AFCA Blue Ribbon Commission 1947

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

Other Notable Contenders

	Michigan	Notre Dame	Penn	Penn St	SMU	Texas
Record	10-0	9-0	7-0-1	9-0-1	9-0-2	10-1
Opponent Win %	0.478	0.396	0.569	0.358	0.582	0.635
+.500 Opponents	6	3	5	2	6	8
Average PF-PA	39.4-5.3	32.3-5.8	27.4-4.4	33.2-4.0	16.6-8.2	26.6-6.7
FBS Record	10-0	9-0	6-0-1	8-0-1	9-0-2	10-1
FBS Opp Win %	0.478	0.396	0.556	0.374	0.582	0.635
Average FBS PF-PA	39.4-5.3	32.3-5.8	22.9-5.0	30.9-4.4	16.6-8.2	26.6-6.7
Conference Record	6-0	Ind	Ind	Ind	5-0-1	5-1
Non-Home games	4	5	2	6	7	6
SOS (S-R/BR)	16/12	26/31	33/52	85/82	10/9	9/2

I’m probably getting too long winded for this one, due to the teams involved. However, I felt there were a few teams that probably deserved a look. 1st of them is Lambert Trophy winner Penn State. The Nittany Lions, #4 in the final AP Poll, had the nation’s best scoring defense and 2nd-best scoring offense, while only playing 4 games at home for the year. However, the most glaring thing that jumps out when you look at their body of work: the schedule was atrocious. Penn State only faced 2 teams the entire year with a winning record, and only played 1 Top 25-caliber opponent (SMU). Had the Nittany Lions gone perfect, their case would’ve been shaky at best. By only playing the Mustangs to a tie, they probably have the longest odds of successfully pleading their case. The team in the East that probably would have a better case is Penn (#6 AP), led by College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Chuck Bednarik. The Quakers had the 2nd-best scoring defense in the country and fairly successful scoring offense. Their schedule was also better than Penn State’s, as Penn faced 2 Top 25-caliber teams (Army, Columbia), along with a Virginia squad that would’ve been pushing for Top 25 consideration and top 50 Princeton. 2 things hurt the Quakers’ case: they had the most home-heavy schedule and suffered a late season tie at home to Army.

The Southwest Conference put together an incredibly strong season, capped with 2 teams finishing in the Top 5 of the AP Poll. Texas (CFBDW selection) played far and away the best schedule of the contenders. The Longhorns face 5 Top 25-caliber teams (Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina, Rice, SMU), the most of any contenders. Overall, all but 2 of their opponents had winning records and only 1 (BIAA champ Texas Tech) wasn’t considered top 50 caliber across the series of rating systems I use in that determination process. Texas probably would’ve been a pretty clear choice for national champion had it not been for a 1-point loss at SMU that not only blemished their record, but cost them the SWC crown. The Mustangs played arguably the 2nd-best schedule of the teams listed here, facing 4 Top 25-caliber opponents (Arkansas, Penn State, Rice, Texas), playing the most true road games (6), and only having 2 opponents not be considered top 50-caliber. While SMU went unbeaten, they performed the weakest on the scoreboard, boasting the worst scoring offense and defense of the teams listed. They also had the most blemishes of the contenders, as they ended their season with consecutive ties: first at sub-.500 TCU, then in a defacto home game to Penn State in the Cotton Bowl.

Up next, we have Notre Dame, who put together a 2nd straight unbeaten season (part of an incredible 36-0-2 over 4 seasons) and their 1st perfect season since 1930. Coach Frank Leahy’s squad, led by Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Lujack and inaugural Outland Trophy winner George Connor, finished in the top 5 in scoring offense and defense. The Irish probably played the most nationally reaching schedule of the contenders, facing 5 teams from outside their Midwest footprint. That said, their schedule, while in a respectable rating overall, leaves something to be desired. Notre Dame does deserve credit for playing 5 games (over half of their schedule) away from home. That said, they played only 2 Top 25-caliber opponents (Army, USC) and one pushing consideration (Purdue) – those 3 teams were the only opponents with a winning record. The only other top 50 caliber opponent faced was sub-.500 Northwestern. That slate of top 50 foes only topped Penn State and drew equal to Penn in number of such opponents. The Irish’s opponent win percentage topped only the Nittany Lions. That said, their wins over Army, Navy, and Pitt gave them better performances over common opponents with the 2 Eastern contenders, and they did finish with better overall record than the Southwestern contenders. Notre Dame was named national champions by the AP, as well as 2 other contemporary selections – splitting Helm’s choice and receiving Williamson’s outright selection.

Finally we have Big 9 champion Michigan, who put together their 1st unbeaten season since 1933 in Hall of Fame coach Fritz Crisler’s final season. The Wolverines, led by consensus All-American Bob Chappuis and Big 9 MVP Bump Elliott, had the nation’s top scoring offense and finished in the top 5 in scoring defense as well. While Michigan had the 3rd-worst opponent win percentage of the listed contenders, their SOS overall is eclipsed only by SMU and Texas. The Wolverines beat 3 Top 25-caliber opponents (Minnesota, USC, Wisconsin), along with 3 more pushing consideration (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State), and an additional top 50 foe (Northwestern). Despite their accomplishments, Michigan was jumped by Notre Dame in the AP Poll late in the season despite a 21-0 win over 2-6-1 Ohio State (the Irish had defeated 2-5-2 Tulane 59-6 that same weekend) and found themselves unable to jump back to #1. The AP conducted an unofficial postseason poll between the Wolverines and Irish after Michigan dominated USC in the Rose Bowl – Michigan came out on top there, but the final regular season poll stood. Despite the AP snub, the Wolverines was named outright champs by 6 of the other contemporary NCAA selectors and split the Helms title with Notre Dame. The other NCAA-designated selectors with recognzied retroactive champions for 1947 went with Michigan.

It’s pretty clear that the Blue Ribbon Commission top candidates are Michigan and Notre Dame. The Wolverines had a better scoring offense and defense than the Irish, and also had a significant edge in national champion selectors. Notre Dame played a less home-heavy schedule than Michigan, and only had one game within single digits compared to Michigan’s two. I think the biggest deciding factor will be common opponents. Both teams shared 3 foes on the year (Northwestern, Pitt, USC): Michigan defeated those 3 in much more impressive margins than Notre Dame did. The Wolverines are the clear choice as Tier 1 for best case for a retroactive Coaches Trophy. The Irish are my Tier 2, although their case for an outright selection is shaky compared to Michigan’s. Given the history between the 2 schools, this is a perfect opportunity for Michigan to stick it to Notre Dame by making a claim for the hardware as atonement for the AP Poll snub. SMU and Texas, due to their SOS numbers, will fall on the Tier 3 line, although their blemishes make their respective cases very difficult compared to the Wolverines and Irish. Penn and Penn State, who had the weakest schedules of the group, fall into the longshot group.

Tier 1 (Best Case to be awarded AFCA Trophy): Michigan
Tier 2 (Legitimate case for champion/co-champion): Notre Dame
Tier 3 (Minor Contender, could make a case): SMU, Texas
Tier 4 (Not Serious Contenders): Penn State, Pennsylvania