Picking the national champion of college football for 1901 was relatively simple. Undefeated Michigan was invited to play Stanford in the inaugural “Rose Bowl” in Pasadena, Calif. In the third quarter, with Michigan ahead 49-0, Stanford quit.
The next year, the Tournament of Roses committee decided to dump football and stage Roman-style chariot races.
Picking the national champion of college football for 1926 was more complicated.
The Rose Bowl, which returned after the Ben Hur Era ended, paired undefeated Alabama (9-0) against undefeated Stanford (10-0). A sellout crowd was attracted, possibly because it was wondered if Stanford would quit again. Instead, Stanford and Alabama tied 7-7.
Frank G. Dickinson, an economics professor at the University of Illinois, took pencil to pad and determined — based on strength of schedule and number of wins and losses — that Stanford was the national champion. Stanford had victories over the likes of Cal Tech, Occidental, Santa Clara, Southern Cal and the Olympic Club.
But Alabama was picked No. 1 by other scholars and gentlemen in dank, dark rooms. Navy, which had won nine straight before a tie with Army, was picked by a couple of guys, and Lafayette (9-0) was picked by Parke H. Davis, who coincidentally once had been the coach at Lafayette. Four teams shared the “mythical” title.
But nothing could be more make-believe than picking the national champion of college football for 2007.
What if, for instance, LSU nudges Ohio State in a lousy BCS “championship” game, Hawaii whips Georgia, Oklahoma rips West Virginia, Southern Cal blows out Illinois and Kansas throttles Virginia Tech?
The BCS will award its trophy to the twice-beaten Bayou Bengals, but who you picking? Aloha.
Even Frank G. Dickinson would be hard-pressed to pick Illinois (his choice, and his campus, in 1927).
Disregard the BCS, Dickinson, Dunkel, Associated Press, USA Today and all the other polls and professors.
As Estes Kefauver would shout: “How long, oh football lords, how long?”
As long as college presidents and bozos in bowl blazers rule, that’s how long.
Every year, the NCAA’s Division 1-A football teams are put through this preposterous process, and every year I bleat and bleep about it. So far, so bad.
And what’s worse is the BCS “championship” has rendered every other bowl meaningless. Remember when the New Year’s Day bowls actually seemed significant? More people will be interested in the winning float in the Rose Parade than the winning team in the Rose Bowl.
Playoffs. There, I’ve said it — the dirtiest word in Division 1-A football.
Maybe if the tens of millions of dollars in revenue were added to the salaries of college and bowl presidents, playoffs would happen, but not in your or my lifetime.
In the grand tradition of Frank G. Dickinson Ratings, allow me to offer the Woodrow W. Paige Jr. System.
Eight teams in the playoffs. You have quarterfinals, semifinals and The Really Big Game. Clean, easy, undisputed.
On the night of Dec. 31, the Sugar Bowl would match the SEC champion against a wild-card team, and on Jan. 1, the Fiesta Bowl would match the Big 12 champion against a wild card; the Rose Bowl would match the Pac-10 and the Big 10, and the Orange Bowl would match the first-place teams from the ACC and the Big East.
Wild cards would come from the independents, the Mountain West, the Western Athletic, Conference USA or the highest-rated runner-up from the six major conferences. This year:
Sugar: LSU (2) vs. Hawaii (10).
Fiesta: Oklahoma (4) vs. Georgia (5).
Rose: Ohio State (1) vs. USC (7)
Orange: Virginia Tech (3) vs. West Virginia (9).
Bells ring and fireworks explode.
Of the top 10, only Missouri (6) and Kansas (8) would be left out, but they didn’t win the Big 12 and aren’t above Georgia in the BCS rankings.
The East and West semifinals would be held on Monday and Tuesday nights — so as not to conflict with the NFL playoffs — in Tampa, Fla., and San Diego, warm-weather locales of current minor bowls. Let’s just say that LSU and West Virginia survived on one side of the continent and Oklahoma and USC on the Other Coast. Now you’re talking. Figure that USC and LSU prevail.
Finally, the national championship game would be played on the Saturday of the NFL’s off week at the Rose Bowl — and rotated annually among the four major bowl stadiums.
If USC were to win, picking the national champion of college football in 2007 would be easier, and more conclusive, than picking the titlist 106 years earlier.
Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com
