Alas,
I've only written one National Championship article in the last 6
years. Just been too busy! I would still like to write full articles
about each season like I have for 1901-1969, but for now, what I am
going to do instead is write partial articles that do nothing more than
explain my reasoning for my Mythical National Championship selections.
Full profiles of the teams and their seasons will have to wait until I
have time to write those up.
Here
is how
all of the organizations listed in the NCAA Records Book see the 1976
mythical
national championship (omitting selections made by a single magazine or
by math/computer
ratings, which are not generally accepted as MNCs):
12-0 Pittsburgh:AP
Poll,
UPI Poll
(coaches), Football
Writers Association of America, National Football
Foundation,
Helms, National Championship
Foundation 11-1 Southern Cal:CFB Researchers I wouldn't have to do an explanation for this season at all if it weren't for the CFRA. Thanks a lot, dumbasses.
I don't think there's much to say here. 12-0 Pitt did play an easy
schedule, just 2 ranked opponents, but USC's 4 ranked opponents is not
enough to make up for a horrific 46-25 home loss to #18 Missouri (who
was 6-5). In my opinion, that's the end of any debate right there. Pitt also performed better, the main difference between the
teams in this regard coming down to the fact that Pitt beat 9-3 Notre
Dame (#15) 31-10 on the road, while USC edged the Irish 17-13 at home.
USC beat a better team than any that Pitt defeated, winning 14-6 over
#3 Michigan in the Rose Bowl, but Michigan and #7 Georgia were both
10-2 and not much different in terms of power level, so I'd say that
Pitt's 27-3 Sugar Bowl win over Georgia was at least as impressive a
result, and when you take into account the fact that USC's bowl game
constituted a hometown advantage and Pitt's was truly a neutral site,
I'd say that Pitt's bowl result was more impressive.
I don't think that Southern Cal is even a contender here, and I roll my eyes at the CFRA, who inconceivably chose not to even share their MNC selection with Pitt.
Listed below
are the
significant results for these 2 teams in 1976. Needless to say, all
rankings in this article come from
my fixed AP poll for 1976.
Pittsburgh 12-0
Southern Cal 11-1
at Notre Dame (9-3)
31-10
#15
West Virginia (5-6)
24-16
Unranked
Sugar Bowl Georgia (10-2)
27-3
#7
Missouri (6-5)
25-46
#18
at UCLA (9-2-1)
24-14
#16
Notre Dame (9-3)
17-14
#15
Rose Bowl Michigan (10-2)
14-6
#3
Pittsburgh defeated their unranked opponents by an average of 32.3 to
11.6 points per game, while Southern Cal defeated theirs by an average
of 38.3 to 7.5.
