Ten toughest jobs in the Power Five

RIVAL VIEWS: Should there be a change in South Bend?

The Purdue job opened this past weekend after the Boilermakers lost to Iowa and coach Darrell Hazell was fired. Here is a look at 10 of the other toughest jobs among Power Five programs, listed in alphabetical order, and just why things have rarely clicked at these schools.

2017 RECRUITING CLASS RANK: No. 53

LAST 10-WIN SEASON: The Eagles won 11 games in 2007 and 10 in 2006. Before those two seasons, Boston College last won 10 games in 1984.

WHY IT’S SO TOUGH: The Eagles have an abundance of problematic issues to deal with starting with a small recruiting base in New England followed by strict academic standards and a burgeoning ACC where top prospects are choosing other programs.

2017 RECRUITING CLASS RANK: No. 20

LAST 10-WIN SEASON: Duke’s 10-win season in 2013 was the program’s only one since records were kept starting in 1922.

WHY IT’S SO TOUGH: The Blue Devils have fertile recruiting ground in their home state so that could help, but North Carolina, NC State and many others – including some from the SEC – come in there and grab top talent. Plus, Duke has significant academic hurdles to deal with and it’s a basketball school first, which might not be so helpful to the football team, either.

2017 RECRUITING CLASS RANK: No. 62

LAST 10-WIN SEASON: The Hoosiers have never won 10 games in a season dating back to the program’s inception in 1899.

WHY IT’S SO TOUGH: Indiana has not been a winning program for almost a decade – the last winning season for the Hoosiers was in 2007 – so prospects have never known them to be all that good, or competitive. Plus, Indiana is limited with in-state talent to produce a Big Ten upstart, the conference is getting way better and much more top heavy and one thing everybody knows in Indiana is basketball, not football. Those are significant challenges to overcome.

2017 RECRUITING CLASS RANK: No 29

LAST 10-WIN SEASON: Iowa State has never had a 10-win season since the program started in 1895.

WHY IT’S SO TOUGH: The in-state talent is not voluminous and then Iowa has far more history and tradition, so the Cyclones have to battle an in-state team even for those players. Iowa State’s last winning season was 2009 and it hasn’t won more than seven games since 2000. Competing against higher-profile Big 12 teams for top-end talent is challenging, if not nearly impossible at this stage.

2017 RECRUITING CLASS RANK: No. 71

LAST 10-WIN SEASON: The Jayhawks finished 12-1 and won the Orange Bowl in 2008. Since Mark Mangino’s resignation, Kansas has won 13 games since the 2010 season.

WHY IT’S SO TOUGH: The Jayhawks have been absolutely terrible since Mangino’s departure as Turner Gill and Charlie Weis had no success at all and David Beaty is 1-17 in his first two seasons at the helm. That does not inspire top prospects to consider Kansas. Then there are the challenges of recruiting against Bill Snyder and Kansas State and against top Big 12 teams. Plus, Kansas is a basketball school, so there’s another challenge to overcome.

2017 RECRUITING CLASS RANK: No. 40

LAST 10-WIN SEASON: The Wildcats finished 10-1 in 1977. Previous to that, the Wildcats were 11-1 in 1950 under coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.

WHY IT’S SO TOUGH: First, the SEC. It is so difficult to become an upstart program in a conference loaded with history and tradition and players whose future will be in the NFL. Every week is a constant and nearly impossible grind, let alone trying to turn the program around into a consistent success. Plus, basketball reigns at Kentucky, so the focus is really secondarily on the football program.

2017 RECRUITING CLASS RANK: No. 42

LAST 10-WIN SEASON: Under Mike Riley (now at Nebraska), the Beavers finished 10-4 in 2006. Coach Dennis Erickson led Oregon State to an 11-1 mark and a Fiesta Bowl victory in 2000.

WHY IT’S SO TOUGH: The Beavers have one of the toughest in-state challenges with Oregon because the Ducks have all the nice facilities and the uniforms and the NIKE money backing it in a big way. Plus, Oregon has had the success recently where top-notch players leaving California or other areas will usually go there instead of Corvallis. Plus, the Pac-12 North is a tough division with Stanford usually a national contender and Washington coming up in a big way.

2017 RECRUITING CLASS RANK: No. 76

LAST 10-WIN SEASON: The Commodores have not had a 10-win season since the program started in 1902. Vanderbilt had back-to-back nine-win seasons in 2012 and 2013.

WHY IT’S SO TOUGH: SEC. Academics. Volunteers. That might be a bit simple, but it really boils down to the fact that the Commodores play in college football’s toughest conference, they have strict academic standards there and they’re trying to recruit in-state kids against Tennessee. Usually, Vanderbilt will lose those battles. If not to Tennessee, then the plethora of SEC schools coming after top talent in the state and it’s just super tough to build up a program with those obstacles.

2017 RECRUITING CLASS RANK: No. 59

LAST 10-WIN SEASON: The Demon Deacons won 11 games in 2006 and lost in the Orange Bowl. It was the only double-digit winning season in Wake Forest’s history dating back to 1908.

WHY IT’S SO TOUGH: In many ways like Duke, the Demon Deacons have fertile recruiting territory in North Carolina and in the surrounding region, but so many high-level programs come into that area for talent that Wake Forest gets overrun on many occasions. Academics are tough, it’s a small school and a lot of kids just choose programs that are way more established and successful. Landing four-star Michael Allen out of Georgia this recruiting cycle was a major coup though.

2017 RECRUITING CLASS RANK: Tied for No. 69

LAST 10-WIN SEASON: The Cougars had three-straight 10-win seasons in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Washington State also won 10 games in 1997.

WHY IT’S SO TOUGH: Pullman is in a remote area of eastern Washington closer to Missoula, Montana, than Seattle so trying to lure top-end talent there is a significant challenge. The Cougars don’t have the glitz and glamour of Eugene or the surroundings of Washington or the academics of Stanford. Those obstacles tend to be difficult issues when recruiting. The offense is a playmaker’s dream, though, so Washington State has done fairly well on that side of the ball especially under coach Mike Leach.