PSU A National Power

Stewart Mandel has posted his weekly mailbag and he addresses which teams fit into which strata of college football. Fittingly, he uses feudal titles to differentiate between the haves and the have-nots. SM finds the following to be the most prestigious teams in all the land!

Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas and USC.

Mandel goes on to say that Tennessee was the only team that gave him a little trepidation, however, if you are going to put Alabama, Notre Dame, and PSU up there (teams who have not had consistent impact on the national title in the last 10 years) than why shouldn't Tennessee be in there? Now, I completely think that Penn State should be in that list because the Lions are the greatest team in all the land. PSU is also one of the most recognizable teams/stadiums/mascots/coach in this or any football universe. Plus, the student section is right out of its mind.

Mandel next tier looks like this: (Barons)

Auburn, Clemson, Colorado, Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M, UCLA, Virginia Tech, Washington and Wisconsin.

Then Knights:

Arizona State, Arkansas, Boston College, Cal, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas State, Maryland, Michigan State, Missouri, N.C. State, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Stanford, Syracuse, South Carolina, Texas Tech, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington State.

Sorry Pitt, that is a major burn. Console yourselves in the fact that WVU is stuck right in there with you!

The Peasants:

Arizona, Baylor, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Duke, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Northwestern, Rutgers*, South Florida, Wake Forest and Vanderbilt.

GO STATE! REJOICE IN THE EXCELLENCE OF YOUR REPUTATION! THEN LIVE UP TO IT!