Caleb Burggraaf
Tip of the Burg
Here in Colorado, we are a state that is full of diversity when it comes to the love of all sports. Whether it is lacrosse, baseball, basketball, or hockey, the people in this state will follow it. However, when it comes to football, it is a little different. People in the Centennial State seem to be drawn to college football when it rolls around more than any other sport. And why not? With a plethora of teams to cheer for and not really a lot of other “popular” fall sports at the college level, a fan really doesn’t have to work too hard to find a team to support.
This is why it is such a shame that some of the teams haven’t really been too kind to the fan bases they are supported by. Looking specifically at the Division I level, the Universities of our state: Colorado State University, University of Colorado, and the Air Force Academy, have put out a combined 136 wins and 198 losses in the past 7 years with only 8 bowl games to speak of. Not exactly something that gets fans into their seats every season. Of those four teams, only Air Force has a winning record over the last 7 years with a 45 and 40 split.
So what has caused this decline in consistently good seasons out of the Colorado D-I schools? The easy options to look at are schedule issues and coaching problems. However, there is a different problem that has to be dealt with by these recruiting locations.
The schools in question have looked in-state for many of their recruits, which normally is a good strategy for a team that finds itself in a state that loves football. But with Colorado, the small size of the in state recruiting class steps in. With four D-I schools and six schools from the RMAC located in Colorado that also recruit heavily from within the state, the talent pool of good athletes dry up quickly.
This is where the Air Force Academy steps in. The Falcons, due to being a branch of the military, have a very wide recruiting path nationwide and use it to their advantage. The Falcons, while not able to bring in the biggest or the strongest, are able to pull in the middle of the pack from around the country, which due to the larger area covered is better than the middle of the pack athletes from Colorado. This makes the watered down recruits that the other Division I schools get from in-state look less glamorous on the gridiron.
Even down at the RMAC level of Division II the top Colorado teams, with the exception of CSU Pueblo, have recruited out of state. Teams like Mesa, Western, Fort Lewis, and Adams, which focus most of their recruiting on the in-state level, have had less success in years past and even into this season. The Colorado School of Mines, on the other hand, which boasts over half of its players from states other than Colorado, has slowly become one of the steadfast teams in RMAC football.
Now with the smaller recruiting budgets of these Division II teams, it is easier to see why they focus so much in state, but with teams like the Buffalos, the Rams, and even the Bears, who all have larger budgets, it is hard to see why they wouldn’t want to try to pull in more out-of-state talent especially when the one model of in-state success on the field comes from the out-of-state success over the phone.
With the 2010 season already underway, and the Falcons once again leading Division I schools in the quest for the winning record in the state, it seems like it is time for the other Colorado schools to add more out-of-state talent to their rosters. This won’t provide instant change for any of these schools, but when you haven’t put together multiple good seasons in over 5 years, the change has to start somewhere.

cburggra@mesastate.edu