Once upon a time, football season meant genuine excitement in Lincoln. These days, Nebraska fans are far more likely to find it in the school’s volleyball program than on the gridiron.
That reality is jarring when you remember what Nebraska football once was. The Huskers were a national power for decades, and former athletic director Steve Pederson famously vowed the program would never “gravitate toward mediocrity.” Of course, that is exactly what happened. Nebraska left the Big 12, chased stability and relevance in the Big Ten, and has spent more than two decades searching unsuccessfully for a return to prominence.
Nebraska did not fall off overnight. It drifted. Elite slowly became good, good became average, and average became irrelevant, all while clinging to reputation and the belief that the next hire would fix everything.
On the hardwood, a few proud programs have followed a similar path. These are schools with real history and resources that once mattered nationally, but now find themselves struggling to stay relevant.
Stanford
Few programs illustrate this better than Stanford. Under Mike Montgomery, the Cardinal were a model of consistency. Over his final 10 seasons on the Farm, Stanford won at least one NCAA tournament game every year, reached a Sweet 16, an Elite Eight, and made just the second Final Four in program history.
Since Montgomery left for the NBA in 2004, that stability has vanished. Stanford has made just four NCAA tournament appearances in the two decades since and is now on its fourth head coach. The recent move to the ACC only complicates matters, adding recruiting and travel challenges to a program already searching for footing. Once a reliable national presence, Stanford now feels stuck chasing its past.
Syracuse
For decades, Syracuse was synonymous with Jim Boeheim. His system, his longevity, and his force of will carried the Orange to sustained national relevance, even from a challenging geographic location.
The concern was always whether Syracuse could survive without him. So far, the answer appears to be no. The Orange were already sliding late in Boeheim’s tenure, and the transition since his departure has only accelerated that decline. Syracuse is now four years removed from its last NCAA tournament appearance, something that was unthinkable for most of Boeheim’s career.
When a program is built around one singular figure, the fall can be steep once that figure is gone.
Georgetown
What Syracuse fears is exactly what Georgetown has already lived through. The Hoyas were built by John Thompson and later revived, briefly, by John Thompson III. Outside of one Final Four run in 2007, Georgetown has not advanced past the second round of the NCAA tournament in nearly two decades.
Unlike some programs on this list, Georgetown lacks obvious external excuses. Washington, D.C. is accessible. The talent pool is deep. The Big East remains a strong basketball league. And yet, the Hoyas have become a perennial afterthought, living on banners and memories rather than results.
Georgia Tech
Bobby Cremins deserves far more credit than history gives him. He turned Georgia Tech into a legitimate basketball program, taking the Yellow Jackets to 10 NCAA tournaments in 19 seasons, including a Final Four run.
Since then, sustained success has been elusive. Paul Hewitt’s surprise run to the 2004 national title game proved to be an outlier. The Jackets have just four NCAA tournament appearances and two wins over the past 22 years. Coaching changes have come and gone with little progress to show for it, and despite being located in talent-rich Atlanta, Georgia Tech continues to struggle to capitalize.
For a program with its advantages, this level of irrelevance is hard to justify.
Boston College
Boston College once held a respected place in the college basketball landscape. Under Al Skinner, the Eagles reached two ACC championship games and made seven NCAA tournaments in the 2000s.
That era feels like ancient history now. Since Skinner’s firing, BC has not made a single NCAA tournament. In fact, the Eagles have spent nearly every season of the past decade playing on the opening day of the ACC tournament, when they qualify at all. The program has not finished better than 10th in the league during that span. The ACC expanded, the sport modernized, and Boston College was left behind.
Marquette
This one comes with an important caveat. Marquette is not fully “Nebraska” yet, but the warning signs are there.
Yes, the Golden Eagles have made four straight NCAA tournaments and reached the Sweet 16 in 2024. That matters. But the program has slipped toward the bottom of the Big East, and there are growing questions about its ability to adapt in an era defined by NIL, transfers, and constant roster churn. One down season is not a crisis. A pattern of stagnation in a league that demands evolution can quickly become one.
Marquette is not lost. But the margin for error is shrinking.
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