As a lead-in to our preseason coverage, CBSSports.com continues to rank each Division I-A program over the next few weeks based on its performance this decade. We're calling it The Golden Decade.
The list continues with Nos. 71-90
71. Northern Illinois: In 2003, the Huskies beat Maryland, Alabama and Iowa State and contended for a BCS bowl.
72. Miami (Ohio): Thanks Ben. That 13-1 season for the ages in 2003 was definitely a spike. The RedHawks have been 45-51 (including a pair of 2-10s) otherwise in the 2000s.
73. Kentucky: A long, dark period of Wildcat football ended in 2006. Kentucky has won three consecutive bowls for the second time in its history.
74. Rutgers: BCS contention in 2006. Back-to-back eight-win seasons since. The old Rutgers is gone under Greg Schiano.
75. Nevada: Wolf Pack are 35-28 in Chris Ault's third term as coach.
76. Western Michigan: One division title this decade but on solid ground with fifth-year coach Bill Cubit.
77. Central Michigan: Brian Kelly, Butch Jones and Dan LeFevour have led the Chips to the top of the MAC. Central Michigan followed up a 2006 league title with back-to-back eight-win seasons.
78. Connecticut: The Huskies are poster children for The Golden Decade. The program moved up to Division I-A in 2000, had its first winning season four years later and now is an established Big East member. If you're able to recruit to UConn, you can recruit anywhere. That's why Randy Edsall is one of the hottest coaches around.
79. Florida Atlantic: Yeah, yeah the Owls have been Division I-A since only 2005, but Howard Schnellenberger has beaten UAB, Memphis and Minnesota as well as sharing a Sun Belt title. Not bad for a program that started in 2001.
80. Syracuse: When the decade began, The 'Cuse was still a Big East power. As it ends, it is one of the worst programs in the country. The last winning record came in 2001. Doug Marrone tries to dig out the Orange.
81. Mississippi State: The Sylvester Croom experiment failed. Now Dan Mullen tries to resurrect the Bulldogs. That makes two men with no head coaching experience since Jackie Sherrill left.
82. Stanford: One of the casualties of Southern California's dominance. The Cardinal started the decade as Pac-10 champions before losing the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 2000. Since then there have been four coaches and one winning season.
83. Houston: Twenty years ago, this program produced a Heisman Trophy winner (Andre Ware). It has rebounded lately under Art Briles (2006 Conference USA champions) and Kevin Sumlin.
84. Marshall: Would have been rated much higher had we not found out exactly how Bobby Pruett won all those games in Huntington. Since he left in 2005, the Herd have played by the rules and are a combined 12 games under .500.
85. East Carolina: Eliminate the John Thompson era (2003-2004), and the Pirates are 47-40 this decade. The school got tired of Steve Logan and let him go after 2002. It must not make the same mistake with Skip Holtz, who has won 29 games and a Conference USA title in four seasons. The Pirates might not have a choice if Holtz keeps winning. His next job could be at a BCS school, and soon.
86. Central Florida: Hard to figure. This 30-year-old program joined its first I-A conference in 2001 (MAC). Since then it has been a mixed bag. Beginning in 2004, the Knights have alternated winning seasons.
The ups have been great. Kevin Smith came within 61 yards of Barry Sanders' single-season rushing record in 2007. Central Florida won Conference USA that same year. But overall, coach George O'Leary is 10 games below .500 in Orlando.
O'Leary got everything he wanted when he arrived in 2004 -- salary, facilities, recruits. But something was always missing. Consistency, mostly. In the same season (2005) the Knights lost their 17th consecutive game and played in the program's first-ever I-A bowl game. That eight-win season was followed by a 4-8 season in 2006. There was that Conference USA title in 2007, followed by another 4-8 record in 2008.
In March 2008, player Ereck Plancher died following a workout due to complications from sickle cell trait. O'Leary and the program endured much criticism. It was reported that sickle cell trait has become the leading cause of death this decade among I-A football players. Earlier this year, the family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the school. Recently, the NCAA announced it would formally endorse testing athletes for sickle cell trait.
87. North Carolina: You want to doubt Mack Brown? Check out what he did at Chapel Hill. Then realize why it has taken the program this long to get it back. Mack is damn good.
88. Akron: Four winning records this decade, the last in 2005.
89. Rice: A modern marvel of the 2000s. The Owls have come from the absolute dregs to a 10-win season in 2008. Credit David Bailiff for keeping Todd Graham's momentum going.
90. Arizona: Coming off their first bowl in 10 years, the Wildcats have hope under Mike Stoops.
