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I've been reviewing the top 10s, starting in 1971.  Houston really had a good run in the late 70s.  Anyone recall those Cougars teams, coached by Bill Yeoman?



Also, I had no idea Charley Pell had a big year with Clemson (11-1) before coaching at Florida (and getting us on probation).  
Texas' Fred Akers always had a great defense.
Boy, Bo sure did have a great run at UM - seemingly top 10 and often top 5 every year, but never breaking through.  
SMU was a top 5 team in both 81 and 82, but changed head coaches.  Did that have anything to do with the cheating that was going on there?


I just want someone who wasn't in diapers (like me) back then to share the thinking at the time of these guys/programs.

I knew Texas wasn't great in the early 90s, but looking at the SWC champions each year, Texas wasn't the big-boy program at all.  Since Earl Campbell left, these are the champs by year:
78 - Houston
79 - Arkansas/Houston
80 - Baylor
81 - SMU
82 - SMU
83 - Texas
84 - Houston/SMU
85 - A&M
86 - A&M
87 - A&M
88 - Arkansas
89 - Arkansas
90 - Texas
91 - A&M
92 - A&M
93 - A&M
94 - 5-way tie, including Texas
95 - Texas

Add to that, I knew the SWC was weak by the end, but it had been weak since the mid-80s, going by number of teams ranked in the final AP top 25 each year.
Many years, the SWC only had one ranked team - 1984, 87, 91, 92, 93 - and only 2 ranked in 88 and 94.  That's bad...really bad.

Yes, but I was too young to remember it well.



I'm in the upper left part of the photo, barely visible.  

As Georgia Tech did not yet have its own team, the Athens Weekly Banner reported that "the Technological school was out in force wearing the colors of the University and aiding the lung gang by vigorous use of cow bells." The score was tied 0-0 at the half, and the second half, marked by heavy rain, produced a final score of Auburn 10, Georgia 0.

Between 2,000 - 3,000 people attended the game at Piedmont Park, with tickets 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children. It was Atlanta's first experience with college football, and in the weeks leading up to the meeting, the city's papers explained the new sport to their readers as well as hyping the game by noting that "Atlanta is wild over the matter."

So now we know the origin of the cow bell thing.  Blame it on Tech.  The train track is not where the East Beltline trail runs, though that portion is not yet improved, it's gravel and mud.  

Here's a football oddity for y'all.

2008 UCLA @ Arizona St when the Sun Devils beat the Bruins by 25 (34-9)

Now these were both mediocre teams, neither went to a bowl this season but damn was this specific game quite unique. 

Now while the UCLA offense didn't exactly tear it up (306 total yards) the ASU offense played like hot ass gaining only 122 total yards for the game. UCLA yards per carry wasn't great at 2.5 but ASU only managed 0.9 YPC. UCLA completed twice as many passes as ASU with a 9% higher comp % and 1 more yard per pass. 

So how did ASU win by 25 points? If you haven't clicked the link already you probably already are guessing turnovers and/or special teams and while that's not wrong, it's still quite rare what ASU accomplished to beat UCLA by such a solid margin. 

While the UCLA offense only managed 9 points off 3 FGs, that still outscored what the ASU offense did (6 points off 2 FGs). The ASU defense forced 4 Bruin turnovers and scored on every single one of them. That's absurd. Especially seeing that ASU's defense outgained their offense off these 4 turnovers. 

UCLA QB sacked, fumbled, and defense scoops it up and takes it 17 yards for a score. 
UCLA throws a 38 yard pick six
UCLA throws a 100 yard pick six
UCLA throws a 45 yard pick six

That's exactly 200 yards in 4 plays, 78 more yards then the entire offense managed in 50 plays.