Comparing Miami FL to anyone is kinda dumb, especially UT or UM. UT and Michigan are top 5 in wins all time (Miami is tied for 72nd), and have been playing football since the late 1800s. Miami exploded and became NFL-lite from 1983 to 2003, then basically became just another team. They're not a historically competitive or prestigious program.
The point is that programs can fall if they aren't competitive for long enough....especially when those around them are doing very well. If UT stays the 5th best football program in Texas, they'll hemorrhage fans. Brands can be damaged by ineptitude and right now, UT is about as inept as it gets.
Yes any brand can be damaged, but probably not nearly to the extent you've alluded to. Despite being the 5th best program and being "inept," football revenue and profits are way way up and still #1 by far, inked a record breaking merchandizing deal just 2 months ago, and in a position to possibly sign a top 10 recruiting class for the second straight year. Unless you know something nobody else does, there is a reason why ESPN, Nike, and Under Armor signed or were willing to sign massive deals for the UT brand for as long as they possibly could.
The only thing special about UT's brand is that they were consistently successful for a VERY long time. If that success goes away, it'll hurt the brand. The longer they are a joke, the more it'll hurt that brand. Just because they are UT doesn't mean they can play terrible football for a decade and not feel the ill effects of it...especially since there are so many more successful programs in the state. Right now, UT is on their way to being what A&M was for so many years.
Do you really believe Texas will continue to be the 5th best in state program long term? Our record may not be what it once was but the brand is intact. I'm curious to see how the other Texas schools will stay on this upswing. Texas, like Michigan was is a sleeping giant.
I won't go as far as Bobby... The facilities are excellent, there is still a fan base as well..... But UT has been mediocre off and on in the past and quite frankly has historically under achieved in football. Not being great at football isn't anything new for UT.... They haven't finished ranked at the end of the season the last 4 years.... And other than an excellent 8-9 year run with Mack Brown, were regularly not ranked or ranked in the 20's. The University of Texas has won one national title in the last 45 years.
Will it? I don't know, there's certainly no excuse for them to be that bad....but there was no excuse in them getting that bad to begin with. They have pretty much everything going for them, they are just so poorly managed. UT should almost always be the best team in Texas, and more often than not, they have been, it's what they built their brand on. If they can't get back to at least contending for that, the brand will suffer.
This is silly talk. The UT brand will continue to be big as long as 50K plus students go each year and the school keeps churning out LOYAL alumni that live all over the US. So unless you think UT will stop being the flagship school for the state....
Notre Dame finished in the top 10 twice in the last 20 years and they are still the 2nd most valuable program.
No they didn't. You are likely referring to how they were ranked before their bowl games and not the final AP poll. They've been mostly irrelevant since the early 90s.
You make a good point but let's not even pretend UT's brand is in the same stratosphere as Notre Dame's. For the record: I say this as someone who dislikes ND more than any other college program in the country.
UT has the biggest number of plastics so they'll always have support. But it doesn't change how inept they are as a program. All of that money, power, facilities, location, etc... and they still suck.
WOW...... alright they have been ranked twice in the top 11 (not 10) in the last 4 years... and have been ranked in the top 25 three times in the last 4 years... which is LIGHT YEARS better than the Longhorns have been on the same period of time.
Do you even know what this is in reference to? Why on earth does it matter that they've finished better than UT in the last 4 years? This all pointed back to someone saying the economic power of Texas will fade away if the program doesn't return to natural prominence. Notre Dame has finished in the top 10 twice in the last 20 years and they are still a huge power as a brand. Even before their championship appearance, they went 19 years without a top 10 appearance. If championships were what made programs rich than Alabama would blow everyone out of the water but it's a lot more than that. Like it or not, Texas is one of the best known college brands in the world. Does that make them a good team? No. It just is what it is.
