS bowl appearances (2001, 2007) to appear on this list but it's a testament to how the Illini do things. When they want to do something, they do it full-out. Along with those 10-2 and 9-4 bowl seasons the Illini also have a four-year stretch when they won a total of 8 games ('03-'06), including a 1-11 season in '03. They have a great chance to disappear from consideration over the next two seasons though.
#11 Washington
Total wins: 44
Bowl appearances: 3
Bowl wins: 1
BCS Bowls: 1
More wins, bowl appearances and bowl wins than Illinois but that's all a little decieving. The Huskies started the decade just how they had finished the previous one...winning. But their decline was steep and fast and they went from 11-1 in 2000 to 1-10 in 2004 and haven't had a winning season since 2002. If the Huskies don't deliver next season they'll be attempting to save their program's reputation in 2009 with a new coach.
#10 Northwestern
Total wins: 44
Bowl appearances: 3
Bowl wins: 0
BCS Bowls: 0
What the Wildcats have going for them is mediocrity. Over the decade they've been okay but never great (8-4 in 2000) and bad but never horrible (3-9 in 2002). It's the general malaise that hangs over the program that ranks them so high (or is it low?). Getting back to a bowl game in the next two years will go a long way in removing their name from consideration.
#9 Syracuse
Total wins: 39
Bowl appearances: 2
Bowl wins: 1
BCS Bowls: 0
The Orange have one season they can point to in this decade and be proud of (10-3 in 2001). Otherwise, you're looking at the remnants of the Paul Pasqualoni Era (lots of 4-win and 6-win seasons in there) and the rise of the Greg Robinson Era, which transformed Syracuse from an underachieving sleeping giant into the laughingstock of the Big East (1 win in 2005, 2 wins in 2007). The Orange, like the Huskies, may be finishing the decade with another coach if Robinson can't get those wins up next year.
#8 North Carolina
Total wins: 37
Bowl appearances: 2
Bowl wins: 1
BCS Bowls: 0
Meh. That sums up TarHeels football in the Aughts. If not for Duke they'd be the scourge of the ACC so they've flown under the radar by comparison. One winning season (8-5 in 2001) and otherwise it's been a steady diet of 3, 4 and 5 win seasons. For a program that had such momentum in the 90's it's been a sobering decade.
#7 Mississippi State
Total wins: 33
Bowl appearances: 2
Bowl wins: 2
BCS Bowls: 0
The Bulldogs have bookended the decade with solid seasons (8-4 in 2000 and 8-5 in 2007). But in-between the two? An absolute horror. Five 3-win seasons and a 2-win season for good measure. Sylvester Croom seems to finally have the Bulldogs moving in the right direction again and not a moment too soon.
#6 Stanford
Total wins: 34
Bowl appearances: 1
Bowl wins: 0
BCS Bowls: 0
Another program that saw great heights in the 90's and has seen many, many lows since. Only a 9-3 season in 2001 is worth remembering. Far better than remembering 2-9 in 2002 or 1-11 in 2006. Oh, and despite appearances, that 5-6 finish in 2005 included a loss to UC-Davis. Bet you didn't even know there was a UC-Davis. And as far as that USC win this year goes, I'd say the two cancel each other out.
#5 Indiana
Total wins: 32
Bowl appearances: 1
Bowl wins: 0
BCS Bowls: 0
The Hoosiers are on the right track. They followed up a 5-7 2006 campaign with a 7-6 one and a bowl game this year. They lost, but hey, baby steps. When you're working with a decade that includes three 3-win seasons and a 2-win season, you take what you can get.
#4 Arizona
Total wins: 33
Bowl appearances: 0
Bowl wins: 0
BCS Bowls: 0
Remember that year Sports Illustrated picked Arizona to win the national title? Me either. I'm too busy staring at stretch from '03 to '05 when the Wildcats won a total of 7 games. They're gotten back within the realm of mediocrity lately but there's still nary a winning season in the Aughts.
#3 Baylor
Total wins: 27
Bowl appearances: 0
Bowl wins: 0
BCS Bowls: 0
If college football were operated like English Premiere League soccer, Baylor would have been demoted to the third division by now. The sawdust on the floor of the Big 12 saloon, the Bears are nothing if not consistent. Four straight 3-win seasons from '01 to '04 and a return to form in '07 as well. Their lone winning season, a 6-5 finish in 2005 is cute but still not enough to make up for the rest of the decade. Especially when you factor in what former fellow doormat Kansas is up to these days.
#2 Vanderbilt
Total wins: 25
Bowl appearances: 0
Bowl wins: 0
BCS Bowls: 0
Since 2005, the Commodores haven't been awful. They've won five games twice in that stretch and even have a win over Tennessee in there. So that means Vandy must have been truly terrible for the first half of the decade. The answer is, shit yeah. Four 2-win seasons and a 3-win season set the tone for the decade and made sure that no matter what they do in the second half, they'll still be one of the worst teams of the Aughts.
But they're not number one. No, not even close. How not even close are they? At 25 wins in 8 years they still have more than double the wins of the #1 team. I'm speaking of course of...
#1 Duke
Total wins: 10
Bowl appearances: 0
Bowl wins: 0
BCS Bowls: 0
Let's start by putting things in perspective. The Duke Blue Devils could go undefeated over the course of the next two seasons (14-0 including the ACC Championship and bowl game) and STILL have less wins than Syracuse has already. Three, count'm THREE winless seasons ('00, '01 and '06 and two 1-loss win seasons ('05 and '07). The highlight of the decade? A 4-8 finish in 2003 which included a win over Georgia Tech for which the Yellow Jackets should have their football license revoked.
If it's not already clear enough for you, I'll put it this way. With two seasons left in the decade, the Blue Devils have already clinched the distinction as Worst Team of the Aughts. Another fantastic accolade for ACC football!
Who is the Worst Team of The Decade?
As you'll see in a moment, thankfully, Syracuse isn't it. But they're not exactly far off either. Note, I only stuck to BCS conferences. I'd love to tell you it's cause my variables and excel spreadsheets were too massive and unwieldy to provide a controlled answer but in all honesty I was just being lazy. Still, I think the point it made.
Without further ado, I give you the contenders and current standings for Worst Team of The Aughts:
#12 Illinois
Total wins: 39
Bowl appearances: 2
Bowl wins: 0
BCS Bowls: 2
It's quite an impressive feat for a team with two BCS bowl appearances (2001, 2007) to appear on this list but it's a testament to how the Illini do things. When they want to do something, they do it full-out. Along with those 10-2 and 9-4 bowl seasons the Illini also have a four-year stretch when they won a total of 8 games ('03-'06), including a 1-11 season in '03. They have a great chance to disappear from consideration over the next two seasons though.
#11 Washington
Total wins: 44
Bowl appearances: 3
Bowl wins: 1
BCS Bowls: 1
More wins, bowl appearances and bowl wins than Illinois but that's all a little decieving. The Huskies started the decade just how they had finished the previous one...winning. But their decline was steep and fast and they went from 11-1 in 2000 to 1-10 in 2004 and haven't had a winning season since 2002. If the Huskies don't deliver next season they'll be attempting to save their program's reputation in 2009 with a new coach.
#10 Northwestern
Total wins: 44
Bowl appearances: 3
Bowl wins: 0
BCS Bowls: 0
What the Wildcats have going for them is mediocrity. Over the decade they've been okay but never great (8-4 in 2000) and bad but never horrible (3-9 in 2002). It's the general malaise that hangs over the program that ranks them so high (or is it low?). Getting back to a bowl game in the next two years will go a long way in removing their name from consideration.
#9 Syracuse
Total wins: 39
Bowl appearances: 2
Bowl wins: 1
BCS Bowls: 0
The Orange have one season they can point to in this decade and be proud of (10-3 in 2001). Otherwise, you're looking at the remnants of the Paul Pasqualoni Era (lots of 4-win and 6-win seasons in there) and the rise of the Greg Robinson Era, which transformed Syracuse from an underachieving sleeping giant into the laughingstock of the Big East (1 win in 2005, 2 wins in 2007). The Orange, like the Huskies, may be finishing the decade with another coach if Robinson can't get those wins up next year.
#8 North Carolina
Total wins: 37
Bowl appearances: 2
Bowl wins: 1
BCS Bowls: 0
Meh. That sums up TarHeels football in the Aughts. If not for Duke they'd be the scourge of the ACC so they've flown under the radar by comparison. One winning season (8-5 in 2001) and otherwise it's been a steady diet of 3, 4 and 5 win seasons. For a program that had such momentum in the 90's it's been a sobering decade.
#7 Mississippi State
Total wins: 33
Bowl appearances: 2
Bowl wins: 2
BCS Bowls: 0
The Bulldogs have bookended the decade with solid seasons (8-4 in 2000 and 8-5 in 2007). But in-between the two? An absolute horror. Five 3-win seasons and a 2-win season for good measure. Sylvester Croom seems to finally have the Bulldogs moving in the right direction again and not a moment too soon.
#6 Stanford
Total wins: 34
Bowl appearances: 1
Bowl wins: 0
BCS Bowls: 0
Another program that saw great heights in the 90's and has seen many, many lows since. Only a 9-3 season in 2001 is worth remembering. Far better than remembering 2-9 in 2002 or 1-11 in 2006. Oh, and despite appearances, that 5-6 finish in 2005 included a loss to UC-Davis. Bet you didn't even know there was a UC-Davis. And as far as that USC win this year goes, I'd say the two cancel each other out.
#5 Indiana
Total wins: 32
Bowl appearances: 1
Bowl wins: 0
BCS Bowls: 0
The Hoosiers are on the right track. They followed up a 5-7 2006 campaign with a 7-6 one and a bowl game this year. They lost, but hey, baby steps. When you're working with a decade that includes three 3-win seasons and a 2-win season, you take what you can get.
#4 Arizona
Total wins: 33
Bowl appearances: 0
Bowl wins: 0
BCS Bowls: 0
Remember that year Sports Illustrated picked Arizona to win the national title? Me either. I'm too busy staring at stretch from '03 to '05 when the Wildcats won a total of 7 games. They're gotten back within the realm of mediocrity lately but there's still nary a winning season in the Aughts.
#3 Baylor
Total wins: 27
Bowl appearances: 0
Bowl wins: 0
BCS Bowls: 0
If college football were operated like English Premiere League soccer, Baylor would have been demoted to the third division by now. The sawdust on the floor of the Big 12 saloon, the Bears are nothing if not consistent. Four straight 3-win seasons from '01 to '04 and a return to form in '07 as well. Their lone winning season, a 6-5 finish in 2005 is cute but still not enough to make up for the rest of the decade. Especially when you factor in what former fellow doormat Kansas is up to these days.
#2 Vanderbilt
Total wins: 25
Bowl appearances: 0
Bowl wins: 0
BCS Bowls: 0
Since 2005, the Commodores haven't been awful. They've won five games twice in that stretch and even have a win over Tennessee in there. So that means Vandy must have been truly terrible for the first half of the decade. The answer is, shit yeah. Four 2-win seasons and a 3-win season set the tone for the decade and made sure that no matter what they do in the second half, they'll still be one of the worst teams of the Aughts.
But they're not number one. No, not even close. How not even close are they? At 25 wins in 8 years they still have more than double the wins of the #1 team. I'm speaking of course of...
#1 Duke
Total wins: 10
Bowl appearances: 0
Bowl wins: 0
BCS Bowls: 0
Let's start by putting things in perspective. The Duke Blue Devils could go undefeated over the course of the next two seasons (14-0 including the ACC Championship and bowl game) and STILL have less wins than Syracuse has already. Three, count'm THREE winless seasons ('00, '01 and '06 and two 1-
If it's not already clear enough for you, I'll put it this way. With two seasons left in the decade, the Blue Devils have already clinched the distinction as Worst Team of the Aughts. Another fantastic accolade for ACC football!