relative, but elite? clemson is one program that has climbed to elite status in recent years. located in the southeast in a hotbed of talent with plenty of money.
here's the point i was trying to make. it's really, really difficult to move up the ladder. we made the jump from terrible fb team and tradition to a good program. facilities, focus on fb, coaching stability, boones money, etc. have elevated our program. but we're facing an uphill battle to move up. facing a geographic location issue. not only because stillwater is kinda in no mans land but because we're 4 hours from any DI, P5 talent. there's some in oklahoma, but not enough to make a living on. if your baylor or tcu (our real competitors for talent) you can swing a dead cat and hit 250 DI players. clemson is in the same boat, only they have access to even more players.