ultramagnus Wrote:Thought this would be an interesting read to you Boise fans, especially if the Broncos finish undefeated, as most of us expect them to.
<a href='http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3122556' target='_blank'>http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3122556</a>
Basically, BYU is the only team from a so-called "mid-major" to finish national champions even though several teams have gone undefeated in the past 30 years or so. The way things are going, Utah and Boise could be added to this list, since it is highly unlikely that either will compete for the actual championship.
IMHO, if either Utah or Boise does go undefeated, they should declare themselves national champs, or do something to stir the pot some more. Sell t-shirts with "undefeated and national champs" on it or something... :devil:
Here is the text because it is too hard to read on their website:
Undefeated mid-majors before Boise and Utah
Story Tools: Print Email
Eric Moneypenny / FOXSports.com
Posted: 23 hours ago
With Utah and Boise State primed to go undefeated this year, and the Utes probably being the first non-BCS conference team to crack into a BCS bowl since that stupid system was put into place, let's take a look at some other notable modern-era undefeated teams from Division-I conferences that were technically "mid-major."
1984 BYU (13-0)
We're not totally saying that the old WAC was a mid-major, but we're also not saying that it wasn't. Back in 1984, which is long before BYU had crappy uniforms, Steve Young had just left Provo for USFL rosterdom, leaving the famed Cougar QB reigns to Robbie Bosco. That year, Bosco would decide to go "Tee Martin" on everyone, by leading his team to a national championship the very season he replaced one of the college game's greats, years before Tee Martin would even hold his first clipboard.
Bosco, on a gimpy ankle, and the rest of that undefeated BYU squad Schembechled a 6-5 Michigan team in the Holiday Bowl, meaning the national championship would be decided by the Big Y before Christmas. And the 1985 New Year's Day Bowl games would set an all-time record for Anti-Climatics ...
The biggest problem with BYU getting the championship that year was that "they didn't beat anybody", which is funnier to say to yourself in your best Barry Switzerian accent. Well folks, they did go on the road to beat a top-5 Pitt in the first game. That was before people found out that Pitt would ultimately win three games that year. However, the same media that was crying about BYU's schedule that year (and still voting them champs), can take pride in the fact that they gave a #3 preseason ranking to a team that finished 3-7-1.
Therefore, in 1984, the college football media were still idiots even back then. Imagine that. But they did one thing right and let BYU have the national championship that they rightfully earned.
1998 Tulane (12-0)
Coach Tommy Bowden wasn't always on his way out of town. Well, at least not in a bad way. Bowden was on his way out of New Orleans in 1998, but only after he led Tulane to an 11-0 regular season, and a trip to the Liberty Bowl where they whacked BYU 41-27 in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicated.
However, we know that being in Conference USA, Tulane would get no respect from the BCS, and was stuck in a New Year's Eve bowl against a team they could pound. Never mind the fact that Tulane was in the SEC for thirty-two years (1933-65). Couldn't they have been grandfathered into a BCS Bowl? After all, Pittsburgh and Miami won their first national championships playing schedules as Independents that were nearly Conference USA-esque.
That year's Tulane team was marked by Bowden's explosive Fast Break offense led by QB Shaun King, RB Toney Converse, and WR JaJuan Dawson. King played out of his mind, throwing for over 3,000 yards, and breaking the NCAA season record for passing efficiency. Also, with that offense scoring 40 or more points nine times, the Green Wave were beating their opponents so bad that the N.O.P.D. may have been called down to the Superdome on a few occasions, only to have Tulane answer the door in a ripped tanktop, and saying that "them and Memphis was just arguin".
If the '84 BYU team proved that finishing a Division I schedule undefeated still meant something, then the '98 Tulane team proved that it didn't. The Green Wave finished with a national ranking of 7th. Tulane fans were screaming "Let them Play!" towards the BCS with the same fury of those in the Astrodome in the final scene of "Bad News Bears: Breaking Training". As for Tommy Bowden, he was off to Clemson. Where, to put it nicely, he hasn't had seasons like this.
1999 Marshall (13-0)
Of the teams we've mentioned so far, the easiest schedule of these teams probably belonged to the 1999 Marshall team. The only name team they had to beat was Clemson, led by their new coach Tommy Bowden (which did nothing to fuel a love affair between Bowden and Death Valley). Also, in that year's Motor City Bowl, they beat BYU 21-3, helping tie this whole article together, also helping put this article incredibly high in search engine results for "BYU football". It should also be noted that they ruined Temple 34-0. But seriously ...
At the time, Marshall was just a couple years removed from being a I-AA powerhouse, and still had many players who were largely recruited by I-AA schools. Guys like QB Chad Pennington. Pennington had himself a phenomenal season in 1999, with the high water mark being the MAC Championship Game, where he led the Thundering Herd from a 23-0 deficit to win the game 34-30 on a last second touchdown pass. Good times. And a good season for the Herd.
Off to the Nerdery!
Also, I have scoured the college football record books for other notable teams of the past 30 to 40 years that were good enough, undefeated enough, but due to their "conferences affiliations" the pollsters didn't pay the proper respect.
1975 Arizona State (12-0) WAC
Three years before they and Arizona would join the Pac-8, Frank Kush's Sun Devils went undefeated, finishing up by beating Nebraska at home in the Fiesta Bowl on CBS the day after Christmas. Fiesta Bowl? Day after Christmas? Mind you, this was years before Tostitos and the Fiesta Bowl sold each other out. Running back Freddie Williams had 1,316 yards rushing on the season, and WR John Jefferson had 44 catches for 808 yards, but I don't think he had goggles yet. DB Mike Haynes was the notable name on defense, although teams were scared to throw to his side after his 11 picks in 1974.
Outside of the WAC schedule, Washington (35-12) and Texas Christian (33-10) were the notable regular season wins outside of conference for Kush's bunch. Arizona State finished the season ranked as high as #2 in many polls. It wasn't their only undefeated season of this time period either. In 1970, the Sun Devils finished 11-0, with a 48-26 Peach Bowl win over North Carolina.
1985 Fresno State (11-0-1) Big West
Coach Jack Sweeney let son Kevin Sweeney throw the ball all over the field in 1985, as the Bulldogs ran roughshod over the old Big West Conference, before most of its schools went with the attitude that, "hey, fielding a football team is not for us". You know, the defunct programs of Long Beach State, Cal St.-Fullerton, Pacific, those types.
Still, Division I is Division I, and nobody beat the Bulldogs in '85. Only the WAC's Hawaii could tie them, by a score of 24-24. Since Sweeney didn't play the same kind of schedule in 1985 that Coach Fu Manchu has the Dogs playing now, the only notable non-conference win was 33-24 at Oregon State. Which is only notable because the Beavs were in the Pac-10 Conference. Not because they were horrible.
After a 51-7 thrashing of Bowling Green in the old California Bowl (back before those silly claymation raisins sponsored the game), Fresno State found themselves as the only unbeaten team left in the country, and ranked 16th. Also, in 1961, the Bulldogs finished 10-0, winning the California Collegiate Athletic Association championship. But seriously, guys ...
1969 San Diego State (11-0) PCAA
Back before the Air Coryell offense had a name, and its quarterback had a beard, Don Coryell was the head coach at San Diego State, where he went 104-19-2. Yeah.
In 1969, the Aztecs were coming off of three straight National Championships in the NCAA College Division (think less than I-AA), and moved into the NCAA University Division (D-I, before it had a name), joining the PCAA (later the Big West Conference).
In that first year of the relative big-time, the Aztecs finished 11-0. They finished out the season beating Boston U. 28-7 in the Pasadena Bowl, which was held in front of 41,000 fans at the Rose Bowl.
The schedule was less than noteworthy, and Coryell's explosive '69 Aztecs outscored their opponents by an average of 45-18. But, crappy schedule or not, this team had talent. Over ten Aztecs on that 1969 team would eventually be drafted, including starting quarterback Dennis Shaw (1970 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year) and one of his backups, Brian Sipe.
In 1976, San Diego State would decide that the PCAA was for nerds and became an Independent for a couple years. In 1978, they headed to the WAC to help ease the sting of the two Arizona schools leaving. What does this have to do with anything? Nothing. Just putting a little historical perspective on the San Diego State football program ...
1969-71 Toledo (35-0) MAC
If you've read all the way down this far in the article, you probably already know about the famous 35-game Toledo win streak that happened during this time. But amidst the 35-straight wins, three MAC titles, three Tangerine Bowl wins, Toledo could never muster more than a #20 AP ranking in '69, a #12 ranking in '70, and a #14 ranking in '71. Now, I don't know how they finished 12-0 in 1971, but still dropped two spots in the polls. But, I wasn't born yet, so it wasn't for me to decide.
Also, those were rankings that could've been higher if the non-conference wins weren't against Villanova, Xavier, Dayton, and so on. The Rockets did beat Colorado State in 1970, and East Carolina in 1970 and 1971. But it wasn't the mid-1990s, so those names held less weight in the college football world.
Toledo QB Chuck Ealey, the three-year star of the offense, wound up having never lost a game in high school or college (65-0). The Rockets also led the nation in defense all three years, led by a couple of All-Americans, DB Curtis Johnson in 1969, and DT Mel Hall in 1971. That year, Hall would become the first unanimous All-American ever in the MAC. Toledo also finished 11-0-1 in 1995, but they had as much of a chance of getting in a major bowl then I have of finishing this article in under three pages.
1973 Miami (Ohio) (11-0) MAC
The 1973 Miami University team may have the biggest complaint of any team in history about their final ranking. Yes, they played in the MAC, which isn't the MAC it is today. However ...
Coach Bill Mallory's team won at Purdue. They won at South Carolina. They shut rival Cincinnati out. They beat Florida in the Tangerine Bowl, which was held that year at the Gators' home field, not Orlando.
The then-Redskins finished the season 11-0. They only allowed 6.9 points per game. And the best that the AP could muster for Miami Parentheses Ohio was a ranking of #15!?! Bill Mallory gave in and left for Colorado. The next year, Miami, led by new head coach Dick Crum finished 10-0-1. They tied Purdue at West Lafayette, but won at Kentucky, and beat Georgia 21-10 in the Tangerine Bowl, this time in Orlando. That team finished #10 in the AP poll.
In 1975, Dick Crum's Redskins (which almost sounds dirty) were one 14-13 loss at Michigan State away from a possible Top 5 finish, with a 11-1 record on the season. They wound up finishing #12, after beating South Carolina 20-7 in the Tangerine Bowl. If these Miami teams had a thru-line, it was a dominant defense, and a pounding rushing attack led by running backs Chuck Varner, Randy Walker (Northwestern's head coach), and Rob Carpenter.
Miami (OH) would post a 32-1-1 record from 1973-75, with possibly a more impressive run than the Toledo teams of the prior years, due to the scheduling of big-name opponents. But they still didn't win a national championship. Nor did they go to a big bowl.
So take that Utah and Boise State.
Eric Moneypenny is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com. You can absolutely not e-mail him at moneypennysucks@yahoo.com.
