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A fun, very old, "What If" Scenario.
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CU Medallion [65414]
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A fun, very old, "What If" Scenario.
Jun 24, 2021, 10:45 AM
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We all know that Clemson won our first ever Natty in 1981 by beating the Nebraska Cornholers. However, here is a "What If" sceanrio that would have been the closest thing to the chaos the pundits talk about every season.
Going into bowl season, rankings were:
1. Clemson 11-0
2. Georgia 10-1
3. Alabama 9-1-1
4. Nebraska 9-2
5. SMU 10-1
6. Texas 9-1-1
7. Penn State 9-2
8. USC 9-2
9. Miami 9-2
10.Pitt 10-1
In the bowl games, Pitt upset Georgia, Texas beat Bama, so #2 and #3 had both been beaten by the time Clemson's game was nearly over. The scenario is this: If Nebraska's rally had won them the game, would the Polls have actually awarded them the Natty with two losses, or would one of the one loss teams have been voted as the National Champion?
It would have been an interesting vote, for sure. Pitt had been ranked #1 for four consecutive weeks before losing their last regular season game, their only loss. In the actual poll, Texas, Penn State, and Pitt finished 2-3-4. Given that, I can see some huge arguments for Texas being voted #1 instead of Nebraska, but, Nebraska defeated #1. It was situations just like that which eventually led to the BCS, and later to the 4 team CFP. Now we are seemingly on the way to 12.
Given the sway that Texas still had back in 1981, I'm going to say that they would have gotten the prize, but there would have been a whole lot of upset Corncobs if they had beaten #1, all ranked teams above them lost, and they were not awarded the Natty. What thinks you all?
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Heisman Winner [134298]
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Re: A fun, very old, "What If" Scenario.
Jun 24, 2021, 10:57 AM
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I think there would have been co-champions, Texas and Nebraska.
It's hard to imagine, Pitt losing their last game and falling to 10th in the Polls. If it was today and they were in the SEC, they would have fell to 2nd or 3rd.
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110%er [5063]
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Re: A fun, very old, "What If" Scenario.
Jun 24, 2021, 12:04 PM
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Only if it was another SEC team they lost to....Even the last place SEC team is a good win by poll standards! Yet, Clemson never gets a good win when they beat the coots!
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CU Guru [1542]
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Re: A fun, very old, "What If" Scenario.
Jun 24, 2021, 12:46 PM
[ in reply to Re: A fun, very old, "What If" Scenario. ] |
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Yeah I was going to add, Pitt dropped too far in the polls after losing to Penn St. Probably should've just dropped to 3, 4, or 5 at the WORST.... definitely not 10. I remember throughout most of the year thinking, I do not want to play Dan Marino and Pitt in any bowl game. In the scenario presented above, the correct answer would be to award Pitt the title but I think voters back then would've given it to Texas.
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CU Medallion [65414]
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I tend to agree with you. It brings back the old saying,
Jun 24, 2021, 12:49 PM
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"It's not IF you lose, but WHEN you lose. If Pitt's loss had been early in the year, they would have had time to get all the way back up to probably 2 or 3 in the rankings. The fact that it was the last game of the season would have doomed them in the culture of the time.
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Orange Blooded [2033]
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unfortunately the answer is the same now as then....
Jun 24, 2021, 1:00 PM
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Clemson has (had) to go undefeated prior to the playoff system to even be considered as the national champion. Clemson was just lucky the other teams lost. If not, even an undefeated Clemson in 1981 would have shared the title.
Now, if Clemson loses to Georgia they have to win out to even be considered...
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110%er [6223]
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Re: A fun, very old, "What If" Scenario.
Jun 24, 2021, 1:37 PM
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I thought that was why Neb players and fans were pissed they "only got to play Clemson." When they finished showing everyone we didn't belong, Neb wouldn't get enough credit for only beating Clemson, thus denying them the National Title. They wanted to play the pups.
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Orange Blooded [3380]
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Re: A fun, very old, "What If" Scenario.
Jun 24, 2021, 2:22 PM
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Back in that time period Southern Cal would have vaulted everyone for the National Title. They were thought to be the best program in football and the TV networks used their propaganda to keep them at or near the top of the polls.
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Orange Blooded [4049]
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Nebraska was very overrated that year
Jun 24, 2021, 4:09 PM
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As I recall, the Huskies played 3 ranked teams that year and lost to all 3. Side note, my seats were just behind Perry Tuttle’s mom. Had fun hollerin’ with her.
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