re: What makes a program a powerhouse?

Powerhouse is a perception. Powerhouse is a label given to a program by people whether right or wrong.

ND is PERCEIVED as a powerhouse by not only the crazed and blind ND fans, but by many college fans as well as by the media.

They had the second highest rated recruiting class last year, the 11th the year before that, and the 5th the year before that.

A powerhouse doesn't have to always win, they can have down years. ND, though I hate the school and cheer against it, still would be viewed as a powerhouse.

As how they do in bowl games, it doesn't surprise me they don't do well. I think they are consistently ranked higher because they have a media "halo" as well as because they are perceived to be better than they actually are.

ND thrives as an independent because they have a powerhouse football program. They may not have had a great football team last year (alright, it stunk and I loved it), but they have a great program.

I understand hating ND, and trying to belittle them, but they have a history. They also have a better team than most think this year. They may finish in the top 25 again, and I will hate it.

I hope one day that the owls can be called a football powerhouse. As it is now, we aren't even a basketball powerhouse like we used to be. We have work to do.

You guys have the football team, and you guys with the right coach could easily get the basketball team and build a powerhouse in basketball as well.