Does anyone know why we count 1941 as a National Championship team when they lost 2 games and Minnesota was undefeated and Texas only had 1 loss?
Why do we count 1941 as a NC?
- Thread starter Ramah Jamah
- Start date
In 1941, the Houlgate Index System (published by Illustrated Football and the Football Thesaurus) was a much more respected selector of the National Championship than even the AP poll, which was only in it's 5th year of picking the National Champion for college football.
The reason Alabama selects this one as a National Championship is because the NCAA recognizes this one as a National Championship with Houlgate being a respected selector.
The reason Alabama selects this one as a National Championship is because the NCAA recognizes this one as a National Championship with Houlgate being a respected selector.
Not to mention that we didn't even finish first in the SEC that year (4 teams had better records). The reason, however, was that this was our ranking by Houlgate which was, at the time, the predominate ranking service (the AP had only been in existence for 5 years) The "NCAA Football Records Book" lists Alabama as the recipient of the national title under the Houlgate System in 1941. Houlgate's system was the very first systematic approach to determining a national champion in college football history. It predated the next oldest system, devised by Dick Dunkel, by two years, and predated the AP poll by a decade. It was carried by The Football Thesaurus and Football Illustrated from coast to coast for thirty-two years. It is currently recognized not only by the NCAA, but also by most prestigious college football historians, publications and databases, including Sports Illustrated and the Internet-based College Football Data Warehouse and WAJL10. Moreover, the Houlgate system's national championships are recognized by many of the top programs in college football, including Notre Dame, Southern Cal, Tennessee and Georgia. Apart from Houlgate's validity it is very possible that Alabama was the best team in the country in 1941 whether Houlgate had recognized it or not. Alabama in 1941 played, and BEAT, more of the teams in the final AP poll than any other team.Ramah Jamah said:
Why did Houlgate pick Alabama over Minnesota and Notre Dame?
It appears that Houlgate is the only one who looked at the quality of the competition the teams were playing instead of purely based off of record.
Alabama's opponents had a 69-23-2 record (67%). Alabama played 8 teams (out of 11) that had winning records. 6 of those teams had 2 or fewer losses. That's ridiculous by today's standards.
By contrast, Minnesota's opponents had a 31-35-1 record (46%) with only 3 of the teams having winning records and only 1 team having fewer than 2 losses for the season.
Notre Dame's opponents had a 33-36-3 record (45.8%) with only 4 of the teams having winning records and only 1 of the teams having 2 or fewer losses.
Alabama also played 2 or 3 more games than Notre Dame and Minnesota. Oddly enough, we beat Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl that year.
Based on this information, I'd pick Bama over those two any day of the week.
It appears that Houlgate is the only one who looked at the quality of the competition the teams were playing instead of purely based off of record.
Alabama's opponents had a 69-23-2 record (67%). Alabama played 8 teams (out of 11) that had winning records. 6 of those teams had 2 or fewer losses. That's ridiculous by today's standards.
By contrast, Minnesota's opponents had a 31-35-1 record (46%) with only 3 of the teams having winning records and only 1 team having fewer than 2 losses for the season.
Notre Dame's opponents had a 33-36-3 record (45.8%) with only 4 of the teams having winning records and only 1 of the teams having 2 or fewer losses.
Alabama also played 2 or 3 more games than Notre Dame and Minnesota. Oddly enough, we beat Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl that year.
Based on this information, I'd pick Bama over those two any day of the week.
Legend has it that one of the main reasons BAMA recognizes this title, rather than say, the 1966 year, was because the higher ups found out about Auburn's obession with our national championships. It seems that they worried more about how many BAMA had than we did. So, we began to recognize the '41 title just to tick the barners off.
Latest threads
-
Bama Game Thread: Bama Gymnastics - NCAA Championship Semi-finals (ESPN2 | 4/18 @ 8pm CT)- Started by BamaNation
- Replies: 16
-
No. 1 Visits Tuscaloosa for Second Straight Week as Alabama Hosts Top-Ranked Texas A&M- Started by Diamond Tide
- Replies: 0
-
-
I'm Declaring the Emperor has no clothes (NCAA rules implosion)
- Started by BamaNation
- Replies: 27
-
Home-and-Home Series Wraps Up as Alabama Welcomes UAB on Tuesday
- Started by Diamond Tide
- Replies: 1
-