UPDATED ... where Clemson stacks up in the CFB modern era.

Jan 9, 2019, 10:30 AM

Review - why I originally drew the line in the sand at 1975 as the "modern era" in my previous version:

A lot of things happened in the early 70's that created more parity, leveled the playing field, and normalized the naming of a nat'l champ. 1975 was the first year the UPI Coaches Poll waited until after bowl season to release their final poll. As crazy as that seems, prior to 1975 the UPI could name a national champ and then see them lose their bowl game. Scholarship limits were first established in 1973, which prevented elite teams with unlimited funding from just stockpiling all the talent. In 1972 the ACC finally dropped the 800 SAT Score eligibility requirement... other schools had lower requirements and signed kids we couldn’t. And full integration had kicked in by the mid 70's in the deep south... kickstarted by that game in 1970 in which Sou Cal smoked Bama's nuts with an all-black backfield.

Anyway, with the win Monday night, here's where we are... obviously that 3rd title gave us a bump:

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smoking cigarettes and writing something nasty on the wall

UCF went undefeated last year playing absolutely nobody in the regular season. Sou Cal played their usual PAC12 schedule, plus Notre Dame, Auburn, BYU & Hawaii. They smoked then #6 Auburn at Auburn, drubbed then #6 Wash St, and beat the brakes off of everybody else on their schedule... which of course includes UCLA, Wash, Stanford, Oregon, etc. Meaning, legitimate teams. Then they easily beat #4 Michigan in the Rose Bowl. Their one hiccup was a 3 OT loss to Cal. They finished 12-1 just like LSU & Okla, and were actually ranked #1 in both final polls. But the BCS formula included 7 "computer rankings" that had them 3rd, so they got screwed.

It was highly controversial at the time that the #1 team in the nation didn't even get to play for the nat'l title. That was seen as a much bigger travesty than the "AP going rogue". So while I agree the trophy resides in Baton Rouge, I think I'll just leave Sou Cal on my list. Feel free to make your own list that excludes them.

Message was edited by: dark side of the moo®

UPDATED ... where Clemson stacks up in the CFB modern era.

Re: UPDATED ... where Clemson stacks up in the CFB modern era.

I hear what you're saying, but it wasn't a "UCF situation".

and just for fun... the last 20 years and last 10 years...

TigerBoard POTD

*UPDATED* ... where Clemson stacks up in the CFB modern era.

Re: *UPDATED* ... where Clemson stacks up in the CFB modern era.

I hear what you're saying, but it wasn't a "UCF situation".

and just for fun... the last 20 years and last 10 years...

TigerBoard POTD

UPDATED ... where Clemson stacks up in the CFB modern era.

Re: UPDATED ... where Clemson stacks up in the CFB modern era.