So it's off-season........81 brought this up, and I thought it was a fantastic idea. It will take me a few posts to follow the logic through, but I'll wind up giving the pros and cons of each national champion of the 1990s. Remember - there were a total of 13 national champions in the 1990s thanks to three split championship votes. I'll rank them according to a number of categories and we can discuss. If your list doesn't agree with mine - well, tough, you're just wrong. It will take a few days to fully develop but just some interesting info.
CHAMPIONS RANKED ACCORDING TO OPPONENT WINNING PERCENTAGE (e.g. the Strength of Schedule Argument)
96 Florida, .614
90 Colorado, .600
93 Florida St, .597
99 Florida St, .577
90 Georgia Tech, .569
98 Tennessee, .564
95 Nebraska, .553
91 Miami, .542
92 Alabama, .536
94 Nebraska, .523
91 Washington, .522
97 Michigan, .521
97 Nebraska, .503
What is probably not surprising.......the teams that played the three toughest schedules ALL had at least one imperfection on their records (Colorado had two - more on Fifth Down later on). Of course there's a problem - Florida's 1996 schedule is inflated a bit because two of their opponents were actually the same opponent, Florida State, a team whose overall record (calculated twice) of 22-2 raises the SoS for the Gators.
Of course.....take BOTH Florida State games away and the Gators still faced opponents who won at a .551 clip. Count the opponent only once (which is probably the fairest way to do it) and it's .585....which would still be in the top three.
Of course, SoS is only PART of the argument. 1990 Colorado played a schedule that was in another universe than that played by the pair of 1997 champions. We cannot assume that, "Well, Michigan played a .521 schedule and Nebraska a .503.....therefore, Michigan would have killed Nebraska." It doesn't work that way.
And there's another problem if you think about it.......the last game on the schedule of a national champion is pretty much always a stellar opponent with a really great record and (most of the time even then) a Top 10 ranking. So....what if we take away that last game that they have a month to prepare for and count only the regular season SoS?
Well, we get the following:
90 Colorado, .587
96 Florida, .585
93 Florida St, .570
99 Florida St, .546
98 Tennessee, .540
90 Georgia Tech, .530
91 Miami, .523
95 Nebraska, .508
94 Nebraska, .496
92 Alabama, .496
97 Michigan, .492
91 Washington, .491
97 Nebraska, .471
Notice that for the most part the teams don't move on the basis of that one game. If they move, it's up or down one spot at the most.
However we slice it, the toughest schedules were played by Colorado, Florida, and both FSU champs, and the easiest were played by Washington and the two 1997 champions.
CHAMPIONS RANKED ACCORDING TO OPPONENT WINNING PERCENTAGE (e.g. the Strength of Schedule Argument)
96 Florida, .614
90 Colorado, .600
93 Florida St, .597
99 Florida St, .577
90 Georgia Tech, .569
98 Tennessee, .564
95 Nebraska, .553
91 Miami, .542
92 Alabama, .536
94 Nebraska, .523
91 Washington, .522
97 Michigan, .521
97 Nebraska, .503
What is probably not surprising.......the teams that played the three toughest schedules ALL had at least one imperfection on their records (Colorado had two - more on Fifth Down later on). Of course there's a problem - Florida's 1996 schedule is inflated a bit because two of their opponents were actually the same opponent, Florida State, a team whose overall record (calculated twice) of 22-2 raises the SoS for the Gators.
Of course.....take BOTH Florida State games away and the Gators still faced opponents who won at a .551 clip. Count the opponent only once (which is probably the fairest way to do it) and it's .585....which would still be in the top three.
Of course, SoS is only PART of the argument. 1990 Colorado played a schedule that was in another universe than that played by the pair of 1997 champions. We cannot assume that, "Well, Michigan played a .521 schedule and Nebraska a .503.....therefore, Michigan would have killed Nebraska." It doesn't work that way.
And there's another problem if you think about it.......the last game on the schedule of a national champion is pretty much always a stellar opponent with a really great record and (most of the time even then) a Top 10 ranking. So....what if we take away that last game that they have a month to prepare for and count only the regular season SoS?
Well, we get the following:
90 Colorado, .587
96 Florida, .585
93 Florida St, .570
99 Florida St, .546
98 Tennessee, .540
90 Georgia Tech, .530
91 Miami, .523
95 Nebraska, .508
94 Nebraska, .496
92 Alabama, .496
97 Michigan, .492
91 Washington, .491
97 Nebraska, .471
Notice that for the most part the teams don't move on the basis of that one game. If they move, it's up or down one spot at the most.
However we slice it, the toughest schedules were played by Colorado, Florida, and both FSU champs, and the easiest were played by Washington and the two 1997 champions.