As Mack stated, WF has the right people in the right spots to compete. Clawson just continues to kill it with the way he manages his staff, and his ability to evaluate recruits more accurately than almost anyone else. That said, feel like the line between the uber-elite college football teams and everyone else is as big as it ever has been. Despite the calls that the "ACC is doomed", I'm not worried about WF being able to keep up with Mississippi State, Missouri and Kentucky in football. However, it just seems like Bama, tOSU, Clemson, UGA, and now maybe Texas A&M (through a ridiculous flow of NIL money) are taking their pick of the top 200, and then the scraps are left for everyone else. Clawson thrives in finding the best of the rest, but all but 5 or 6 college football teams are swimming in a different pool.
Basketball is different because of the one and done rule. Football players have to stay for three years; so, the elite recruits can reach an epic level by their 2nd and third year. Duke and Kentucky buy the best freshman classes in basketball each year, but those guys are long gone before they peak. That allows other programs that develop players to win Nattys and reach the Final 4. Anthony Edwards is closing in on the super-elite level IN THE NBA. When he's on, he is an unstoppable force against the best defensive players in the world. If college basketball had the same eligibility rules as football, Edwards would have played college basketball this year (he would be a junior) , instead of scoring 36 in the first round of the NBA playoffs. As a result, college basketball, so far, hasn't felt the same of effects of the top programs landing (or paying for) skewed percentages of the top players.