What other college football program do you have great respect for?

Virginia tech under Beamer did a lot with not a great deal of local talent or national cache early on. Also, TCU has had a really good run. I mean, if you kick over enough rocks everyone has some bad history, but those two jump out.

WVU. I've had a lot of family go there and they run a pretty good program

Fleck has something going at WMU. Too bad he will be hired away after this season.

Appalachian State.

They went 7-5 their first year in FBS in 2014, and went 11-2 last year with a bowl victory. That's quite remarkable considering teams like WKU that got off to 1-11 starts, or like UMass who still can't do anything.

They're gonna be the next Boise State. Mark my words.

Our loss to them won't look bad to kids in the future who didn't see the game or weren't around for it because they'll be in the American conference or something by then.

They're hosting Miami this year. That Miami. As a 3rd year FBS program. 

ND is the only other one. We literally started their program in 1887, and they're the 2nd most successful program of all-time behind us. 

Doesn't mean I like either team. They took games from us. The other 1,280 NCAA schools can all go to hell. Even the one I attend.

There's only one that matters.

Northwestern.

Northern Illinois Huskies - winning tradition that spans years

Iowa State - likes to knock off Goliaths

North Dakota State University - these guys have dominated the FCS for a while

I have a lot of respect for MSU, more than any other team. I would love for every michigan person to say that and kinda ruin their whole "disrespect" mentality that they refuse to let go no matter what.

Duke

ya, I'll take that bet. Words marked.

Navy, NW, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Air Force, Minnesota, and Wisconsin

My SEC team is LSU, and my Big-12 team is Oklahoma. I root for them to win their conference, but I don't respect them like I do with the teams above. 

North Dakota State

Mount Union

Wisconsin - Whitewater

We literally answer this question once a week.

And Army

1. The service academies.

2. Every single division 3 program in the country where the kids get no scholarships and are not separated in any way from the other kids (like CWRU where I started school).

I've been there, for an away game, and had the best time one could possibly have during a Michigan loss. A close one, it was. But what a great time. 

But I've always kinda liked and respected Iowa...and it'd certainly be the B10 team I'd root for if Michigan didn't exist.

 

LSU. Best venue for big night games in all of college football.

Undersized, difficult environment, always scrappy. And Michie Stadium is my second favorite venue for college football. Just a beautiful setting.

Calvin College.  Least penalized out there.

I always root for Northwestern, unless they are playing UofM. Back in the day, I would have answered Penn State.[vomit sound] Never again.

Minnesota State and coach Hayden Fox

North Dakota State - consistent dominance like that is impressive.

Kansas State - Bill Snyder is pretty fantastic.

Stanford - to have those kind of academic demands and field top notch teams every year is impressive.

Notre Dame - look, I hate them, and they're sanctimonious assholes in a whole number of ways, but they pretty consistently have a tough schedule, and their academic requirements are no joke.  I don't like them even a little, but I do respect them.

All the service academies - this one should be fairly obvious why 

Pitt

and the Ohio Bobcats

As a UCLA fan, Stanford frustrates me, but only because I wish UCLA had that kind of program.

Also love what Kyle Whittingham has done at Utah, the stadium is in a great location and the fans were really nice.

I live in Arkansas, so I hate every SEC school. I would like to see Miami be good with Richt, because fuck the SEC and Georgia.

In no particular order:

North Dakota State - Don't care what level of competition you're at. Four straight titles (or is it five?) is near unprecedented. They'd have a good shot of beating a lot of Power 5 teams.

Kansas State - KSU was a whole lot of nothing before Snyder showed up. While he'll probably never win a title there, people oftentimes forget that it is so much harder to win in Manhattan, Kansas than it is to win in Tuscaloosa, Columbus, Baton Rouge, South Bend, or Ann Arbor. Definitely one of the best in the game right now.

Stanford - to have the strict academics they do, and to still field title contenders every year is damn impressive.

Northwestern - got to love Pat Fitzgerald. While he may never see a title or a Rose Bowl win leading Northwestern, he's easy to root for. If he ever leads Northwestern to a playoff or to the Rose Bowl, and they're not playing Michigan, I'll be rooting for them.

All the Service Academies. Because obviously.

Rutgers

 

 

 

/s

USC, Texas, VaTech

Kansas state, UNC, mizzou, Texas a&m, Stanford, Miami ytm, BYU.

OSU, Stanford, TX, ND.

I think Meyer is an excellent coach, and OSU has a great program with a not bad school (up a lot since I was a student).

Please understand:  respecting a school doesn't mean in the least that I don't want to beat them, and beat them badly. OSU is our rival, and I want to beat them more than any other school. But even though I don't like them, and want to see Michigan beat them like a drum, I still respect them, as a place that balances football with a good academic environment.

ND and Stanford and TX are all teams with history, along with very good academics. Stanford and TX just aren't natural rivals. Oh, and I am firmly in the camp of wanting to play ND.