Connelly crowns the true CFB champion from 16 split or controversial titles

rfjeff9

rfjeff9

Jolly Good Fellow
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454

1990: Georgia Tech (11-0-1) vs. Colorado (11-1-1)​

Poll rankings: Colorado first (AP) and second (coaches), Georgia Tech first (coaches) and second (AP)
SP+ rankings: Georgia Tech fourth (19.1 rating), Colorado seventh (17.6)
Avg. points scored: Georgia Tech 31.6, Colorado 30.7
Avg. points allowed: Georgia Tech 15.5, Colorado 17.6
Best wins: Colorado def. Oklahoma (sixth) 32-23, def. Notre Dame (eighth) 10-9, def. Nebraska (ninth) 27-12, def. Washington (11th) 20-14, Georgia Tech def. Clemson (third) 21-19, def. Virginia (fifth) 41-38, def. Nebraska (ninth) 45-21
Losses/ties: Colorado tied Tennessee (16th) 31-31 and lost to Illinois (31st) 23-22; Georgia Tech tied North Carolina (32nd) 13-13
Verdict: Georgia Tech. We got through the 1980s without any split titles, though you certainly could have made the case for Auburn or even Nebraska in 1983 (when Miami came out of nowhere to upset the Huskers and win the crown), and it seems some people will never quite get over BYU winning in 1984. Either way, the 1990s made up for lost time in the controversies department. We began the decade with back-to-back split titles, the first of which was shared by a pair of nontraditional powers.
On average, Miami and Florida State were almost certainly the two best teams in the country in 1990, but both suffered a pair of losses -- Miami to BYU and Notre Dame, Florida State to Miami and Auburn -- that eliminated them from contention. That left pollsters to decide between a Georgia Tech team with three excellent wins and a half-blemish and a Colorado team with four great wins and 1.5 blemishes.
There are no split titles here, however, and we're going with Bobby Ross' Yellow Jackets. The ACC was dynamite in 1990, and not only did Colorado suffer both a tie and a loss (neither to top-15 teams), but the Buffaloes also needed a fifth down to beat Missouri. (And even if their résumés were tied after that, this Mizzou guy is here to remind you that Charles Johnson didn't score on fifth down, either. Sorry, Buffs. The Ramblin' Wreck gets the ring.)
 

684Bee

Helluva Engineer
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davesbrain

davesbrain

Georgia Tech Fan
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It doesn't hurt that Colorado is in a state of greater suckitude than we are currently. I tend to think these analyses are biased by the program's present status.
 
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