Going the Distance

by Nico2.0 on Aug 18, 2008 11:42 PM CDT in Football Comment 14 comments

According to a graphic on a recent article on ESPN.com, only 10 teams have started the season ranked #1 in the AP poll and have gone on to win the national title. The Bulldogs clearly have their work cut out for them, but that's not what this post is about.

Here's the graphic:

Anybody notice a team that should be on the list but isn't? I can't quite figure out what that says about me that I get hacked off about something that happened over a decade before I was born, but hey, it is what it is I suppose.

And no, I'm not going to include a YouTube of that Cake song.

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Let's frame it another way

If being preseason #1 is such a curse, which preseason ranking slot in the AP poll has won the most national titles? Let’s also keep it to the years since 1990, since that’s all I looked up.

Turns out, it’s the #2-ranked team with 4 national titles, followed by the #1-ranked team and #4-ranked team with 3 national titles. Whoops… looks like being #1 isn’t so bad after all.

by Year2 on Aug 19, 2008 7:19 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Good Point

Being preseason #1 does not necessarily make it more difficult to win a MNC. It ends up being just extremely difficult to win a MNC, no matter where you are ranked.

by Kenny483 on Aug 19, 2008 9:18 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

AP National Champs by Preseason AP Ranking

In order by frequency of AP National Championships:

Preseason #1 – Won 10 AP National Championships
#2 – 7 NCs
Not Ranked Preseason – 6 NCs
#4 – 4 NCs
#6 – 4 NCs
#8 – 4 NCs
#9 – 4 NCs
#3 – 3 NCs
#5 – 3 NCs
#7 – 2 NCs
#10 – 2 NCs
#13 – 2 NCs
#20 – 2 NCs
#11 – 1 NC
#14 – 1 NC
#15 – 1 NC
#16 – 1 NC
#19 – 1 NC

You’ll notice that teams ranked 12, 17, 18, and 21-25 in the AP Preseason Poll have never won it all, so Texas Tech, Virginia Tech, Phat Phil, Oregon, Penn St, Wake Forest, Pitt, and our beloved Tide will have to hold off yet another year if historical statistical trends hold true. Actually Temple and New Mexico State, among others, have a better statistical shot at the title than we do strictly based on our preseason ranking. I knew we would’ve been better off not ranked…

"There's a lot of blood, sweat, and guts between dreams and success" - Coach Bryant

by TopDaddy on Aug 19, 2008 8:05 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

1966

Were we preseason #1 in 1966?

by monjardin on Aug 19, 2008 9:51 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Yes

Here’s the evidence.

APPollArchive.com is the place to go for your historical poll needs.

by Year2 on Aug 19, 2008 10:14 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yep...

…the only team to ever be preseason #1, go undefeated and untied and not finish #1.

by Nico2.0 on Aug 19, 2008 10:18 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Notre Dame

Was the AP national champion that year, though.

"There's a lot of blood, sweat, and guts between dreams and success" - Coach Bryant

by TopDaddy on Aug 19, 2008 10:19 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Exactly...

…there’s one team that should be on that list, but isn’t.

by Nico2.0 on Aug 19, 2008 11:37 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

There was something up with

the AP writers not liking the Bear, or something like that. I think it had something to do with the fact that he had not integrated his football team yet, and had no plans to at the time, so the boycotted him to some extent.

"There's a lot of blood, sweat, and guts between dreams and success" - Coach Bryant

by TopDaddy on Aug 19, 2008 10:25 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

It was shameful...

It was shameful that Alabama wasn’t integrated at that point, but it still doesn’t take away from the fact that they were the best team in the country.

by Nico2.0 on Aug 19, 2008 11:39 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Missing Ring

There is a great book about that season, The Missing Ring. It tells the story of the 1966 season for Alabama, and how despite being arguably Alabama’s best team ever, and the only undefeated team without a tie, the MNC went to ND. It is really good if you are interested in learning more about the history of the Alabama program.

by Kenny483 on Aug 19, 2008 11:55 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wait Wait Wait

Not to sound like a hater but isn’t there a ton of evidence about Alabama not really having 12 Championships? More like 8-9?

Don't take life to seriously, you'll never get out alive.

by bammer on Aug 19, 2008 4:44 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Hater in the house!

Not to sound like a homer, but isn’t there a ton of evidence about Alabama not only getting jobbed in 66, but also in other years, like 45 and 77? Maybe the Auboogs could make up some rings and t-shirts….

by NiceLittleSaturday on Aug 19, 2008 8:44 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Interesting point...

And, you see, the Barners like to call it Bama Math, I guess meaning we count everytime we were voted by an organization (Football Research, National Championship Foundation, etc.) to be the national champion as a legitamite title. What they don’t realize is that if we did do it like that, we’d have 18, EIGHTEEN, ONE-EIGHT, National Championships, not just 12. But we actually don’t count every one, including the ones that we deserved outright, like the ones mentioned above.

The 1966 debacle was out of boycott, and who knows what was going through everyone’s head in ‘77. Alabama lost to an eventual 9-3 Nebraska by seven in week two for our only loss. The same day, Notre Dame lost to an eventual 6-5 Ole Miss by seven for their only loss. Gotta love those AP guys, half of which don’t even like football, but yet they awarded a MNC for a long time, and still do to some extent…

"There's a lot of blood, sweat, and guts between dreams and success" - Coach Bryant

by TopDaddy on Aug 20, 2008 7:55 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs