1948 AFCA Blue Ribbon Commission

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

Other Notable Contenders

	Army	Clemson	Michigan	Notre Dame
Record	8-0-1	11-0	9-0	8-0-1
Opponent Win %	0.494	0.427	0.535	0.437
+.500 Opponents	4	4	5	4
Average PF-PA	32.7-9.9	24.9-6.9	28.0-4.9	32.0-9.3
FBS Record	7-0-1	10-0	9-0	8-0-1
FBS Opp Win %	0.459	0.415	0.535	0.437
Average FBS PF-PA	30.0-10.3	22.1-7.6	28.0-4.9	32.0-9.3
Conference Record	Independent	5-0	6-0	Independent
Non-Home games	5	6	4	5
SOS (S-R/BR)	53/59	83/50	5/22	25/34

This season was probably the easiest to decide on who would be Tier 1 since my 1924 evaluation. Michigan, in their 1st season under Hall of Famer Bennie Oosterbaan and led by consensus All-Americans Dick Rifenberg and Alvin Winsert, picked up where the 1947 team left off by reeling off a 2nd straight perfect season. The Wolverines played one of the best schedules in the country, highlighted by wins over 5 Top 25-caliber teams (Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon) and 2 top 50-caliber teams (Illinois). Only 1 team came within a possession of Michigan on the scoreboard. The only negative really for the Wolverines were that they were the 1st victim of the Big 9’s ‘no-repeat’ rule for the Rose Bowl bid that prevented them from making a 2nd consecutive appearance in the Rose Bowl, This rule prevented what would’ve been a de-facto national championship game with PCC co-champ California (10-0 regular season, #4 final AP). League runner-up Northwestern would instead get the Pasadena trip and upset the Golden Bears. That said, their dominant win over the Rose Bowl champ Wildcats highlighted how much head and shoulders Michigan was over everyone else, as they were the only team in the BRC window to be named a unanimous national champion by NCAA-designated selectors (including the AP Poll).

With Michigan clearly having the best case to go before the Blue Ribbon Commission, it now moves on to deciding who are some other teams that might have a (shaky at best) case. California and North Carolina (#8 and #3 in rating averages) had unbeaten regular seasons but lost their respective bowl games. Big 7 champ Oklahoma (#4 rating average), who beat the Tar Heels in the Sugar Bowl, probably would’ve had a great case had they not lost their season opener to a Santa Clara team that had 2 blowout losses. SWC/Cotton Bowl champ SMU suffered a loss to 3-loss Missouri along with a tie to sub-.500 TCU. The SEC cannibalized itself, which cost 3 Top 25-caliber teams (Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, Tulane) chances, while league champ Georgia suffered nonconference losses to North Carolina and Texas. Ultimately, I landed on the following 3 teams for evaluation: Army, Clemson, and Notre Dame.

Lambert Trophy winner Army, who dominated the sport from 1944-1946, would return to the unbeaten ways they sported during that stretch under Earl Blaik’s leadership. The Cadets would sport 5 nonconsensus All-Americans, the most notable being team captain Bill Yeoman (who would achieve greater fame as a coach and architect of the Veer offense). Army would also capture the CFB Belt (college football’s ‘lineal championship’) midseason and would retain it successfully through season’s end. They had the best scoring offense of the contenders (4th nationally) but also had the worst scoring defense of the group. Their schedule wasn’t as strong as it had been in previous years, as they faced only 1 Top 25-caliber opponent (Cornell) and 2 more that would’ve been pushing consideration (Penn, Villanova). Their 2 other top 50-caliber foes (Harvard, Illinois) both failed to finish above .500. The most damaging item in their resume is a season-ending tie to rival Navy that might as well been a loss. The Midshipmen went winless this year and suffered blowout losses to Michigan and Notre Dame, which gives the Cadets an unfavorable comparative result to those 2 teams. Army would’ve benefitted from either a bowl game or an extension of their then-rivalry with Notre Dame (which had ended the previous year) for another strong opponent to boost the resume and wash out the taste of the Navy debacle.

Next up is Notre Dame, which had its 3rd straight unbeaten season under Hall of Fame coach Frank Leahy. The Irish, led by consensus All-Americans/Hall of Famers Bill Fischer, Leon Hart, and Emil Sitko, had the 2nd-best scoring offense of the contenders (5th nationally). They also played the most Top 25-caliber teams outside of Michigan, facing 3 such opponents (Michigan State, Northwestern, USC). The Irish also faced a Pitt team that would’ve been pushing consideration as well as top 50 foe Iowa. There are 2 things working against Notre Dame’s case. 1 is comparative results against common opponents with Michigan. The Irish and Wolverines shared 5 common opponents this year (Indiana, Michigan State, Navy, Northwestern, Purdue): Michigan overall performed much better against those teams than Notre Dame did. Add in their season ending tie at USC blemishing their record as well as their SOS lagging behind Michigan, their case takes a further hit. Just like Army, they could’ve benefitted from either one more Irish-Cadet matchup or a bowl game for a resume boost. That said, the Irish still ended up with 2 selections from CFBDW selectors and 2nd in the final AP Poll.

Finally, we have SoCon champ Clemson, led by Hall of Fame coach Frank Howard. The Tigers had struggled most of the decade thanks to WWII’s impact on the all-male military school. However, with a talented backfield led by non-consensus All-American Bobby Gage, the Tigers posted their 1st perfect season since John Heisman was the school’s coach. Despite being the only team besides Michigan to post a perfect record, Clemson wasn’t very highly regarded (#11 in ratings average) compared to the other contenders or even league rival North Carolina. The Tigers boasted the 2nd-best scoring defense of the group (7th nationally) but the worst scoring offense of group (still 16th nationally). Clemson’s SOS is their primary issue: the Tigers played only 1 Top 25-caliber foe (Missouri), an additional 2 pushing consideration (Boston College, Wake Forest), and top 50 team Mississippi State. Their opponent win percentage was the worst of the group, and the Tigers had the most 1-possession games of the group (6). Clemson was a victim of circumstance in some respects as 3 early season foes (Mississippi State, NC State, South Carolina) all finished .500 or worse this year after posting winning records in 1947. However, Clemson played the most non-home games of the group (6) and was the only team of the group to put their unbeaten record on the line in postseason play (an important consideration for the BRC). Their Gator Bowl win over Missouri also provided loose transitive paths over Army and Notre Dame. The Tigers would end up with a CFBDW selection of their own for this year.

As stated at the top, Michigan is clear Tier 1 to go before AFCA for a retroactive Coaches Trophy – I also feel that any other team trying to go before the Blue Ribbon Commission is opening themselves up to severe ridicule. That said, should Michigan decide not to file a claim with AFCA, then I think the Tier 2 for next best case is Clemson. While I’ll concede the Tigers didn’t have as good a resume as Army or Notre Dame, I think the unbeaten record and bowl win gives them an advantage. Notre Dame gets the nod as my Tier 3 team due to their resume strength and having a transitive path over Army. The combination of Army’s SOS and their poor result against Navy pushes the Cadets to longshot status.

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