1985 McMNC: Oklahoma Sooners

AP Top 10: Final Record -- Key Bowl Results

1. Oklahoma: 11-1-0 -- W, Orange, 25-10
2. Michigan: 10-1-1 -- W, Fiesta, 27-23
3. Penn State: 11-1-0 -- L, Orange, 10-25
4. Tennessee: 9-1-2 -- W, Sugar, 35-7
5. Florida: 9-1-1 -- NONE (probation)
6. Texas A&M: 10-2-0 -- W, Cotton, 36-16
7. UCLA: 9-2-1 -- W, Rose, 45-28
8. Air Force: 12-1-0 -- W, Bluebonnet, 24-16
9. Miami: 10-2-0 -- L, Sugar, 7-35
10. Iowa: 10-2-0 -- L, Rose, 28-45

With no BYU in the picture, it gets a lot easier, huh?

Think again.

Oklahoma, Michigan, Tennessee, Florida, Texas A&M, UCLA and Air Force all could make arguments for their ascension to the throne in 1985. But, of course -- as usual -- there are some issues with a few candidacies.

Michigan didn't win the Big Ten; that honor went to the Hawkeyes who defeated Michigan 12-10 at home mid-season (a #1 vs. #2 matchup at the time). Too bad, because the Wolverines checked in with a 59% SOS rating in 1985. Perhaps if Ronnie Harmon hadn't fumbled away the Rose Bowl, Iowa (55% SOS) would be in this discussion. But I digress ... Florida is ineligible (again) due to probation status. Technically, Florida won the SEC on the basis of their head-to-head win over Tennessee (17-10 win in the Swamp), but since the Vols also matched the Gators' SEC mark with a 5-1 record, we can still consider Tennessee as the SEC champ without overlooking anything other than the cheatenous reality that was Florida and Charley Pell. And finally, Air Force is out, because as much as I admire the cadets, their 46% SOS rating falls short of the others' marks (the war era omission of military academies is long since irrelevant, by the way).

So Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas A&M and UCLA are in the running. In reverse order ...

UCLA: With a 57% SOS, the Bruins had a good year capped off by a big bowl win/upset over Iowa. UCLA had two Pac-10 road losses, though: by seven at unranked 7-5 Washington and by four "at" 6-6 USC. Not very impressive. The tie was on the road at Tennessee, however. Yet by losing to two unranked teams, especially the Trojans in the last regular season game, the Bruins pretty much killed their shot at the McMNC in 1985.

Texas A&M: The Aggies had a great season, marred only by losses to AP #13 Alabama (9-2-1) on the road, 23-10, and to AP #17 Baylor (9-3) on the road, 20-15. These losses to Top 20 teams on the road were counterbalanced by a 56% SOS rating overall, which included beating 7-4 Louisiana-Monroe (or whatever direction they were back then) by 14 points at home, thumping 6-5 Tulsa by 35 points at home, scraping by 6-5 SMU at home by two points, beating AP #12 Arkansas (10-2) at home by four points, thrashing 8-4 Texas at home by 32 points, and trouncing 8-4 Auburn in the Cotton Bowl by 20 points. In the end, they only beat one ranked team all season, and that's just not good enough.

Tennessee: The Vols' 58% SOS rating puts them ahead of both UCLA and A&M, and they also have fewer losses, too, than either of those 1985 also-rans. But two ties?! The aforementioned tie against #7 UCLA isn't a bad thing, nor is the second deadlock: a 6-6 home scrum against AP #19 Georgia Tech (9-2-1). Yes, both ties were at home, but those were Top 20 teams. Their loss was to cheatenous #5 Florida on the road by seven points. Heck, Tennessee was damn close to being perfect in 1985, if you look at it a certain way. They did beat 8-4 Auburn by 18 points at home, they beat AP #13 Alabama (9-2-1) on the road by two points, and they beat #9 Miami-FL by 28 points in the Sugar Bowl. They played a lot of good teams: five opponents won at least nine games, but the Vols only went 2-1-2 in those games. They certainly didn't dominate their schedule, even allowing for the Florida problem.

Oklahoma: The Sooners beat then-#1 Penn State in the Orange Bowl to even open up this debate. They beat 7-5 Minnesota on the road by six points, the beat 8-4 Texas on the road by seven points, they lost by 13 points at home to #9 Miami on October 19 (the game where Troy Aikman broke his lef), shutout 7-5 Colorado at home (31-0), beat AP #11 Nebraska (9-3) by 20 points at home, shutout 8-4 Oklahoma State on the road (13-0), beat 6-5 SMU at home by 22 points, and then beat Penn State in the Orange Bowl by 15 points. Overall, their SOS rating (56%) was dragged down by 1-10 Missouri and 1-10 Kansas State. They were fortunate Miami lost the Sugar Bowl, for otherwise the 'Canes could have stolen this McMNC from them.

In the end, it has to be Oklahoma: they did enough against a good enough schedule to be above all other teams in 1985.

McMNC Revisions
1. Oklahoma
2. Penn State
3. Michigan
4. Tennessee
5. UCLA

RUNNING SCORECARD:
USC: -1962, =1967, +1969, =1972, +1978, +1979
Pittsburgh: +1936, -1937, =1976, +1980
Tennessee: +1938, +1942, +1950, -1951
Penn State: +1977, +1981, =1982
UCLA: +1965
Arkansas: +1964
Mississippi: +1962
Washington: +1960
Iowa: +1956
Georgia Tech: +1952
Illinois: +1951
Michigan: +1947, =1948
Purdue: +1943
Stanford: +1940
California: +1937
Nebraska: =1970, =1971
BYU: =1984
Syracuse: =1959
LSU: =1958
Texas A&M: =1939
Auburn: -1957, +1983
Georgia: +1946, -1980
Michigan State: -1952, +1953
Ohio State: -1942, +1944, =1954, =1968
Oklahoma: +1949, -1950, =1955, -1956, +1957, =1975, =1986
TCU: -1938
Maryland: -1953
Clemson: -1981
Miami-FL: -1983
Texas: =1963, -1969
Army: -1944, -1945
Minnesota: -1936, -1940, =1941, -1960
Alabama: +1945, =1961, -1964, -1965, -1978, -1979
Notre Dame: -1943, -1946, -1947, -1949, =1966, =1973, -1977