musso
Member
I was reflecting on the fact that once again, an SEC team is competing for the national championship when I began to consider how many times the SEC has won the national championship in recent years. Here is some data dating back to 1990.
National Champions
'06 Florida*
'05 Texas*
'04 SC*
'03 LSU* (SC finished 1st in AP poll)
'02 Ohio St*
'01 Miami*
'00 OU*
'99 FSU*
'98 Tenn*
'97 Michigan (AP), Neb (Coaches)
'96 Florida
'95 Neb
'94 Neb
'93 FSU
'92 Bama
'91 Miami (AP), Washington (Coaches)
'90 Colorado (AP), Ga Tech (Coaches)
* = BCS Champions (I never understood why SC was considered co-champions with LSU in '03 when the BCS poll had been the standard since '98.)
Here is another way to look at the same information according to conferences. Obviously, some conferences have since become extinct and/or modified.
Big 8:
'90 Colorado (AP)
'94 Neb
'95 Neb
Big 12:
'97 Neb (Coaches)
'00 OU
'05 Texas
ACC:
'90 Ga Tech (Coaches)
'93 FSU
'99 FSU
PAC 10:
'91 Washington (Coaches)
'03 SC (Coaches, but during the BCS era ;scr)
'04 SC
Big East:
'91 Miami (AP)
'01 Miami
Big 10:
'97 Michigan (AP)
'02 Ohio St
SEC:
'92 Bama
'96 Florida
'98 Tenn
'03 LSU
'06 Florida
What I find so impressive is not only the fact that the SEC has won more national titles than any other conference since 1990, but that the SEC has had the greatest distribution and frequency of championships than any other conference. More schools from the SEC have won a national championship since 1990 than from any other conference. The fact that four different teams have won a national championship speaks to the quality of depth that the SEC possesses. It should also be noted that in addition to the SEC's five national champions since 1990, Auburn was undefeated in '93 when on probation and again in '04 when left out of the national championship despite playing a more difficult schedule than OU, who eventually was raped by SC in the national title game.
During Miami's dynasty that began in the 80's they dominated the weak Big East after they joined it. It seems like for a period in the middle to late 80's, only an occasional loss to FSU could keep Miami out of the national championship game. Then after probation struck the Canes, no school from the Big East contended nationally until Miami recovered from sanctions under Butch Davis and played for two national titles in Coaker's first two seasons, winning one. Since leaving the Big East for the ACC, Miami has not seen a championship. We all know the story of FSU. After declining an invitation to join the SEC, Bowden instead opted to end FSU's independent status by joining the best college basketball conference, the ACC, leading to one of the most successful periods in major college football history that included two national titles despite playing in several championship games. Since FSU's arrival to the ACC in 1992, there have been only four years in which FSU wasn’t the conference champion. The three other champions were Maryland in '01 who was later destroyed by Florida (SEC East runner up), Va Tech in '04 who was beaten soundly by SEC champion Auburn, and Wake Forest in '06 who lost to the Big East champ Louisville. This year's ACC champ, Va Tech, is playing who most experts regard as the worst team to ever be invited to a BCS bowl, Big 12 North runner up Kansas. SC, since Pete Carroll's arrival, has dominated the PAC 10 and has earned 1.5 national championships (if you consider the AP poll despite the BCS's supremacy since 1998), and Nebraska under Osborne enjoyed a successful run while in the final years of the Big 8 and in the first two years of the Big 12 winning 2.5 championships during the mid-90's.
The point is, outside of the SEC, you have largely one team dominating its conference with few others tasting championship-level success. If you take away the dominance of Miami in a weak Big East, the Osborne dynasty at Nebraska, the Bowden dynasty in a weak ACC, and the recent Carroll dynasty that is ruling the PAC 10, only seven other national titles remain since 1990 that aren’t claimed by the SEC who again won 5.
National Champions
'06 Florida*
'05 Texas*
'04 SC*
'03 LSU* (SC finished 1st in AP poll)
'02 Ohio St*
'01 Miami*
'00 OU*
'99 FSU*
'98 Tenn*
'97 Michigan (AP), Neb (Coaches)
'96 Florida
'95 Neb
'94 Neb
'93 FSU
'92 Bama
'91 Miami (AP), Washington (Coaches)
'90 Colorado (AP), Ga Tech (Coaches)
* = BCS Champions (I never understood why SC was considered co-champions with LSU in '03 when the BCS poll had been the standard since '98.)
Here is another way to look at the same information according to conferences. Obviously, some conferences have since become extinct and/or modified.
Big 8:
'90 Colorado (AP)
'94 Neb
'95 Neb
Big 12:
'97 Neb (Coaches)
'00 OU
'05 Texas
ACC:
'90 Ga Tech (Coaches)
'93 FSU
'99 FSU
PAC 10:
'91 Washington (Coaches)
'03 SC (Coaches, but during the BCS era ;scr)
'04 SC
Big East:
'91 Miami (AP)
'01 Miami
Big 10:
'97 Michigan (AP)
'02 Ohio St
SEC:
'92 Bama
'96 Florida
'98 Tenn
'03 LSU
'06 Florida
What I find so impressive is not only the fact that the SEC has won more national titles than any other conference since 1990, but that the SEC has had the greatest distribution and frequency of championships than any other conference. More schools from the SEC have won a national championship since 1990 than from any other conference. The fact that four different teams have won a national championship speaks to the quality of depth that the SEC possesses. It should also be noted that in addition to the SEC's five national champions since 1990, Auburn was undefeated in '93 when on probation and again in '04 when left out of the national championship despite playing a more difficult schedule than OU, who eventually was raped by SC in the national title game.
During Miami's dynasty that began in the 80's they dominated the weak Big East after they joined it. It seems like for a period in the middle to late 80's, only an occasional loss to FSU could keep Miami out of the national championship game. Then after probation struck the Canes, no school from the Big East contended nationally until Miami recovered from sanctions under Butch Davis and played for two national titles in Coaker's first two seasons, winning one. Since leaving the Big East for the ACC, Miami has not seen a championship. We all know the story of FSU. After declining an invitation to join the SEC, Bowden instead opted to end FSU's independent status by joining the best college basketball conference, the ACC, leading to one of the most successful periods in major college football history that included two national titles despite playing in several championship games. Since FSU's arrival to the ACC in 1992, there have been only four years in which FSU wasn’t the conference champion. The three other champions were Maryland in '01 who was later destroyed by Florida (SEC East runner up), Va Tech in '04 who was beaten soundly by SEC champion Auburn, and Wake Forest in '06 who lost to the Big East champ Louisville. This year's ACC champ, Va Tech, is playing who most experts regard as the worst team to ever be invited to a BCS bowl, Big 12 North runner up Kansas. SC, since Pete Carroll's arrival, has dominated the PAC 10 and has earned 1.5 national championships (if you consider the AP poll despite the BCS's supremacy since 1998), and Nebraska under Osborne enjoyed a successful run while in the final years of the Big 8 and in the first two years of the Big 12 winning 2.5 championships during the mid-90's.
The point is, outside of the SEC, you have largely one team dominating its conference with few others tasting championship-level success. If you take away the dominance of Miami in a weak Big East, the Osborne dynasty at Nebraska, the Bowden dynasty in a weak ACC, and the recent Carroll dynasty that is ruling the PAC 10, only seven other national titles remain since 1990 that aren’t claimed by the SEC who again won 5.
