The 1978 college football season is remembered for a controversial split national championship, the continued frustration of one great coach and the sad ending for another. But above all, 1978 was about four games–one in the regular season and three in the bowls–that were defined by drama on the goal line. In this article we’ll […]
The 2008 college football season was ultimately remembered for Florida’s victory over Oklahoma for the national championship and Alabama’s return to prominence under Nick Saban. But the midmajor team that captured America’s sympathies deserves a little love themselves. The 2008 Utah football team did everything they realistically could to make their case for #1, including a memorable Sugar Bowl takedown of one of the big boys.
t in the day when the major Eastern college football teams were all independent, yet played each other annually, it was a big deal. The trophy had never found its way to Morgantown, WVA. That is, until the 1988 West Virginia football team rolled off an unbeaten regular season and finally won it
No one saw a serious run at a national title coming, but Nebraska still got respect for the running games it produced and for its defense. Trev Alberts, prior to a career in which he would be the worst ESPN analyst this side of Rick Sutcliffe, won the Butkus Award
After their undefeated regular season and Lambert Trophy year of 1988, Don Nehlen’s West Virginia program had slipped back to mediocrity. The 1990-92 seasons produced a record of 15-16-2. There was no sign that the 1993 West Virginia football season would be a special one. But that’s exactly how it turned out, as the Mountaineers […]
For five years, the Michigan Wolverines dominated the Big Ten. They won outright conference titles in 1988, 1989 and 1991 The 1992 Michigan football team made it four crowns in five years and capped it off with a Rose Bowl win. Running the football is what this program has been historically built on and the […]
Bobby Bowden had the Florida State football program established as a national power by 1992. The Seminoles had won major bowl games in each of the previous five years and finished in the Top 5 nationally each time. But they were coming off a particularly heartbreaking end to the 1991 season. A year that looked […]
The 1998 Tennessee Volunteers gathered for what looked to be a year of re-tooling. The previous four years had seen a quarterback named Peyton Manning at helm, but with his departure for the Indianapolis Colts, a new signal-caller had to be found. And while the Vols had won the SEC title the prior year and gone to the Orange Bowl, they did have a bugaboo to overcome—they’d lost to Florida five straight years and this at a time when the Gators and Vols dominated the SEC East.
There was something magical about the third year of a Notre Dame football coach’s tenure. Ara Parseghian and Dan Devine had each won a national championship in Year Three. Brian Kelly reached the BCS National Championship Game in 2012. The 1988 Notre Dame football team is a part of that third-year magic, winning a national title for Lou Holtz.
This post is part of a series of sports history articles commemorating under-the-radar teams and moments in a given year.
Herschel Walker has enjoyed a storied career. He led the Georgia Bulldogs to their only national championship as a freshman in 1980. He won the Heisman Trophy in 1982. He was one of the first big-name players signed by the fledgling United States Football League out of college, temporarily spurning the NFL to play for […]
Alabama’s 26-23 overtime win over Georgia last night to win the College Football Playoff has been granted immediate status as an “instant classic.” Where does this game rank in the larger pantheon of the best college football national championship games. In this article, we’ll lay out the historical context and then try to place ‘Bama-Georgia […]