TideatMileHigh
Member
For me, I'd have to say it was the 1980s-1990s. I think this was the peak of college football as a sport. Unlike today's game which requires teams to play basketball on grass, in the 1980s-90s you saw a very interesting mix of how the game was played. I really do think the rulebook had been perfected in the 1980s and 90s that created a state of offensive and defensive equilibrium to exist within the game of college football. You had teams like Oklahoma and Nebraska which still ran the ball down your throat and made your ass quit with a hard hitting defense, while also having teams like Florida, Miami, and FSU which utilized deadly pro style/run and shoot offenses. I think its cool how Alabama won the national title with arguably one of the greatest defenses of all time in 1992, and only four years later Florida won its first national title in 1996 with one of the greatest offenses of all time. That really does illustrate how offensive/defensive parody still existed back then.
I think its cool as well how many different teams won national titles in this time frame. Miami, FSU, and Florida were obviously the dominant teams in this age, but in the 1980s and 90s you saw some very peculiar teams win national titles such as Clemson (1981), BYU (1984), Georgia Tech (1990), Colorado (1990), and Washington (1991).
The head coaching talent was very deep in this era of college football as well. You had dominant figures such as Barry Switzer, Dr. Tom at Nebraska, The Ole Ball Coach, Bobby Bowden, Jimmy Johnson, Joe Paterno, Lou Holtz, and Bo Schembechler. But you also had capable coaches that had dominant or sustained periods of success such as Gene Stallings, LaVell Edwards (BYU), Bill Schneider (KSU), Bill McCartney (Colorado), RC Slocum/Jackie Sherrill (Texas A&M), Frank Beamer, Don James (Washington), Danny Ford (Clemson), Vince Dooley, Terry Donahue (UCLA), and even our favorite Pat Dye.
There were a shit ton of notable bowl games, rivalry games, and conference championship games played during this period of football, many of which are still famous today. These games include:
-The 1984, 1994, and 1995 Orange Bowls
-1987 Fiesta Bowl (still the most highly rated college football game of all time)
-Catholics versus Convicts in 1988
-Almost every Iron Bowl matchup in the 1980s
-1992 SEC Championship game
-Basically every FSU vs Florida game in the 1990s
-1994 SEC Championship Game (Sad Face)
-CU vs Mizzou 1990 (the "Fifth Down")
-CU vs Michigan in 1994 (Kordell Stewart Hail Mary)
-FSU vs Miami in 1991 and 1992
-1998 Big 12 Championship game
-1996 Big 12 Championship game (perhaps one of the greatest upsets of all time)
-Michigan vs Ohio State from 1995-1998
-Nebraska vs OU in the 1980s (Right up until Switzer got shitcanned)
My Conclusion: I think the 1980s and 1990s were the peak decades of college football. If I could use one word to describe this era, it would be "parody". While I certainly enjoy Alabama's total domination of college football currently, I do have to say I feel college football today is lacking a lot of the competitive luster it had in the 1980s-90s. There seems to be vacuum of great inter and outer conference rivalry games, and the sport today has become much more homogenized when it comes to dominant teams within the sport.
I think its cool as well how many different teams won national titles in this time frame. Miami, FSU, and Florida were obviously the dominant teams in this age, but in the 1980s and 90s you saw some very peculiar teams win national titles such as Clemson (1981), BYU (1984), Georgia Tech (1990), Colorado (1990), and Washington (1991).
The head coaching talent was very deep in this era of college football as well. You had dominant figures such as Barry Switzer, Dr. Tom at Nebraska, The Ole Ball Coach, Bobby Bowden, Jimmy Johnson, Joe Paterno, Lou Holtz, and Bo Schembechler. But you also had capable coaches that had dominant or sustained periods of success such as Gene Stallings, LaVell Edwards (BYU), Bill Schneider (KSU), Bill McCartney (Colorado), RC Slocum/Jackie Sherrill (Texas A&M), Frank Beamer, Don James (Washington), Danny Ford (Clemson), Vince Dooley, Terry Donahue (UCLA), and even our favorite Pat Dye.
There were a shit ton of notable bowl games, rivalry games, and conference championship games played during this period of football, many of which are still famous today. These games include:
-The 1984, 1994, and 1995 Orange Bowls
-1987 Fiesta Bowl (still the most highly rated college football game of all time)
-Catholics versus Convicts in 1988
-Almost every Iron Bowl matchup in the 1980s
-1992 SEC Championship game
-Basically every FSU vs Florida game in the 1990s
-1994 SEC Championship Game (Sad Face)
-CU vs Mizzou 1990 (the "Fifth Down")
-CU vs Michigan in 1994 (Kordell Stewart Hail Mary)
-FSU vs Miami in 1991 and 1992
-1998 Big 12 Championship game
-1996 Big 12 Championship game (perhaps one of the greatest upsets of all time)
-Michigan vs Ohio State from 1995-1998
-Nebraska vs OU in the 1980s (Right up until Switzer got shitcanned)
My Conclusion: I think the 1980s and 1990s were the peak decades of college football. If I could use one word to describe this era, it would be "parody". While I certainly enjoy Alabama's total domination of college football currently, I do have to say I feel college football today is lacking a lot of the competitive luster it had in the 1980s-90s. There seems to be vacuum of great inter and outer conference rivalry games, and the sport today has become much more homogenized when it comes to dominant teams within the sport.
. Spoiler there are a lot of them.
