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Sit down everyone, I want to tell you a story about the 1993 college football season...

Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:25 pm
Posted by RollTide1987
Augusta, GA
Member since Nov 2009
65147 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:25 pm
There's this guy named Danny Kanell who is absolutely beside himself with grief and anger over an undefeated Florida State team being left out of the College Football Playoff. What ol' Danny is forgetting to tell ya'll is that he won a national championship as a Seminole football player back in 1993. Now that was a very good football team that played in the era of the Bowl Coalition - a forerunner to the Bowl Championship Series.

In November of that season, #1 Florida State (9-0) traveled to South Bend, Indiana to take on #2 Notre Dame (9-0) in a Game of the Century match-up. In what was an epic game, FSU lost to the Fighting Irish by the score of 31-24. As a consequence, Florida State fell to #2 while Notre Dame rose to #1. Those rankings would not hold for long as #1 Notre Dame would be upset the very next week by #17 Boston College by the score of 31-29. #2 Florida State would beat #7 Florida 33-21 in their final regular season game and would close out ranked the 1993 calendar year with an 11-1 record and a #1 ranking.

This is significant for a couple of reasons because, despite the loss, Florida State was ranked #1 over an undefeated Big Eight Nebraska Cornhuskers team and an undefeated Big East West Virginia Mountaineers team. That's to say nothing of 10-1 Notre Dame who had the head-to-head win over the Seminoles.

And yet, when the final Bowl Coalition rankings were released in 1993, this is how everything shook out:

1. Florida State (11-1)
2. Nebraska (11-0)
3. West Virginia (11-0)
4. Notre Dame (10-1)

Florida State would go on to defeat #2 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl by the score of 18-16. #4 Notre Dame would defeat #7 Texas A&M by the score of 24-21 in the Cotton Bowl while #3 West Virginia would get blown out by #8 Florida in the Sugar Bowl by the score of 41-7.

When the final rankings were released after the bowl games, they would shake out to look like:

1. Florida State (12-1)
2. Notre Dame (11-1)
3. Nebraska (11-1)
4. Auburn (11-0)

So not only was West Virginia, a major conference program, robbed of a national championship berth by a 1-loss Florida State team, they also stole a national championship from Notre Dame - a team that had beaten them head-to-head and finished second in both major polls with the same amount of losses as Florida State.

When Danny Kanell was confronted about this on Twitter last night, he brought up Florida State's strength of schedule (which was pretty solid mind you) as the reason why FSU got in over WVU. Oh. So strength of schedule mattered in 1993, Danny, but not 2023? Because presently Alabama's strength of schedule is listed at #5 while Florida State's is listed at #55.

Down vote away, but it's been 30 years since Florida State screwed over both West Virginia and Notre Dame on their way to a national championship. Sometimes it takes a while, but eventually karma rears its ugly head and bites you in the arse.
Posted by RLDSC FAN
Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Member since Nov 2008
51710 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:26 pm to
Notre Dame should've at least gotten a split title
Posted by bayoujd
Member since Jan 2009
2777 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:28 pm to
Notre Dame should have been #1. Head to head is always the first tiebreaker. Even non-sports fans know this.

The media wanted to give Bobby Bowden a national title.
Posted by Y.A. Tittle
Member since Sep 2003
101664 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:31 pm to
When everyone has one loss, it’s unfortunate, but not a case of anyone being “screwed over.”

Auburn actually did that year, but I think it had something to do with sanctions as I recall.

This year’s scenario is different with an undefeated P5. Justify on as much as you like to try to sleep at night. It is what it is, though.
Posted by slinger1317
Northshore
Member since Sep 2005
5888 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:32 pm to
We get it man, Bama is going to legitimize their spot in the CFP by killing Michigan.

But the lengths you Bammers go to justify yourselves is very cult-ish
Posted by Sun God
Member since Jul 2009
44874 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:32 pm to
So you agree that it’s fricked up that FSU got left out this year like WVU did in 93 correct?
This post was edited on 12/5/23 at 12:33 pm
Posted by Bench McElroy
Member since Nov 2009
33964 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:33 pm to
I posted this on Reddit and those little kids were whining that "This happened 30 years ago before most of us were born."
Posted by H-Town Tiger
Member since Nov 2003
59131 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:37 pm to
Notre Dame should have won the MNC in 93

If there was a 4 team playoff in 93 West Virginia would have been included. If there was a 2 team BCS/Bowl Collation this year Florida St would not be included. Any questions?
This post was edited on 12/5/23 at 1:05 pm
Posted by iBack8569
Member since Dec 2021
1197 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:39 pm to
That's why the NCAA should have made the FBS(1-A) play a real playoff years ago. Conference champions then a handful of "at large." That way no one gets "robbed." But, nah...let's keep the subjective crap going cause muh moneez.
Posted by Jon Ham
Member since Jun 2011
28606 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:42 pm to
Nice post. Love a good history lesson.
Posted by Epaminondas
The Boot
Member since Jul 2020
4233 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:42 pm to
I still believe that Florida State got robbed.

But as far as Danny Kanell is concerned, if he said strength of schedule justified FSU getting in over West Virginia back then, he doesn't have a leg to stand on now.
Posted by GoGators1995
Member since Jan 2023
1902 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:45 pm to
Posted by Bestbank Tiger
Premium Member
Member since Jan 2005
71380 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:49 pm to
West Virginia would be national champs if they won their bowl game. Only undefeated team.

Try again.
Posted by Choupique19
The cheap seats
Member since Sep 2005
62105 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:51 pm to
I remember 1993, LSU beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

The Duece is Loose what?
This post was edited on 12/5/23 at 12:52 pm
Posted by KiwiHead
Auckland, NZ
Member since Jul 2014
27725 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:52 pm to
So you are saying Saban reached out to the committee and whined incessantly
Posted by EvrybodysAllAmerican
Member since Apr 2013
11201 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:52 pm to
If we had the same format, it would be:

Michigan vs Washington in the Rose Bowl for the championship this year.

and Im guessing...
Texas in the cotton vs UGA?
Alabama vs ohio state in sugar?
florida state in the orange vs ok state?

FSU would probably be able to be co-champs with Orange Bowl win.
Posted by AUFANATL
Member since Dec 2007
3928 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:54 pm to
quote:

Those rankings would not hold for long as #1 Notre Dame would be upset the very next week by #17 Boston College by the score of 31-29.


What people forget about this turn of events was that Notre Dame had played Boston College the year before and humiliated them 54-7 by blatantly running up the score. They were still throwing for TDs late in a game that was already decided and even ran a fake punt late in the 4th quarter to pile on. It was all some weird Catholic intellectual Jesuits versus sidewalk alumni with 10 kids thing that Holtz got into.

Anyway, Boston College and Tom Coughlin circled the rematch on the calendar and brought out that army when top ranked ND paraded in Boston in 1993. It was just desserts and the nouveau Notre Dame hype had worn out it's welcome by that time.

Posted by POTUS2024
Member since Nov 2022
11448 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:56 pm to
FSU's 93 strength of schedule was middle of the road. ACC teams were all severely overrated and that includes Miami. The UF game was their only true quality win in the regular season - UF had a key moment to get a stop in that game and Warrick Dunn busted a long run and that was pretty much it - some people consider the crowd noise leading to that play to be the loudest in the history of Ben Hill Griffin. The FSU v UF games in 91, 93, 95, 97, 99 were all incredibly loud.

FSU took the easy road back in those days and Bowden admitted it - they had the chance to go to the SEC and backed down because Bowden knew they would drop a game every year and get knocked out of title contention. He saw what UF had to deal with and wanted no part of it.

FSU getting bumped from this playoff is karma.

Also, FSU has been known for many years to intentionally go out to injure opponents. Everything that is happening to FSU right now is just a small, partial payment of karma.
Posted by WaterLink
Baton Rouge
Member since Sep 2015
17331 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 12:56 pm to
Most people admit that Kanell has a lot of shite takes even if they agree with him in this one particular argument. And yes it is hypocritical for him to have benefited from this kind of thing in his playing days and then turn around and cry foul when his beloved FSU is on the other side of the coin.

He's not wrong in his assertion that the CFP is an invitational and not a true playoff. My personal opinion is we either should have stayed with the bowl system we had before the BCS or even the Coalition and just say "we're CFB, this is how we do it even if there's always controversy, that's part of the fun" or have a true playoff with every conference getting an auto bid plus wildcards like the FCS does, like High School, like NFL, like March Madness, like baseball, etc.

Once they decided to try to create actual championship games to decide the national champion on the field and eventually playoffs, it resulted in a bastardization of both systems because they tried to keep the bowls for $$$ so the end result was some weird hybrid that devalued all the non playoff bowls as evidenced by the increase of players opting out of them but still not having a true playoff as evidenced by undefeated teams being left out of them.
Posted by Jorts R Us
Member since Aug 2013
14860 posts
Posted on 12/5/23 at 1:07 pm to
quote:

When Danny Kanell was confronted about this on Twitter last night, he brought up Florida State's strength of schedule (which was pretty solid mind you) as the reason why FSU got in over WVU.


I love it.
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