Originally Posted by
BasinCruiser
I have a high school friend that went and played football at Michigan during their dominance years, including when they won the National Championship in 1997, and then transferred to BYU. He stated that the biggest thing that separates the elite teams from the rest of the pack is the depth after that first string. Many of the elite teams will have that extra special player or two that is above everyone else, but the rest of the 1st stringers across the board are usually pretty similar, and then the talent at the 2nd/3rd string drops off dramatically at the standard schools compared to the elites.