SWC75
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The Minnesota juggernaut, which had been consensus national champions three years in a row, (something no team has done since), was sidetracked by a 9-14 loss to Nebraska in their second game and a 6-7 loss to Notre Dame later in the season. Today fans wonder why they don’t wait until October to conduct the first poll, allowing voters to see the teams play several games before deciding where they should stand. In 1937. The first poll wasn’t until October 18th and California at 5-0-0 was the leader. Most of the teams in the top 20, (the number of teams ranked then) were still undefeated at the time. The rest of the top five were Alabama at 4-0-0, Pittsburgh at 3-0-1, Minnesota at 4-1, (people remembered that their loss last year didn’t prevent them from winning a third straight title. And Yale at 3-0-0, (the Ivy League was still considered big-time football” Yale’s Larry Kelly had been the second ever Heisman trophy winner in 1936 and teammate Clinton Frank would win it this year).
Nothing changed the next week but then Minnesota lost to Notre Dame, taking them out of it and Yale was tied by Dartmouth. On November 1st Cal, Bama and Pitt retained their positons but 6-0-0 Baylor rose to #4 and Fordham, who had tied Pitt 0-0 for the fourth straight year earlier in the season, rose to #5. Cal was then tied by Washington, 0-0, (there were a lot of such scores in those days) and dropped to #2 in the November 8th poll. Pitt took over at #1. After beating #6 Nebraska 13-7. Alabama slipped to 3rd despite beating Georgia Tech 7-0. Baylor lost to Texas and dropped out of it so Fordham moved to #4 and another Ivy team, Dartmouth, (coached by Red Blaik), moved into the #5 positon, only to be tied by Cornell and drop out of the tip 5 the next week. The Pitt/Cal/Bama’Fordham quartet remained at the top the rest of the season, except that Fordham somehow moved ahead of Alabama in the November 22 poll, despite the Tide continuing to win.
Going into the bowls Pittsburgh was #1 at 9-0-1, California #2 with the same record, Fordham #3 at 7-0-1, 9the tie being with Pitt), and Alabama was perfect at 9-0-0 but still only ranked #4. The Orange, Sugar and Cotton Bowls were in their infancy and the whole idea of bowls games still controversial so both Pittsburgh and Alabama had “Rose Bowl or bust” attitudes. The Rose Bowl didn’t like inviting the same Eastern team, (to them that’s anybody east of the Rockies), so they chose Alabama for the 5th time instead of Pittsburgh for the 5th time. The Tide had never lost in Pasadena and three of their winners had staked claims to national championships there, (1935, 1930 and 1934) but this time they were no match for the California Golden Bears, who beat them 13-0 to end the Tide’s 18 game unbeaten streak. It was the biggest win any team had that year. Would it have vaulted the bears back into the #1 spot if there had been a poll after the bowls?
Richard Vautravers thinks not. In fact, he thinks the controversy should be between Cal and Fordham as to who was #2. His emphasis was on who did you lose to, or, in this case tie? Washington was a 7-2-2 that year and wound up unranked. Pitt and Fordham beat everybody but each other, making this similar to 1966 when Notre Dame and Michigan State beat everybody but for a tie with each other and ranked ahead of undefeated Alabama.
Fixing the 1937 AP Poll
I find it hard to hold Cal’s dominance of their supposedly weaker opposition against as they dominated them. And, while Fordham beat two ranked teams, one of those tanked teams, (TCU) finished 4-4-2. North Carolina was a more impressive 7-1-1 but actually finished ranked lower than TCU at #19. Cal beat St. Mary’s 30-7; Fordham beat them 6-0. I think the issue is between California and Pittsburgh for #1 not Cal and Fordham for #2. But Fordham tied Pitt and beat everyone else, so they have to be in the mix.
Pittsburgh played 10 teams, 9 of them major, 8 of those with winning records and four of them ranked, (The tied #3 Fordham ,beat #9 Notre Dame 21-6, #11 Nebraska 13-7 and #20 Duke 10-0). They out-scored their major opposition 144-34. Their PDR is a rather awesome 1.22: they were the best team 8 of the 9 major college teams they faced played that year. Tackled Tony Matisi and back Marshall Goldberg were All-Americans. Center Henry Adams, Goldberg, Matisi, guard Ted Schmitt and end Frank Souchak later played pro ball. They were coached by Hall of Famer Jock Sutherland. They were chosen as national champion by 10 different NCAA-recognized selectors: AP, Billingsley, Boand, Dickinson, Football Research, Holgate, Litkenhaus, National Championship Foundation, Williamson.
California played 11 teams, 9 of them majors, 4 with winning records. Alabama was the only ranked team they played. They out-scored their major opposition 180-33. They also have a very strong PDR: 1.33. They were the best team 7 of their 9 major college opponents played that year. Their back, Sam Chapman, was an AA as would his backfield mate, Vic Bottari be the next season. End Perry Schwartz played pro ball, (not everyone did in those days: it didn’t pay that much). Their coach was Leonard “Stub” Allison. They were recognized by two NCAA selectors: Dunkel and Helm Foundation.
Fordham played 8 teams, 6 of them major. The only one of those without a winning record was 4-4-2 TCU, who was ranked #16 in the final poll despite that record. The beat them 7-6, tied #1 Pitt 0-0 and beat #19 North Carolina 14-0 at Carolina, (their only loss). They outscored their major opposition 68-16. Their PDR was 1.67. They were the best team 4 of their 6 major opponents played. This was the era of the famous “Seven Blocks of Granite” and their leader was center Alex Wojciechowicz, (pronounced just like the Barney Miller character: Woe-Joe-Hoe-Witz), who was an All-American along with guard Ed Franco. Not on this team was their tackle from the previous year, a fellow named Vince Lombardi. Their coach was “Sleepy” Jim Cowley, who had been a member of the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, so he had some familiarity with famous units of football players. They were not #1 in the opinion of any of the NCAA selectors.
I think California might have returned to the #1 position after their Rose Bowl win over Alabama but I think Pittsburgh was the best team that year. It’s just awfully hard to score on seven blocks of granite.
So….who do you think was #1 in `1937?
Nothing changed the next week but then Minnesota lost to Notre Dame, taking them out of it and Yale was tied by Dartmouth. On November 1st Cal, Bama and Pitt retained their positons but 6-0-0 Baylor rose to #4 and Fordham, who had tied Pitt 0-0 for the fourth straight year earlier in the season, rose to #5. Cal was then tied by Washington, 0-0, (there were a lot of such scores in those days) and dropped to #2 in the November 8th poll. Pitt took over at #1. After beating #6 Nebraska 13-7. Alabama slipped to 3rd despite beating Georgia Tech 7-0. Baylor lost to Texas and dropped out of it so Fordham moved to #4 and another Ivy team, Dartmouth, (coached by Red Blaik), moved into the #5 positon, only to be tied by Cornell and drop out of the tip 5 the next week. The Pitt/Cal/Bama’Fordham quartet remained at the top the rest of the season, except that Fordham somehow moved ahead of Alabama in the November 22 poll, despite the Tide continuing to win.
Going into the bowls Pittsburgh was #1 at 9-0-1, California #2 with the same record, Fordham #3 at 7-0-1, 9the tie being with Pitt), and Alabama was perfect at 9-0-0 but still only ranked #4. The Orange, Sugar and Cotton Bowls were in their infancy and the whole idea of bowls games still controversial so both Pittsburgh and Alabama had “Rose Bowl or bust” attitudes. The Rose Bowl didn’t like inviting the same Eastern team, (to them that’s anybody east of the Rockies), so they chose Alabama for the 5th time instead of Pittsburgh for the 5th time. The Tide had never lost in Pasadena and three of their winners had staked claims to national championships there, (1935, 1930 and 1934) but this time they were no match for the California Golden Bears, who beat them 13-0 to end the Tide’s 18 game unbeaten streak. It was the biggest win any team had that year. Would it have vaulted the bears back into the #1 spot if there had been a poll after the bowls?
Richard Vautravers thinks not. In fact, he thinks the controversy should be between Cal and Fordham as to who was #2. His emphasis was on who did you lose to, or, in this case tie? Washington was a 7-2-2 that year and wound up unranked. Pitt and Fordham beat everybody but each other, making this similar to 1966 when Notre Dame and Michigan State beat everybody but for a tie with each other and ranked ahead of undefeated Alabama.
Fixing the 1937 AP Poll
I find it hard to hold Cal’s dominance of their supposedly weaker opposition against as they dominated them. And, while Fordham beat two ranked teams, one of those tanked teams, (TCU) finished 4-4-2. North Carolina was a more impressive 7-1-1 but actually finished ranked lower than TCU at #19. Cal beat St. Mary’s 30-7; Fordham beat them 6-0. I think the issue is between California and Pittsburgh for #1 not Cal and Fordham for #2. But Fordham tied Pitt and beat everyone else, so they have to be in the mix.
Pittsburgh played 10 teams, 9 of them major, 8 of those with winning records and four of them ranked, (The tied #3 Fordham ,beat #9 Notre Dame 21-6, #11 Nebraska 13-7 and #20 Duke 10-0). They out-scored their major opposition 144-34. Their PDR is a rather awesome 1.22: they were the best team 8 of the 9 major college teams they faced played that year. Tackled Tony Matisi and back Marshall Goldberg were All-Americans. Center Henry Adams, Goldberg, Matisi, guard Ted Schmitt and end Frank Souchak later played pro ball. They were coached by Hall of Famer Jock Sutherland. They were chosen as national champion by 10 different NCAA-recognized selectors: AP, Billingsley, Boand, Dickinson, Football Research, Holgate, Litkenhaus, National Championship Foundation, Williamson.
California played 11 teams, 9 of them majors, 4 with winning records. Alabama was the only ranked team they played. They out-scored their major opposition 180-33. They also have a very strong PDR: 1.33. They were the best team 7 of their 9 major college opponents played that year. Their back, Sam Chapman, was an AA as would his backfield mate, Vic Bottari be the next season. End Perry Schwartz played pro ball, (not everyone did in those days: it didn’t pay that much). Their coach was Leonard “Stub” Allison. They were recognized by two NCAA selectors: Dunkel and Helm Foundation.
Fordham played 8 teams, 6 of them major. The only one of those without a winning record was 4-4-2 TCU, who was ranked #16 in the final poll despite that record. The beat them 7-6, tied #1 Pitt 0-0 and beat #19 North Carolina 14-0 at Carolina, (their only loss). They outscored their major opposition 68-16. Their PDR was 1.67. They were the best team 4 of their 6 major opponents played. This was the era of the famous “Seven Blocks of Granite” and their leader was center Alex Wojciechowicz, (pronounced just like the Barney Miller character: Woe-Joe-Hoe-Witz), who was an All-American along with guard Ed Franco. Not on this team was their tackle from the previous year, a fellow named Vince Lombardi. Their coach was “Sleepy” Jim Cowley, who had been a member of the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, so he had some familiarity with famous units of football players. They were not #1 in the opinion of any of the NCAA selectors.
I think California might have returned to the #1 position after their Rose Bowl win over Alabama but I think Pittsburgh was the best team that year. It’s just awfully hard to score on seven blocks of granite.
So….who do you think was #1 in `1937?
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