Head coach at Oklahoma[edit (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bud_Wilkinson&action=edit§ion=3)]If you are of a certain age, you might remember "Chicken Fat (https://youtu.be/EFofqe26t-4)."
In his first season as head coach in 1947, Wilkinson led Oklahoma to a 7–2–1 record and a share of the conference championship, the first of 13 consecutive Big Six/Seven/Eight Conference (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Eight_Conference) titles. Ultimately, Wilkinson became one of the most celebrated college coaches of all time. His teams captured national championships in 1950, 1955, and 1956, and they amassed a 145–29–4 (.826) overall record.
The centerpiece of his time in Norman was a 47-game winning streak from 1953 to 1957, an NCAA Division I (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_I) record that still stands. It has been moderately threatened only three times: by Toledo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo_Rockets_football) (35 wins, 1969–1971), Miami (FL) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Hurricanes_football) (34 wins, 2000–2003), and USC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USC_Trojans_football) (34 wins, 2003–2005). Earlier, the Sooners ran off 31 consecutive wins from 1948 to 1950. Apart from two losses in 1951, Wilkinson's Sooners did not lose more than one game per season for 11 years between 1948 and 1958, going 107–8–2 over that period. His teams also went 12 consecutive seasons (1947–1958) without a loss in conference play, a streak which has never been seriously threatened. Wilkinson did not suffer his first conference loss until 1959 against Nebraska (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebraska_Cornhuskers_football), his 79th conference game.
Wilkinson suffered only one losing season, in 1960. However, that season saw him pass Bennie Owen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bennie_Owen) to become the winningest coach in Sooner history. He has since been passed by Barry Switzer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Switzer) and Bob Stoops (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Stoops).
While coaching at OU, Wilkinson began writing a weekly newsletter to alumni during the season, to keep them interested in Sooner football. He also became the first football coach to host his own television show. He and Michigan State University coach Duffy Daugherty (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duffy_Daugherty) partnered to sponsor a series of clinics for high school coaches nationwide. Later, they turned their clinics into a profitable business.[2] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Wilkinson#cite_note-McGregor-2)
Following the 1963 season, his 17th at Oklahoma, Wilkinson retired from coaching at the age of 47. Along with Owen, Switzer and Stoops, he is one of four football coaches to win over 100 games at the University of Oklahoma. No other college football program has had more than three coaches who accomplished the feat.
While at Oklahoma, Wilkinson served on the President's Council on Physical Fitness (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President's_Council_on_Physical_Fitness_and_Sports) from 1961 to 1964. He designed 11 floor exercises for schoolchildren that were incorporated into the song "Chicken Fat (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_Fat_(song))",[3] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Wilkinson#cite_note-3) the theme song for President John F. Kennedy's youth fitness program,[4] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Wilkinson#cite_note-JFKPE-4) which was widely used in school gymnasiums across the country in the 1960s and 1970s.[5] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Wilkinson#cite_note-Riis-5)
| Fort Knox | 59-0 | |
| Indiana (7-3) | 32-21 | #23 |
| Southern Cal (5-5-1) | 28-12 | #25 |
| Purdue (1-8) | 26-0 | |
| at Northwestern (1-9) | 20-6 | |
| at Wisconsin (8-1-1) | 7-17 | #3 |
| Pittsburgh (3-6) | 59-19 | |
| Illinois (6-4) | 44-20 | #20 |
| Michigan (7-3) | 21-7 | #9 |
| Iowa Pre-Flight (7-3) | 41-12 | (#21) |
| at Kentucky (3-6-1) | 7-6 | |
| (Macon) Jacksonville NAS (9-3) | 14-0 | (#30-40) |
| Furman (3-6) | 40-7 | |
| (Memphis) Mississippi (2-7) | 48-13 | |
| Tulane (4-5) | 40-0 | #14 |
| at Cincinnati (8-2) | 35-13 | (#30-40) |
| Alabama (8-3) | 21-10 | #6 |
| (Jacksonville) Florida (3-7) | 75-0 | |
| Tennessee-Chattanooga (7-4) | 40-0 | |
| (Columbus) Auburn (6-4-1) | 13-27 | #13 |
| Georgia Tech (9-2) | 34-0 | #4 |
| Rose Bowl UCLA (7-4) | 9-0 | #18 |
In 1944 his hand picked successor Ryan Day, er, Carroll Widdoes went undefeated and finished second behind Army. QB Les Horvath was the first Heisman winner.I read somewhere that someone referred to Ohio State 1944 as the "Civilian National Champion". I honestly think that is a more legitimate NC claim than some others.
That all changed with the hire of head coach Paul Brown (pictured at left) in 1941. He went 6-1-1 in 1941 (#8), then 9-1 this season to bring home OSU's first national championship. This was the year Ohio State transitioned from a B-level power to A-level, where they have been ever since.I have said before and I'll say it again here that in my opinion, Paul Brown was the best coach to ever coach in this league.
Prior to taking the wheel at Ohio State, Paul Brown had been an exceedingly successful high school coach, going 80-8-2 at Massillon 1932-1940 and winning 6 state championships. They had been 2-10 the year before he took over, but by the time he left, they were a high school powerhouse with a $300,000 stadium that could seat all of the residents of Massillon, and they had a higher attendance than every college in Ohio except Ohio State. Brown only coached at Ohio State for 3 seasons, and his war-depleted 1943 team went just 3-6, so he was but 18-8-1 at OSU overall. He then went 15-5-2 as coach of Great Lakes Navy 1944-1945.
His next head coaching position, and the one for which he is now most famous, was with the Browns-- he was their first-ever coach, of course, and the one for whom the team was named. He went 111-44-5 there, winning his conference 10 straight years and capturing 3 NFL championships. In 1968 he co-founded the Bengals and became their first coach. He ended up 166-100-6 for his career, and he is in the pro Hall of Fame.
I've been researching 45 Army in an attempt to offer it for Whoa Nellie and learned they were "only" a 6.5 point favorite vs Navy that year. Now sure, the was the best Navy team in forever, but still. Army was an all-time top team.well, when a big win was 6-0 or 13-7
This is an MNC Alabama claims for some reason, perhaps the most dubious of the lot. The world in 1941 was becoming a very troubled place obviously. Germany had overrun France in May 1940 and then much of the rest of Europe.wish bama would drop this one and if they have to, pick up one of either 1945 or 1966. both are undefeated/untied major bowl winning teams (rose in 45, sugar in 66). not to discredit army in 45, they deserve it for sure, but there's plenty of shared titles and this one makes much better sense for bama to claim a share of than 41. 66 would be the best, but we'll get to that when cincy makes his 60's thread i guess.
http://www.tiptop25.com/champ1941.html (http://www.tiptop25.com/champ1941.html)
Duquesne also finished 8-0, including a big 16-0 win over SEC champion Mississippi State (8-1-1, #12 in fixed AP poll), but their schedule was otherwise bereft of competition, and they struggled to win against Villanova and St. Vincent's (Pennsylvania). They are ranked #6 in the fixed AP poll, and they are not a contender for the MNC.
Alabama actually claims an MNC for this season, despite the fact that they were 9-2, ranked #20 in the AP poll (they rise to #13 in the fixed poll), and they finished tied for 5th in the SEC with 8-2 Vanderbilt, who beat them. This has to be the worst MNC claim of all time, utterly senseless. The claim is based on Alabama finishing #1 in the relatively obscure Houlgate math formula, and it is the only MNC claim a school has made based on Houlgate (Sagarin is far more respected, and no school claims an MNC based on Sagarin). No school has ever rescinded an MNC claim, so I suppose Alabama is stuck with this one, but it seems to me that it would be much less embarrassing for Alabama to rescind the claim than to continue with their ridiculous "1941 national champions" charade.
well, when a big win was 6-0 or 13-7army's average mov was over 40. their smallest mov for the season was 19.
the Big 12 hadn't invented good offense or crappy defense in 45
CFB changed rather dramatically due to the war with most players going into the service or playing for teams of schools like Iowa Preflight where they were in military training. Many athletes (and movie stars) were not only in the service, but also garnered some serious combat time.What changed here, in terms of advertising one's service?
"We" tend to overlook their service contributions because few of them referred to it.
What changed here, in terms of advertising one's service?I think it became a rarer thing? When you have two World Wars 25ish years apart, how many able bodied men didn't serve?
Back then, they didn't want to talk about it or didn't feel the need. But post-Vietnam, or maybe WWII now in very old age, they're wearing the hats at all times, going to every veteran's thing possible.
Neither is better or worse, and if you served, you have the right to share it or not share it as much or as little as you want, but something changed.
Ironic if Ft. Knox had a poor defense, eh?Now you tell us
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Ironic if Ft. Knox had a poor defense, eh?Most of the gold apparently is at the Fed in NYC, and the best defense is the shear weight of the gold bars. The movies tend to make rather light of that.
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But didn't nearly everyone serve in Vietnam (aside from the sons of rich politicians)?No, not even close. We had draft numbers back then. I think mine was 355 or something. They were taking up to about 70, and many who were in the military were in Europe. We had about half a million troops in Vietnam at peak. Compare that with how many served in WW II and were in war theaters often as not.
What changed here, in terms of advertising one's service?Maybe because "everybody" served in World War II, whereas our best and brightest managed to avoid service in Vietnam, and the vets got treated like crap by so many people when they got home.
Back then, they didn't want to talk about it or didn't feel the need. But post-Vietnam, or maybe WWII now in very old age, they're wearing the hats at all times, going to every veteran's thing possible.
Neither is better or worse, and if you served, you have the right to share it or not share it as much or as little as you want, but something changed.
i wonder if the treatment the vietnam vets got coming back played a role. military is a brotherhood and they were treated poorly upon return (still are sometimes) and i wonder if the trend of advertising you're military (current or former) on your sleeve was a form of support that's stuck around. don't know, i wasn't around for 'nam.Yep.
Orangeafroman:Because the people who spit on Vietnam vets when they came home didn't care whether they were draftees or volunteers. They knew from their own experience that if one were "smart" (or if daddy had money) he could avoid service, so these yahoos coming back must have wanted to go over there and kill babies.
Why would someone mistreat a drafted solider returning from war? Did people just not understand that the soldiers are the pawns? The entire Vietnam War seems like a big WTF form every angle and aspect.
“The students, the people of books and pep clubs and prom committees, who had from their childhood feared the simple power and brutality of the blue collar kids. . . now found their scourges trapped. . . . The boys whose sense of danger and action had lured them into the Army instead of college wore their uniforms as straightjackets, becoming quiet, enduring objects, repositories for the insults of those they could have squashed in a microsecond if the odds were fair.
“So the students unloaded on the soldiers, cursing them, daring them, under the accepted guise of hating Army, Pentagon, and War. The insults issued, and the soldiers did not move. Tomatoes and bottles smacked into them, and the soldiers did not move. Girls undid their blouses, dangling firm, inviting breasts over tightly gripped rifles, and the soldiers did not move. Students spat on them, grew more hateful, megaphones telling them they were dupes, fools, fuckheads, that their war was sinful, immoral, genocidal, and the soldiers did not move.”
Maybe because "everybody" served in World War II, whereas our best and brightest managed to avoid service in Vietnam, and the vets got treated like crap by so many people when they got home.Were there a bunch of people just pushing against the war so hard that the soldiers themselves got the backlash, too? I don't understand.
So maybe Vietnam vets wear those hats like badges of honor among themselves, even if our elites saw (and to some extent still see) them as baby-killer scum.
I'm just surmising, as I am not a Vietnam-era vet. I didn't join the Army until 1979.
Why would someone mistreat a drafted solider returning from war? Did people just not understand that the soldiers are the pawns? The entire Vietnam War seems like a big WTF form every angle and aspect.why? i don't know. but it happened. pretty well documented.
"People" don't change, but obviously the environment does. 1968 was a crazy year. And we all thought the Russkis were going to blow us up at any moment as well.1968 might have been the worst year since World War II in terms of society just coming apart at the seams. And it wasn't just in the USA. Prague Spring followed by the Soviets reinstalling hard-line communists in power. Riots in Paris. MLK and RFK assassinated.
Soldiers are never to blame, because they're wed to the concept of chain-of-command.Exactly.
This is an MNC Alabama claims for some reason, perhaps the most dubious of the lot. The world in 1941 was becoming a very troubled place obviously. Germany had overrun France in May 1940 and then much of the rest of Europe.Agreed, but Houlgate had a reason for his ranking. He included Bowl results when no other ranking services did so. Bama's win over aTm in the Cotton Bowl was most impressive because aTm had lost only two games in three years.
http://www.tiptop25.com/champ1941.html (http://www.tiptop25.com/champ1941.html)
Duquesne also finished 8-0, including a big 16-0 win over SEC champion Mississippi State (8-1-1, #12 in fixed AP poll), but their schedule was otherwise bereft of competition, and they struggled to win against Villanova and St. Vincent's (Pennsylvania). They are ranked #6 in the fixed AP poll, and they are not a contender for the MNC.
Alabama actually claims an MNC for this season, despite the fact that they were 9-2, ranked #20 in the AP poll (they rise to #13 in the fixed poll), and they finished tied for 5th in the SEC with 8-2 Vanderbilt, who beat them. This has to be the worst MNC claim of all time, utterly senseless. The claim is based on Alabama finishing #1 in the relatively obscure Houlgate math formula, and it is the only MNC claim a school has made based on Houlgate (Sagarin is far more respected, and no school claims an MNC based on Sagarin). No school has ever rescinded an MNC claim, so I suppose Alabama is stuck with this one, but it seems to me that it would be much less embarrassing for Alabama to rescind the claim than to continue with their ridiculous "1941 national champions" charade.
Soldiers are never to blame, because they're wed to the concept of chain-of-command.Yeah, this isn't correct, as noted.
Agreed, but Houlgate had a reason for his ranking. He included Bowl results when no other ranking services did so. Bama's win over aTm in the Cotton Bowl was most impressive because aTm had lost only two games in three years.well then, I'm claiming MNC for the Huskers in 1983 and 1993, cause I'm not going to include bowl results when all other ranking services did so.
Yeah, this isn't correct, as noted.It's a generalization, we all know there are exceptions. I don't know why this caveat is always needed....
It's a generalization, we all know there are exceptions. I don't know why this caveat is always needed....It's a rather important exception, to some, and part of the UCMJ that is taught from Day One, especially this part.
| 1) Notre Dame 10-0 | -- |
| 2) Oklahoma 11-0 | -- |
| 3) Army 9-0 | +1 |
| 4) Rice 10-1 | +1 |
| 5) Michigan 6-2-1 | +2 |
| 6) Minnesota 7-2 | +2 |
| 7) Ohio State 7-1-2 | -1 |
| 8) California 10-1 | -5 |
| 9) Pacific 11-0 | +1 |
| 10) Santa Clara 8-2-1 | +5 |
| 11) Stanford 7-3-1 | IN |
| 12) Southern Cal 5-3-1 | IN |
| 13) UCLA 6-3 | IN |
| 14) Baylor 8-2 | +6.5 |
| 15) Texas 6-4 | IN |
| 16) Texas Christian 6-3-1 | IN |
| 17) Southern Methodist 5-4-1 | IN |
| 18) Kentucky 9-3 | -7 |
| 19) Louisiana State 8-3 | -10 |
| 20) Oregon State 7-3 | IN |
| 21) Michigan State 6-3 | -2 |
| 22) Maryland 9-1 | -8 |
| 23) Wyoming 9-1 | IN |
| 24) Tulane 7-2-1 | IN |
| 25) Cornell 8-1 Wisconsin 5-3-1 | -13 IN |
https://tiptop25.com/champ1946.html (https://tiptop25.com/champ1946.html)I've always thought it was B.S. that the service academies were playing football during World War II. A lot of military brainpower and leadership ability not contributing one damn thing to the war effort.
[img width=500 height=303.991]https://i.imgur.com/mvorQqb.png[/img]
Pictured above is the defining play of 1946's "Game of the Century": Notre Dame's Bill Gompers turning the corner on 4th down and heading for Army's goal line. But alas, he didn't make it. He didn't even reach the 2 yard line for a first down, and this game saw no other serious scoring threats, ending in a 0-0 stalemate.
Never before had a game been hyped as much as this meeting of #1 Army and #2 Notre Dame. Other games had been called "Game of the Century" in the past, but this was the first to be widely described as such by the press nationwide before the game. Army was the 2-time defending national champion, coming in on a 25 game winning streak. They had beaten Notre Dame 59-0 and 48-0 the previous 2 years, but Notre Dame's coach and players were back from the war, and when last they were on campus, Notre Dame had won the 1943 mythical national championship (MNC).
This game featured 3 Heisman Trophy winners, 3 Outland Trophy winners, and 10 Hall of Famers, not counting the Hall of Fame coaches on each side. Notre Dame claims MNCs for 1943, 1946, 1947, and 1949, and Army claims MNCs for 1944, 1945, and 1946. This was a true clash of the titans, an intersection of 2 of the greatest runs in college football history: Army going 27-0-1 1944-1946 and Notre Dame going 36-0-2 1946-1949.
(https://i.imgur.com/9AEc6ne.png)There's the glimmering of a nickname there. . . .
I was thinking if that was a house, it would be pretty large.
Oklahoma's history as a football power began in 1946. Prior to that, they rarely made waves nationally. They had been ranked in the 1938 and 1939 AP polls, and had there been an AP poll top 25 1901-1935, they likely would have been rated 3 more times. So in 45 seasons prior to 1946, they were top 25 just 5 times. After 1946, however, they became a top 25 fixture, and in fact they are probably the top football program 1946-present. How did they become such an overnight sensation out of nowhere? Cold, hard cash, of course.Aww, shucks! It was nuthin'!
The coach in 1946 was Hall of Famer Jim Tatum. He only stuck around that one season, but that was okay, because the school had really wanted to hire his assistant, Bud Wilkinson (at right in photo), in the first place. Also in the Hall of Fame, Wilkinson ascended to head coach and led Oklahoma to the top of the college football world. Tatum's 1946 recruiting class featured 9 players who would make All American lists during their careers. Oklahoma was a major player in the "black market" of football talent returning from the war. Recruits were matched up with "sugar daddies" who gave them money and bought them clothes. This was a system that Oklahoma continued, more or less, through the 1980s, despite the periodic affliction of NCAA penalties for cheating along the way.
Oklahoma finished 8-3 and #14 in 1946. By 1948, Wilkinson had them 10-1 and #5. This season he took them all the way to 11-0, though they finished #2 to Notre Dame in the AP poll. Wilkinson went 145-29-4 at Oklahoma 1947-1963, winning 14 conference titles. The school claims 3 MNCs for his time (this season is not one of them). Bud Wilkinson had played for Minnesota 1934-1936, when they won 3 straight MNCs, so he was used to it. His 47 straight wins at Oklahoma 1953-1957 are a seemingly unbreakable FBS record, and he ranks highly on the list for all-time major/FBS coaching win percentage (https://tiptop25.com/topcoaches_winpercent.html).
This Oklahoma team was dominated by the 1946 recruiting class, now seniors. The one Hall of Fame player was end Jim Owens, a nonconsensus All American who is now best known as head coach of Washington 1957-1974. He went 99-82-6 there and won 3 conference titles, taking the Huskies to the Rose Bowl following the 1959, 1960, and 1963 seasons. Washington claims an MNC for 1960 (https://tiptop25.com/champ1960.html).
1) Michigan 9-01960 was the first year in which sports writers were the only voters in the AP Poll. Prior to that the requirement was being a member of the AP. Which meant just about anyone. I remember my uncle, who was a small business owner, being a member and voting.
2) Notre Dame 9-0-1
3) North Carolina 9-1-1
4) California 10-1
5) Oklahoma 10-1
6) Army 8-0-1
7) Northwestern 8-2
8) Georgia 9-2
9) Oregon 9-2
10) Southern Methodist 9-1-1
11) Clemson 11-0
12) Vanderbilt 8-2-1
13) Tulane 9-1
14) Michigan State 6-2-2
15) Mississippi 8-1
16) Minnesota 7-2
17) William & Mary 7-2-2
18) Penn State 7-1-1
19) Cornell 8-1
20) Wake Forest 6-4
I am finding that the AP poll rated some random goobers every year back in these days, and this season's goobers were 7-2-2 William & Mary (originally rated #17) and 6-4 Wake Forest (#20). William & Mary lost to Wake Forest, and should not have been rated ahead of them in the first place, but they also lost to Saint Bonaventure, so I don't know why writers were wanting to rate them at all. Wake Forest lost their bowl game, and would have fallen out of a post-bowl ranking anyway. 6-3-2 Baylor beat them in the Dixie Bowl and 5-2-2 Boston College beat them in the regular season, and Wake Forest belongs rated behind both teams. Which is to say, out of the rankings.
Drop William & Mary and Wake Forest. That moves Penn State, Cornell, and Vanderbilt up 1 spot each.