College Football (Napoleon's World)

ollege football is the term given to the sport of football played between members of the National Collegiate Athletics Alliance (NCAA), which comprises of colleges all across the United States of America. Since 1908, the NCAA has hosted a "national championship" between the two teams that a board of pollsters deem the two most worthy in the country, and smaller "bowls" have held host to other excellent teams competing in athletic play. Over time, the "bowl system" has been developed to include impartial computers and several different polls put together mathematically to more fairly determine a winner, despite calls and suggestions for a playoff system similar to Major League Baseball, professional and collegiate ice hockey, and professional soccer.

List of National Champions
Different eras have been marked with different dominant teams - recently, the Alabama Crimson Tide and Washington Huskies have been two of the best teams in the country, combining for five national championships and one faceoff between the two between 2000-2008. The Crimson Tide were upset in 2008 by the Massachusetts Minutemen, thus ruining their bid for four consecutive titles in a much hyped matchup, since Alabama ended the Minutemen dynasty of the 1980's that included three titles by beating Massachusetts in the 1989 title game.

The team with the most national championships is Texas, whose Longhorns have won 13 - but none since 1998. Next is Huron, whose Highlanders have won 11, with their last in 2004 in a last-second thriller over the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

There have been periods of absolute dominance by certain teams - for example, Texas had a run of seven titles between 1966 and 1981 ('66, '68, '71, '72, '76, '77, '81). The Highlanders had similar success in the 1950's and 60's, winning four straight from 1951-54, and two in '63 and '65 (four more would be won in 1991, '94, '99, and 2004). These two storied teams met in the 1971 Silver Bowl where the Longhorns eked out a narrow win and ended the Highlander dynasty - only to have their own dynasty snapped in 1983 by the Massachusetts Minutemen, who would win again in '86, '88, '95 and 2008.

=== National Champions ===

The national champions, and bowl sites, are as follows:

1908:

1909:

1910:

1911

1912

1913

1914

1915

1916

1917

1918

1919

1920

1921

1922

1923

1924

1951: Huron Highlanders

1952: Huron Highlanders

1953: Huron Highlanders

1954: Huron Highlanders

1955: Minnesota Golden Gophers

1956: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

1957: Louisiana State Tigers

1958: Aroostook Golden Eagles

1959: Aroostook Golden Eagles

1960: Southern California Trojans

1961: Michigan State Spartans

1962: Mississippi Falcons

1963: Huron Highlanders

1964: Sequoyah Braves

1965: Huron Highlanders

1966: Texas Longhorns

1967: Nova Scotia Sea Lions

1968: Texas Longhorns

1969

1970

1971: Texas Longhorns (beat Huron Highlanders in Silver Bowl)

1972: Texas Longhorns

1973

1974

1975: North Carolina Tar Heels (beat Michigan State Spartans)

1976:Texas Longhorns

1977: Texas Longhorns

1978: Nebraska Cornhuskers (beat Cuba Spaniards in Orange Bowl)

1979:

1980: New Mexico Coyotes (beat North Carolina Tar Heels in Peach Bowl)

1981: Texas Longhorns

1982

1983: Massachusetts Minutemen (beat Texas Longhorns in Philly Bowl)

1984: Nova Scotia Sea Lions (beat Ohio State Buckeyes in Texas Bowl)

1985: Arkansas Razorbacks (beat Michigan Wolverines in Rose Bowl)

1986: Massachusetts Minutemen (beat Huron Highlanders in Silver Bowl)

1987: California Bears (beat Florida Gators in Sugar Bowl)

1988: Massachusetts Minutemen (beat Michigan Wolverines in Orange Bowl)

1989: Alabama Crimson Tide (beat Massachusetts Minutemen in Pacific Bowl)

1990: South Carolina Gamecocks (beat Aroostook Golden Eagles in Peach Bowl)

1991: Huron Highlanders (beat Florida Gators in Philadelphia Bowl)

1992: Maryland Terrapins (beat Oregon Ducks in Sugar Bowl)

1993: Maryland Terrapins (beat Dakota Fighting Sioux in Texas Bowl)

1994: Huron Highlanders (beat Sequoyah Braves in Rose Bowl)

1995: Massachusetts Minutemen (beat Tennessee Volunteers in Paradise Bowl)

1996: Michigan Wolverines (beat Montana State Bobcats in Manhattan Bowl)

1997: Florida State Seminoles (beat Washington State Cougars in Silver Bowl)

1998: Texas Longhorns (beat Nova Scotia Sea Lions in Texas Bowl)

1999: Huron Highlanders (beat Florida State Seminoles in Chicago Bowl)

2000: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (beat Louisiana State Tigers in Peach Bowl)

2001: Washington Huskies (beat Mississippi Falcons in Rose Bowl)

2002: Virginia Cavaliers (beat Apachia Buffaloes in Manhattan Bowl)

2003: Washington Huskies (beat Huron Highlanders in Philadelphia Bowl)

2004: Huron Highlanders (beat Nebraska Cornhuskers in Paradise Bowl)

2005: Alabama Crimson Tide (beat Sequoyah Braves in Orange Bowl)

2006: Alabama Crimson Tide (beat Washington Huskies in Chicago Bowl)

2007: Alabama Crimson Tide (beat Sequoyah Braves in Silver Bowl)

2008: Massachusetts Minutemen (beat Alabama Crimson Tide in Peach Bowl)

2009: Virginia Cavaliers vs. Pacifica Orcas (Texas Bowl in Dallas)

Texas-Huron
The "National Rivalry" is noted not for its regional ramifications but because the Longhorns and Highlanders are two of the winningest programs in college football history, and combined, as of 2004, have 24 national championships. Every two years, these two programs meet in a home-home series; the last one was a Huron victory in Sutton, TX in 2008. The game will be played in Eubank, HR in 2010. The official series was started in 1994, the same year the Highlanders would win their 9th national championship, and Huron won a resounding 27-7 victory in Sutton. Huron owns a commanding 6-2 series lead, with the ninth biannual meeting to occur in 2010. Texas won back-to-back meetings in 1996 and '98. However, in all-time meetings between the schools, Huron holds an edge of only 9-8, including the infamous Silver Bowl loss in 1971 to end the dominant Highlander eras of the 50's and 60's.

Huron-Michigan
The Great Lake War is one of the fiercest and most hate-filled rivalries in college football, dating back to the 1920's. The annual Great Lake War features both storied programs, although Michigan has often served as the whipping post for the stronger, more decorated Highlanders. In the mid-1990's, the rivalry renewed especial fierceness when both programs won national championships and both finished in the Top Ten six consecutive years, the first time both teams had ever done so. A famous game was in 1989 when the Michigan Wolverines lost to Huron on a last-second kickoff return for a score that kept Michigan out of the national title game. Michigan had revenge in 1997, however, when a last-second interception by Fred Lomax in the end zone preserved a 24-20 Michigan lead for a win that catapulted Michigan to an Orange Bowl berth and kept the Highlanders in the lowly San Diego Bowl.

Massachusetts-Aroostook
The Massachusetts Minutemen were once the sorry boys who took their northern neighbor's beatings year in and year out, serving merely as spoiler to the constant but forever unrealized national championship ambitions of the Golden Eagles, who have not won a title since 1959. When Harrison Ford took over in the 1980's, the Golden Eagles were suddenly the little brother in the rivalry, as UMass under Ford was constantly throttling very talented Aroostook teams that could, were it not for losses to the hated Minutemen, have advanced to a national title game in both 1985, 1987, 1992 and 1996. The game is referred to as the Pilgrim War and features a trophy that is passed between both teams.

Pacifica-Pacifica State
The Orcas and Ravens, both drawing from Native American imagery and lore to fuel their mascots, have one of the most heated rivalries in the Pacific Coast Conference, and possibly the nation. The Cascade Clash, between the Orcas in Wamash and the Ravens in Finchdale, features some of the most intense hatred and rivalry in the country when games get underway. The 2006 match was a prime example of this; the Ravens were neck-in-neck with Washington for a conference title and a potential high-end bowl bid; Pacifica beat PSU in double overtime at home, and the subsequent riot resulted in 17 deaths, almost a million dollars in damages and an investigation by the NCAA. The 2009 game was a massive blowout in favor of Pacifica.

Hog Heaven
In 1985, the Arkansas Razorback football team was coming off of two consecutive losing seasons following the devastating Covenant Race Riots that had changed the landscape of the state forever, and soured race relations in the South. Several recruiting classes had been lost due to the turmoil and the suspension of several high school football programs across the state. For the first time ever, the Hogs had lost to in-state rival Arkansas State three consecutive times. Head coach Jim Beale had publicly acknowledged that he was considering resigning due to the mounting problems for the program.

Beale recruited heavily that spring, however, and managed to persuade the NCAA to allow former recruits serving prison sentences or who had left the university after the Riots to return to the team for one last push. The NCAA, pitying the Hogs, allowed generous concessions to get the university's program back on track.

The team was noted for being predominantly black; it was the first university in the South to have a black team captain, which in '85 was linebacker Howard Strong. Beale was threatened to be fired by three boosters who demanded that white left tackle Peter Gerdhy be made captain, but Beale felt that Strong was a better leader and that the senior deserved the captaincy after staying with the team even after his mother died in the Riots.

The team included ex-convicts who had been sent to brief sentences for their participation in property destruction in the 1983 riot, including starting wide receiver Sammy Reed, safety Julious Henry, and guard Edward Jackson. Starting quarterback Tim Lippner had been a walk-on when he first came in 1982, but by his senior season had earned a full scholarship when the preferred quarterback, Ken Stevenson, had left the program in 1984 when reports surfaced that he had been in an extremist gang during the Riot. Several future starters had declined scholarship, chosen not to graduate high school or left the university in the wake of the destruction. Since so many recruits were from the greater Covenant area, they had been affected deeply by the violence.

This hodgepodge of players were expected to fare better than the previous two years of walk-ons, but expectations were still low - many players had been away from football for two whole years. Beale encouraged walk-ons to join the team and contribute.

The Hogs were considerable underdogs in their first game of the season, against the Mississippi Falcons. The Falcons came into the game ranked No. 18 in the country and had the previous year's Bosch winner, quarterback Rick Johansson, throwing the ball for them. The Razorbacks upset the Falcons on a last-second field goal kicked by walk-on Luis Cristan.

This stirred some national attention; the Falcons were one of the Southern Conference's best teams, and the Razorbacks were not a national heavyweight in any way. The next week the Hogs blasted Texas State 38-7, behind the powerful running of Greg Rodgers. Their next two wins, against Alabama and Louisiana, were comfortable victories.

At 4-0, Arkansas next faced off against the No. 10 ranked Texas Longhorns in the annual rivalry game between the two schools. Arkansas trailed for most of the game until a huge pass from Lippner to Frank Williams set up a Greg Rodgers touchdown to tie the game up. Arkansas intercepted Texas in overtime and kicked a field goal to win the game.

The stunning upset vaulted Arkansas into the No. 20 spot in the rankings, and over the next few weeks, with wins over Missouri, Tennessee and Louisiana State, the now 8-0 Hogs climbed all the way up to No. 7.

The last two great tests remaining were No. 2 Georgia and heated rival Arkansas State, which itself was 6-2 and on a four-game win streak. Arkansas stunned Georgia as former prisoner Sammy Reed caught a last-second touchdown pass to win 24-21 on the road, and the Hogs eked out a close thriller against ASU 34-32 in a difficult road game against a very emotional opponent.

The 10-0 Hogs had begun to inspire Arkansas, and the state started to come together behind what Beale's team was doing. Beale warned his now No. 3 team not to get comfortable, to remember that the whole thing could fall apart at any time. Arkansas survived a surprising upset scare from Mississipi State to advance into their final regular season game, against out-of-conference rival North Carolina, who the Hogs beat on a last-second field goal to win 21-20. With No. 2 Aroostook's loss to UMass, Arkansas advanced at 12-0 to the national title game against Michigan, which had dominated the country that year behind Bosch-winner Vincent Prose's passing and with the best statistical defense of the decade. The Wolverines were 14-point favorites against the storybook-season Hogs.

Even with a loss, what Beale had done for the state was amazing. But in one of the greatest college upsets of all time, Arkansas beat Michigan on a last-second desperation pass from Lippner, who was scrambling out of a sack, to Reed, who only a year before had been playing prison-yard football, in the back of the endzone. The Catch, as it was called, won the game 34-31 for the Hogs and the national championship.

The Razorbacks would continue to be a strong football program through the remainder of the 1980's, although they would never return to the title game and would win only one more Southern Conference title. But the emotional effect that the 1985 Razorbacks had for the wounded state of Arkansas went to prove the healing powers of sports.

The Kick
The date was January 13th, 2002 - the latest a college football national championship game has been held, due to an NCAA workers strike in December that shot all the bowl games back. The Mississippi Falcons and Washington Huskies were facing each other for the first time in history, and were a lucrative No.1-2 matchup. The Falcons were a bombs-away team, pioneering a run-n-gun offense that had put up gaudy stats. Their speedy quarterback, Julious Everridge, had won the Bosch trophy given to the most outstanding college player of the season, and every quarterback award as a senior. The Huskies, meanwhile, were a defensive-oriented team, and their head coach, Daniel Price, ran a conservative, traditional power offense. Both teams were undefeated.

The Falcons dominated the first half, scoring 14 unanswered points and led 14-3 at halftime. On the opening play of the third quarter, Huskies quarterback Mike Plutarski led a 16-play, 8:45 minute drive to score a touchdown on a one-yard quarterback dive. The Falcons punted on the next series and the Huskies pulled off another similar drive to kick a field goal, now trailing by just 4.

In the fourth quarter, the Falcons raced down the field but failed to score on three attempts from inside the Husky 4. They settled for a field goal as well. The Huskies executed a brilliant seven-play drive for 79 yards to score a touchdown when a missed tackle turned into a 29-yard reception for Michael Tyler from Plutarski. The Falcons and Huskies were now tied.

The Falcons, with five minutes left, drove down to the Washington 21, but their field goal flew wide right. Washington took over now with just over two minutes remaining. Price wanted to go for overtime, and was preparing his coaches and defense in case it were to happen. Plutarski, meanwhile, worked his team down the field with short throws and passes and solid running from his committee of tailbacks to get the Huskies down to the Mississippi 32 with five seconds left on the clock. UW kicker Nick Early came out and nailed the forty-two yard field goal straight down the uprights as time expired as Washington won their first-ever national championship in a huge upset off of a legendary kick.