That wasn't a commentary on Nebraska or Penn State, I just threw in that they were in my group of 3 with Tennessee that is just on the outside.
I think Penn State is still "helmet". They had some rough times in the transition to the B1G, especially as Paterno was getting long in the tooth. I'm sure it's hard to go from East Coast independent to just another storied program in a conference full of them. Then the sanctions hit and hurt badly, but they've recovered through that by getting a "stability" coach in O'Brien and following it up with a strong hire in Franklin.
But they've got a lot going for them:
1) History.
2) Iconic uniforms. That sounds flippant, but Penn State is one of those uniforms that people think of when they think CFB.
3) Top dog in a populous state.
4) Ready access to both Midwest and East Coast recruiting, and probably able to easily dip into the Northeast and mid-Atlantic and still dominate a recruit's living room.
5) In a good conference playing other "helmets", getting great TV exposure, etc.
6) A young but accomplished coach who looks like he's going to stick around a while.
A run of bad coaching hires might have knocked PSU out of the helmet perch, but O'Brien and Franklin were the right people at the right time.
Tennessee has had a run of bad coaches and they're in a more crowded recruiting field. They'll have trouble going into Alabama or Georgia and out-recruiting Saban or Smart, and Florida is crowded as well. They can try to go north, but then they run into the pillars of the B1G (UM/OSU/PSU). The Carolinas are harder with Clemson's ascendancy and the ACC becoming a much stronger conference over time. And if they try to head west they're fighting with OU and Texas. The right hire can mean a LOT for Tennessee, especially if he rebuilds them for a few years and that coincides with Saban's retirement, opening the field in the SEC.
I think Nebraska is the odd man out though. They're no longer what they once were (i.e. the Nebraska "brand" of option football and blackshirt defense has waned), have lost their recruiting pipeline into TX and OK, and they don't have a fertile local recruiting ground to pull from. I worry they're increasingly trying to sell the Nebraska "brand" nationally to kids who are too young to know or care about it.
