AFCA Blue Ribbon Commission Champion 1925

Teams named national champions by NCAA-designated selectors
(Underline: Claimed title for the season; +: co-champion selection)

Other Possible Contenders

	Alabama	Dartmouth	Michigan	Pittsburgh	Tulane
Overall Record	10-0	8-0	7-1	8-1	9-0-1
Opponent Win %	0.642	0.536	0.602	0.686	0.525
+.500 Opponents	7	5	6	6	5
Average PF-PA	29.7-2.6	42.5-3.6	28.4-0.4	16.8-3.8	24.6-3.2
FBS Record	8-0	4-0	7-1	6-0	6-0-1
FBS Opponent Win %	0.647	0.574	0.602	0.680	0.582
Average FBS PF-PA	24.3-2.8	35.3-7.3	28.4-0.4	16.3-2.3	16.9-3.3
Conference Record	7-0	Ind	5-1	Ind	5-0
Non-Home Games	3^	3	3	1	4
SOS (S-R/BR)	17/13	74/85	5/19	47/34	55/68

I have to say that Michigan and Pitt definitely have to wonder “what if” for their respective teams for this season. Michigan had arguably the toughest schedule of the contenders, playing an all-FBS schedule with wins over 3 legitimate Top 25-caliber teams (Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin) and 1 that would’ve likely been that next tier below the Top 25 (Navy). The Wolverines only surrendered 3 points all season; however, those 3 pointed yielded were enough to hand them a loss at Northwestern in a game contested in heavy rains and poor field conditions. Famed coach Fielding Yost called the 1925 team the best he ever coached, which shows how high a regard he held this team despite how many unbeaten teams and national champions he coached. Pitt, meanwhile, had the best opponent win percentage of the contenders and had 2 wins over Top 25-caliber teams (Penn, West Virginia) along with a win against another potential Top 25-type team (Washington & Jefferson). Their schedule, however, did feature 3 non-FBS opponents (those 3 foes did go 16-5-5, FWIW) and only 1 game away from home. In addition, the Panthers’ wins weren’t as impressive on the scoreboard as most of the other contenders, and they lost to non-FBS Lafayette at home by double digits. The Leopards were 7-1-1 on the year and probably were a Top 25-caliber team had they been considered FBS (losing to W&J by 1 and tying unbeaten Colgate in addition to the Pitt win). Overall, I can’t see the BRC favoring Pitt’s body of work.

Tulane played the most road games of any of the contenders and also stepped out of their footprint more than the other contenders for competition. However, their SOS is on the weaker side of the contenders, as they played 3 non-FBS opponents (2 of which were below .500) and had the lowest opponent win percentage overall and 2nd-lowest among FBS-level games. They also played only one legitimate Top 25-caliber team (MVIAA champion Missouri), which ended up being their blemish on the year. Their scoring numbers also trailed everyone overall except Pitt. However, the Green Wave did beat Northwestern on the road, giving them a transitive chain over fellow contender Michigan. The tie against Missouri also gave a transitive path over PCC champion Washington (the Tigers beat Nebraska, who tied the Huskies in the regular season). Tulane missed out on a great chance to be the best contender, as they had been offered the chance to play the Huskies in the Rose Bowl. School officials ended up turning the invitation down; perhaps history could’ve been different had Tulane not let the opportunity slip away to Alabama instead.

That leaves us our 2 perfect teams: Alabama and Dartmouth, who both claim 1925 as a championship season (Alabama’s first and Dartmouth’s only). Dartmouth, who posted a perfect record in the more established (and more respected, at the time) East Region, had the contemporary favor as the best team in the nation (the closest contemporary NCAA-designated selectors at the time – the Dickinson System and Parke Davis – reflected that in their selections). However, Alabama garnered the majority of the retroactive NCAA-designated selectors. The Tide played the 2nd-toughest schedule of the contenders, playing only 2 non-FBS foes, 7 opponents with winning records, and 3 opponents that would’ve been Top 25-caliber (Florida, Georgia Tech, Washington). Dartmouth’s schedule had 4 non-FBS teams, and 5 games against winning teams. The Big Green’s biggest win, Cornell, would’ve been hovering around the cutoff for a Top 25, as would sub-.500 Chicago. Like Cornell in 1923, 3 of Dartmouth’s 4 FBS-level games were on the road; unlike the ’23 Big Red, they weren’t as strong opposition overall. While Alabama was fairly dominant against their schedule, they did have a couple closes calls in the regular season (Georgia Tech and sub-.500 Mississippi State); Dartmouth soundly defeated their opponents by comfortable margins (their closest game – at Brown – was decided by 2 blocked punts for scores). Ultimately, the Rose Bowl would play a huge factor. Dartmouth, like Tulane, had been invited to play then-unbeaten Washington in Pasadena but turned it down. Ultimately, Alabama would accept an offer and became the 1st Southern team to play in the game. The Crimson Tide came away with a stunning 20-19 win over the heavily favored Huskies; most observers consider the 1926 Rose Bowl as the defining game for college football in the South, giving the lightly regarded region a huge boost in terms of national respect. The win would also give Alabama a much more significant intersectional win than Dartmouth’s win at Chicago.

As much as I hate to take away from Dartmouth’s best season in school history, them opting out of the Rose Bowl took away a possible marquee win that they needed given their weak SOS in retrospect. Alabama, in my opinion, has the best case to go before the Blue Ribbon Commission to claim the crystal ball trophy to add to their extensive collection of hardware over the years. However, Dartmouth would likely receive serious consideration as champion or co-champion given the consistent strong performances during the season (i.e. – no weak performances compared to Alabama’s 2) and having more contemporary support at the time. Despite a softer schedule than the remaining contenders, Tulane gets my Tier 3 nod due to their unbeaten record and transitive chain over Michigan.

Tier 1 (Best Case to be awarded AFCA Trophy): Alabama
Tier 2 (Legitimate case for champion/co-champion): Dartmouth
Tier 3 (Minor Contender, could make a case): Tulane
Tier 4 (Not Serious Contenders): Michigan, Pittsburgh

[1] – The Southern Conference didn’t officially recognize conference champions for the 1922-1932 seasons, as there were as many as 23 teams in the league during a given season. Any team claiming an outright or shared SoCon title during that stretch is doing so by virtue of an unbeaten SoCon record that year.