A lot of discussion has been made about Oregon State and Washington State losing their status as power conference programs after the majority of schools left the Pac-12 Conference. It's the same conversation that was made about Kansas State and Iowa State after Oklahoma and Texas left the Big 12 and there were thoughts everyone else would land in a power conference except for them. Oregon State and Washington State are living Wildcats' and Cyclones' nightmares right now. But as far as losing power status goes, the Beavs and Cougs aren't experiencing something entirely new in the college sports world. At least three other universities have experienced the drop in prestige that occurs with their conference collapsing around them and finding no power conference to escape to---and all 3 of them haven't found a power 4 landing spot yet.
The Temple and Rice Owls and USF Bulls, victims of the collapses of the Southwest and Big East Conferences, provide the blueprint for the worst-case scenario for the Pac-2. While teams like Louisville, TCU, and SMU have found ways to make it back to the power conferences after the collapse of their old ones, these three schools still haven't found a way back. The short answer as to why? Well, you've gotta be good at football.
In this video, I'll be examining Temple, USF, and Rice, and seeing what led to them losing power conference status---if they even had it in the first place---and how their situations compare to Oregon State's and Washington State's.
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