This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/stayclassypeople on 2023-06-27 03:59:10+00:00.
I’m reviewing bowl seasons from 1974-97 and their affect on the national title race. Check out the link below for more seasons!
Setting the Stage
| Team | Record | AP | Coaches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida St | 11-0 | 1 (62) | 1 (57) |
| Arizona St | 11-0 | 2 (5) | 2 (5) |
| Florida | 11-1 | 3 | 3 |
| Ohio St | 10-1 | 4 | 4 |
| BYU | 13-1 | 5 | 5 |
Important Games and Notes
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Overtime was officially adopted for all games (last year was bowl games only)
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1996 was a big year for conference realignment, with the following happening:
- Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, and Baylor merged with the Big 8 to form the Big 12
- Conference USA was formed, which included Houston from the SWC and 5 independents
- The WAC became a 16 team conference with remaining SWC teams TCU, SMU, and Rice joining.
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UCF and Boise St moved from FCS (I-AA) to FBS (I-A).
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September 14th: unranked BYU lost at #14 Washington, 17-29. This would be the Cougars only loss of the season.
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September 21st:
- #1 Nebraska (on a 25 game win streak) traveled to the desert to play #17 Arizona St. The Sun Devils pulled off a stunner, shutting out the Huskers 19-0. ASU had three safeties in the win.
- #2 Tennessee met #4 Florida in Knoxville. The Gators escaped with a 35-29 win. This result would ultimately determine the SEC East title.
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September 28th: #18 Virginia Tech lost at unranked Syracuse, 21-52. This would be the Hokies only loss in the regular season, but it effectively knocked them out of the national title race.
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October 12th: #3 Florida St met #6 Miami at the Orange Bowl (both 4-0). FSU won big, 34-16.
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November 9th: #6 Tennessee was upset on the road by unranked Memphis, 17-21, effectively eliminating them from the national title race
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November 23rd: #2 Ohio St (10-0) met three loss Michigan in Columbus with national title hopes on the line. The Wolverines ruined a perfect season for them (again) with a 13-9 upset. OSU still tied Northwestern for 1st in the Big 10, but they didn’t play. OSU received the Rose Bowl bid.
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November 29th: #4 Nebraska played #5 Colorado in a de facto Big 12 north division title and national title elimination game. The Huskers won 17-12
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November 30th: #1 Florida met #2 Florida St (both 10-0) to end the regular season, with the national title on the line. The Noles jumped to a 17-0 lead and held off UF for a 24-21 win, and a likely spot in the Bowl Alliance championship game.
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December 7th:
- #3 Nebraska met unranked Texas in the 1st ever Big 12 title game. With a win, the Huskers likely would have met Florida St in the Bowl Alliance national title. The Longhorns shocked the Huskers 37-27.
- #4 Florida defeated #11 Alabama 45-30 in the SEC title game for their 4th consecutive SEC title. Thanks to Nebraska’s loss that same day, they earned a bid in the Bowl Alliance National championship.
Oh baby, after last year’s clean championship result, 1996 came with the risk of more controversy and a possible split title. Florida St was #1, had a perfect regular season, and earned a bid to the Bowl Alliance National title game. Bowden’s Seminoles controlled their own destiny for a 2nd consensus national title. Arizona St had something to say about that, they were perfect for the first time since 1975, a year they were ignored in the national title discussion. They rose from preseason #20 to #2 in the final regular season polls. Just one tiny problem . . . #2 Arizona St and #4 Ohio St were contracted to play in the Rose Bowl, ensuring the college football’s only two unbeaten’ would not decide the championship on the field. To make matters more messy, Nebraska lost the Big 12 title game, making Florida the Alliance’s 2nd highest ranked team. This created a rematch from the regular season between them and Florida St in the Sugar Bowl. If ASU and FSU both won their bowls, how would the polls react? Does FSU stay #1 or does ASU get at least a split? If ASU wins and FSU loses, does ASU get #1 or do the pollsters in at least one poll elevate Florida to #1 since they avenged their only loss? Time would tell, but I can only imagine the pollsters were thankful that Ohio St lost its final game to Michigan, otherwise we would have two dueling national title games on our hands.
The Bowls
Cotton Bowl #5 BYU vs #14 Kansas St
I don’t think BYU would have been considered for a title, even if they hadn’t lost to Washington, yet I find this game intriguing for two reasons. First is BYU was the first team in the ‘modern era’ of college football to play in 15 games. They got a bonus game by playing at Hawaii and by playing in the Pigskin classic. Additionally, they played in the first ever WAC championship game. Second, this was Kansas St’s first game in one of the ‘big 5’ bowl games, which is wild since prior to 1989 they were wildly considered the worst team in major college football history. From 85 to 89 alone, they only won 4 games and tied another. Kansas States defense controlled BYU for 3 quarters, leading 15-5, but BYU countered with two 4th quarter TDs, including the game winner with under 4 minutes to go to win 19-15. In addition to this BYU team, only 2003 Kansas St and 2019 Hawaii have managed to play 15 games in a season without making the playoff.
Rose Bowl #2 Arizona State vs #4 Ohio State (January 1st at 4 or 5pm EST)
Arizona State’s upset over Nebraska in September proved to not be a fluke. Led by future NFL starter, Jake Plummer, the Sun Devils had a perfect season, winning 8 of their 11 games by two scores. One win would have been a tie, but thanks to new OT rules, they were able to beat USC in 2OTs to keep their perfect season and national title hopes alive. Despite perfection, its likely they would need Florida St to knock off #1 FSU in the Sugar Bowl. With an FSU win, I imagine both polls keep them at #1, with a Gator win, it seems likely one or both polls give ASU #1. Their challenger was Big 10 champ, Ohio St, who had their national title hopes and unbeaten season ruined by rival Michigan for the third time in four years. The #4 Buckeyes might have an outside chance at #1 with a Florida win, but odds were slim at best. The game proved to be a classic. The Buckeyes drew first blood with a 9 yard TD pass in the 1st quarter. ASU and Jake Plummer responded in the 2nd with a 25 yard TD pass to make it 7-7, which would be the halftime score.
ASU took their first lead of the game with a field goal in the 3rd, but OSU countered with a 72 yard bomb by QB Joe Jermaine to give OSU a 14-10 lead through 3 quarters. Late in the 4th quarter, OSU led by the same score and had a 1st goal with a chance to ice the game. Not only did they fail to score a TD, but the field goal was blocked, giving ASU a chance to win. With about 5 minutes to go, Plummer led his team down the field and scored the go ahead TD on an 11 yard scramble to give his team a 17-14 lead with 1:40 to play. OSU had time to counter. Thanks to two 3rd down conversions and two defensive pass interference calls, the Buckeyes had the ball at the ASU 5 in with less than a minute to go. Thanks to a blown coverage they would score the game winning TD with 19 seconds to go, crushing ASU’s hopes of a first ever national title. The Buckeyes would go on to win their first Rose Bowl since 1974 by a final score of 20-17.
Sugar Bowl #1 Florida St vs #3 Florida (January 2nd, ~7-8 pm EST)
Leading into the bowl season, the Seminoles path was simple, win here and they likely have their 2nd consensus national title, regardless of the Rose Bowl result. They were led by a #3 overall defense and future NFL pro bowler, running back Warwick Dunn. On the other side was rival Florida, who lost to Florida St to end the regular season, which appeared to have dashed their national title hopes. However, thanks to an upset in the Big 12 title game coupled with Ohio State’s upset of Arizona St, they found themselves with a chance to win the national title in a rematch against rival Florida St. Florida’s #1 offense would not be slowed down this time as Spurrier lined up Heisman winning QB Danny Wuerffel in shotgun formation to great success. The Gators opened up scoring with a first quarter TD, but FSU countered with a field goal to make it 7-3. The Gators scored 10 unanswered to lead 17-3 early 2nd, but FSU cut the lead in half with their first TD of the game later that quarter. The teams would trade TDs in the final 5 minutes making it 24-17 Gators at the half.
FSU opened up scoring with an early 3rd quarter FG to make it 24-20. However, it was all Gators from there. Wuerffel had a passing and rushing TD in the 3rd to extend the Gator’s lead to 38-20 heading in to the 4th. RB Terry Jackson piled it on, scoring two more rushing TDs in the 4th to make it 52-20, which would hold as the final score. A year after getting routed in the national title, the Gators had a route of their own to win their first ever national title, which was made even sweeter by avenging their only loss of the season.
Final Results
| Team | Record | AP | Coaches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 12-1 | 1 (65.5) | 1 (58) |
| Ohio State | 11-1 | 2 (1.5) | 2 (4) |
| Florida State | 11-1 | 3 | 3 |
| Arizona State | 11-1 | 4 | 4 |
| BYU | 14-1 | 5 | 5 |
There was a lot of potential for a split national titl…
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