Connelly crowns the true CFB champion from 16 split or controversial titles
On the 25th anniversary of the Michigan-Nebraska split championship, Bill Connelly breaks down the numbers for 16 disputed titles.
Connelly crowns the true CFB champion from 16 split or controversial titles
- Thread starter rfjeff9
- Start date
1990: Georgia Tech (11-0-1) vs. Colorado (11-1-1)
Poll rankings: Colorado first (AP) and second (coaches), Georgia Tech first (coaches) and second (AP)SP+ rankings: Georgia Tech fourth (19.1 rating), Colorado seventh (17.6)
Avg. points scored: Georgia Tech 31.6, Colorado 30.7
Avg. points allowed: Georgia Tech 15.5, Colorado 17.6
Best wins: Colorado def. Oklahoma (sixth) 32-23, def. Notre Dame (eighth) 10-9, def. Nebraska (ninth) 27-12, def. Washington (11th) 20-14, Georgia Tech def. Clemson (third) 21-19, def. Virginia (fifth) 41-38, def. Nebraska (ninth) 45-21
Losses/ties: Colorado tied Tennessee (16th) 31-31 and lost to Illinois (31st) 23-22; Georgia Tech tied North Carolina (32nd) 13-13
Verdict: Georgia Tech. We got through the 1980s without any split titles, though you certainly could have made the case for Auburn or even Nebraska in 1983 (when Miami came out of nowhere to upset the Huskers and win the crown), and it seems some people will never quite get over BYU winning in 1984. Either way, the 1990s made up for lost time in the controversies department. We began the decade with back-to-back split titles, the first of which was shared by a pair of nontraditional powers.
On average, Miami and Florida State were almost certainly the two best teams in the country in 1990, but both suffered a pair of losses -- Miami to BYU and Notre Dame, Florida State to Miami and Auburn -- that eliminated them from contention. That left pollsters to decide between a Georgia Tech team with three excellent wins and a half-blemish and a Colorado team with four great wins and 1.5 blemishes.
There are no split titles here, however, and we're going with Bobby Ross' Yellow Jackets. The ACC was dynamite in 1990, and not only did Colorado suffer both a tie and a loss (neither to top-15 teams), but the Buffaloes also needed a fifth down to beat Missouri. (And even if their résumés were tied after that, this Mizzou guy is here to remind you that Charles Johnson didn't score on fifth down, either. Sorry, Buffs. The Ramblin' Wreck gets the ring.)
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2020
- Posts
- 42,508
- Reaction score
- 51,235
- Bookie:
- $ 10,650.00
Already been done
hooplanation.com
Correcting the wrongs of polls past
Back before 1965, the AP poll used to declare their champion before the bowls, and the coaches poll did this until 1975, this lead to a lot of illegitimate natty claims, and there's also a few from 1975-the BCS that are contested because apparently boomers were too dumb to realize putting the...
hooplanation.com
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2020
- Posts
- 30,941
- Reaction score
- 58,793
- Bookie:
- $ 23,000.00
- Location
- Land of the Red Man
So
Add 2 to the Oklahoma total
Add 2 to the Oklahoma total
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2020
- Posts
- 27,307
- Reaction score
- 9,223
- Bookie:
- $ 786.00
Nebraska seems to have a lot of fake national titles. And like in real life, the writers felt sorry for Nebraska in the end and handed them another illegitimate one.
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2020
- Posts
- 30,469
- Reaction score
- 45,920
- Bookie:
- $ 20,806.00
- Location
- Fence Rider Extraordinaire
Hey dumb-dumb.
It was the "writers" (AP) that gave Michigan the title in '97.
They'd sent in their ballots prior to Nebraska's (42-17) dismantling of #3 Tennessee and Peyton Manning in the Orange Bowl.
It was Michigan that they "felt sorry for" because Michigan hadn't won a Natty since 1948.
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2020
- Posts
- 30,941
- Reaction score
- 58,793
- Bookie:
- $ 23,000.00
- Location
- Land of the Red Man
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2020
- Posts
- 30,941
- Reaction score
- 58,793
- Bookie:
- $ 23,000.00
- Location
- Land of the Red Man
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2020
- Posts
- 794
- Reaction score
- 1,758
- Bookie:
- $ 9,500.00
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2020
- Posts
- 30,941
- Reaction score
- 58,793
- Bookie:
- $ 23,000.00
- Location
- Land of the Red Man
He completely overlooked the fact that Oklahoma got screwed in 1949 with an 11-0 record.
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2020
- Posts
- 30,500
- Reaction score
- 72,683
- Bookie:
- $ 1,000.00
I didn’t see the problem with it.
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2020
- Posts
- 30,941
- Reaction score
- 58,793
- Bookie:
- $ 23,000.00
- Location
- Land of the Red Man
Neither did he I guess
In 1902 …
Michigan beat ohio state 86-0
Michigan beat Iowa 107-0
Michigan beat Michigan State 119-0
I guess we want to talk football from the last century.
Michigan beat ohio state 86-0
Michigan beat Iowa 107-0
Michigan beat Michigan State 119-0
I guess we want to talk football from the last century.
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2020
- Posts
- 30,500
- Reaction score
- 72,683
- Bookie:
- $ 1,000.00
The point-a-minute offense.
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2020
- Posts
- 5,802
- Reaction score
- 15,555
- Bookie:
- $ 66,876.00
Nebraska was 9-0 and didn’t give up a point all year. Michigan let Minnesota and somebody called The Case School of Agricultural Science both score 6 on them.
But we’ll let you “claim” 1902.
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2020
- Posts
- 27,307
- Reaction score
- 9,223
- Bookie:
- $ 786.00
“The writers” of this particular story. Who, like the coaches in 1997, felt sorry for a retiring coach and gave him a title he didn’t deserve.
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2020
- Posts
- 5,802
- Reaction score
- 15,555
- Bookie:
- $ 66,876.00
The point is ... it is last century. We wanted to claim 2022/2023 Championship, but Texas Christian University had different ideas. Sorry, I live in today.