The 1993 Penn State football season started a new era. After a long stretch as an independent—a stretch that included recent national titles in 1982 and 1986, and a #3 finish as recently as 1991—the Nittany Lions were joining the Big Ten. They were also looking to atone for what had been a disappointing 1992 […]
John Cooper walked the sidelines in Columbus for 13 seasons. His teams were generally pretty good, contended for Big Ten titles and occasionally more than that. His teams also came up short in the season’s biggest moments and usually left the fan base with a sour taste in their mouths at the end. The 1993 […]
The 1993 Auburn football season was supposed to be a year of transition. After a decade of success under Pat Dye that included SEC championships in 1983, 1987 and 1989, Dye had mediocre years in 1991-92 and the program went on probation. Auburn tapped Terry Bowden, the son of Florida State legend Bobby Bowden, as […]
The state of Florida is known for its football today, but that wasn’t always the case. When Steve Spurrier came to the Sunshine State’s flagship program in Gainesville, the Gators had never formally won an SEC championship. They did finish first in 1984, but probation nullified the title. In Spurrier’s first year of 1990, Florida […]
Florida State was the program perpetually knocking on the door in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Between 1987 and 1992, the Seminoles finished in the national top 5 and won a major bowl game each and every year. The downside? They never finished #1. The bigger downside? Their in-state rival Miami was even better […]
The 1993 Miami Hurricanes were a solid football team by any reasonable measure. Any measure that is, except the one the program had established in the preceding decade. A Cinderella national title in 1983 was followed by titles in 1987, 1989 and 1991. The ‘Canes narrowly missed more two more titles in 1986 and 1988. […]
John Mackovic was in his third year in Champaign. He inherited an Illinois program that, after early 1980s success that included a Rose Bowl trip in 1983, had suffered a couple of losing seasons and then went on NCAA probation. Mackovic got things turned immediately back upward, going to a bowl game in 1988. In […]
1990 Michigan State football entered the season on a good run for the program under George Perles. The Spartans won the Rose Bowl in 1987. They had good seasons in the two ensuing years and had made five bowls in the past seven seasons. A 1990 season that was crazy across the country, and especially […]
John Cooper came to Columbus in 1988 after Earle Bruce stumbled to a 6-4-1 finish in 1987. But at least Bruce had produced Rose Bowl teams in 1979 and 1984. Cooper’s first year with the Buckeyes produced a losing season. 1989 saw improvement and an eight-win regular season. But that wasn’t why Cooper was hired. […]
Badger football was in the toilet when Barry Alvarez arrived as head coach in 1990. Wisconsin had won nine games in the preceding four years. Alvarez’s first year wasn’t any better, a 1-10 disaster. But the Badgers had shown progress in 1991, getting to 5-6. The 1992 Wisconsin football team also finished 5-6, but did […]
The 1990 Texas football team was looking to get back onto the national radar. The proud program hadn’t won a national title since 1969. They hadn’t made a serious run at the top since 1983. The Longhorns fired Fred Akers following a sub-.500 season in 1986, but the first three years under new coach David […]
Don James had already enjoyed a successful coaching run at the University of Washington. He went to the Rose Bowl in 1977, 1980 and 1981, winning it twice. He won the Orange Bowl in 1984 and finished #2 in the country. But the latter part of the 1980s saw the Huskies slip a bit, with […]