1958 McMNC: Louisiana State University

AP Top 10: Final Record -- Key Bowl Results

1. LSU: 11-0-0 -- W, Sugar, 7-0
2. Iowa: 8-1-1 -- W, Rose, 38-12
3. Army: 8-0-1 -- NONE
4. Auburn: 9-0-1 -- NONE
5. Oklahoma: 10-1-0 -- W, Orange, 21-6
6. Air Force: 9-0-2 -- T, Cotton, 0-0
7. Wisconsin: 7-1-1 -- NONE
8. Ohio State: 6-1-2 -- NONE
9. Syracuse: 8-2-0 -- L, Orange, 6-21
10. TCU: 8-2-1 -- T, Cotton, 0-0

Okay, so there shouldn't be much drama here at all. LSU is clearly the team to beat, and unless they have a weak schedule of Oklahoman proportions, they should be safe. Let's check it out, shall we?

Despite the very unimpressive bowl win over #12 Clemson (8-3), the Baton Rouge boys has an SOS rating of 51%, which is decent. They beat 5-4-1 Alabama on the road by ten points, they beat 6-5 Hardin-Simmons at home by 14 points, they beat 5-4-1 Kentucky at home by 25 points, they beat #14 Florida (6-4-1) at home by three points (10-7), and they beat #11 Mississippi (9-2) at home by 14 points. In reality, there are no jaw-dropping wins there at all. They are mostly close wins over good teams, although LSU only beat Mississippi State (3-6) on the road by one point. But there's no "dominance" here at all. Even that bowl win is pretty weak. But again, it's a clean slate, right?

Does that mean the door is open? Perhaps ... Iowa and Oklahoma are the only teams with a chance to steal this McMNC from LSU, since Auburn was still on probation (and I don't service academies, even though I am THRILLED to see Air Force here). Wisconsin has no shot, since they finished second in the Big Ten, by the way.

Iowa did tie #6 Air Force at home, a better team than LSU faced all season. So there shouldn't be too much of a penalty there at all for the Hawkeyes. They also lost to #8 Ohio State by ten points at home. Again, the Buckeyes were a better team than LSU faced all season, but a loss at home in double digits hurts. Iowa's overall SOS is going to have to be pretty "phat" to overtake LSU.

Iowa did beat #10 TCU in a 17-0 shutout at home (again, a better win than any on LSU's resume); they beat 5-3-1 Indiana at home by 21 points; they beat #7 Wisconsin on the road by 11 points, yet another win more impressive than any LSU victory in 1958. They also UPI #17 Northwestern (5-4) by six points at home, they beat #17 Notre Dame (6-4) at home by ten points, and they beat #16 California (7-4) in the Rose Bowl by 26 points.

All this adds up to a 63% SOS rating for Iowa. Dat's phat; in fact, I don't think we've seen one higher by a real McMNC contender yet. The obvious problem is Iowa's loss and tie versus LSU's perfect record. But Iowa's blemishes came against better teams than LSU faced all season, and Iowa's bowl win AND schedule rating were significantly more impressive than LSU's comparable marks.

Stay tuned, while we investigate the Sooners:

Oklahoma's only loss was a one-point road defeat to Texas (unranked at 7-3). They beat 6-4 Colorado on the road by 16 points, they shut out 5-4-1 Missouri at home (39-0), they shut out #19 Oklahoma State on the road (7-0), and they beat #9 Syracuse in the Orange Bowl by 15 points. They have a better win in that bowl game than any win LSU has, and the bowl game win itself is a better bowl game win than LSU's Sugar Bowl win. And Oklahoma trumps LSU in SOS rating (52%-51%), even if only by a little. But the loss to an unranked team hurts the Sooners, even if it was on the road by a point to a winning team. If Oklahoma wins that game against the Longhorns, they trump LSU. But with the loss, the other Oklahoma advantages aren't enough to dethrone LSU.

Which brings us back to Iowa vs. LSU here: Iowa has EVERY edge on LSU except one. Iowa played a better schedule, beat better teams by better margins, had a more impressive bowl win, etc. But LSU was unbeaten and untied while Iowa suffered one of each, albeit to better teams than LSU faced all year.

This is tough: this is about W/L record versus SOS, in essence -- the classic RSFC debate, if you will. In the end, LSU's SOS rating was good enough; it was over 50%, which is the benchmark for an acceptable schedule. Unlike Oklahoma's 34% rating in 1956, LSU's SOS rating is good enough to hold off a very good Iowa team in 1958.

But just BARELY.

McMNC Revisions
1. LSU
2. Iowa
3. Oklahoma
4. Wisconsin
5. Ohio State

RUNNING SCORECARD:
Tennessee: +1938, +1942, +1950, -1951
Iowa: +1956
Georgia Tech: +1952
Illinois: +1951
Michigan: +1947, =1948
Georgia: +1946
Alabama: +1945
Purdue: +1943
Stanford: +1940
California: +1937
Pittsburgh: +1936, -1937
LSU: =1958
Texas A&M: =1939
Michigan State: -1952, +1953
Ohio State: -1942, +1944, =1954
Oklahoma: +1949, -1950, =1955, -1956, +1957
TCU: -1938
Maryland: -1953
Auburn: -1957
Army: -1944, -1945
Minnesota: -1936, -1940, =1941
Notre Dame: -1943, -1946, -1947, -1949