Rolled the dice, and it came up 1990s. So we are simming 1996. 60s and 10s are the only decades left to run
AP Poll from December 9, 1996 (the pre-bowl poll):
- 11-0 Florida State vs #3 UF in the Sugar Bowl.
- 11-0 Arizona State vs #4 tOSU in the Rose Bowl.
- 11-1 Florida vs #1 FSU in the Sugar Bowl.
- 10-1 Ohio State vs #2 ASU in the Rose Bowl.
- 13-1 BYU
- 10-2 Nebraska
- 10-2 Penn State
- 9-2 Colorado
- 9-2 Tennessee
- 10-1 Virginia Tech
- 9-2 Northwestern
- 9-2 North Carolina
- 9-2 Washington
- 9-2 Kansas State
- 8-3 Michigan
- 9-3 Alabama
- 9-2 LSU
- 8-3 Notre Dame
- 8-3 Miami, FL
- 8-4 Texas
- 8-3 Iowa
- 10-2 Wyoming
- 8-3 Syracuse
- 10-1 Army
- 8-3 West Virginia
Nebraska had won the past two NCs although the 1994 Championship is argued by fans of Penn State because the Nittany Lions also finished undefeated. Anyway, as two-time defending NC and coming off of that beat down of the Gators in the 1995 BCA Championship the Cornhuskers started out #1 and it wasn't close.
One of the biggest events of that season was Arizona State's shutout upset of Nebraska on September 21. Ironically, Nebraska's loss to ASU happened on the same field where they had demolished the Gators almost 10 months earlier.
Anyway, September 21, 1996 was an exciting day of CFB:
- #1 Nebraska lost 19-0 at #17 Arizona State
- #2 Tennessee lost 35-29 at home to #4 Florida
- #6 Texas lost 27-24 at home to #9 Notre Dame
That certainly shook up the top-10 and when it came out on Monday (yes, Monday back then) it was:
- 3-0 Florida coming off of their win at #2 Tennessee. Up from #4.
- 2-0 Florida State, up from #3.
- 4-0 Penn State, up from #5.
- 2-0 Ohio State, up from #7.
- 3-0 Notre Dame, up from #9.
- 3-0 Arizona State, up from #17.
- 3-0 Michigan, up from #8.
- 1-1 Nebraska, down from #1.
- 2-1 Tennessee, down from #2.
- 3-0 Miami, FL - even.
A week later #4 Ohio State beat #5 Notre Dame in South Bend. A week after that #3 Ohio State demolished #4 Penn State and that pretty much dialed in the NC race:
- Florida stayed at #1 until they lost to FSU the week before the SECCG. That dropped them to #4 but they beat #11 Bama in the SECCG and #3 UNL lost to Texas in the B12CG which got UF back to #3 and into a BCA title-game against #1 FSU. They won the rematch and finished #1.
- Florida State dropped to #3 when Ohio State thumped PSU but climbed back to #2 when Michigan beat Ohio Sate and stayed there until they beat #1 Florida in Tallahassee then climbed to #1 then fell back to #3 when they lost to UF in NOLA.
- Ohio State climbed to #3 by winning at #5 Notre Dame and to #2 by demolishing #4 Penn State and stayed there until they lost at home to Michigan (John Cooper). The loss to Michigan dropped them to #6 but they slid up to #5 a week later after #5 Colorado lost to #4 Nebraska. Then they climbed another spot after UNL's B12CG upset loss to Texas. They were #4 going into the Rose Bowl and beat #2 to finish #2.
- Arizona State climbed to #4 based on Ohio State taking out ND and PSU and stayed there until Ohio State lost to Michigan. That moved ASU up to #3 and then FSU's win over UF moved ASU up to #2. They lost the Rose Bowl to #4 Ohio State and finished #4.
Memories of the season:
I was a 21 year old Junior at Ohio State. I remember watching the win over Notre Dame on TV and when it went final we went outside and there was this euphoric roar all over the campus area.
A week later the PSU game was concerning because it had only been two years earlier that PSU just obliterated Ohio State in Happy Valley. My dad and I arranged for tickets to that game for he and my brother for my brother's 16th birthday that week. I really expected Tom to come to Columbus and see a great game and instead it honestly looked like the Buckeyes were playing a MAC team. That was one of the more impressive performances I've ever seen from the Buckeyes considering that it wasn't some crappy opponent, it was a top-4 Gameday matchup and Ohio State just ran Paterno's team off the field.
As mentioned above my dad and brother came down to Ohio State for the PSU game but they didn't get there until close to gametime so I had the morning free and I went over to see this ESPN Program called College Gameday that had never been to Ohio State before that. I saw Lee Corso put on the Brutus head but I had no idea what I was witnessing. I didn't usually watch the show so I didn't know that Lee Corso's headgear pick was a brand new item that started on October 5, 1996 in Columbus, Ohio and I was there to see it.
Stop me if you've heard this before concerning a John Cooper coached team but The Game just sucked. Michigan was decent, they finished 8-4 and #20 but they weren't nearly as good as the Penn State team that Ohio State throttled or the Notre Dame team that Ohio State beat on the road or the ASU team that Ohio State beat in the Rose Bowl. Michigan lost that year to Purdue whom Ohio State beat 42-14 and Penn State whom Ohio State beat 38-7 but it was Cooper so you all know how that ended.
My family drove to the Rose Bowl. As I sit here in my office typing this there is a picture frame beside me with my ticket stub, an Ohio State logo, and a picture of my parents, my brother, and I with the Rose Bowl scoreboard behind us. The picture was taken by an ASU fan. We had agreed that the loser would stay long enough to take that picture for the winner and to his credit he upheld his end of the bargain.
The UF/FSU Sugar Bowl must have been played a day after NYD because I distinctly remember listening to it on an AM broadcast while driving across America on our way home from Pasadena. I remember that I was hoping for a REALLY sloppy game with the Gators eking out a close win because that was the only chance Ohio State had to get the NC. Instead Florida obliterated FSU and the Buckeyes finished #2.
