10 Best Decisions of College Football's Last 10 Years

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College Football

The 10 Best Decisions of College Football's Last 10 Years

Joan Niesen

Friday July 28th, 2017

 

The most famous athletic feats in college football history make every highlight reel, but the sport is defined just as much by pivotal decisions as it is by standout plays: Tom Osborne going for two in the 1984 Orange Bowl, the pass interference call on Glenn Sharpe that gave Ohio State new life in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, Georgia Tech and Tulane deciding to leave the SEC. For all the year-to-year changes within coaching staffs, rosters and the rulebook, it’s hard to believe the effect one decision can have on the course of a program, a conference or a career. Below, we’ve collected the 10 best decisions of the past 10 years, from realignment coups to shrewd coaching hires.

 

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The Creation of the American Athletic Conference

 

 

 

When the so-called “Catholic 7” (the Big East’s non-FBS schools) announced they had voted to leave the conference in 2012 amid the realignment frenzy, the remaining schools did the right thing by selling the Big East name and forming their own rebranded conference. “The American” has a great ring to it, and under commissioner Mike Aresco, it has gradually established itself as a threat to the old guard.

Sure, the AAC is still rightfully listed among the Group of Five, but over the past few years, schools like Memphis, Houston, Navy, Temple and USF have put together standout seasons and beaten big-enough-name opponents that the conference has seemed like just a half-step down from the Power 5. Aresco has repeatedly voiced his desire for his conference to be the force behind a “Power 6,” and he’s backed up that claim. Despite its complete lack of geographic unity, the AAC is looking less like a stepping stone for teams and coaches and more like an institution that’s here to stay.

 

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