The 1996 National Championship

[CatsbyAZ]

Loved the the finish to the ‘96 season. Other than Nebraska I don’t believe anyone would’ve had a chance to beat the Gators on the night they ran over the Seminoles 52-20.

Edit: And I never considered medina’s comment: “Also, IIRC, this was the most recent year in which the AP National Champion had never previously won an AP NC.  “

Always forget about that early 80s Clemson title. Makes you wonder if someone were to win their first NC, who might it reasonably be? 

[FearlessF]

Wisconsin?

[Brutus Buckeye]

List of NCAA recognized National Champions. 

https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/college-football-national-championship-history

Big Ten
Michigan: 9/4 outright
Ohio State: 8/4 outright
Minnesota 6/5 outright
Nebraska: 5/3 outright
Penn State: 4/2 outright
Michigan State: 3/1 outright
Illinois: 3/0 outright
Chicago: 1 outright
Maryland: 1 outright
Iowa: 1/0 outright
Rutgers: 1/0 outright

Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana and Northwestern: Zilch, zero, nada and goose egg. 

[Cincydawg]

Even when a bad team plays a top team, they have "a chance".  It might be 1%, or less, but massive upsets obviously happen.  

The outcome of one game doesn't mean the winner was the better team of course.  We can only speculate as to which team was more likely to prevail, or which would have won 6 times out of 10, or 7.  I think folks forget often that a decent team can beat a powerhouse 2-3 times in 10.

[847badgerfan]

List of NCAA recognized National Champions.

https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/college-football-national-championship-history

Big Ten
Michigan: 9/4 outright
Ohio State: 8/4 outright
Minnesota 6/5 outright
Nebraska: 5/3 outright
Penn State: 4/2 outright
Michigan State: 3/1 outright
Illinois: 3/0 outright
Chicago: 1 outright
Maryland: 1 outright
Iowa: 1/0 outright
Rutgers: 1/0 outright

Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana and Northwestern: Zilch, zero, nada and goose egg.

I'm 52 and I have to freaking clue what you are talking about.

[medinabuckeye1]

I'm 52 and I have to freaking clue what you are talking about.

Unfortunately for Minnesota, 52 is not nearly old enough to remember the Gophers' glory days.

[Brutus Buckeye]

At least they had glory days.

[Brutus Buckeye]

But yeah, I don't think anyone outside of the South is going to win one anytime soon. 

Out on the Left Coast the youth participation is waning. The Pac 12 is toast. 

Ohio State was the only team outside of the South that still even tried to play football at an elite level. I thought it was over when Tressel left. Now I'm really worried. If Penn St, Michigan, Notre Dame and Nebraska can all fall off of the National State, then Ohio State can too. And we may very well have just seen it happen. 

[Cincydawg]

Which programs outside the South have a reasonable shot?

Notre Dame has made the dance a couple of times.  I guess Oklahoma is in the "south"?  What about USC?  Gone?  Ohio State is an obvious candidate.  I think they actually won one fairly recently.  I was walking through the airport in Portland when they were playing.

I guess a question whether any team not named Alabama or Clemson can win it.

[Brutus Buckeye]

I'd say Texlahoma is "part of the South"

The Left Coast will probably have enough talent to keep USC afloat for a while. They "could" win it. But they are not very good right now, and don't have much promise on the immediate horizon.

Notre Dame still has a long way to go. They can make it to the playoffs by running the table as they have, but they will continue to get absolutely boat raced once they get there. Same with any other Northern team, for the most part. They still have the population up North, but they don't have that "win at all costs" mentality that makes the teams in the South so competitive. Instead they have "gentleman's agreements" and still have a willingness to work with the NCAA "self reporting" violations and whatnot. 

The jury is still out on OSU, although they appear to be trending downward. They will probably stay on as a regional power, since they compete in a conference that has to live off of their table scraps. But the gap between them and the Bamas and Clemsons of the world just got a whole lot wider.

All of this is "imo" obviously.

[Cincydawg]

One thing about the South is that basketball is a distant second cousin for top athletes in most cases.  Football is the focus.  Now of course folks play football almost year round from the age of, well, it seems like 3 or 4.  Kids in the 9th grade go to ING Academy because of weather.  The HS football programs around me are astounding in terms of equipment and facilities.  

This is one reason the state of Georgia has become such a recruiting hot bed, coupled with population growth.  It's now larger than Michigan.

[OrangeAfroMan]

Yeah, Kentucky loves basketball because they've been good at it forever.  
I honestly couldn't tell you the 2nd-most rabid SEC basketball fanbase.  Arkansas?  Vandy?  Miss State?  Mizzou?  Blindfold on, throw a dart.

[fezzador]

One thing about the South is that basketball is a distant second cousin for top athletes in most cases.  Football is the focus.  Now of course folks play football almost year round from the age of, well, it seems like 3 or 4.  Kids in the 9th grade go to ING Academy because of weather.  The HS football programs around me are astounding in terms of equipment and facilities.  

This is one reason the state of Georgia has become such a recruiting hot bed, coupled with population growth.  It's now larger than Michigan.

It may be bigger than Ohio, Illinois, and Pennsylvania in our lifetime too.

[ELA]

Yeah, Kentucky loves basketball because they've been good at it forever.  
I honestly couldn't tell you the 2nd-most rabid SEC basketball fanbase.  Arkansas?  Vandy?  Miss State?  Mizzou?  Blindfold on, throw a dart.

I've always heard it's comfortably Arkansas, but I have no personal experience to speak to that.  Granted that was also pre-Missouri.