Poll Controversies Revisited: 1993 - No West Virginia, There Is No Santa Claus

Part 1 of 2

The 1992 college football season ended just as had the previous five seasons: with a champion not named Florida State and a plethora of apologists and defenders insisting that "Florida State was playing the best football as the season ended." The crystal ball was in Tuscaloosa for the first time ever, and the wire services decided that there was no need to let Alabama celebrate for too long. Instead of waiting for the summer as had been the custom, the AP actually published a pre-season ranking for 1993 in February. Florida State, with two Wide Right losses in the last two seasons, signed the best kicking prospect in America (Scott Bentley), and finally - FINALLY - seemed ready to win it all. As 1993 unfolded it became clear that the fix was in for the Seminoles. Never at any time did it ever seem that so many were working to make sure a certain team won the national championship as happened in 1993. Florida State may - MAY - have been the best team in the country, but the route that got them there still creates a stench 25 years later.

There was a lot of happiness at the conclusion of the 1992 season. There was an undisputed national champion as opposed to the previous three years' worth of controversy. Miami had been humiliated on the national stage, to the delight of virtually every other fan base in the country. And the Bowl Coalition promised going forward that the opportunity would be there to settle national championship disputes on the field rather than ballot box. So went the wishful thinking as the year got under way.

There was a new elephant in the room with the guarantee of mischief just one poll away: a new attempt at determining bowl games (and the national title game) known as the Coalition Poll. In the aftermath of the very successful first year of the Bowl Coalition, journalists protested that their AP ballots were being used to determine bowl pairings. Their objection - hilarious in this day and age of "fake news" - was that they were reporters and NOT newsmakers. To rectify this nonsensical complaint, the Coalition Poll was invented. This new poll simply combined the point totals for the AP and coaches' polls to come up with a total number of points that were then used to rank teams. Of course, there was usually very little difference in the polls, but it promised a potential disaster if one poll was enthralled with an up and coming team while the other poll let them stay low or unranked.

A few crucial developments occurred prior to the start of the 1993 season. The Fumblerooski, a play that had gotten Nebraska back into the 1984 Orange Bowl against Miami, was outlawed. It was deemed to difficult for some officials to determine if the "intentional fumble" that enabled a lineman to pick up the ball had actually occurred. Johnny Majors was back at Pitt, having been stabbed in the back while gone for heart surgery by his replacement, Phil Fulmer. But two big stories involving corruption and rules violations dominated the final two weeks prior to the first kickoff.

The most disappointing was in Washington, where the Huskies were slapped NOT by the NCAA but by the Pac Ten conference for rules violations alleged to have been committed by boosters. Two years without bowls and ten lost scholarships so enraged head coach Don James that he immediately resigned and quit college football forever. It was a sad ending to an illustrious career, but he made clear his anger was with the Pac Ten conference for basically hitting them with a hammer after they'd tried to be reasonable and truthful. Of course, Auburn would have loved to have been in Washington's shoes as the Eric Ramsey saga finally came to an end. On August 18, 1993, the NCAA delivered the judgment: a two-year bowl ban, a one-year television ban, and nine scholarships over three years. With this judgment, Auburn became only the third school - after SMU and Arizona State - to be put on probation six times. New coach Terry Bowden vowed to press forward, and Auburn would put together one of the most amazing stories in college football history.

PRE-SEASON AP POLL
1) Florida State
2) Alabama
3) Michigan
4) Texas A/M
5) Miami
6) Syracuse
7) Notre Dame

The coaches' poll was the same except six and seven were flipped.

The Kickoff Classic at the Meadowlands once again began the season, and Florida State started off with a bang, routing Kansas (coming off a stunning 8-4 campaign), 42-0. The pressure began in Miami for new quarterback Frank Costa, well aware of the fact his three predecessors had all won national championships. Miami topped Boston College, 23-7, in a game that meant little at the time but would grow in importance as the season progressed. The first rumblings in the poll came after week one when Michigan's 41-14 thumping of Washington State impressed enough voters to put the Wolverines ahead of Alabama at number two. Notre Dame's 27-12 win over Northwestern was not considered good enough so the Irish fell from seven to ten in the coaches poll. Naturally, they went out the following weak with starting QB Ron Powlus injured and held onto a 24-10 halftime lead to survive Michigan, 27-23. Florida State massacred Clemson, 57-0, the worst Tigers defeat in 62 years that was all the more amazing when considering that Clemson held the ball for 20 minutes of the first half. FSU backup Danny Kanell came on in relief of Heisman candidate (and eventual winner) Charlie Ward, going 4 for 4 and 125 yards and two touchdowns. And showing the kind of consistency only a college football poll could make, Alabama had one first-place vote but Miami had two after week three of the season (in the coaches poll). The Tide were number two, but this ranking was not a happy event given what had happened just three games ago at the end of the 1992 season. Syracuse met failure in week four when their kicker missed a game-winning field goal that resulted in a 21-21 tie with Texas. The Orange had been all the way up to number four, but the tie dropped them seven spots to eleventh. And then in week five, Miami's old thuggish ways came right back into focus.

The Canes had scheduled a trip to Boulder, Colorado to take on the "just below national contending" level Buffaloes. Miami roared out to a 21-6 lead when all hell broke loose. On the kickoff just before the end of the first half, a brawl between the two teams broke out on the field. It was uncertain who precisely started the brawl, but twelve players were ejected from the game, the most notable being Colorado WR Michael Westbrook. The Buffs climbed off the mat, trailing 28-6 but closing the gap to 35-29 and driving inside the Miami red zone before losing when Kordell Stewart's TD pass attempt fell incomplete on fourth down from the Miami 17 with 13 seconds remaining. The game was televised nationally, which resurrected Miami's 'bad boy' image and did no favors to that of Colorado.

The next week saw Alabama tie the all-time school record with their 28th consecutive win over South Carolina, 17-6. Boston College knocked Syracuse down with a 33-29 win that ended Orange hopes of a national title. The top ten was now being dominated by blue bloods (FSU, Alabama, Miami, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Floirda, Ohio State, Penn State, Oklahoma, Michigan). And then - finally - came the annual Florida State-Miami clash.

An aura had grown around the Miami-FSU rivalry. Although the Miami-Notre Dame rivalry undoubtedly got more ink, particularly in 1988-1990, the Miami-FSU game was fast becoming must see TV. It was serving as an elimination game; the winner of this contest had played for the national championship four of the previous seven seasons. Miami had broken Florida State hearts in every way imaginable: surviving a sensational comeback (1987), a blowout (1988), losing the game but winning the national title (1989), and two classics where FSU was undone by missed field goals that sailed wide right in 1991 and 1992. Furthermore, Miami entered the contest with eye-popping numbers, including a regular season winning streak of 31 games. The Canes had completed four unbeaten seasons in the previous seven year,s and since the start of the 1985 season they had compiled an insane record of 92-8, including a 7-1 record against the Seminoles. Miami was still considered invincible, the Alabama game that ended 1992 being seen more as an anomaly than a blueprint for how to beat Miami. Still, there were suspicions entering the game that Miami's 1993 team was not so fearsome. Yes, they were 4-0 and had a scoring defense that only surrendered 11 ppg, and they had beaten both Boston College and Colorado. But they didn't seem to have the Miami Mystique of past Hurricane teams. Florida State came out firing, hitting touchdowns of 69 and 72 yards to take a 21-7 lead into halftime. With five minutes left in a 21-10 contest, Miami set up for a desperation drive and QB Frank Costa's pass was intercepted by Devin Bush and taken 40 yards to pay dirt for a final count of 28-10. Miami was reeling while the Seminoles were rolling. There was one other team nursing a long winning streak, and it ended the following Saturday.

Alabama hosted Tennessee at Legion Field for the annual Third Saturday in October rivalry, the first for new Vols coach Phil Fulmer. Alabama had a 28-game winning streak, tying the longest in school history. Despite an ineffective running game early - the Tide lost yardage on 11 of their 22 attempted rushes - Alabama somehow led, 9-7, going into the half. A Vols field goal in the third quarter put Tennessee ahead 10-9, and Charlie Garner followed his blocks for a 73-yard touchdown that appeared to break the Alabama will once and for all. Tennessee held Alabama without a touchdown for 58 minutes, and the Tide got the ball at their own 17 with only 1:44 remaining and no timeouts. Jay Barker, a smart quarterback but hardly an elite passer, stepped up to the challenge. First, he hit a short toss to Kevin Turner that gained 12 yards and a new set of downs. Barker then hit Palmer on the right side for another 12-yard pickup and first down, but Palmer, too, failed to get out of bounds. Barker then fired a perfect pass that Palmer hauled in for a first down at the Tennessee 34. The crowd volume was rising with each passing moment. With 51 seconds remaining, Barker made a short toss to senior Kevin Lee, who got out of bounds at the 18-yard line. But Tennessee held and Alabama was down to its last play with a fourth and ten at the 18 and 30 seconds remaining. Barker faked a look right then came back left and hit Kevin Lee for a new set of downs at the one-yard line. On the first play, Barker, doing his best Bo Jackson impression, went over the top to bring Alabama within two at 18-16. When Alabama lined up for the all important two-point conversion, however, Barker was not on the field. Former high school QB David Palmer came on to try to salvage a tie. Every single fan who knew anything about Alabama knew what play was coming; Tennessee's entire coaching staff and defensive lineup knew what play was coming. But knowing something is different than stopping it, and David Palmer slid around the right side with perfect blocks to tie the game and send the Crimson Nation into ecstasy, clinching a tie in a game that had seem lost for most of the afternoon. Alabama celebrated as if it was a win while Tennessee mourned as if they had lost. Alabama dropped three spots in the polls to fifth, but they were still alive for both the SEC and national honors. Although the winning streak was gone, the Tide was now unbeaten in 29 straight contests. The other big game of the day also took place in the state of Alabama where Terry Bowden's charges took on the high flying attack of Steve Spurrier. And it was all Florida for about one quarter until a stunning turn of events flipped momentum and with it the entire SEC season.

Auburn was a cool 6-0 and ranked 19th in the AP poll (the coaches poll did not permit teams on probation to be ranked). Florida was setting Auburn up for the kill at the Auburn eleven when Danny Wuerffel dropped back to pass. He fired what appeared to be a sure touchdown towards Willie Jackson. Calvin Jackson hauled it in with a perfect break on the ball and raced 96 yards to the end zone for a momentum shifting pick six that brought the Jordan Hare crowd back into the game. Riding momentum and a good defense, Auburn recovered to the point they led 35-27 late in the fourth. Florida tied it with a Wuerffel touchdown and two-point conversion, but Auburn drove back down the field to hit a game-winning 41-yard field goal with 81 seconds remaining. Auburn was suddenly back in the national picture as the leaves turned colors.

There was little movement in the rankings. Notre Dame had settled into the number two spot, and the pundits were pointing ahead to the November 13 showdown in South Bend between the Irish and top-ranked Seminoles. Both had to get there, of course, but that seemed a formality in late October. Alabama reached 30 straight unbeaten games with a harrowing and sloppy 19-14 win over Ole Miss. This game had long-term ramifications as QB Jay Barker suffered a badly sprained shoulder and was out for the next two games. It didn't seem to matter as Alabama plundered Southern Mississippi, 40-0, to reach an incredible 31 straight games unbeaten. Looking ahead, it appeared as though Alabama vs Auburn might have some national implications as well. The showdown would be problematic in light of the fact it could not be televised and Auburn was ineligible for the SEC title; however, the Tigers could have a lot of say in who precisely wound up winning the SEC for sure.

Alabama began November with a seemingly pedestrian contest scheduled against LSU. Indeed, the 1993 LSU-Alabama game (as hard as it seems to believe nowadays) was televised from Tuscaloosa in the old "Jefferson Pilot" slot at 11 am (this was prior to the Three Idiots Named Dave doing the same joke every week). The Tide was as 25-point favorite, and it seemed a mere formality that Alabama reach 32 in a row unbeaten. Alabama had the SEC's best scoring defense (8.25 ppg)while LSU's scoring offense ranked 10th in a 12-team conference. One LSU coach joked before the game that the Tigers's best play was their kickoff return. Unfortunately, LSU's best offense was the Alabama offense not having a competent quarterback. Neither Brian Burgdorf nor Freddie Kitchens could get the offense moving. Stallings then took a gamble by putting his best player and only remaining offensive weapon, David Palmer, behind center. While it was true that Palmer had played a competent quarterback in high school, this was a different animal altogether, and Palmer was better known for what he could do AFTER he got the ball from someone/somewhere else. LSU scored two quick touchdowns after halftime to go ahead, 14-0. Palmer tried to bravely rally Alabama similar to the Tennessee comeback. In fact, Palmer only threw ten passes and only completed six for an astonishing 116 yards and two touchdowns to go along with an interception. But once LSU took a 17-7 lead in the fourth, desperation took over and the Tide wound up falling short in a shocking upset, 17-13. The loss ensured that Alabama remained the last team to win consecutive national titles (1978-79), but there would be no repeat national honors in 1993. Wisconsin then took Ohio State down a peg with a stunning 14-14 tie. And in a game that would become a sore spot later, Nebraska survived an improving Kansas, 21-20, when the Jayhawks failed to convert the winning two-point conversion play with 52 seconds left. The Cornhuskers were still in the top five, but the following Saturday would finally bring together the game everyone had been talking about since the pre-season, Florida State at Notre Dame. It was 1 vs 2 and nationally televised. And a simple decision made by ESPN would transform Saturday mornings forever.

ESPN had grown from an idea in 1979 to wall-to-wall sports coverage of all the major sports. They had evolved from showing such things as Australian Rules Football and three year old English soccer matches to live coverage of the NFL. One of their Saturday traditions was a show called ESPN College Gameday, a studio show that featured Chris Fowler, Craig James, Lee Corso, and Beano Cook among others. Sensing the grandeur of the moment, ESPN did something they had never done for a regular season game before by sending the Gameday crew to South Bend to cover the Notre Dame-Florida State showdown. It was the beginning of a tradition that has lasted through 25 football seasons, five land-based time zones, and all sorts of weather (to say nothing of Lee Corso's occasional dropping of expletives). On that first Saturday, Corso began a tradition by putting on the hat of the team he predicted to win. It was also the beginning of the Corso Curse, as he donned a Florida State hat (not the later headgear) and boldly declared the Noles would win, 31-30, while doing the Tomahawk Chop. As it turned out yet another tradition continued: Florida State losing the one game that actually mattered.

Notre Dame entered the game a six-point underdog and - as difficult as this is to believe - had never beaten a number one team in South Bend. Florida State got out to a quick 7-0 lead on a Charlie Ward to Kevin Knox pass. Notre Dame played old school smash mouth football, methodically pushing out to a 21-7 lead. Florida State tried its trademark razzle dazzle with a double lateral cross field toss that lost fourteen yards. On the next play, Ward threw his first interception in 159 passing attempts. The Irish extended the lead to 24-7 before Florida State's Warrick Dunn cut the lead to 24-14. Jeff Burris scored another Irish TD to make it 31-17 Notre Dame, and the Noles grew desperate. Florida State scored on a fourth down from the 20 with 2:26 remaining to close the gap to seven. Amazingly enough, they got the ball back again and drove for what appeared to be the tying touchdown, but Notre Dame's Shawn Wooden knocked down Ward's last play pass at the goal line and the Noles were beaten, 31-24.

And that's when the rigging of the bowl games for 1993 began.

Part 2

Florida State had once again blown it. They had beaten Miami, but they still lost the big game. Florida State had choked once again when it really counted. Their talent was no match for the Notre Dame mystique. And now began one of the most pathetic episodes in the history of college football.

Florida State had appeared at least somewhat valiant in defeat. And immediately the Seminoles began begging pollsters and the press for a second chance. The press, staring at the prospect of Nebraska blowing yet another bowl game or West Virginia sneaking into the spotlight, was only too happy to play along. The centerpiece of the appeal began with a Florida State senior wide receiver named Matt Frier. Crying like a pathetic baby on national television, Frier was at times a baby and times a bully who sounded like he'd been beaten up but wanted to boast at the same time, and he became perhaps the first known PLAYER to start politicking before the season ended.

Pleading desperately and making reference to media appeals that "every year" the media says "Florida State is playing the best at the end of the year," Frier in full sob mode literally BEGGED that his team get "another chance" at the national championship, pleading that the pollsters not drop Florida State below number two. Sounding like a Pentecostal exhorting the faithful to be saved, Frier said, "You just saw the best college game of all time....We played in the hardest place ever, and we were one play away from winning. If people want to see the best, give us a chance." Frier's hypocrisy would soon know no bounds. Miami was at number three, but Frier dismissed them by saying, "We beat them. How can you give them a shot and not us?" But he saved his harshest words for Nebraska, declaring, "Nebraska knows we're a better team, and Miami knows we're a better team. The people want to see Notre Dame and Florida State play again." (A cynic with no rooting interest might note that Florida State, who had trailed virtually the entire game, was not better than Notre Dame).

As if Frier's begging was not pathetic enough, he was soon joined by a media chorus that functioned as an "Amen" corner while the choir sang "Just As I Am." Michael Wilbon, then of the "Washington Post" and later of "PTI" fame, got in some cheap shots almost immediately and set the tone:

"...as long as we get the best matchup possible. That, at the moment, would appear to be Notre Dame vs. Florida State. Or Florida State vs. the Miami/West Virginia winner. My scenarios do not, under any circumstances, include Nebraska."

Wilbon's column reflected what was happening on television as well. West Virginia, but especially Nebraska, were being shelled by the commentators as "overrated" and "unworthy" and "didn't play a tough enough schedule." The initial disparagement was not so much towards West Virginia as Nebraska for one simple reason: the pundits (as Wilbon astutely noted) figured that West Virginia was going to lose to Miami anyway. So they spent the better part of a week telling the viewing public that they did not want to see the fourth meeting in the last eight years of Florida State vs Nebraska, particularly since the Noles had won 3 of them, routs in two of them. One pundit memorably declared, "Nobody wants to see Florida State play Nebraska again." Frier the town crier got his way when the AP poll left Florida State at number two to help set up what promised to be a lucrative rematch. (I pause here to note that rematches were - for some inexplicable reason - a FANTASTIC idea in 1993 or 2006.......it was only in 2011 when rematches suddenly became things "we don't want to see again").

AP POLL RANKINGS (16 November 1993)

1) Notre Dame 2) Florida St 3) Nebraska 4) Miami 5) Ohio St 6) Auburn 7) Tennessee 8) Florida 9) West Virginia 10) Texas A/M

(Yes, Tennessee with a 7-1-1 record was ranked ahead of 8-1 Florida, whom had beaten Tennessee, 41-34).

COACHES POLL RANKINGS (November 15, 1993)

1) Notre Dame 2) Nebraska 3) FSU 4) Miami 5) Ohio St 6) West Virginia 7) Tennessee 8) Texas A/M 9) Florida 10) Alabama

The bowl coalition polls were not published weekly, but they were set up for the pending Notre Dame-Florida State rematch.
And then on November 20, 1993, came one of those days of which there are so many in college football where a series of "that should never happen" all occurred on the same day and flipped over the carefully constructed media apple cart and left heads shaking from coast to coast.

Ohio State was in the running despite a tie with Wisconsin, but arch rivals Michigan took down the Buckeyes, 28-0, blowing Ohio State's in hand Rose Bowl bid. And speaking of arch rivals, the Iron Bowl became the first game in college football to sell out TWO stadiums on the same day. Because of Auburn's probation, teams that played the Tigers were permitted to broadcast the game on their home campuses. After the calculating the cost for a screen, the University of Alabama determined that they'd only need 15,000 fans to show up to break even. The place sold out, and the fans were treated to one of the many classic games this series has provided through the years. Jay Barker was back in uniform for most of this game. But both Barker and Auburn QB Stan White left the game with injuries. Auburn flipped a 14-5 second half deficit into a stunning 22-14 win that completed an improbable turnaround from 5-6 to an unbeaten season. While Auburn was done for the year, they did have an outside shot at the AP national title, but it was contingent on everyone winding up with at least one loss. The SEC championship game now had the spectacle of two teams playing for a conference title that had lost to the conference's only unbeaten team. But two games of highly ranked teams threw the national rankings into a quandary that that made the SEC problems seem mild.

Just one week after beating top dog Florida State, Notre Dame hosted the Boston College Golden Eagles, a team they had decimated the previous year. Perhaps it was the emotion of the previous week that affected Notre Dame, but Glenn Foley led BC to a 24-14 halftime lead. As they continued to gain momentum, Boston College stretched their lead to a stunning 38-17 margin early in the fourth quarter. Just as all seemed hopeless for Notre Dame, the Irish climbed off the canvas and hit a quick touchdown and two point conversion to make it 38-25. Almost immediately, BC fumbled the ball back to Notre Dame, who again scored a lightning quick touchdown to bring it to a six-point deficit with four minutes to go. Another Irish drive ended with a touchdown and PAT that gave Notre Dame a 39-38 lead with 1:09 left. Foley drove the Eagles into Irish territory, benefiting from a dropped interception that would have ended the game in Notre Dame's favor. BC lined up for a 41-yard game winning field goal attempt. Although the snap was high, Foley recovered it, and the kick was good. Just seven days after getting pushed off the mountain, Florida State was back on top.

But why?

Meanwhile, West Virginia scraped out a 3-0 lead over Miami through the first half. The Mountaineers, in fact, held the Canes to -18 yards of offense in the first quarter and only a total of 223 for the game. A defensive struggle went back and forth when the Canes took a 14-10 lead early in the fourth. West Virginia recovered, however, and their final two possessions saw them score to go ahead 17-14 and hit a 42-yard pass to keep the ball and run out the clock. Miami was now dead for sure, but the controversy was about to get even more preposterous. The top ten was clearing out, and the polls now had a problem: Nebraska didn't even play, but how could you possibly put Florida State ahead of them? Even more bizarre, how could you rank Florida State ahead of a team that had just beaten them a week earlier?

As if the polls weren't bizarre enough, the press did an amazing 180 starting right after BC upset Notre Dame; they now insisted that the same folks whom they told us did not want to see Florida State-Nebraska were now just dying to see......Florida State-Nebraska. Once again, how Florida State got ahead of Notre Dame was difficult to fathom. Poor West Virginia, meanwhile, was on the outside looking in, but they thought they had an ace in the hole: their next game was against the team that had just beaten Notre Dame! If West Virginia could beat the team that had just knocked off Notre Dame then surely the pollsters would have to give them some credit and permit them to play for the national championship perhaps against Nebraska.

The final weekend of the 1993 regular season was anticlimactic. Florida State dusted off a good Gators team, 33-21.Gators coach Steve Spurrier yanked starter Danny Wuerffel and replaced him with his very first QB recruit, Terry Dean, to attempt a fourth quarter comeback. Dean rallied the Gators to within six points with six minutes left only to see Warrick Dunn take a short toss from Charlie Ward and turn into a 79-yard back breaking touchdown that finished the regular season for both teams. And on Friday the two remaining unbeaten ELIGIBLE teams each played, with Nebraska beating Oklahoma in the annual grudge match, 21-7. West Virginia, meanwhile, got the national attention and for most of the afternoon appeared to have restored some order to this chaotic season. Boston College, only six days removed from sending 1993 into a whirling spray of nonsense, bolted out to a quick 14-3 lead at Chestnut Hill. The Mountaineers gradually got back into the game with two fourth quarter touchdowns, the second with only three minutes remaining. West Virginia had completed their second unbeaten regular season in six years, and Coach Don Nehlen did his best
Matt Frier impersonation without tears, noting that they had "beat the team who beat the team" and declaring that if West Virginia did not make the national title game it would be "the biggest crime ever perpetuated on a college football team." Nehlen's last argument, however, was removed from emotion and straightforward when he noted, "A team that loses doesn't do everything in its power to be number one." Nehlen also argued - correctly, it might be noted - that the disparaging of West Virginia's schedule would not be made if West Virginia was named Miami. Emotions were now running high in Morgantown as well as Lincoln, Tallahassee, and South Bend.

The season was ending, with only the meaningless SEC championship game (save for who played in which bowl) and the Army-Navy clash. But a dizzying display of controversy filled the next nine days as fans, pundits, and even coaches debated who exactly should be playing for the national championship. After a controversy free year in 1992 (save for the pouting of Texas A/M, who lost that right when Notre Dame plowed them), there were now noticeable problems in only the second year of the new fix, and these had nothing to do with the Big Ten or Pac Ten.

Steve Berkowitz, a writer for the Washington Post, wrote this cleverl summary of what we were witnessing:


A year ago, the College Football Bowl Coalition used the results of the final regular season Associated Press media poll to determine the matchups for its games. This year, in an effort to have a more inclusive matchup process, the Coalition decided to base its matchups on the combined results of the final regular season AP and USA Today/CNN coaches' polls -- a compilation named the Bowl Coalition Poll.

What has the Coalition gotten for its effort?

So far, a mess.

There was a pending disaster on the horizon that frightened everyone: what if Auburn, ranked fourth in the AP poll, wound up the year as the nation's only unbeaten team? A team on probation winning a national title was a contradiction of what the NCAA supposedly stood for yet not only had it happened multiple times in the past, but one of those AP national champions on probation was the 1957 Auburn Tigers. The Bowl Coalition never contemplated the idea that while the coaches poll solved this problem by not ranking a team on probation, the AP had no such rule against it. Not only had Auburn run the table and sat perched at number 4 and - shocking as it seemed - had two first-place AP ballots to boot. The most important development, however, was that the ranking of Auburn by definition cost other teams not on probation votes for second, third, fourth, or fifth place that could be the difference in the Coalition Poll total. The Tigers had already clinched an undefeated season, closing it by knocking off the defending national champions. And what a story - a father (Bobby Bowden) and son (Terry) splitting a national championship. The end of the season brought a pending disaster for the poll watchers: despite a loss to Notre Dame, Florida State was ranked #1 in the AP poll while Nebraska and West Virginia were 1-2 in the coaches poll. These rankings turned the Coalition Poll on its head and wound up giving a potential match of #1 Nebraska vs #2 Florida State. Maybe.

But before proceeding, let's document the media circus that surrounded this bizarre development. BC's upset win was the second most important development of the season because it not only knocked Notre Dame out of the running but it also ensured the NCAA would not be stuck with TWO unbeaten teams watching from the sidelines on New Year's Day. However, the unfolding disaster was a spectacle to put it mildly. The MOST important, however, was Ohio State losing to Michigan, an occurrence that prevented the possibility of an unbeaten Big Ten claiming a national championship while dodging the Coalition Poll. Writers got into the act with an unusual amount of vengeance and, to put it mildly, partisan nonsense. Even some talented and normally rational writers got absolutely bizarre when discussing the end of the 1993 regular season. And despite the fact that the Coalition Poll was created to present a 1 vs 2 match, there was once again the bizarre prospect of a split national championship.

Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune (11/29/93, source Madison Wisconsin State Journal) dangled this insane prospect before the nation: Florida State beats Nebraska to win the AP while #2 West Virginia beats Texas A/M (ranked 7th with one loss) in the Cotton Bowl (the projected match at that point) would give a split champion since the coaches poll was unlikely to move Florida State above an unbeaten #2 when #1 lost. Or what if West Virginia was selected for the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame? If the Mountaineers could simply do what FSU could not - beat Notre Dame head to head - then how could they NOT win 1/2 the title? In Sheehan's article, he provided insight into the minds of the coaches, with Nehlen arguing that undefeated was the more important criteria while Bowden fell back on the strength of schedule argument.

Writing in "The Sporting News," Ivan Maisel provided a perfect example not only of the dissonance surrounding the season but of the dissonance surrounding himself. In the November 29 edition (page 26), Maisel wrote: "Notre Dame's loss ended the possibility that the Fighting Irish and Florida State would play a rematch for the national championship in the Fiesta Bowl. The upset also ended the carping by Nebraska fans. Their argument that Nebraska "deserves a chance" because it is undefeated holds no water. The charge given poll voters is to rank teams in order of their ability. That takes judgment." Maisel then went on to throw say that if undefeated was all that mattered then we should simply name Auburn the national champions and be done with it.

Ivan Maisel is a talented writer, but his argument is absolute nonsense on multiple levels. Throwing in Auburn at a time when the season was not yet even completed was a red herring. But consider Maisel's comments about how ranking takes judgment; what does NOT take any kind of judgment at all is a head to head football game where one team beats the other. Maisel himself doesn't even believe this argument. Imagine that after Florida State edged Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, 18-16, if the AP writers made the "judgment" that "yeah, Florida State won head to head narrowly, but Nebraska 'almost won' and the game was in Florida, so I think if they played at a 'real neutral site' then Nebraska would win."

Ridiculous, right? However, this was the EXACT argument Maisel and the media were making except replace Nebraska with Florida State and Florida State with Notre Dame. Indeed, it would have been the height of absurdity for Nebraska to LOSE to Florida State in the Orange Bowl but then get voted national champions yet that very logic was prevailing in the discussion. Furthermore, Maisel was out of one side of his mouth saying that Nebraska didn't deserve a chance just because they were undefeated and then turning right around and saying that because Notre Dame was NOT undefeated, Nebraska DID deserve a chance to play Florida State. In other words, Maisel - in typical pundit fashion - was making an argument to favor one team but abandoning it elsewhere. (Those reading thus far are smiling at the continued inconsistency with the college football playoff committee in 2017, but at the very least had we had this committee in 1993 then this raging controversy really would not have existed). The controversy was getting so enraging that the Associated Press decided to reveal who exactly was voting how in their poll!!! The season was heading towards a car crash of a conclusion despite - supposedly - having a poll that was going to solve everything.

Florida beat Alabama, 28-13, in the most ho-hum SEC championship game ever played. Indeed, in the first seven years of the SEC title game, this was one of only two where the game was just a game and had no national title implications. On a rainy Saturday in Birmingham, Florida's backup QB turned out to be better than Alabama's backup QBs, and the Gators won their second SEC title in three years. The Monday after the SEC title game, the bowl invitations went out.

Orange Bowl: #1 Nebraska vs #2 Florida State
Cotton Bowl: #4 Notre Dame vs #7 Texas A/M
Sugar Bowl: #3 West Virginia vs #8 Florida

The bowl games didn't start until Christmas Eve, and there's one worthy of note only because of what would happen years later. Alabama squared off against Mack Brown's North Carolina squad in the Gator Bowl. Alabama was without it's winning quarterback Jay Barker, but the Tide still managed - despite the many deficiencies of Brian Burgdorf - to push out a 24-10 win. Brown would later lose his own quarterback in a bowl game against Alabama with higher consequences and a much different outcome.

Three games held the nation's attention on New Year's Day 1994. Actually, only two did as the West Virginia-Florida game was a thorough disappointment. After marching right down the field to take a lightning quick 7-0 lead against the Gators, West Virginia was bludgeoned by a 41-point onslaught through Air Spurrier, mercifully ending the notion that West Virginia, whose sole argument to the title was they "beat the team that beat the team", should win a share of the title. The Mountaineers dodged a head-to-head showdown with Notre Dame because the Sugar Bowl paid the school $1.1 million more to play (and lose to) Florida. Notre Dame made its case by surviving A/M, 24-21, but more on that in a moment. For what occurred in the Orange Bowl was perhaps the most convincing attempt that the game was rigged for an outcome to give Bobby Bowden a national championship. Indeed, the 1994 Orange Bowl was perhaps the greatest college football game that nobody remembers as a great game.

It was the fourth meeting in a bowl game between these two teams in seven years, with the Noles winning all three of the previous meetings. Florida State was a 17-point favorite, and the general feeling was that Nebraska was only here because Bowden needed and opponent to beat that would be easier than a Notre Dame rematch. Bowden, who would admit after the game that Nebraska was much better than he thought, damn near lost yet another big game, this one with the whole world watching. Nebraska was in the midst of a long series of poor performances in major bowl games. Not only were the Cornhuskers losers of their last six bowl games, the previous decade saw Nebraska lose eight of ten bowl games with both victories coming against LSU (1983 Orange, 1987 Sugar). Quite frankly, nobody including Florida State (see Matt Crier's comments) thought Nebraska would even put up any resistance.

Corey Dixon got the Huskers on the scoreboard first with an electrifying 71-yard punt return for a touchdown. But a phantom block in the back - it never happened - negated the early score. In 1993, officials did not announce the number of the guilty party. A review of every camera angle available could not find anything resembling a block in the back in the area where the flag was thrown - or anywhere else. Nebraska was deflated, but the game continued. Having signed the nation's top kicker Scott Bentley to ensure no more missed field goals at the end of games, FSU had watched Bentley struggle early as he missed 5 of his first 7 PATs on the year. Bentley adjusted, however, and he gave FSU the early 3-0 lead on a 34-yard field goal in the second quarter. With less than eight minutes left in the first half, Tommie Frazier's deflected pass landed in the hands of Reggie Baul, who raced to the end zone and gave the Huskers a 7-3 lead. Florida State settled for another field goal just before the half when Charlie Ward's pass was dropped in the end zone, and the teams went in with Nebraska somewhat shockingly leading, 7-6.

Florida State then drove down the field and seemingly scored a touchdown, but the officials (it was never explained) spotted William Floyd at the one-yard line. On the next play, Floyd appeared to fumble into the end zone without breaking the plane, but the officials called an early touchdown, perhaps as a make-up call for the previous play. FSU missed the two-point conversion, so it remained 12-7. Nebraska lost their leading rusher (Calvin Jones) and his replacement (Damon Benning) was ineffective, so Osborne went with his third choice, a freshman third-stringer named Lawrence Phillips. Late in the third, Bentley hit the field goal to put FSU ahead by eight, and Phillips put the Huskers on his back, coupled with Frazier, taking the Huskers right down the field and Phillips scoring from the 12 on a run on the first play of the fourth quarter. The missed two-point conversion left Nebraska trailing, 15-13. Nebraska put together another drive that ended with an interception in the FSU red zone. After holding the Noles, the Huskers again drove down the field and with 1:16 remaining, Byron Bennett's 27-yard field goal put the Huskers ahead, 16-15. As incredible as it seemed, the season was going according to script: Florida State driving down and winning on a field goal after losing to Miami on field goal attempts in each of the previous two seasons. A critical development occurred when Bennett inexplicably kicked off out of bounds setting the Noles up at the 35-yard line. With the aid of the head start and a late hit penalty on Nebraska that put the Noles in field goal range, Bentley connected from 22 yards with 21 seconds left. Nebraska's good return put them at their own 46 with 14 seconds left. Frazier then hit Trumane Bell with a pass that put the Huskers at the FSU 28 ending the game. Bobby Bowden was doused with ice water (because Seminoles don't use Gatorade), and the he had won his title.

Actually, he had not. After conferring, the officials put one second back on the clock, perhaps the only right call they made all evening. Nebraska now had one play and what an irony: Bennett, who had not missed a field goal in six games, had a shot to win a national championship by beating Florida State with (of all things) a field goal in the same end zone where Osborne's greatest Nebraska team had come up a point short a decade earlier by eschewing a kick in favor of a two-point conversion. Bennett's kick was long enough but wide to the left and after a year that saw press illogic, the birth of ESPN's on the road Game Day, and yet another FSU game coming down to a kick, the Seminoles were national champions.


Or were they? This was not assured as Florida State left the field because of that golden helmeted elephant in the room, Notre Dame. And Lou Holtz made no bones about it - his team deserved the national championship, and Holtz got downright combative making the case for his team. And we must acknowledge that Holtz had a legitimate point. The problem stemmed from the contradictory precedent that the AP poll had suddenly reversed at Holtz's expense in 1989.

Prior to 1965, the polls were conducted prior to the bowl games, which were seen as glorified exhibitions and not taken into account in the final rankings. After Alabama's controversial loss (in more ways than one) to Texas in the 1965 Orange Bowl, the AP vacillated by agreeing to hold the poll after the bowl games (giving Alabama another title in 1965), returning to the pre-1965 agreement for a couple of years and then crowning the champion AFTER the completion of every game beginning in 1968. A brief review of the application of logic (precedent even) is necessary.

In 1970, Texas finished the regular season as the #1 team in the nation. Texas won the UPI poll, which was voted on prior to the bowl games until 1974. But an upset loss to Notre Dame (#6) combined with an upset loss by Ohio State courtesy of Stanford and Heisman winner Jim Plunkett saw unbeaten Nebraska rise from #3 to #1 and claim the AP title after their Orange Bowl win over LSU. In this case two variables were at play, Nebraska's better record and higher ranking trumping Notre Dame's "we beat number one."

In 1973, Alabama finished the regular season at #1 in both polls, claiming the UPI national title. There was a cluster of unbeaten teams ranked directly behind Alabama: Oklahoma (10-0-1), Notre Dame (10-0), Ohio St (9-0-1), Michigan (10-0-1), and Penn State (11-0 and led by Heisman winner John Cappelletti). The simple narrative says that when Notre Dame beat #1 Alabama by a single point in a thrilling Sugar Bowl, the Irish got to be number one on that basis. However, there was more to that story: Oklahoma was serving a probation and consequently bowl ineligible. Also, there was a controversy in the Big Ten after Michigan and Ohio St played to a tie, and vote of the conference athletic directors chose Ohio State - deemed to be the healthier squad - over Michigan, who felt the fact they had played better in the tie game and Ohio St had just gone the year before (the Big Ten revoked the no repeat rule in 1972) justified their inclusion. Conference ADs (not yet led by the glue sniffing Jim Delany) had watched four straight Big Ten losses in the Rose Bowl and wanted a victory, and they figured Ohio State gave them a better chance (they were not yet aware that Bo Schembechler was genetically incapable of coaching competently in the Rose Bowl or it would have gone 9-1 in Ohio State's favor). Thus, there was a tainted feeling surrounding Ohio State's inclusion, Michigan was left on the sidelines, and Penn State, quite frankly, had gone undefeated while squaring off against the service academies, Ohio University, and some Eastern also-rans like 0-11 Iowa and 2-9 Syracuse. Notre Dame did beat Alabama head-to-head justifying their championship, but it was also dictated by other circumstances.

In 1974, Oklahoma ended the regular season at #1 and still ineligible for a bowl game. Alabama ended the season at #2 and faced off against Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl. The Tide turned the ball over seven times and threw an unheard of (for that time) 29 passes en route to a narrow 13-11 loss that wasn't as close as the final score suggested (the Tide scored their TD with about two minutes left but got another possession and chance to win it when Richard Todd threw an interception to Reggie Barnett). USC stunned Ohio State, 18-17, in a classic Rose Bowl that netted the Trojans the 1974 UPI title, Oklahoma being ineligible, and the UPI voting AFTER the bowl games for the first time ever. (Had it been played under previous rules, Alabama would have yet again won back-to-back national titles).

In 1975, Ohio State ended as a solid choice for number one with unbeaten Texas A/M directly behind. One-loss Oklahoma (a 23-3 rout to 7-5 Kansas) was third, one-loss Alabama (20-7 to Missouri) was fourth, and one-loss Nebraska (to OU) was fifth. Ohio State had a Rose Bowl rematch (yes, you read that correctly) against the same UCLA team they had smoked, 41-20, on the same field in October. It seemed a formality, but the Bruins upset the apple cart with a 23-10 win. This game is best remembered for the visual of Bruins head coach Dick Vermeil trotting off the field a winner, an image that inspired Eagles owner Leonard Tose to hire Vermeil and bring him to the NFL.

Texas A/M, however, had actually played a football game AFTER the final AP poll, losing the game and SWC (and potentially national) championship to Arkansas, 31-6. This ensured Oklahoma was in the clear despite being number three, and USC made the Sooners' rout easier by thumping the Aggies, 20-0, in the Liberty Bowl in John McKay's final game as USC coach. This left the title in the balance for OU (#3) or Alabama (#4) or even Nebraska if by fate both teams lost. But OU beat Michigan, 14-6, while Alabama beat Penn State in the first-ever Sugar Bowl in the Superdome, 13-6. Because Oklahoma was both ranked higher and had played a much tougher schedule and - oh by the way - had beaten the same Missouri team that knocked off Alabama, Oklahoma was awarded the title.

In 1977, Notre Dame had routed unbeaten Texas in the Cotton Bowl and pole vaulted over two teams, Alabama and Arkansas, with claims just as legitimate. Ara Parseghian made the simplistic argument that beating number one made a team number one, and the voters chose the Irish despite a loss to the same Ole Miss team that Alabama had thumped.

In 1978, Alabama survived a head to head loss with USC by following the Notre Dame pattern to victory: "beat number one and you become number one." Of course, it wasn't that simple, and USC did win 1/2 the title by capturing the UPI championship. Parseghian entered the fray and vouched for USC by appealing to the head to head result, but the voters finally chose to ignore Ara.

In 1982, #2 Penn State beat Georgia head to head and moved up; as the Lions had beaten Nebraska (with the help of some timely home cooking from the officials), keeping them ahead of Nebraska was no great shock. However, SMU attacked the system as they had won their conference and were the nation's only unbeaten team. However, the Mustangs were suffering from two handicaps, the first being their absolutely horrendous regular season schedule (two games against teams with winning records, one ending in a tie) and the perception that the team was bought and paid for (SMU was in trouble with the NCAA LONG before the 1987 death penalty wiped them out).

In 1983, Miami vaulted over Auburn (seemingly) because they had beaten Nebraska head to head in a home game. (Indeed, if any game ever overturned Maisel's appeals to "judgment" this was one of them). They beat number one and became number one.

In 1985, Oklahoma was third in the AP poll, 2nd in the UPI poll, as they played #1 Penn State. To make matters worse, Miami had thumped OU head to head, 27-14, in October. This would be an interesting case study save for Tennessee blowing out Miami in the Sugar Bowl. OU won head to head and won it all.

And that brings us to the case that Holtz continued to cite as the reason why Notre Dame deserved the 1993 national championship.

In 1989, Notre Dame played a murderous slate that was easily the toughest schedule in the nation. They beat all their foes, most of them handily, save one: Miami, who beat the Irish, 27-10, in late November. Notre Dame's star receiver Raghib "Rocket" Ismail was injured in the game, and Notre Dame played #1 Colorado in the Orange Bowl and handled them pretty well, 21-6. Notre Dame had beaten number one so - like 1978 Alabama, who lost to USC at home by 10 - the Irish expected to be ranked #1 after the polls were submitted. Miami, however, who played an easier schedule but had beaten the Irish head to head and then outlasted a surprisingly tough Alabama, 33-25, won the championship. Holtz was somewhat more reserved, particularly when an AP representative explained to Holtz that while it was true that the Irish had played one extra game, the fact was they had lost head to head on the road in Miami and no amount of appeals to tough schedule or extra game were persuasive.

Now fast forward just four years.

In 1993, Florida State played a murderous slate that was the third toughest schedule in the nation. They beat all of their foes, most of them handily, save one: Notre Dame, who beat the Noles, 31-24, in mid-November. Florida State played #1 Nebraska and BARELY survived a 17-point underdog, 18-16. Florida State had beaten number one so - like 1978 Alabama, who lost to USC at home by 10 - the Noles expected to be ranked #1 after the polls were submitted. Notre Dame, however, played an easier schedule and had beaten the Seminoles head to head and then outlasted a surprisingly tough Texas A/M, 24-21.....but somehow did not win the championship. Making it even more bizarre, one of the arguments IN FAVOR of Florida State (Bobby Bowden made this argument) was something about playing an extra game. Holtz pointed out that four years to the day earlier NONE of this mattered. It didn't matter that FSU played a tougher schedule, it didn't matter that they had played an extra game - no, what mattered was the head to head result and Notre Dame not only won, they had led by double digits most of the day until final four minutes, holding the high-powered Noles attack 32 minutes without a single point. Holtz concluded his appeal by saying, "If it was true then, it's true now." And Holtz was, in fact, right.

Except perhaps he wasn't.

I saw a lot of college football in 1993 and despite my misgivings about what went on to get Florida State and Bobby Bowden his ring, I truly do believe they were (by the eyeball test) the best team in the country in 1993. Of course, I also thought Notre Dame was the best team in the country in 1989, too, and they didn't win the poll awarded title.

Had this situation happened just two years earlier, it is probable that there would have been a split championship. That, after all, is exactly what happened in 1978, when Alabama and USC shared the title despite USC winning in Birmingham by 10 points. That was probably Holtz's goal in 1989 when he made his appeal. But his muted appeal became a full-blown cry of injustice similar to Don Nehlen. When it was all said and done, the biggest crier of all, Matt Frier, got his teammate Danny Kanell a title ring, and Notre Dame finally ran into a voting bloc that was not impressed with their history or their name. There was no Coalition Poll in 1989; there was plenty of reason for the voters to NOT split the national championship, an act that would have made their entire Coalition Poll a farce in only the second year. In fact, this very same act when done by the AP in 2003 after the advent of the BCS was a large part of why the BCS eventually became a four-team playoff.

Bobby Bowden had his national title ring at long last, but there was a lot of resentment that immediately bubbled over into outrage and not just among Notre Dame fans. The 2010 edition of the "USA Today College Football Encyclopedia" notes (page 563): "It almost seemed as though media voters were taking a certain amount of pity on Bowden after his years of near misses. Neither Nebraska, a frequent underachiever in bowl games up to that point, or West Virginia, which started the 1993 season unranked, held the same lofty reputation as Florida State."

There was one group of fans that should have been disappointed with the season but were not: Alabama Crimson Tide fans coast to coast were smiling. Not only had Auburn just completed the most irrelevant unbeaten season by what would later be called a Power 5 team in the entire history of college football, but they had all finally lived long enough to see Notre Dame see what it felt like to get royally screwed by the process. Indeed, most Tide fans, admirers of Bowden who had nearly become Tide coach twice, undoubtedly snickered with, "Now YOU know how it feels."

But the biggest outcome was the flaws in the process were already known; they would get worse in 1994 when the NCAA damn near had a three-car collision at the end of the season.

I failed to include a crucial detail: the suspension of Antonio Langham prior to the Florida game.

DzynKingRTR said:

I remember the FSU player begging and crying on TV for sure.

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Up until that moment, FSU was my number two team behind us. When he not only cried like a baby but disparaged teams that won their games, I hoped his team lost every game. I utterly despise Nebraska and Notre Dame but after his baby act of entitlement I rooted for anyone but FSU to win it all.