SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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I will once again chart the future challenges of the undefeated in major college football. Once November comes I’ll include the one-loss teams. We now have a four team playoff, (maybe someday we’ll move to 8 with auto bids for the Power Five champions), so more of these teams will continue to have a chance until the very end of the regular season. I’ll limit my coverage to ranked teams. (For fun I’ll also keep track of the teams eligible for the Pesci Bowl, the top mid-majors in the country and the Tydee Bowl, which decides the worst team in the country, although I’ll not spend as much time on them. I think I’ll do a four team playoff for them, too.)
A note on rankings: the first is the ranking of the AP (writer’s) poll, then the USA Today (coach’s) poll the ESPN power ranking and finally College Football Playoff Committee, (which won’t start until November 3rd). The total is based on a 25 points for 1st, 24 for 2nd, etc. system. They are listed in order of that total. (Shortcut- if they are ranked in all the polls: add the rankings and subtract from 78 or 104 once the committee joins in.)
I’ll also include the team’s points “Against Ranked Teams” from my latest post of that title, their won-lost record and their points for and against. I’ll supply the same info in the same format for each future opponent.
CLEMSON 13-0 (500-263) 66 ART rank: 1-1-1-1 total: 100
Comments: The Tigers have looked like cats coming down the stretch but have kept winning. You can argue about whether they should be #1 but there can be no argument they should be in a playoff. I’s love to see them play Michigan State for the title. I’ve always rooted for the Spartans (when they weren’t playing SU), and the Tigers are from our conference. It would be great for the ACC to take home another title with another school winning it. Beyond that it would give us some “new blood” in the national title picture.
ONE LOSS POWER CONFERENCE TEAMS
(I’m assuming that a one loss non-power conference team will have no shot at the playoff.)
ALABAMA 12-1 (443-187) 204 ART rank: 2-2-2-2 total: 96
Comments: They looked like Alabama again down the stretch, winning the game in the trenches. You’ve gotta like the Tide in the playoff. They are tough to beat when they mean business. But a Big Ten team did it last year. Could it happen again?
Their game against Michigan State causes my mind to drift back to 1965-66. In 1965 the Spartans went 10-0 and were ranked #1. #2 Arkansas and #3 Nebraska were also 10-0. ‘Bama had gone 8-1-1, losing by one to Georgia on a hook and lateral play that should have been called dead because the first guys’ knee was touching the ground. They’d also been tied by Tennessee. LSU beat Arkansas 14-7 in the Cotton Bowl. Then UCLA upset the Spartans by stopping a two point conversion attempt on the last play, 14-12. The Tide crushed Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, 39-28, (it was 39-14 before a couple of late scores made it respectable). The AP held a poll after the bowls, something they’d only done once before, (in 1947, when they declared it to be “unofficial”), and Alabama was voted #1 with Michigan State #2. UPI (the coaches) didn’t vote after the bowls and so Michigan State became their national champion.
The next year Michigan State, Alabama and Notre Dame marched through the season, beating everybody they played easily until the Spartans took on the Irish and played them to a 10-10 tie. Neither played in a bowl game- Notre Dame because they didn’t do bowl games back then, Michigan State because of a no repeat rule in the Rose Bowl, which had an exclusive contact with all Big Ten teams. The Tide again beat up on Nebraska, this time in the Sugar Bowl, 34-7, to be the only team with a perfect record. They claimed the national tile but Notre Dame was voted #1 in both polls and Michigan State #2.
A Spartan-Tide game would have been great in those years. But it never happened. Now, with the playoff, it will. And we can only imagine what would have happened in the old days it they’d been doing it right all along.
MICHIGAN STATE 12-1 (417-266) 91 ART rank: 3-3-4-4 total: 90
Comments: The Spartans got ripped off at Nebraska with a call that everybody in the country but the refs knew was a bad call. Now they have beaten mighty Ohio State, blown out Penn State. And nipped Iowa for the Big Ten title. They’d just been scrapping by all season, (Michigan should have been their loss, not Nebraska) but seem to be putting it together at the right time.
That Rose Bowl the 1965 team lost ended when a UCLA DB named Bob Stiles latterly knocked himself out to win the game by tackling Bob “The Samoan Bull” Apisa just before he reached the goal line to win it. When I saw L. J. Scott thrusting the ball across the goal line, I couldn’t help but think of that play.
Look at the Apsia-Stiles play at the 38 minute mark of this clip:
And here is the L. J. Scott run:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ezV3e7uCoY
Maybe is Apsia had stuck the ball out….
OKLAHOMA 11-1 (549-249) 122 ART rank: 4-4-3-3 total: 90
Comments: I think Sooners are the best of the Big Eight’s Big Four. They looked it at Baylor. They lost Mayfield vs. TCU but still pulled it out. Can they do it at Oklahoma State? Answer: Yes, in a very big way. The Sooners might be playing the best football in the country right now, having swept the other three ranked teams in their conference.
As much as I’ll be rooting for Clemson and Michigan State, an Alabama-Oklahoma game for the national championships would be fun, too. Both these schools have an aura about them such that you expect them to win every time out. They are college football’s ultimate overdogs. After the 2012 season I did a project on the all-time cumulative rankings in the AP poll since it began in 1936, with 25 points for first, 24 for second, etc., based on the final poll of the season. The all-time #1 team was Oklahoma with 974 points and Alabama was #2 with 958 points. Updating it through this season, Alabama would now be #1 with 1022 points to 1016 for the Sooners. I love “summit meetings” and this would certainly be one.
Their all-time history against eachother:
http://football.stassen.com/cgi-bin...rt=1869&end=2014&team1=Alabama&team2=Oklahoma
I remember watching the 1963 Orange Bowl on TV. Bear Bryant vs. Bud Wilkinson. President Kennedy was there and his motorcade circled the field before the game. Lee Roy Jordan had a record 31 tackles in that game- 31! Both teams were experimenting with the wishbone in 1970 and both would use that formation to dominate almost everyone they played throughout the decade. Too bad they didn’t play each other. The Sooners took a couple in the pre-Nick Saban Era when the Tide was struggling. Alabama would have won in the previous decade when the Sooners hit a fallow period. They just didn’t happen to play then. The Sooners beat the Tide two years ago after the “Kick 6 had drained the meaning form Alabama’s season. This game will have plenty of meaning for both powerhouses- if they play this time.
IOWA 12-1 (417-240) 66 ART rank: 5-6-7-6 total: 80
Comments: The Hawkeye came within the length of L. J. Cook’s arm of making the playoff. If it was an 8 team playoff, as it needs to be, they’d be in it, looking for their first ever naiotnal championship.
OHIO STATE 11-1 (420-168) 59 ART rank: 7-7-5-7 total: 78
Comments: One loss on the last play of the game and the defending champs are watching the title game on TV. Who knows what havoc they might have wrought?
Let’s take a look at an eight team field, with automatic bids to the Power 5 conference champions, based on the playoff committee’s rankings:
Quarterfinals
#1 Clemson vs. #8 Notre Dame (a rematch of a 24-22 regular season game)
#2 Alabama vs. #7 Ohio State (a rematch of last year’s semi-final)
#3 Michigan State vs. #6 Stanford (Christian McCaffrey gets his shot)
#4 Oklahoma vs. Iowa (“Oklahoma!” vs. “State Fair”)
But there are all kinds of reasons we wouldn’t want to do that. (I just can’t think of them right now.)
PESCI BOWL
Top non-power conference teams, (in contention for the Joe Pesci Bowl: we’re not big but don’t’ mess with us!), Houston 12-1, Appalachian State 10-2, Navy 9-2, Toledo 9-2, and Western Kentucky 11-2.
I guess I’d go with Houston vs. Toledo in the Pesci Bowl, although Houston- Western Kentucky might have been interesting.
TYDEE BOWL
Trying to avoid the Tydee Bowl: Central Florida 0-12 and Kansas 0-12
Also: Eastern Michigan 1-11, Louisiana-Monroe 1-11, North Texas 1-11
I think we’ll limit the Tydee Bowl to two teams this year, rather than making it a playoff. Central Florida and Kansas obviously deserve each other. (Good luck, Scott Frost)
A note on rankings: the first is the ranking of the AP (writer’s) poll, then the USA Today (coach’s) poll the ESPN power ranking and finally College Football Playoff Committee, (which won’t start until November 3rd). The total is based on a 25 points for 1st, 24 for 2nd, etc. system. They are listed in order of that total. (Shortcut- if they are ranked in all the polls: add the rankings and subtract from 78 or 104 once the committee joins in.)
I’ll also include the team’s points “Against Ranked Teams” from my latest post of that title, their won-lost record and their points for and against. I’ll supply the same info in the same format for each future opponent.
CLEMSON 13-0 (500-263) 66 ART rank: 1-1-1-1 total: 100
Comments: The Tigers have looked like cats coming down the stretch but have kept winning. You can argue about whether they should be #1 but there can be no argument they should be in a playoff. I’s love to see them play Michigan State for the title. I’ve always rooted for the Spartans (when they weren’t playing SU), and the Tigers are from our conference. It would be great for the ACC to take home another title with another school winning it. Beyond that it would give us some “new blood” in the national title picture.
ONE LOSS POWER CONFERENCE TEAMS
(I’m assuming that a one loss non-power conference team will have no shot at the playoff.)
ALABAMA 12-1 (443-187) 204 ART rank: 2-2-2-2 total: 96
Comments: They looked like Alabama again down the stretch, winning the game in the trenches. You’ve gotta like the Tide in the playoff. They are tough to beat when they mean business. But a Big Ten team did it last year. Could it happen again?
Their game against Michigan State causes my mind to drift back to 1965-66. In 1965 the Spartans went 10-0 and were ranked #1. #2 Arkansas and #3 Nebraska were also 10-0. ‘Bama had gone 8-1-1, losing by one to Georgia on a hook and lateral play that should have been called dead because the first guys’ knee was touching the ground. They’d also been tied by Tennessee. LSU beat Arkansas 14-7 in the Cotton Bowl. Then UCLA upset the Spartans by stopping a two point conversion attempt on the last play, 14-12. The Tide crushed Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, 39-28, (it was 39-14 before a couple of late scores made it respectable). The AP held a poll after the bowls, something they’d only done once before, (in 1947, when they declared it to be “unofficial”), and Alabama was voted #1 with Michigan State #2. UPI (the coaches) didn’t vote after the bowls and so Michigan State became their national champion.
The next year Michigan State, Alabama and Notre Dame marched through the season, beating everybody they played easily until the Spartans took on the Irish and played them to a 10-10 tie. Neither played in a bowl game- Notre Dame because they didn’t do bowl games back then, Michigan State because of a no repeat rule in the Rose Bowl, which had an exclusive contact with all Big Ten teams. The Tide again beat up on Nebraska, this time in the Sugar Bowl, 34-7, to be the only team with a perfect record. They claimed the national tile but Notre Dame was voted #1 in both polls and Michigan State #2.
A Spartan-Tide game would have been great in those years. But it never happened. Now, with the playoff, it will. And we can only imagine what would have happened in the old days it they’d been doing it right all along.
MICHIGAN STATE 12-1 (417-266) 91 ART rank: 3-3-4-4 total: 90
Comments: The Spartans got ripped off at Nebraska with a call that everybody in the country but the refs knew was a bad call. Now they have beaten mighty Ohio State, blown out Penn State. And nipped Iowa for the Big Ten title. They’d just been scrapping by all season, (Michigan should have been their loss, not Nebraska) but seem to be putting it together at the right time.
That Rose Bowl the 1965 team lost ended when a UCLA DB named Bob Stiles latterly knocked himself out to win the game by tackling Bob “The Samoan Bull” Apisa just before he reached the goal line to win it. When I saw L. J. Scott thrusting the ball across the goal line, I couldn’t help but think of that play.
Look at the Apsia-Stiles play at the 38 minute mark of this clip:
And here is the L. J. Scott run:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ezV3e7uCoY
Maybe is Apsia had stuck the ball out….
OKLAHOMA 11-1 (549-249) 122 ART rank: 4-4-3-3 total: 90
Comments: I think Sooners are the best of the Big Eight’s Big Four. They looked it at Baylor. They lost Mayfield vs. TCU but still pulled it out. Can they do it at Oklahoma State? Answer: Yes, in a very big way. The Sooners might be playing the best football in the country right now, having swept the other three ranked teams in their conference.
As much as I’ll be rooting for Clemson and Michigan State, an Alabama-Oklahoma game for the national championships would be fun, too. Both these schools have an aura about them such that you expect them to win every time out. They are college football’s ultimate overdogs. After the 2012 season I did a project on the all-time cumulative rankings in the AP poll since it began in 1936, with 25 points for first, 24 for second, etc., based on the final poll of the season. The all-time #1 team was Oklahoma with 974 points and Alabama was #2 with 958 points. Updating it through this season, Alabama would now be #1 with 1022 points to 1016 for the Sooners. I love “summit meetings” and this would certainly be one.
Their all-time history against eachother:
http://football.stassen.com/cgi-bin...rt=1869&end=2014&team1=Alabama&team2=Oklahoma
I remember watching the 1963 Orange Bowl on TV. Bear Bryant vs. Bud Wilkinson. President Kennedy was there and his motorcade circled the field before the game. Lee Roy Jordan had a record 31 tackles in that game- 31! Both teams were experimenting with the wishbone in 1970 and both would use that formation to dominate almost everyone they played throughout the decade. Too bad they didn’t play each other. The Sooners took a couple in the pre-Nick Saban Era when the Tide was struggling. Alabama would have won in the previous decade when the Sooners hit a fallow period. They just didn’t happen to play then. The Sooners beat the Tide two years ago after the “Kick 6 had drained the meaning form Alabama’s season. This game will have plenty of meaning for both powerhouses- if they play this time.
IOWA 12-1 (417-240) 66 ART rank: 5-6-7-6 total: 80
Comments: The Hawkeye came within the length of L. J. Cook’s arm of making the playoff. If it was an 8 team playoff, as it needs to be, they’d be in it, looking for their first ever naiotnal championship.
OHIO STATE 11-1 (420-168) 59 ART rank: 7-7-5-7 total: 78
Comments: One loss on the last play of the game and the defending champs are watching the title game on TV. Who knows what havoc they might have wrought?
Let’s take a look at an eight team field, with automatic bids to the Power 5 conference champions, based on the playoff committee’s rankings:
Quarterfinals
#1 Clemson vs. #8 Notre Dame (a rematch of a 24-22 regular season game)
#2 Alabama vs. #7 Ohio State (a rematch of last year’s semi-final)
#3 Michigan State vs. #6 Stanford (Christian McCaffrey gets his shot)
#4 Oklahoma vs. Iowa (“Oklahoma!” vs. “State Fair”)
But there are all kinds of reasons we wouldn’t want to do that. (I just can’t think of them right now.)
PESCI BOWL
Top non-power conference teams, (in contention for the Joe Pesci Bowl: we’re not big but don’t’ mess with us!), Houston 12-1, Appalachian State 10-2, Navy 9-2, Toledo 9-2, and Western Kentucky 11-2.
I guess I’d go with Houston vs. Toledo in the Pesci Bowl, although Houston- Western Kentucky might have been interesting.
TYDEE BOWL
Trying to avoid the Tydee Bowl: Central Florida 0-12 and Kansas 0-12
Also: Eastern Michigan 1-11, Louisiana-Monroe 1-11, North Texas 1-11
I think we’ll limit the Tydee Bowl to two teams this year, rather than making it a playoff. Central Florida and Kansas obviously deserve each other. (Good luck, Scott Frost)
