So here's the list of champs if that season's "other" team won:
24 - ND
23 - Washington
22 - TCU (eh)
21 - Alabama
20 - OSU
19 - Clemson
18 - Alabama
17 - Georgia
16 - Alabama
15 - Clemson
14 - Oregon
13 - Auburn
12 - ND
11 - LSU
10 - Oregon
09 - Texas
08 - Oklahoma
07 - OSU
06 - OSU
05 - USC
04 - Oklahoma
03 - Oklahoma
02 - Miami
01 - Nebraska
00 - FSU
99 - VA Tech
98 - FSU
97 - flip-flop UNL and UM? (3rd - FSU)
96 - FSU
95 - Florida
94 - Penn St
93 - Nebraska
92 - Miami
91 - flip-flop Miami and Washington? (3rd- Penn St)
90 - flip-flop CU and GT? (3rd - Miami, with 2 losses)
89 - ND
88 - West Virginia
87 - Oklahoma
86 - Miami
85 - Penn St
84 - Washington
83 - Nebraska
82 - Georgia
81 - Nebraska
80 - ND (due to bowl matchups and who lost, it looks like ND would jump from 7th to #1)
79 - USC
78 - flip-flop Bama and USC (3rd - Oklahoma)
77 - Texas
76 - USC
75 - OSU
74 - OU won w/o playing in a bowl, but Bama probably gets a share if they won theirs
73 - Alabama
72 - OSU
71 - Alabama
70 - flip-flop Texas and Nebraska (3rd - ND)
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Imagine this if it was the reality. OSU with 5 NCs. Saban really shines here, like Jack Nicklaus with all those majors and all those 2nd-place finishes or Nolan Ryan with the most no-hitters and the most 1-hitters.
Dr. Tom gets his way earlier. Florida loses 2 NCs.
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I also want to point out that we'd still have only had one 2-loss NC before this past year (1990 instead of 2007). That's how rare it is, when even the next-best teams are listed. But going forward, 2-loss NCs will be easily more frequent. Yay.
