AFCA Blue Ribbon Commission Champion 1932

Teams named national champions by NCAA-designated selectors
(Underline: claimed title season; +: co-champion/split selection)

Other Possible Contenders

	Colgate	Michigan	Purdue	Southern Cal	TCU	Tennessee
Record	9-0	8-0	7-0-1	10-0	10-0-1	9-0-1
Opponent Win %	0.556	0.570	0.500	0.672	0.473	0.511
+.500 Opponents	4	4	3	9	4	3
Average PF-PA	29.3-0.0	15.4-1.6	20.5-5.3	20.1-1.3	25.7-2.1	23.8-3.6
FBS Record	5-0	8-0	7-0-1	9-0	6-0-1	7-0-1
FBS Opponent Win %	0.538	0.570	0.500	0.687	0.514	0.540
Average FBS PF-PA	23.4-0.0	15.4-1.6	20.5-5.3	21.7-1.4	17.0-3.4	20.8-4.5
Conference Record	Ind	6-0	5-0-1	6-0	6-0	7-0-1
Non-Home games	4	3	5	3	5	4
SOS (S-R/BR)	100/93	3/29	7/40	2/1	65/51	52/34

There were a couple other teams that I looked at possibly examining but ultimately didn’t decide to include: Auburn and Centenary. Both teams posted unbeaten records for this season. Unfortunately, the Tigers and Gentlemen had schedules that probably would be considered weaker than almost all of the other contenders. Centenary did have a win over Top 25-caliber Texas and top 50 foes LSU and Texas A&M, allowing them to actually compare pretty well to contender TCU. In addition, they handed non-FBS teams Henderson State and Northwestern State their only losses on the year. However, they suffered a scoreless tie to a bad Arkansas team in their season finale. Auburn, while they did win a share of the SoCon title, faced no Top 25-caliber teams and only 3 major teams with winning records. While they did record wins over top 50 Duke and Tulane, they took a tie in their season finale against a South Carolina team not considered a top 50 team. Both teams had some strong scoring numbers compared to the contenders, but those were puffed up by their non-FBS foes and took a noticeable dip when you look at just FBS games.

Tennessee finds themselves once again in contention after their 5th unbeaten season in 6 years. The Volunteers, who captured a share of the SoCon crown this year, played a slightly tougher schedule than the 2 teams I left off consideration. They played 2 Top 25-caliber opponents (Alabama, Vanderbilt) and 1 other top 50 team (Duke). Tennessee won close games over the Crimson Tide and Blue Devils, but the common theme of one of their rivals preventing a perfect season struck again. This time it was Vanderbilt, who held the Vols to a scoreless draw in Nashville. SWC champ TCU, with a CFBDW selection, didn’t have as strong a schedule. They played the most non-FBS teams of contenders, although they gave North Texas (LSC champ) their only loss on the year. They played 1 Top 25-caliber team (Texas), 2 pushing for Top 25 consideration (LSU, Rice), and top 50 Texas A&M. While they did go unbeaten, winning the games against their conference mates, LSU managed to force a tie. Just like Auburn and Centenary, they put of some good scoring numbers that took a dip when you factor out the non-FBS competition, although their numbers stayed above those 2 teams. Neither team had a significant intersectional contest/win to help bolster their resumes.

Michigan and Purdue, who shared the Big 10 title, are up next. Despite a break-even opponent win percentage, the Boilermakers played an all-FBS schedule with 3 Top 25-caliber opponents (Minnesota, Northwestern, Wisconsin) and 3 additional top 50 foes. In addition, their scoring numbers compared pretty well with the Wolverines. Purdue also outscored Michigan collectively against their common opponents. However, a tie to Northwestern (who had a losing record in 1932) spoiled their perfect season and ruined chances of possibly locking up legitimate title selections. Michigan, meanwhile, posted a perfect record against their all-FBS slate with 4 Top 25-caliber teams (Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State) and 3 more top 50 foes of their own. The Wolverines also boasted a better scoring defense than the Boilermakers and a perfect record against their common opponents. In addition, Michigan’s non-conference slate was stronger than Purdue’s. The Wolverines also had a stronger slate in non-shared Big 10 foes and performed better in those games (Illinois, @ Ohio State) than Purdue did against theirs (@ Iowa, Wisconsin). Ultimately, Michigan proved to be the best contender of the Big 10/Midwest despite Purdue stacking up favorably in spots. The Wolverines were named the nation’s best team by the Dickinson System this year and well as a retroactive co-selection from Parke Davis when he published his compilation of national champions the following year.

Colgate had the best scoring numbers of the contenders this season both overall and among their FBS opposition. The Red Raiders shutout all of their opponents this season. However, their schedule is considered the worst among all contenders, as 4 of their opponents were non-FBS and 4 opponents finished above .500. The only Top 25-caliber opponent Colgate faced was Brown; the next best opponent after that was top 50 NYU. The 1932 Red Raiders were referred to as “undefeated, untied, unscored upon, and uninvited” – a reference to them being passed over for a berth to the Rose Bowl in favor of Pittsburgh (8-0-2 regular season). Colgate would’ve benefitted from a postseason trip to the Rose Bowl, as it would’ve given them a potentially significant intersectional win. Given what happened to the Panthers, however, they could’ve easily been the whipping boys for USC instead. Parke Davis named them a retroactive co-champion the following year.

Ultimately, all of the contenders are chasing Southern California again for the 2nd straight season. The PCC champion Trojans had a clean sweep of the contemporary selectors outside of Dickinson (which probably wouldn’t have been the case had Dickinson waited until after the Rose Bowl to do his final ratings) along with a co-champion selection from Davis as well. While not as brutal as their 1931 schedule, the Trojans had arguably the best schedule of anyone in the country this season, facing 4 Top 25-caliber teams (Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Washington, Washington State) and 4 more top 50 teams. All but 2 of USC’s opponents had winning records this year, although both of them (Oregon State and non-FBS Loyola Marymount) actually played them the closest of any teams this year. The Trojans gave 3 teams (Pitt, Utah, Washington State) their only losses on the season, and arguably had the best intersectional slate when you throw Notre Dame in with the Panthers and Utes. Add in that they also put up the scoring numbers they did (2nd-best scoring defense of contenders, average scoring margin just under 19 pts/game) and it’s easy to see why they were a selector favorite.

I believe that Southern California is the clear choice for Tier 1 as having the best case to go before the Blue Ribbon Commission for the 2nd year in a row. They had the best schedule, were fairly impressive against that schedule, and had the vast majority of contemporary ratings in their favor – they should definitely be claiming a retroactive Coaches Trophy for the year. Michigan, with their unbeaten record and with a contemporary selection of their own, are my Tier 2 team, although I don’t think they’re worth of co-champion status. Colgate stays in consideration with a Tier 3 nod due to their consistent performance over the season, but their schedule hurts them tremendously. Purdue slides in at Tier 3 with them, as the Boilermakers compared pretty well with Michigan.

Tier 1 (Best Case to be awarded AFCA Trophy): Southern California
Tier 2 (Legitimate case for champion/co-champion): Michigan
Tier 3 (Minor Contender, could make a case): Colgate, Purdue
Tier 4 (Not Serious Contenders): TCU, Tennessee