College Football's Greatest "What If" Scenarios

[selmaborntidefan]

Maybe Im remembering this wrong so @selmaborntidefan if you have anything to add or correct please do. But I think the 2010 Auburn team would've 100% gotten in with a loss over us and a win over USCe the following week. here is why:

1) With the loss on the road to Alabama that ensures 1 thing, that Oregon will still be the opponent in the NCG since the Pac 12 and Big 10 didn't have a conference championship to make a case.

So here are the teams that would contend for the #2 spot

-Auburn 12-1
- TCU 12-0
-Stanford 11-1 (blowout loss to Oregon in which it wasn't even as close as the score really was. Oregon let Stanford jump out to a 21-3 first quarter lead, and out scored them 49-10 the rest of the way shuting Andrew Luck out in the 2nd half)
-Wisconsin 11-1 (beat #1 Ohio State like a drum but lost a weird game @ MSU)

2) The BCS algorithm would 100% reject TCU and the human voting would totally reject Stanford in a rematch. So it really leaves Wisconsin and Auburn.

3) Auburn having 1 more win with a significantly higher SOS would trump Wisconsin's stellar win over Ohio St.

So why then was TCU ranked #3 in the post championship BCS standings? Because the Rose Bowl was 3rd in the pecking order and didn't have a stipulation to take the #2 team in either the Big 10 or Pac 12. More or less it was giving the Rose Bowl a reason to pick anyone but UConn (AQ from Big East) because everyone knew the Sugar was going to pick Ohio St to play #2 SEC (Arkansas) and the Orange was going to pick Stanford to play the ACC champ Virginia Tech.

Point is, an Auburn loss to Alabama on the road probably changes nothing but the Heisman trophy winner and an undefeated championship. It probably hurts TCU the most because voters are probably scrambling to prevent either TCU and Stanford in getting in. So really the only team that probably benefits from it is possibly Wisconsin, but its highly unlikely that they get in over Auburn.

Long story short, I think you're "probably" right. But the other thing that helped out Auburn was Boise State losing to Nevada. That defeat of an unbeaten made the case easier against TCU, and I surmise you're correct on the complicated BCS formula (a mystery right up there with the WWF "rule book").

And in the end it would have come down to the fact Auburn lost to a top ten team, which we would have been had we beaten them.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Great list Selma!

On Bo Jackson. My understanding is we wanted to come to Bama but Pat Dye convinced him Coach Bryant was about to retire (and he was right). Can you imagine Bo in Crimson???

The "not to be mentioned" comeback in 2010 is the most painful Bama loss in my Crimson memory. We didn't have NC aspirations and all that really mattered at the end of that season was keeping Auburn from winning their first National Championship since they were Alabama Polytech Institute. That Mark Ingram fumble that rolled 40 yards up the sideline is still one of the most unbelievable "bad breaks" I've ever seen.

The tale as I've heard it - and supposedly confirmed by Donahue before he passed prior to the web becoming a huge thing (as if he could say anything AFTER he died) - Donahue gave Bo the standard sales pitch, which was basically, "You might start your junior year. You come here and you win, and we make no promises on starting yadda yadda." Donahue wouldn't promise him something he had no intention of giving (or Bryant either one), so Bo went on to big things at Auburn.

It was probably the best thing for him, though; at Alabama, he'd have been one more name in a huge backfield and Perkins would have ruined him trying to install the pro set.

 

[81usaf92]

Long story short, I think you're "probably" right. But the other thing that helped out Auburn was Boise State losing to Nevada. That defeat of an unbeaten made the case easier against TCU, and I surmise you're correct on the complicated BCS formula (a mystery right up there with the WWF "rule book").

And in the end it would have come down to the fact Auburn lost to a top ten team, which we would have been had we beaten them.

That year felt like 2007 with two teams just refusing to play the losing game.

-You had Missouri dealing the death blow to Oklahoma's chances then losing their shot in a matter of 7 days to Nebraska

- You had Wisconsin beating Ohio State out of the blue

- You had South Carolina pretty much making the Alabama-Auburn game a pride game by beating Alabama

- A horrible Texas teams ruins Nebraska's run

- Michigan St ruins Wisconsin's run

-Kap puts a cap in the blue ponies' hope of busting the national championship


Really if Alabama beat either South Carolina or LSU then you really wouldn't need a playoff that year because the winners of the Oregon-Stanford and Alabama-Auburn game would've been in. It was a series of crazy upsets that eliminated most by November.

 

[bama Jason]

What if Pat Dye does go to Auburn? Him and coach Bryant was very close. Some said coach to would have want him to replace him. How much could we won with him?

 

[selmaborntidefan]

What if Pat Dye does go to Auburn? Him and coach Bryant was very close. Some said coach to would have want him to replace him. How much could we won with him?

You mean what if Dye comes to Alabama? Because he DID go to Auburn!


I surmise he would have been very successful. Then again, what level of under the table monies he could have paid here, who knows? I've heard two different tales, one being that Bryant wanted Perkins and the other being that Bryant wanted Dye. Supposedly Bryant called Dye and told him not to take the Auburn job because he was getting the Alabama job in a few years. The Dye version of the story is that this happened, but he took Auburn because it was a chance to build a program as opposed to simply carrying on a legacy. It's difficult to see that Dye would have bolted Auburn after one or two years had the job been offered.

One can argue Dye was a very successful football coach because you don't win 3 straight SEC titles in the parity of the 1980s by accident. But the end of his tenure tarnished his name forever, too. Eric Ramsey is the only one we had evidence of; how many more and for how long is a fair question.

 

[bama Jason]

You mean what if Dye comes to Alabama? Because he DID go to Auburn!


I surmise he would have been very successful. Then again, what level of under the table monies he could have paid here, who knows? I've heard two different tales, one being that Bryant wanted Perkins and the other being that Bryant wanted Dye. Supposedly Bryant called Dye and told him not to take the Auburn job because he was getting the Alabama job in a few years. The Dye version of the story is that this happened, but he took Auburn because it was a chance to build a program as opposed to simply carrying on a legacy. It's difficult to see that Dye would have bolted Auburn after one or two years had the job been offered.

One can argue Dye was a very successful football coach because you don't win 3 straight SEC titles in the parity of the 1980s by accident. But the end of his tenure tarnished his name forever, too. Eric Ramsey is the only one we had evidence of; how many more and for how long is a fair question.

That true but bama was on probation twice. We laost some were between 30 and 50 scholarhips and 3 bowl game. Only had 1 national championship and only 2 SEC titles. So that being said If you going to cheat at you should win more than we did.

 

[DogPatch]

OK, here's a "what if" I haven't seen anyone mention: "What if" Kentucky gives Bear Bryant a Cadillac instead of a watch???

It's a shorter drive home when Mama calls.