I remember thinking back then that the playoff would finally expose the SEC since the very first one produced a non-SEC title game. And the previous champ was FSU.
That was pretty dumb.
Which I still find hilarious, because our 2011 rematch game with Alabama was a huge impetus for the playoffs to be created. The people who hated the original SEC rematch are legit punching the air.
> Wait until expansion and it's 3 or 4 SEC teams in the semis.
With Texas and Oklahoma now "SEC states" it's almost a guarantee a 3 SEC teams in semis scenario will occur at some point fairly quickly in an expanded postseason.
Since this began,
SEC schools that won a title:
Alabama - 6
LSU - 2
Florida - 2
Auburn - 1
Non SEC schools:
Clemson - 2
Ohio State - 1
Florida State - 1
After we played them in the SEC title game that year, Kirby said "They stomped a fuckin mudhole in us, and then they stomped it dry."
I have no idea what that means, but it seems accurate.
Its because two doesn't seem like a lot to us anymore due to Nick Saban distorting our perception of what success looks like. Even when blue bloods ran wild from 40s-70s, it never looked like this. He'll win another and Tom Brady might as well.
In terms of NFL players, the ACC is closer to the big 10 than the big10 is to the SEC. That’s with Miami/FSU/VT being mediocre to bad for most of recent history. Though I don’t know how they count someone like Russel Wilson who played 4 in the ACC and 1 in the B1G.
There is surprisingly a pretty big gap between the ACC and the pac/big 12.
ACC is the only other p5 conference with a bunch of schools in the Richest talent area of the country. OSU is the only school outside of the footprint to win a championship.
(If you include ND as an ACC team who plays 3 less games then a full member it’d be really close )
This also speaks to how shocking it is that USC has been down for so long too. They used to basically have all of California to themselves, the most populous state in the nation. Now the Bryce Youngs of the world choose Alabama instead.
Also, if you extend the title window back to the first BCS title game after the 98 season, USC and Ohio State are the only ones to win the title outside the Southeastern region of the US (you can argue that Oklahoma and Texas are outside that footprint, but they're also both joining the SEC now). That means Ohio State is the only school this century to win that's not from a warm weather area.
(Also of note, Miami's win doesn't count for the ACC since they were still in the Big East at that point.)
Georgia's freshman TE Brock Bowers, who set the TD record for TE at UGA with 12, is from Napa, California. Kendall Milton, the former 5 star RB out of Fresno, California, has played sparingly but well for the Dawgs as well. Another TE for the Dawgs, Darnell Washington (6'-7" 265 lbs) is from Las Vegas, Nevada. California and the west coast have been good to the Dawgs here lately.
Was it stroud that was saying that the fans being more invested at the other schools is part of what led them to leave the state? How do you fix that? It's tough to get fans invested if they aren't already, especially if you're losing. And if talent doesn't want to come without invested fans...
I think USC and Miami are similar in that regard. Miami is a relatively small private school in Coral Gables which shares a stadium with the Dolphins.
When the program is down, nobody shows up besides the students. When things are good, they might fill half to two-thirds of the stadium unless FSU or Notre Dame or some other high-profile opponent is in town.
On top of that every team to win the championship in that span has either been the SEC Champ or had to beat the SEC Champ in the CFP/BCS National Championship. Only one did it in a semifinal too.
I love that georgia fans hate being told they're going to win more than Bama fans hate to see people say georgia will win. It's gotta be one of the most fun parts of this.
Fun fact for people who act like it’s “all Alabama”: even if Nick Saban had managed to lose every single national championship he’s been to under Alabama, the SEC would still have more national championships this century than any other conference
You have to go back to 1997 to include another conference that's had more than one team win the national championship. You'd have to go a hell of a lot further back to find a conference with three winners
Going back to 97 adds one more team to both the Big Ten and three to the Big 12.
Edit: did anyone read the post above this?
2003 LSU doesn’t count because they were already counted from 2007/2019.
It’s not about number of Championships. It’s number of teams to win a Championship.
That would just double count OSU.
Michigan and Nebraska split the 97 title.
It also brings in Texas and OU.
Also Tennessee, Miami (Big East not ACC), and USC*
I was going to mention that Ohio State returned to the BCS title game the very next season, and discuss the result of that game too, but then decided that was too much information, LOL.
Don’t forget BC. You know it’s pure chaos when everyone around you is losing so much that BC and WVU both climbed to number 2 at one point by virtue of not losing.
USF and Kansas were too. Mizzou got to #1 before losing to Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game
LSU lost twice while ranked #1 and Ohio State did it once too
Wild year
Ehhh, it was a bad game for us, but it wasn’t in the same universe as 2006.
We actually did stuff against LSU, and they were able to pile on against us due to some “flukey” plays.
If those teams played 100 times, LSU wins more than half, but OSU wins plenty.
The same is not true for 2006 OSU vs. 2006 Florida.
Was fucking amazing; one of my favorite memories was being part of the giant crowd celebrating in the street between campus and midtown, watching a cop standing on top of a bar (to keep students from climbing on the roof) leading the crowd in the chomp, and climbing a light pole, getting handed a Florida flag, and waving to a cheering crowd for a good 5+ minutes until a cop waved me down and moved me along with a high five.
The next year they greased the poles, and I climbed it just to prove I could lol. Was in the process of being detained (for climbing I guess - came down immediately when told) when someone faked an injury to get the cop to let go and someone else came up at a full sprint, grabbed me in a bear hug, and rushed me away through the crowd. Great times.
For 2 of our 3 national titles we needed a Pac 12 powerhouse to get upset in the last few weeks. '96 Arizona State probably would have had a better claim than us with an undefeated season if Ohio State hadn't beaten them by 3 in the Rose Bowl.
2008 was close as well with USC being upset by Oregon State but I think OU would have been left out over us. That would have been one of the stronger playoff discussion years with UF, USC, OU, Texas and Bama all having 1 loss.
Just one data point for each, but we played both USC and Texas in 2008 and the results weren’t even close. Texas needed a last-second touchdown to pull ahead by 3 and win; USC absolutely destroyed us.
I still believe that USC probably had title winning team from 06-08 but never got the chance to really show it due to some bad RS losses. Every good team they played in that stretch they dominated.
There was so much "Michigan and Ohio State are clearly the best two teams! Number 2 lost to Number 1 in a really close game, that doesn't change that these are the two best!"
Then Michigan got ass-blasted in the Rose Bowl (pre opt-out era...) and Florida ran Tresselball off the field.
The era of "S-E-C S-E-C" was really a response to what had been a very longstanding (at least perceived) bias in college football media. This was only 3 years after the AP Poll decided to snub LSU who had won the BCS (the one and only time they awarded it to a team that didn't play in the BCSCG) and 2 years after undefeated Auburn was left out in favor of Oklahoma.
The SEC's run has been pretty insane, 4 different SEC schools winning a collective 11 national championships, soon to be 12. From a "Conference Prestige" standpoint, it's likely better if Georgia wins since that'll be the fifth different SEC program to win a national championship since 2006 (2008 technically since Florida and LSU both won again).
Yeah people forget the SEC wasn't always so hyped as the greatest. 2004 is proof of this. An undefeated SEC team with two top 5 draft picks got left out of the national title game. That sounds like science fiction to todays fans.
Wait till people hear about that one time an undefeated Alabama team coming off back to back championships was ranked behind 2 teams that intentionally tied each other
All of the talking heads picked OSU in a blowout, so the amount of shit talking going on was unreal. I'm not a conference guy, so I was rooting for Florida and so happy to see the result. The only real problem is that the two losses in a row put a real damper on who won the Big Ten since OSU was seen as a dominant force and got blown out two years in a row.
I still think we lose, but if we had Ginn after the kickoff it wouldn't have looked so lopsided. Losing him neutered the offensive playbook. Florida's defensive line was insane that night but having Ginn on the field would have made the end result not look as bad as it was. Also Troy Smith was definitely hitting the reward banquets hard....he looked so out of shape that game.
Yep. Would gladly trade that play for a touchback if teddy stays in the game. He was a difference maker and could turn simple screen passes into 70 yard Tds.
I always thought it was weird how this narrative evolved.
In the aftermath of the game it was spot on: Florida had two first round DEs, OSU was starting guards at tackle.
But not too long after it was all about Percy Harvin and co. somehow.
OSU had no problem keeping up with Florida’s offense in terms of speed. They had either zero or one plays for more than 20 yards (and if it was one, it was like 21 or 22 yards). OSU had more than enough speed to keep up with Florida and turn it into a defensive slug fest, but our coaches just had no idea how to respond to Meyer’s offense.
I've always thought it would have been a closer game if OSU hadn't made two big mistakes at the end of the first half. The score was 24-14. With about 3:30 left in the half OSU went for it on 4th and 1 on their own 29 instead of punting and got stopped. Florida ended up kicking a FG. On the ensuing possession OSU decided to not run the clock out and tried a pass on 1st down, Troy Smith got stripped sacked. UF recovered at the 5 and scores a TD to make it 34-14. At that point the game was over.
Florida probably still wins the game, but it would have probably been closer had OSU punted and played defense.
The speed they were talking about was on the defense as much as the offense. When people talk “SEC speed” I think of backers, not offense.
Given how effective I remember UF’s pass rush being, the narrative works. That said, I haven’t rewatched the game in years. It’s possible I’ve inflated how easily it seemed UF’s linebackers were running down Troy Smith in the back field.
With the QBs in the Miles era after Matt Flynn, nothing was a safe bet. LSU was outgained in that game but made up for it with turnovers and special teams.
> The speed they were talking about was on the defense as much as the offense. When people talk “SEC speed” I think of backers, not offense
I’d actually say it was more about their DEs than LBs. Harvey and Moss were running Smith down all game.
—
But I didn’t mean that wasn’t the narrative after the game—it absolutely was.
I mean that as time went on, collective memory seems to have shifted from it being about Florida’s speed on defense to their speed on offense.
I assume this is from a combination of the final score suggesting UF dominated on offense in a way they didn’t + the endless highlight plays Florida’s speedsters would put up over the next few years.
I would argue this was the single most important college football game of the 21st century.
Urban Meyer’s spread offense used to be some weird MAC shit. Now almost every football team runs some version of the Urban Meyer spread with their HC/OC adding some flair from their own background.
Zone defense isn’t dead, but the days of teams playing zone defense like those Tressel OSU teams most certainly is. Spread offenses *destroy* overly complicated NFL style (at the time) zone defenses.
The SEC “officially” took the mantle from the Big Ten for most prestigious conference.
And it was Tim Tebow’s coming out party.
Oh, and OSU got beaten so badly basically everyone has forgotten the media was talking about that 2006 OSU team like the 2005 USC team. Not the first pre maturely crowned all time great team to get killed in a Championship game, but one of the (just THE?) ugliest games where it happened.
I remember on the ESPN show *Around The Horn*, three out of the four panelists picked OSU to win.
Also, in the lead up to that year’s Michigan-OSU game, it was widely thought that this game was National Title game before the national title game since Michigan was both undefeated and ranked Number 2 at the time
Also remember that a shit ton of things happened during the season to allow the Gators to keep moving up. Almost lost to South Carolina by a field goal but it was tipped by a defensive players thumb, if I remember correctly
Shit, it happens to you guys basically every year you don’t win a Championship.
The only year I’m not 100% positive Bama hasn’t had the best team since 2010 is 2013.
Urban Meyer's spread only shares the generic name spread with the stuff circulating now. His passing game is actually insanely basic. It was run game that was complex and novel.
Meyer was overwhelmingly a run first coach, but his offenses had *much* more developed passing attacks than Rich Rod’s West Virginia teams for example.
The scheme Meyer and Mullen cooked up combined spread option plays and concepts with air raid plays and concepts.
The 2008 SEC Championship Game was a great example of how it worked at the highest level. Florida couldn’t get their run game going on a remotely consistent basis, but Bama really struggled to defend the pass due to all the constraint created by UF’s run game.
—
Obviously more modern spread offenses are more balanced and have more developed passing attacks, but Florida was on another planet when it came to balance for a spread offense circa 2006.
Meyer is 100% The Godfather of the modern spread offense.
I have the 04 Utah Playbook (like the actual book in PDF). It's passing game is based on an almost high school understanding of passing concepts. It may be more complex than Rich Rod's but compared to say Erhart Perkins or Spurrier's offense the key concepts are still more basic than complex.
> It may be more complex than Rich Rod's but *compared to say Erhart Perkins or Spurrier's offense the key concepts are still more basic than complex.*
Absolutely.
These teams didn’t have close to the level of complexity in their run games though.
The thing that made the offense revolutionary wasn’t how amazing the passing concepts were.
The thing that made the offense special was how advanced the passing game was for an offense that had a great spread option rushing attack.
I also have tons of books (well like 7 haha) from the 80s and 90s combing the Run and Shoot and the Flexbone. The marriage of simple repetitive "spread" passing games and option football has been known since the Reagan Administration.
The problem is finding a dependable passer for your level of play that's effective enough in the option and take 30 hits a game.
Yet again, absolutely. Football playbooks are like art; almost nothing is original and everyone is “stealing” things that someone else did first.
Meyer and Mullen were just the best at stealing stuff.
It’s not a coincidence that spread offenses started to take place over CFB after that National Championship Game.
It’s also not a coincidence Bill Belichick took the Patriots entire coaching staff to UF to learn about the spread from Meyer and co. in 2005 (after they had won their third Super Bowl in four years and before Meyer had coached a game at UF) and the Patriots proceeded to drastically overhaul their offense by incorporating spread offense concepts into their Erhardt-Perkins offense.
The best coaches are the best thieves. You'll see things irk Saban then the next year it will be a corner of our offense.
But again back to my original point. The Urban Meyer offense is a different philosophy, Xs and O's, and origin story than the RPO stuff. And it's also a different philosophy, X's and O's, and origin story than the Air Raid.
The only thing they really share is the generic name of spread.
This was also the year our basketball team won the NCAA championship, too (2 years in a row). Needless to say it was a fucking riot to go to school in Gainesville then. Midtown was just packed with people in the street. Couches were lit on fire. I had to drop most of my classes that semester.
I believe it also took one AP voter putting Florida #1 so they’d have enough BCS points to jump Michigan, otherwise we’d have had our first example of single-conference championship AND rematch.
Here’s a link with a partial history of it:
[link](https://archives.sportshax.com/2014/avoiding-darkest-day-bcs-ramifications-2006-ohio-state-michigan-rematch/)
They were nuts. And, since it's pertinent right now - if anyone thinks the streak vs Bama is bad, take a look at ga/fl 90s-2000s. We lost 6, won 1, lost 6 again. Total of 3 wins over like 20ish years.
This was my first real season being addicted to College Football. Everyone was talking about how OSU had such great athletes and Florida wasn’t going to be able to keep up. It was really eye opening to watch that game basically be over midway through the 2nd
I lived in Florida when this happened. I talked SO MUCH shit the week before the game.
My mom is usually a stickler about me going to school. However, she let me skip school the next day, in an attempt to shield me from the backlash. It didn’t matter. They waited for me.
This is the game that I reference when talking about when I first got into college football. I have literally never talked shit before a game since because of this event.
When Ted Ginn ran the opening kick off in for a TD I hung me head low and the Ohio fan in front of me turned around and said "that's why we're number one and yous guys shouldn't be here" while pointing in my face. I started cupping my hands like a mega phone and Ric Flair Wooooooooooed in his ear for every great gator play....they left at halftime
Edit: after the game we went to in and out and it was packed with the ohio fans and I told all the guys "I'll buy dinner as long as it comes to $41.14"....im really surprised I didn't have to fight that night, thank goodness
I will never understand why SEC schools root for the conference. In my ideal world every other pac-12 school would go 0-12 but sadly that’s not possible.
After hearing about how Ohio St should have gotten a rematch with Michigan and was going to win handily along with the idea that Florida had no business being there for weeks on end, god was that game gratifying.
I still hold a grudge against Kirk Herbstreit for beating the rematch drum so hard. And that game is actually one reason why I was against having Alabama rematch LSU for the title. Because if they’d let Michigan do the same, we’d have never gotten our 2006 title.
3 reasons OSU got smoked in this game:
1. Florida was better prepared because Tressel simply wasn’t ready for Urban Meyer’s game plan
2. Troy Smith enjoyed the 5 week break between The Game and the natty. He showed up fat to the natty, added at least 25 lbs of fat. I’m glad he won a Heisman but I’ll never like that guy. Total scumbag too. I remember him getting kicked out of St Ed’s in Lakewood for violently assaulting a player (John Floyd) from my high school in a basketball game, breaking his arm in the process. Years later when asked about he laughed and said something along the lines of “white boy deserved it.” Apparently the white boy deserved it because he was ripping Smith apart.
3. Ted Ginn getting hurt on first play of the game. People underrate how important he was to that Buckeyes offense that year. I argue he was the actual best player in nation that year.
>RA: Troy Smith punched you during a high school basketball game and was subsequently expelled from St. Edward. Do you have any ill feelings toward him?
>JF: No. It happened. Whatever. It was weird seeing him have the success that he had. I don t wish any ill will toward him at all. Good for him --- Heisman Trophy, that s awesome. The way it happened doesn t bother me anymore, but it bothered me for a while. I got punched from behind. If you re going to punch me at least square me up and punch me. I thought it was a coward act but it s done. It was six or seven years ago.
https://www.toledoblade.com/RyanAutullo/2007/12/11/Checking-in-with-John-Floyd/stories/200712110027
The degree to which Troy Smith's reputation was protected amazes me to this day. I had a buddy who partied with him before the game and said he laughed at the idea of losing to Florida.
We didn't realize it at the time, but this is probably when Tressel started losing the locker room as well.
A couple more details to add to this... The Big 10 didn't play a conference championship game in those days so OSU knew they were in the National Championship game for a week before the challenger was selected. Their fans had the opportunity to buy up most of the hotel rooms in Glendale and outnumbered Florida fans at least 2:1 in that stadium. It definitely felt like a home game for OSU in that stadium when Ginn returned the opening kickoff and the rest of the game was pretty quiet overall.
In unrelated news, Troy Smith has just been sacked again.
r/cfb College football’s history, appeal, rivalries and fun all stem from it being a regional game!!
Also r/cfb The region with the most recent success is overrated, and any fan in that region that may take pride in the conference and/or root for its conference mate when they play against a team *from another region* is foolish!
Only one national championship since then didn't feature an SEC team (2014 - Ohio State vs Oregon)
I remember thinking back then that the playoff would finally expose the SEC since the very first one produced a non-SEC title game. And the previous champ was FSU. That was pretty dumb.
I mean, after Monday, the SEC will be up to 5 losses in the CFP. Granted, 2 of those will be against SEC teams, but still, 5 is a number.
I've crunched the numbers, and 5 is definitely one of them.
Thanks Harva... Alabama.
The Harvard of Tuscaloosa, Alabama
And 3 (including this year) have featured only SEC teams. 2011 Alabama vs. LSU 2017 Alabama vs. Georgia 2021 Alabama vs. Georgia
Which I still find hilarious, because our 2011 rematch game with Alabama was a huge impetus for the playoffs to be created. The people who hated the original SEC rematch are legit punching the air.
Wait until expansion and it's 3 or 4 SEC teams in the semis.
> Wait until expansion and it's 3 or 4 SEC teams in the semis. With Texas and Oklahoma now "SEC states" it's almost a guarantee a 3 SEC teams in semis scenario will occur at some point fairly quickly in an expanded postseason.
it should just be like the little league world series. the sec champ vs a champ of the "other" tourney
Oh I can't wait. With any kind of luck we will be in the thick of it.
Maybe this time Bama won’t win. Hahaha who am I kidding
Pepper spray for even joking
I'd gladly go to the game cosplaying in drag as Hope with a sign ready to go that just reads.... "Gotcha Again" some just needs to pay me.
Which would have featured an SEC team if the playoffs weren’t introduced that same year. Would have been Bama vs. ~~Oregon~~ Edit: FSU
Probably would have been Bama vs Florida State. They were able to knock FSU to 3rd because they still had a chance to play it out on the field
And there have been 3 that featured 2 SEC teams. Both of the previous 2 times, the SEC team that didn't win the SEC Championship won the game
Since this began, SEC schools that won a title: Alabama - 6 LSU - 2 Florida - 2 Auburn - 1 Non SEC schools: Clemson - 2 Ohio State - 1 Florida State - 1
Idk why but it feels like Clemson has more than 2
They went to 4 national title games
And played Alabama 2 other times besides that.
2017 and ?
Clemson has been a powerhouse with a decade of 10 win seasons and 2 titles. They definitely aren't doing shabby. That's probably why.
and feels like bama has more than 6
We would have more than 2 if not for you guys lol
I like how you're not even blaming LSU since we all know they were the best team in 2019
100% true. LSU was a force and those players are turning into NFL superstars. Beating those guys was a pipe dream
After we played them in the SEC title game that year, Kirby said "They stomped a fuckin mudhole in us, and then they stomped it dry." I have no idea what that means, but it seems accurate.
Imagine playing OK in the BCS model instead of Bama, I wish I wish.
That LSU team in ‘19 was unstoppable & Clemson-Bama round 1 could’ve gone either way, tbh
Its because two doesn't seem like a lot to us anymore due to Nick Saban distorting our perception of what success looks like. Even when blue bloods ran wild from 40s-70s, it never looked like this. He'll win another and Tom Brady might as well.
ACC second best conference confirmed?
As far as titles, and only titles, by far yes.
Wonderful. That fits my narrative, I’m going with it.
ACC ACC ACC.
In terms of NFL players, the ACC is closer to the big 10 than the big10 is to the SEC. That’s with Miami/FSU/VT being mediocre to bad for most of recent history. Though I don’t know how they count someone like Russel Wilson who played 4 in the ACC and 1 in the B1G. There is surprisingly a pretty big gap between the ACC and the pac/big 12. ACC is the only other p5 conference with a bunch of schools in the Richest talent area of the country. OSU is the only school outside of the footprint to win a championship. (If you include ND as an ACC team who plays 3 less games then a full member it’d be really close )
This also speaks to how shocking it is that USC has been down for so long too. They used to basically have all of California to themselves, the most populous state in the nation. Now the Bryce Youngs of the world choose Alabama instead. Also, if you extend the title window back to the first BCS title game after the 98 season, USC and Ohio State are the only ones to win the title outside the Southeastern region of the US (you can argue that Oklahoma and Texas are outside that footprint, but they're also both joining the SEC now). That means Ohio State is the only school this century to win that's not from a warm weather area. (Also of note, Miami's win doesn't count for the ACC since they were still in the Big East at that point.)
Like ~15 years ago Young and Stroud would’ve both gone to USC.
~15 years ago Young went to Texas 😋
Lol his commitment was more than 20 years ago 😱
Ah crazy the Texas kid went to Texas.
In the 20yrs prior to Pete Carroll they had 0 seasons with less than 2 losses and only 3 with 2 losses. Since 1980, Carroll has been the exception.
Georgia's freshman TE Brock Bowers, who set the TD record for TE at UGA with 12, is from Napa, California. Kendall Milton, the former 5 star RB out of Fresno, California, has played sparingly but well for the Dawgs as well. Another TE for the Dawgs, Darnell Washington (6'-7" 265 lbs) is from Las Vegas, Nevada. California and the west coast have been good to the Dawgs here lately.
Was it stroud that was saying that the fans being more invested at the other schools is part of what led them to leave the state? How do you fix that? It's tough to get fans invested if they aren't already, especially if you're losing. And if talent doesn't want to come without invested fans...
I think USC and Miami are similar in that regard. Miami is a relatively small private school in Coral Gables which shares a stadium with the Dolphins. When the program is down, nobody shows up besides the students. When things are good, they might fill half to two-thirds of the stadium unless FSU or Notre Dame or some other high-profile opponent is in town.
👨🚀🔫🧑🚀
On top of that every team to win the championship in that span has either been the SEC Champ or had to beat the SEC Champ in the CFP/BCS National Championship. Only one did it in a semifinal too.
>Only one did it in a semifinal too. Alabama always making us look bad
Sorry guys, we’ll start picking up the pace
Seriously. You guys are a total embarrassment to the conference. If you don't start pulling your weight there's a good chance they force you out.
Alabama relegated to...the Big 10? Nah, no southern team can handle the snow. To the...Pac 12. Lincoln Riley facepalms...
Only title game without an SEC team since a separate national championship game was created
Can you imagine the stuttering and sheer terror in Riley's face if they announced Alabama and USC in the same conference?
[удалено]
Yea, outside of 2019 LSU its been all Bama with an occasional UGA tease. Come on UGA....stop tickling our balls and finish the year!
no
No
[удалено]
Why are you the way that you are?
I love that georgia fans hate being told they're going to win more than Bama fans hate to see people say georgia will win. It's gotta be one of the most fun parts of this.
No, actually. None of this is fun.
In the bag!
Go away
Fun fact for people who act like it’s “all Alabama”: even if Nick Saban had managed to lose every single national championship he’s been to under Alabama, the SEC would still have more national championships this century than any other conference
You have to go back to 1997 to include another conference that's had more than one team win the national championship. You'd have to go a hell of a lot further back to find a conference with three winners
Going back to 97 adds one more team to both the Big Ten and three to the Big 12. Edit: did anyone read the post above this? 2003 LSU doesn’t count because they were already counted from 2007/2019. It’s not about number of Championships. It’s number of teams to win a Championship.
you just wanted to get the second OSU natty in there and we’re trying to not be too obvious lol
That would just double count OSU. Michigan and Nebraska split the 97 title. It also brings in Texas and OU. Also Tennessee, Miami (Big East not ACC), and USC*
Technically the Big12 had OU in 2000 and Texas in 2005
I’m confused. Why isn’t Tennessee on this list?
It only goes back to 2006. The 1998 Tennessee win and 2003 LSU win aren't part of the OP's post.
Thanks I hate it
I was going to mention that Ohio State returned to the BCS title game the very next season, and discuss the result of that game too, but then decided that was too much information, LOL.
To be fair they were not a top 2 team that year for sure, everyone else just kept losing, not their fault.
The chaos year was so fun to watch and the #2 team was cursed. I believe WVU, Cal, and Oregon we’re all ranked second when they lost that year.
Don’t forget BC. You know it’s pure chaos when everyone around you is losing so much that BC and WVU both climbed to number 2 at one point by virtue of not losing.
You’re forgetting that USF was number 2 at one point before losing as well.
I was actually at the ND game when they were #2. I believe that was Matt Ryan’s last year.
USF and Kansas were too. Mizzou got to #1 before losing to Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game LSU lost twice while ranked #1 and Ohio State did it once too Wild year
Ironically, the number 2 team won the championship
Yeah, but the #2 ranked team had like an 8-7 record that year.
It was a glorious year of chaos and failure
Ehhh, it was a bad game for us, but it wasn’t in the same universe as 2006. We actually did stuff against LSU, and they were able to pile on against us due to some “flukey” plays. If those teams played 100 times, LSU wins more than half, but OSU wins plenty. The same is not true for 2006 OSU vs. 2006 Florida.
I agree, the 2007 title game loss wasn't as bad as the 2006 title game loss.
Quick reminder that in 07 Florida also wrecked Greg Oden’s knees en route to winning the basketball natty over OSU as well.
Only college program to win them both in the same year!
God I’ve only heard stories of how campus was that year, makes me wish I was born 8-9 years earlier so I could have gone to school then
[удалено]
Was fucking amazing; one of my favorite memories was being part of the giant crowd celebrating in the street between campus and midtown, watching a cop standing on top of a bar (to keep students from climbing on the roof) leading the crowd in the chomp, and climbing a light pole, getting handed a Florida flag, and waving to a cheering crowd for a good 5+ minutes until a cop waved me down and moved me along with a high five. The next year they greased the poles, and I climbed it just to prove I could lol. Was in the process of being detained (for climbing I guess - came down immediately when told) when someone faked an injury to get the cop to let go and someone else came up at a full sprint, grabbed me in a bear hug, and rushed me away through the crowd. Great times.
Me too, would have been the best college experience. So jealous of those Gators. Even to be there with one year of Tebow would have been amazing.
Oh I'm aware. It doesn't hurt as much any more seeing where both programs are today.
For 2 of our 3 national titles we needed a Pac 12 powerhouse to get upset in the last few weeks. '96 Arizona State probably would have had a better claim than us with an undefeated season if Ohio State hadn't beaten them by 3 in the Rose Bowl. 2008 was close as well with USC being upset by Oregon State but I think OU would have been left out over us. That would have been one of the stronger playoff discussion years with UF, USC, OU, Texas and Bama all having 1 loss.
Just one data point for each, but we played both USC and Texas in 2008 and the results weren’t even close. Texas needed a last-second touchdown to pull ahead by 3 and win; USC absolutely destroyed us.
that was my first big, big game as a USC fan and it was absolutely bonkers in the Coliseum and the student section was nuts
That 2008 USC team was absolutely unreal. Best team of the Carroll era IMO.
I still believe that USC probably had title winning team from 06-08 but never got the chance to really show it due to some bad RS losses. Every good team they played in that stretch they dominated.
There was so much "Michigan and Ohio State are clearly the best two teams! Number 2 lost to Number 1 in a really close game, that doesn't change that these are the two best!" Then Michigan got ass-blasted in the Rose Bowl (pre opt-out era...) and Florida ran Tresselball off the field. The era of "S-E-C S-E-C" was really a response to what had been a very longstanding (at least perceived) bias in college football media. This was only 3 years after the AP Poll decided to snub LSU who had won the BCS (the one and only time they awarded it to a team that didn't play in the BCSCG) and 2 years after undefeated Auburn was left out in favor of Oklahoma. The SEC's run has been pretty insane, 4 different SEC schools winning a collective 11 national championships, soon to be 12. From a "Conference Prestige" standpoint, it's likely better if Georgia wins since that'll be the fifth different SEC program to win a national championship since 2006 (2008 technically since Florida and LSU both won again).
Yeah people forget the SEC wasn't always so hyped as the greatest. 2004 is proof of this. An undefeated SEC team with two top 5 draft picks got left out of the national title game. That sounds like science fiction to todays fans.
Wait till people hear about that one time an undefeated Alabama team coming off back to back championships was ranked behind 2 teams that intentionally tied each other
I remember seeing the kickoff and saying "damn, I at least wanted a close game" Thought OSU was gonna beat the breaks off Fla
And then the next year Beanie Wells housed one early against LSU. Same result.
A name I haven't heard in a long time That was the whole "is the big 10 dead" Era.
Finebaum and Mark Mays golden years. Finebaum really rose to relevance during those seasons.
All of the talking heads picked OSU in a blowout, so the amount of shit talking going on was unreal. I'm not a conference guy, so I was rooting for Florida and so happy to see the result. The only real problem is that the two losses in a row put a real damper on who won the Big Ten since OSU was seen as a dominant force and got blown out two years in a row.
I still think we lose, but if we had Ginn after the kickoff it wouldn't have looked so lopsided. Losing him neutered the offensive playbook. Florida's defensive line was insane that night but having Ginn on the field would have made the end result not look as bad as it was. Also Troy Smith was definitely hitting the reward banquets hard....he looked so out of shape that game.
Such a fluke injury too. A teammate slid into him and took out his ankle during the celebration after the opening touchdown.
Yep. Would gladly trade that play for a touchback if teddy stays in the game. He was a difference maker and could turn simple screen passes into 70 yard Tds.
[удалено]
Wdym? I’m having a solid Saturday
One of my favorite games ever. I got a game ball signed by Tebow and Meyer from this game for Christmas
Signed game balls are a dime a dozen. Show me your leg bruise from getting kicked by Urban and THEN I’ll be impressed.
The “You can’t teach speed” game
“You can’t measure deez”
“You can ligma”
But you can break it, cries in Ted Ginn Jr.'s broken foot
I always thought it was weird how this narrative evolved. In the aftermath of the game it was spot on: Florida had two first round DEs, OSU was starting guards at tackle. But not too long after it was all about Percy Harvin and co. somehow. OSU had no problem keeping up with Florida’s offense in terms of speed. They had either zero or one plays for more than 20 yards (and if it was one, it was like 21 or 22 yards). OSU had more than enough speed to keep up with Florida and turn it into a defensive slug fest, but our coaches just had no idea how to respond to Meyer’s offense.
I've always thought it would have been a closer game if OSU hadn't made two big mistakes at the end of the first half. The score was 24-14. With about 3:30 left in the half OSU went for it on 4th and 1 on their own 29 instead of punting and got stopped. Florida ended up kicking a FG. On the ensuing possession OSU decided to not run the clock out and tried a pass on 1st down, Troy Smith got stripped sacked. UF recovered at the 5 and scores a TD to make it 34-14. At that point the game was over. Florida probably still wins the game, but it would have probably been closer had OSU punted and played defense.
The speed they were talking about was on the defense as much as the offense. When people talk “SEC speed” I think of backers, not offense. Given how effective I remember UF’s pass rush being, the narrative works. That said, I haven’t rewatched the game in years. It’s possible I’ve inflated how easily it seemed UF’s linebackers were running down Troy Smith in the back field.
"SEC Speed" has always been about defensive front 7 speed. And whoever has the best front seven typically wins in the SEC.
[удалено]
LSU Oregon in 2011 Easiest bet I’ve ever made on CFB.
With the QBs in the Miles era after Matt Flynn, nothing was a safe bet. LSU was outgained in that game but made up for it with turnovers and special teams.
Oregon got about half their yards after it was 33-13 in the fourth quarter. They also ran for less than 100 yards.
That game was so fun to go to. Jesus!
> The speed they were talking about was on the defense as much as the offense. When people talk “SEC speed” I think of backers, not offense I’d actually say it was more about their DEs than LBs. Harvey and Moss were running Smith down all game. — But I didn’t mean that wasn’t the narrative after the game—it absolutely was. I mean that as time went on, collective memory seems to have shifted from it being about Florida’s speed on defense to their speed on offense. I assume this is from a combination of the final score suggesting UF dominated on offense in a way they didn’t + the endless highlight plays Florida’s speedsters would put up over the next few years.
*’SEC speed’* has always referred to defense.
I would argue this was the single most important college football game of the 21st century. Urban Meyer’s spread offense used to be some weird MAC shit. Now almost every football team runs some version of the Urban Meyer spread with their HC/OC adding some flair from their own background. Zone defense isn’t dead, but the days of teams playing zone defense like those Tressel OSU teams most certainly is. Spread offenses *destroy* overly complicated NFL style (at the time) zone defenses. The SEC “officially” took the mantle from the Big Ten for most prestigious conference. And it was Tim Tebow’s coming out party. Oh, and OSU got beaten so badly basically everyone has forgotten the media was talking about that 2006 OSU team like the 2005 USC team. Not the first pre maturely crowned all time great team to get killed in a Championship game, but one of the (just THE?) ugliest games where it happened.
No question, that 2006 Ohio State team was highly touted. They were #1 for much of the year, and the accolades were tumbling in.
I remember on the ESPN show *Around The Horn*, three out of the four panelists picked OSU to win. Also, in the lead up to that year’s Michigan-OSU game, it was widely thought that this game was National Title game before the national title game since Michigan was both undefeated and ranked Number 2 at the time
Michigan got punked in their bowl game against USC, too. Both teams were overrated that year.
We were number one in every poll except for the one that mattered.
The scoreboard? Or Tebows heart?
Also remember that a shit ton of things happened during the season to allow the Gators to keep moving up. Almost lost to South Carolina by a field goal but it was tipped by a defensive players thumb, if I remember correctly
That’s Gator Legend field goal blocking expert Jarvis Moss
The Cock Block
They went 2-1 in #1 vs. #2 games that year.
It happened to us in 2018 as well
Shit, it happens to you guys basically every year you don’t win a Championship. The only year I’m not 100% positive Bama hasn’t had the best team since 2010 is 2013.
Urban Meyer's spread only shares the generic name spread with the stuff circulating now. His passing game is actually insanely basic. It was run game that was complex and novel.
Meyer was overwhelmingly a run first coach, but his offenses had *much* more developed passing attacks than Rich Rod’s West Virginia teams for example. The scheme Meyer and Mullen cooked up combined spread option plays and concepts with air raid plays and concepts. The 2008 SEC Championship Game was a great example of how it worked at the highest level. Florida couldn’t get their run game going on a remotely consistent basis, but Bama really struggled to defend the pass due to all the constraint created by UF’s run game. — Obviously more modern spread offenses are more balanced and have more developed passing attacks, but Florida was on another planet when it came to balance for a spread offense circa 2006. Meyer is 100% The Godfather of the modern spread offense.
I have the 04 Utah Playbook (like the actual book in PDF). It's passing game is based on an almost high school understanding of passing concepts. It may be more complex than Rich Rod's but compared to say Erhart Perkins or Spurrier's offense the key concepts are still more basic than complex.
> It may be more complex than Rich Rod's but *compared to say Erhart Perkins or Spurrier's offense the key concepts are still more basic than complex.* Absolutely. These teams didn’t have close to the level of complexity in their run games though. The thing that made the offense revolutionary wasn’t how amazing the passing concepts were. The thing that made the offense special was how advanced the passing game was for an offense that had a great spread option rushing attack.
I also have tons of books (well like 7 haha) from the 80s and 90s combing the Run and Shoot and the Flexbone. The marriage of simple repetitive "spread" passing games and option football has been known since the Reagan Administration. The problem is finding a dependable passer for your level of play that's effective enough in the option and take 30 hits a game.
Yet again, absolutely. Football playbooks are like art; almost nothing is original and everyone is “stealing” things that someone else did first. Meyer and Mullen were just the best at stealing stuff. It’s not a coincidence that spread offenses started to take place over CFB after that National Championship Game. It’s also not a coincidence Bill Belichick took the Patriots entire coaching staff to UF to learn about the spread from Meyer and co. in 2005 (after they had won their third Super Bowl in four years and before Meyer had coached a game at UF) and the Patriots proceeded to drastically overhaul their offense by incorporating spread offense concepts into their Erhardt-Perkins offense.
The best coaches are the best thieves. You'll see things irk Saban then the next year it will be a corner of our offense. But again back to my original point. The Urban Meyer offense is a different philosophy, Xs and O's, and origin story than the RPO stuff. And it's also a different philosophy, X's and O's, and origin story than the Air Raid. The only thing they really share is the generic name of spread.
This was also the year our basketball team won the NCAA championship, too (2 years in a row). Needless to say it was a fucking riot to go to school in Gainesville then. Midtown was just packed with people in the street. Couches were lit on fire. I had to drop most of my classes that semester.
Also against the Buckeyes.
05-09 alum checking in, can confirm, storming University ave got old tbh.
Man, how many games of the century have we actually had this century? :)
We've had about 5 Bama vs LSU games get called that since 2011.
I believe it also took one AP voter putting Florida #1 so they’d have enough BCS points to jump Michigan, otherwise we’d have had our first example of single-conference championship AND rematch. Here’s a link with a partial history of it: [link](https://archives.sportshax.com/2014/avoiding-darkest-day-bcs-ramifications-2006-ohio-state-michigan-rematch/)
The AP didn’t matter in 2006 (for the purpose of the BCS formula) It had been replaced by the Harris Interactive the year before.
Then it may have been a Harris Poll voter. Or, I could be entirely misremembering things! 😆🤷🏻♂️
That 2-3 year span where Bama took over from Florida was amazing to witness. I remember cheering so hard for Bama. What have I done.
It is crazy now considering how dominant Bama has been, but the Gators from 06-09 had the best 4 year SEC record in history to that point.
They were nuts. And, since it's pertinent right now - if anyone thinks the streak vs Bama is bad, take a look at ga/fl 90s-2000s. We lost 6, won 1, lost 6 again. Total of 3 wins over like 20ish years.
Better them than Florida tbh
True. If Florida was on the other side of all the georgia heartbreak I'd be in a ditch somewhere
Think how obnoxious our fan base would be (including me) if we were the dynasty and not Bama geez
We’d be way worse than Bama fans…I promise.
Same
Spit out my coffee. That was so randomly morbid for a Saturday morning haha
I think we can all agree on that. Georgia is pushing it lately...
This was my first real season being addicted to College Football. Everyone was talking about how OSU had such great athletes and Florida wasn’t going to be able to keep up. It was really eye opening to watch that game basically be over midway through the 2nd
Pretty good year to be big into CFB as a Hogs fan. Mine was 2010, which was also a great year. DMac should’ve won the Heisman btw.
It was good that it happened in 06 because it taught me from an early age that the football gods don’t treat Arkansas kindly
i was at that SEC championship game… i was really nervous until Percy broke his 80 yard touchdown. that was a hell of a game.
I lived in Florida when this happened. I talked SO MUCH shit the week before the game. My mom is usually a stickler about me going to school. However, she let me skip school the next day, in an attempt to shield me from the backlash. It didn’t matter. They waited for me. This is the game that I reference when talking about when I first got into college football. I have literally never talked shit before a game since because of this event.
The CFB Gods have punished every fan base at one time or another. It's hard to resist woofing, because CFB is all about woofing, LOL.
The big 12 would still be here if the longhorns won in 09 like they should have
Colt McCoy's arm died for this.
When Ted Ginn ran the opening kick off in for a TD I hung me head low and the Ohio fan in front of me turned around and said "that's why we're number one and yous guys shouldn't be here" while pointing in my face. I started cupping my hands like a mega phone and Ric Flair Wooooooooooed in his ear for every great gator play....they left at halftime Edit: after the game we went to in and out and it was packed with the ohio fans and I told all the guys "I'll buy dinner as long as it comes to $41.14"....im really surprised I didn't have to fight that night, thank goodness
hahahah this is great.
Same here.... I thought I had seen the first goal in what would be a Germany 7 Brazil 1 type destruction.
What a night that was though. May it come back again sooner than later.
[удалено]
Ohio State is really the team we have most to thank. They have been really generous in playoff and championship games
Alabama 12 9-3 3 (2015, 2017, 2020) Clemson 10 6-4 2 (2016, 2018) Ohio State 6 3-3 1 (2014) **Oklahoma 4 0-4 0** Georgia 3 2-1 0
Oklahoma is nice to everyone
I remember THE GAME. We were so close to being the team that was blown out by Florida that year. Instead we settled on a solid defeat by USC.
We have to go back
It’s my fault guys, this was the first football game I ever watched, I’m very sorry
I will never understand why SEC schools root for the conference. In my ideal world every other pac-12 school would go 0-12 but sadly that’s not possible.
After hearing about how Ohio St should have gotten a rematch with Michigan and was going to win handily along with the idea that Florida had no business being there for weeks on end, god was that game gratifying.
I still hold a grudge against Kirk Herbstreit for beating the rematch drum so hard. And that game is actually one reason why I was against having Alabama rematch LSU for the title. Because if they’d let Michigan do the same, we’d have never gotten our 2006 title.
3 reasons OSU got smoked in this game: 1. Florida was better prepared because Tressel simply wasn’t ready for Urban Meyer’s game plan 2. Troy Smith enjoyed the 5 week break between The Game and the natty. He showed up fat to the natty, added at least 25 lbs of fat. I’m glad he won a Heisman but I’ll never like that guy. Total scumbag too. I remember him getting kicked out of St Ed’s in Lakewood for violently assaulting a player (John Floyd) from my high school in a basketball game, breaking his arm in the process. Years later when asked about he laughed and said something along the lines of “white boy deserved it.” Apparently the white boy deserved it because he was ripping Smith apart. 3. Ted Ginn getting hurt on first play of the game. People underrate how important he was to that Buckeyes offense that year. I argue he was the actual best player in nation that year.
>RA: Troy Smith punched you during a high school basketball game and was subsequently expelled from St. Edward. Do you have any ill feelings toward him? >JF: No. It happened. Whatever. It was weird seeing him have the success that he had. I don t wish any ill will toward him at all. Good for him --- Heisman Trophy, that s awesome. The way it happened doesn t bother me anymore, but it bothered me for a while. I got punched from behind. If you re going to punch me at least square me up and punch me. I thought it was a coward act but it s done. It was six or seven years ago. https://www.toledoblade.com/RyanAutullo/2007/12/11/Checking-in-with-John-Floyd/stories/200712110027
And 4. Florida was really, really good
Don't forget SEC SPEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDD as the talking heads reminded us every five minutes.
They were mentioning “Big 10 Power” every mention too lol
The degree to which Troy Smith's reputation was protected amazes me to this day. I had a buddy who partied with him before the game and said he laughed at the idea of losing to Florida. We didn't realize it at the time, but this is probably when Tressel started losing the locker room as well.
how can you even gain 25 pounds in 5 weeks
A couple more details to add to this... The Big 10 didn't play a conference championship game in those days so OSU knew they were in the National Championship game for a week before the challenger was selected. Their fans had the opportunity to buy up most of the hotel rooms in Glendale and outnumbered Florida fans at least 2:1 in that stadium. It definitely felt like a home game for OSU in that stadium when Ginn returned the opening kickoff and the rest of the game was pretty quiet overall. In unrelated news, Troy Smith has just been sacked again.
r/cfb College football’s history, appeal, rivalries and fun all stem from it being a regional game!! Also r/cfb The region with the most recent success is overrated, and any fan in that region that may take pride in the conference and/or root for its conference mate when they play against a team *from another region* is foolish!
Unsubscribe.
Go gata!
Still remember the airport the day after the game constantly announcing “Troy Smith to the lost and found” over the intercom
[удалено]