1942 McMNC: University of Tennessee

AP Top 10: Final Record -- Key Bowl Results

1. Ohio State: 9-1-0 -- None
2. Georgia: 11-1-0 -- W, Rose, 9-0
3. Wisconsin: 8-1-1 -- None
4. Tulsa: 10-1-0 -- L, Sugar, 7-14
5. Georgia Tech: 9-2-0 -- L, Cotton, 7-14
6. Notre Dame: 7-2-2 -- None
7. Tennessee: 9-1-1 -- W, Sugar, 14-7
8. Boston College: 8-2-0 -- L, Orange, 21-37
9. Michigan: 7-3-0 -- None
10. Alabama: 8-3-0 -- W, Orange, 37-21

Side note: Three teams tied for the 19th spot in the AP Poll in 1942. Minnesota (5-4-0), Holy Cross (5-4-1) and Penn State (6-1-1) evidently were inseparable in the voters' minds.

Side note II: This being a "war" year, a lot of colleges scheduled games against military bases, like Fort Knox, Camp Grant, Great Lakes Naval Training Station, Iowa Pre-Flight, etc. This creates a tough challenge in assessing schedule strength, and in future seasons, also creates some havoc with rankings assessment.

This is about four teams teams: Ohio State, Georgia, Wisconsin and Tennessee. Each finished with one loss (or one loss and a tie), and they either won a bowl game or didn't play in one.

Let's start by breaking down the conference matchups to determine who our top two teams are in this fray:

Ohio State v. Wisconsin: The Badgers won the head-to-head meeting at home, 17-7, handing Ohio State their only loss of the season. But Ohio State, with its 5-1 conference record, is the 1942 Western (Big Ten) Conference champion of record. Why? Because Wisconsin only went 4-1 in conference play. I am not going to fault the Badgers for an uneven schedule problem here, so let's do a comparative analysis of their Western Conference games in 1942. Both teams shut out 1-8-0 Purdue; Wisconsin lost, 6-0, to 6-4-0 Iowa on the road. Both teams beat Northwestern on the road, although Ohio State did so by 14 points while Wisconsin only beat the Wildcats by one point. The Buckeyes beat #9 Michigan by 14 points; the Badgers beat #19 Minnesota by 14 points. And although it wasn't a conference game, the Badgers' tie came against #6 Notre Dame at home -- no shame there. Ohio State's OOC schedule? Fort Knox (1-5-0, see note above), 5-5-1 Southern California, 3-6-0 Pittsburgh and 7-3-0 Iowa Pre-Flight. Wisconsin's OOC schedule included 1-5-0 Camp Grant, 7-2-0 Marquette, 8-3-1 Missouri, Notre Dame and 8-3-1 Great Lakes Naval Training Station. This is tough, though, because Wisconsin has the H2H win, which the voters in 1942 clearly ignored. In the end, that has to count for something, so Wisconsin wins this Western Conference showdown to move forward in the debate.

Georgia vs. Tennessee: The Bulldogs are the SEC champion of record in 1942, with a 6-1 conference record. But again, we have an uneven schedule problem, for the Volunteers finished 4-1 in conference play. Georgia lost to #16 Auburn (6-4-1) by 14 points at home, while Tennessee lost to #10 Alabama by eight points on the road. Clearly, if you're looking for a "better" loss, Tennessee has it. To me, that gives this SEC matchup edge to the Volunteers, since they lost on the road to a better team by fewer points. But which team had the better bowl win? Should that matter since conference play is regular season? Georgia shutout #13 UCLA with its 7-3-0 record in the Rose Bowl, for all intents and purposes a very impressive "road" win. Tennessee knocked off previously unbeaten, untied Tulsa in the Sugar Bowl. Tulsa played a relatively weak schedule, although they did beat Oklahoma, Oklahoma A&M and Arkansas. But again, the bowl win is for another comparison, not the conference superiority comparison. So Tennessee advances to the final McMNC battle against Wisconsin.

So that's where I arrive: #3 Wisconsin at 8-1-1 with no bowl win, against #7 Tennessee at 9-1-1 with a Sugar Bowl win. Maybe you saw this coming, but I have to give it to the Vols for the bowl game. They put it out there against #4 Tulsa, an unblemished team, in the bowl game. And while it may not be Wisconsin's "fault" they couldn't play in a bowl game, they don't get points for staying at home and resting on laurels, either.

Therefore, in somewhat of an upset and a decision sure to raise controversy in the Big Ten area, the Tennessee Volunteers get the 1942 McMNC.

[Paul Brown hates me, but I love him a lot nonetheless.]


McMNC Revisions
1. Tennessee
2. Georgia
3. Wisconsin
4. Ohio State
5. Tulsa


RUNNING SCORECARD:
Tennessee: +1938, +1942
Stanford: +1940
California: +1937
Texas A&M: =1939
Pittsburgh: +1936, -1937
TCU: -1938
Ohio State: -1942
Minnesota: -1936, -1940, =1941