AFCA Blue Ribbon Commission Champion 1942

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

(**Update, 07/26/24**: after some debate about whether Wisconsin claims this as a championship, I reached out to school officials, who clarified that while the school recognizes the Helms selection, it’s not an officially claimed national championship. I removed the claimed title tag above to reflect that)

	Georgia	Ohio State	Tennessee	Wisconsin
Record	11-1	9-1	9-1-1	8-1-1
Opponent Win %	0.565	0.495	0.579	0.574
+.500 Opponents	7	5	7	7
Average PF-PA	31.3-6.3	33.7-11.4	23.6-5.6	14.9-6.8
FBS Record	9-1	8-1	7-1-1	7-1-1
FBS Opponent Win %	0.534	0.517	0.528	0.587
Average FBS PF-PA	30.1-6.3	30.9-12.7	21.2-4.8	21.6-8.0
Conference Record	6-1	5-1	4-1	4-1
Non-Home games	7	3	5	4
SOS (S-R/BR)	35/20	21/17	43/16	9/14

1942 was the start of a unique set of years in the sport. The United States had entered World War II at the end of the previous season. Some schools would suspend their football programs during the war. Attendance and travel restrictions would also be commonplace. In addition to the college teams that did play, there were also several service teams from military bases and training programs that played a games games not only against each other, but with college teams also. Most rating systems include the military teams along with the college teams. Tip Top 25 (which does reranks of the AP Poll) doesn’t include military teams in his rankings during the war years. In fact, the AP ran a separate poll for service teams this season before incorporating them in the college football rankings in 1943 and 1944. While CFBDW has some selectors that picked service teams as their national champions, I’ve chosen not to include them in my evaluation, as service teams included collegiate and professional players. However, I will note such teams that qualify as Top 25- or top 50-caliber teams when breaking down the resumes of the contenders.

Tulsa received a nod from a CFBDW selection after an undefeated regular season, MVC title, and a #4 ranking in the final AP Poll. However, the Golden Hurricane would fall in the Sugar Bowl after that poll. So knowing that the BRC takes the postseason into consideration, as well as having a lower average rating compared to the other teams, I chose to instead consider the team that beat Tulsa. Tennessee faced 4 Top 25-caliber teams (Alabama, Fordham, LSU, Tulsa), along with a top 50-caliber Vanderbilt. They also tied for facing the most non-FBS opponents, which is probably accounts for the variance in how their SOS is viewed (even though those 2 foes were a combined 16-4). Tennessee also had better scoring margin on average than fellow contender Georgia against common opponents. They also lost to Alabama and had the worst result with a tie to 1-win South Carolina. I think that the Volunteers will end up being the longshot.

Up next is Wisconsin in their only claimed national title season in their best season under Harry Stuhldreher, a member of the famed “Four Horsemen” backfield at Notre Dame in the 1920s. The Badgers played 3 Top 25-caliber opponents (Great Lakes NTS, Notre Dame, Ohio State) and 4 more that would’ve been pushing consideration (Iowa, Marquette, Minnesota, Missouri). That slate translated into the best SOS ratings of the contenders. Helping their case was having the best win of the year over Ohio State, while also defeated the team that finished atop the AP’s poll of service teams. Working against them is having the lowest scoring offense of the contenders, as well as having multiple blemishes, losing to Iowa a week after their big win over the Buckeyes and an early-season tie to the Irish. They also weren’t as impressive against the common opponents they shared with the Buckeyes. However, that didn’t stop the Helms Athletic Foundation from naming the Badgers national champs retroactively.

This leads us to Ohio State, who won the Big 10 title under legendary coach Paul Brown (who went on to his greatest fame as head coach and namesake of the Cleveland Browns). The Buckeyes faced what the numbers said was the 2nd-best slate of the contenders, playing 3 Top 25 teams (Iowa Pre-Flight, Michigan, Wisconsin), 2 more pushing for consideration (Illinois, Indiana), and top 50-caliber Southern California. Ohio State was fairly impressive against that slate, with the best scoring offense and 2nd-best average MOV among the contenders. Despite the SOS ratings, they had the worst opponent win percentage and most home-heavy schedule of the contenders. While they had better results in common opponents to Wisconsin, they also lost the head-to-head match-up to the Badgers. One thing that helps is the circumstances around it: the Buckeyes traveled to the game in a antiquated train car with bad water onboard due to the war effort. An outbreak of dysentery struck the team as a result, which probably played a significant part in their performance in Madison. Thanks to a strong rebound in their final games in the Wisconsin contest (along with losses by several highly-ranked teams in those final weeks as well), the Buckeyes would finish atop the AP Poll for the year. In addition, they received 4 other selections from NCAA-designated selectors, 2 of which were from contemporary services.

Last but not least, we have SEC champion Georgia, who claimed their 1st national championship this year under Hall of Fame coach Wally Butts and featuring Heisman Trophy winner Frank Sinkwich. The Bulldogs played 2 Top 10-caliber teams (Alabama, Georgia Tech) and 4 teams that were pushing for Top 25 consideration (Auburn, Jacksonville NAS, Tulane, UCLA). The Bulldogs had the 2nd best opponent win percentage numbers of the group and played the least home-heavy schedule, but find themselves 3rd-best in SOS ratings. This was probably due to tying Tennessee with 2 non-FBS teams on the slate (even though their opponents were 15-6 combined). They had the 2nd-best scoring offense and defense among the contenders, which led to having the best MOV of the group also. Georgia reached #1 in the AP Poll during the year, but a late season loss to Auburn would cause them to end up behind Ohio State in the final poll. The Bulldogs did end up #2 in the final poll after a thrashing of Georgia Tech to win the SEC crown and secure a berth to the Rose Bowl. The season would end with a victory in Pasadena over PCC champ UCLA. Despite not finishing atop the AP Poll, Georgia ended up with the most selections from NCAA-designated selectors, with 8 overall and 4 from contemporary selectors.

The Blue Ribbon Commission has the task of determining who is most deserving. Is it Georgia, who has the most selector favor and the best scoring margin? Is it Ohio State, who had the best scoring offense and played more top 50 opponents than the Bulldogs? Or is it Wisconsin, who beat Ohio State and the best schedule, but had the most blemishes and worst scoring margin? You can make arguments for and against all 3 teams. I think the safe bet is Georgia for the aforementioned reasons, plus it allows the BRC to take a pass on the Ohio State-Wisconsin debate. Therefore, the Bulldogs are my Tier 1 as the team with the best case for the retroactive Coaches Trophy. Despite the head-to-head result between the two, I think the Buckeyes would edge out the Badgers as Tier 2, as I think the BRC would favor them due to selector favor, eye test, and the circumstances of the contest in Madison. Ohio State I think might have a case to be a co-champion at least, but with the AP title, the Buckeyes might not be as eager to submit a claim to AFCA. Georgia and Wisconsin are definitely the ones with the most to gain by submitting a claim for the hardware.

Tier 1 (Best Case to be awarded AFCA Trophy): Georgia
Tier 2 (Legitimate case for champion/co-champion): Ohio State
Tier 3 (Minor Contender, could make a case): Wisconsin
Tier 4 (Not Serious Contenders): Tennessee