1996 McMNC: Florida Gators

AP Top 10: Final Record -- Key Bowl Results

1. Florida: 12-1-0 -- W, Sugar, 52-20
2. Ohio State: 11-1-0 -- W, Rose, 20-17
3. Florida State: 11-1-0 -- L, Sugar, 20-52
4. Arizona State: 11-1-0 -- L, Rose, 17-20
5. BYU: 14-1-0 -- W, Cotton, 19-15
6. Nebraska: 11-2-0 -- W, Orange, 41-21
7. Penn State: 11-2-0 -- W, Fiesta, 38-15
8. Colorado: 10-2-0 -- W, Holiday, 33-21
9. Tennessee: 10-2-0 -- W, Citrus, 48-28
10. North Carolina: 10-2-0 -- W, Gator, 20-13

Side note: Not sure why FSU finished above ASU in this final poll, considering the Sun Devils lost their bowl game by three points in the final seconds, while FSU lost their bowl game by many touchdowns the minute their bowl match-up was announced.

Technically, every team on this list, save FSU and ASU, have a shot at the McMNC. Yikes! Let's eliminate first: North Carolina didn't win the ACC, so they're out. Tennessee didn't win the SEC, so they're out. Nebraska and Colorado didn't win the Big XII, so they're out. Penn State didn't win the Big Ten, so they're out.

That leaves us with BYU, Ohio State and Florida.

The Cougars lost on the road to AP #16 Washington (9-3) by 12 points. Not a bad blemish, to be sure, but ... the problem for BYU is the rest of the schedule, as usual. With only a 48% SOS rating, they're way behind already. They only beat two ranked teams all year: AP #22 Wyoming (10-2) and AP #17 Kansas State (9-3) in the Cotton Bowl by a combined seven points. The rest of their schedule was a joke: Arkansas State, New Mexico, Utah State, UTEP, etc.

Ohio State, in usual fashion, blew their season in the last regular season game against AP #20 Michigan (8-4). Losing by four points at home to the Wolverines with everything on the line was just bad. But it's not fatal in this discussion: the Buckeyes had a very good 56% SOS rating, and they beat six winning teams in 1996 -- including four ranked teams. Ohio State has victories over unranked 7-4 Rice by 63 points at home, AP #19 Notre Dame (8-3) by 13 points on the road, #7 Penn State by 31 points at home, unranked 8-5 Wisconsin at home by three points, AP #18 Iowa (9-3) by 12 points on the road, and #4 Arizona State in the Rose Bowl.

Florida lost by three points on the road to Florida State on November 30, won the SEC title game the following weekend and found itself with a rematch against the Seminoles in the Sugar Bowl. The Gators had an SOS rating of 60%, which is excellent. Florida beat #9 Tennessee (10-2) by six points on the road (of course, they did!), they beat AP #12 Louisiana State (10-2) at home by 43 points, they beat AP #24 Auburn (8-4) by 41 points at home, they beat unranked 6-5 South Carolina by 27 points at home, they beat AP #11 Alabama (10-3) by 15 points in the SEC title game, and they beat #3 Florida State by 32 points in the bowl rematch.

Without a doubt, Florida has the better resume: higher SOS and dominating wins over five ranked teams. But the issue I have is the fact they got a rematch they didn't deserve in the bowl game, which gave them a shot at a championship they perhaps don't deserve, either. This will be an extensive problem later as I go through the BCS years, but this is a pre-BCS problem, of course.

Why did Florida get a rematch with Florida State? With Arizona State and Ohio State locked into the Rose Bowl, what other team could have faced undefeated Florida State in a bowl game worth its salt? Nebraska was an obvious choice, but with two losses and the promise of the rematch, the Bowl Coalition screwed us all up.

My problem is this: like 2006, why should a team get a second chance to beat a team it couldn't beat the first time? If the college football season is truly a playoff, Florida's loss to Florida State should have eliminated them from the fray. In fact, why doesn't it, anyway? Florida holds no edge over #3 Florida State, since they split the two head-to-head meetings. Why should the bowl game be given precedence over the regular season game?

Yes, the bowl game season has been a primary factor in the entire McMNC analysis. But this is a strange and unique circumstance. We've had rematches before (1965 UCLA and Michigan State come to mind, for example), but never a rematch after so late a regular season matchup.

Why did Ohio State's loss to Michigan eliminate the Buckeyes in the eyes of the voters while Florida's loss to Florida State did not eliminate the Gators? I don't like it, at all. It violates the very arguments that are routinely given for why there is no tournament championship in major college football.

I feel confident in saying that everyone *knew* Florida would beat Florida State in a rematch, that somehow the Seminoles had gotten lucky in the 24-21 win on November 30. And, since Arizona State was undefeated still, no one suspected Florida would win the MNC simply by beating Florida State. They still needed help.

Goddamn, Sun Devils. You could have made this all moot by just playing some better defense.

I know the purpose of this exercise is to clarify a proper champion, since we can never do it on the field. But I struggled with this one to the end: however wrong the rematch was, Florida was still the better team in 1996. If the Gators had beaten Arizona State instead, and the Buckeyes had beaten Florida State instead, this would be a clear choice.

Like BYU in 1984, Florida just got lucky this year when they had no business winning this title.

McMNC Revisions
1. Florida
2. Ohio State
3. Arizona State
4. BYU
5. Florida State

RUNNING SCORECARD:
Penn State: +1977, +1981, =1982, =1986, +1994
USC: -1962, =1967, +1969, =1972, +1978, +1979
Tennessee: +1938, +1942, +1950, -1951
Washington: +1960, +1991
Georgia Tech: +1952, +1990
Pittsburgh: +1936, -1937, =1976, +1980
UCLA: +1965
Arkansas: +1964
Mississippi: +1962
Iowa: +1956
Illinois: +1951
Michigan: +1947, =1948
Purdue: +1943
Stanford: +1940
California: +1937
Florida: =1996
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
Colorado: -1990
Florida State: -1993
Texas: =1963, -1969
Nebraska: =1970, =1971, -1994, =1995
Army: -1944, -1945
Miami-FL: -1983, =1987, =1989, -1991
Minnesota: -1936, -1940, =1941, -1960
Alabama: +1945, =1961, -1964, -1965, -1978, -1979, =1992
Notre Dame: -1943, -1946, -1947, -1949, =1966, =1973, -1977, =1988, +1993