Tony Franklin's success will depend a lot on the development of Kodi Burns.

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

Rewind the calendar one year and it's a safe bet that less than 1% of the state's college football fans could pick Tony Franklin out in a lineup. His name recognition was lower than the Libertarian Party presidential nominee (It's Bob Barr. Of course, I had to look it up).

What a difference a year makes. While not quite reaching the rock star status of former defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, Franklin's popularity in the state of Alabama has to have McCain and Obama envious.

As Franklin prepares for his first fall on the Plains, all eyes are on the creator of the Tony Franklin System. How he's reached this point in his career is nothing short of amazing.

Just a few years ago, Franklin was a broken man. Bankrupt and blacklisted from college football, the odds of him ever getting beyond coaching high school ball was slim and none.

He had broken one of the cardinal rules of coaching or any business for that matter. Franklin, who served as coordinator at Kentucky, wrote a tell-all book about the Hal Mumme years at the University. You will remember that Mumme's success on the field came with a price, ending in NCAA sanctions and Mumme's ouster.

Suddenly, the offensive guru who developed Tim Couch into a top NFL draft choice was jobless and had nowhere to turn. That's when he copyrighted the Tony Franklin System and began driving around the country hawking it to high schools.

Along the way a funny thing happened. It worked.

Franklin tells ESPN's Pat Forde in a column this week, that he had little choice. "It was desperation," Franklin said. "I was broke and trying to survive. A lot of great things happen out of desperation."

You know the rest of the story. Franklin fought all the way back, eventually landing at Troy last year and helping turn Larry Blackney's offense into a winner.

Speaking to the Columbus/Phenix City Auburn Club a few months back, he said the book was written out of anger and was something he very much regretted. Want a copy of Fourth Down and Life to Go? Good luck. It's selling for close to $200 on the internet.

Franklin says the book will never be republished. And why should it? His story after the book is a much better one.

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

Today marks the unofficial start of the 2008 college football season. SEC Media Days gets underway this morning in Birmingham. Wednesday's featured schools include Florida, Miss State, LSU and Vanderbilt. Head coaches and top players from each institution will take questions from literally hundreds of media representatives across the country.

Here's some good news.  For the first time, the SEC will be providing live streaming video and audio of the event. So if you weren't lucky enough to get a press pass, you'll still have the best seat in the house. This is huge. Now you've just got to work around your boss when he or she passes your cubicle. Click here to watch.

Auburn's Tommy Tuberville will take questions on Friday morning at 8:40 CT and will be joined by center Jason Bosley and defensive end Sen'derrick Marks. They will have the floor at the Wynfrey Hotel for about an hour.

The highlight will be when Tuberville waits around for new Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino and publicly flogs the living hell out of him. It should be a good time for all.

Beginning in August, SportsSouth and FSN South will be doing individual team preview shows for the 12 SEC schools. The Auburn show will premier on Friday, August 8^th at 7:00 p.m. CT. It will then run seven more times throughout the month. Click here for schedule details.

Many of you have discovered Auburn Undercover, the new web site that is owned by ESPN and written by long time Tiger beat writer Phillip Marshall. If you haven't had a chance to visit, make sure you do.

Only in business a few weeks now, the site is absolutely awesome. Marshall is everywhere when it comes to covering Auburn football. But there's some bad news. In a few weeks the site will switch over to a pay service like Autigers.com and AuburnSports.com.

As a yearly subscriber to both pay services, I have to say that Marshall is eating their lunch out of the gate. He has the most interesting stories and a good mix of recruiting news. It will be interesting to see if he can maintain the momentum in the coming months.

By War Eagle Atlanta
glg68@aol.com

Rivalries are what make college football--period. And unlike in pro sports, they're not manufactured or massaged or manipulated, they simply exist; usually falling on natural borders, or even better, within the same state. Taking care of your in-state rival is of prime importance and is a must to have a great season, but you pretty much want to kick butt across state lines, too. Kick it so bad that the FBI gets involved...

Everyone thinks that their inter-state rivalry is the toughest in all of college football and will gladly tell you. But what about some empirical evidence for a change? Enough of the hype and rah-rah, just give me some facts. What I think constitutes a great rivalry is as simple as the strength of the teams that play in it and how long they've been playing.

A good way to measure the greatness of the teams comes from our old friend, College Football Data Warehouse. Their rankings index attempts to measure teams throughout history primarily based on four categories: all-time winning percentage, strength of schedule percentage, number of national championships, and number of Big Four bowl appearances.

While I think that CFBDW does a great job with attempting to rank teams historically, I disagree slightly with their criteria used and their results. You already know that I think their MNC awards are far too generous, so I've altered that formula to reflect what I feel are more credible results.  And I totally disallow their category for Big Four Bowl appearances in all-time team rankings.

Although I think that earning a slot in one of these bowls is a great hallmark for a team, I have a problem with historic bowl alliances that have not always paired the best teams available, leaving out a great number of teams due to conference alignments and regional preferences. If they were to only look at these bowl appearances during the BCS era, when most of the top teams at least had a chance of landing in any of the bowls, I might be more prone to consider it. But it still wouldn't be very representative of college football over its 140 year lifespan. So, as it is, I am not going to include this category in determining the single greatest programs in CFB history.

So I've used CFBDW's scores for winning percentage and strength of schedule, and have paired down the number of MNCs, but have still awarded the same number of points per title that they do. Then it's all a matter of adding up the historic points for each team, then adding the sum of two rivals and see who has the biggest total. To see my index of the top 25 all-time teams, click here. 

And remember, only Division 1-A (FBS) teams are considered and only rivalries that have 70 or more games. I thought about limiting the number of rivalries for any team to one, but I thought that penalized them unfairly for their success. The first team listed in the rivalry has the winning record in the series.

10) Georgia-Florida, 46-37-2. The game formerly known as the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. The game also formerly dominated by Georgia, who has only gone 3-15 the last 18 years. One of only two series on the list primarily played at a neutral site--Jacksonville.

9) Texas-Arkansas, 55-21. Former Southwest Conference mates who are just again starting to enjoy playing each other, especially after the drought following Arkansas' departure to the SEC in 1992. Of course, it's been Texas who normally puts the pig in the ground, dominating this series thoroughly.

8) Auburn-Georgia, 53-50-8. The oldest rivalry in our rankings, and the closest statistically. Arguably the most respectful rivalry around, probably owing to the fact that these two teams played the first football game ever in the deep south in 1891. They also played primarily on neutral sites until 1959, when they switched to a home and home. Curiously, in those almost 50 years of on-campus games, the visiting team has a winning record.

7) Notre Dame-Michigan State, 44-26-1. The Spartans are ND's most frequent Big 10(11) opponent, one of the few old Western Conference (pre-cursor to the Big 10) schools that didn't shun the Irish. The teams met in the alleged Game of the Century in 1966, both coming in undefeated. They stumbled to a 10-10 tie, sharing the AP and UPI national championships, and totally hosed undefeated Alabama, who was unfairly denied a third straight MNC. See? I can too say nice things about Bama...

6) Alabama-Tennessee, 45-38-7. Third Saturday in October. A battle between the two top historic teams in the SEC. Alabama has played most of it's home games at Legion Field, which was historically known as the Tide's other home field (except in the Iron Bowl, of course, where it was perfectly 'neutral')

5) Alabama-LSU, 43-23-5. What most Tide fans would consider their third most intense rivalry overall, this game sneaks up in the rankings past Bama-Tennessee. Curiously, LSU went 29 years in this series between home victories--the kind of futility that you probably would only find in Notre Dame-Navy. This match up is definitely in the spotlight now that Saban has returned to the SEC.

4) Michigan-Ohio State, 57-41-6. THE game. Bo versus Woody. Lloyd versus The Vest. What many people consider the top CFB rivalry of all time. Well, close, but not quite, according to my rankings. Michigan's weak actual MNC count is what prevents this one from being number two. With most Big 10(11) titles waiting around to be claimed by this game's winner, it's always a must-see. Hail to the victor, whoever he may be.

3) Oklahoma-Nebraska, 43-37-3. The former marquee match up of the old Big Two, Little Six Conference. Switzer versus Osborne. One of two games in our rankings that is no longer played every year, resulting from both teams being placed in separate divisions when the Big 12 was formed. And since teams in the Big 12 do not permanently play one team from the opposite division each year, this clash has been relegated to two years on, two years off, barring a meeting in Kansas City. Doesn't really seem fair for the rest of CFB...

2) Texas-Oklahoma, 57-40-5. The Red River Shoot-Out. One of the oldest rivalries on our list and the oldest neutral-site game in college football history--the last 79 games have been played in Dallas. This game was the great clash of the old Big 8 and Southwestern Conferences kings. Curiously, Texas has held a pretty solid lead in this series in spite of Oklahoma having better overall historic success. This one is played 365 days a year. If you doubt that, just hang out here on fanblogs for a while...

1) Notre Dame-Southern California, 42-32-5. The biggest all-time interstate rivalry in all of college football, and the only one on our list where the two teams aren't in the same region. Yes, this one is quite an oddball. There's a few stories around about how it came to be organized. The one I believe is that the teams became acquainted after Notre Dame came out and played in the 1925 Rose Bowl against Stanford and was looking for a permanent opponent from the West Coast. Regardless of how it got started, it's still the one you can't miss. I'm a little surprised this series isn't a little closer, but anything can happen when the two teams with the most MNCs meet.

So there we have it, the greatest inter-state CFB rivalries ranked by the teams' historical significances in the record books. Special note should be given to Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Alabama, Texas, and Georgia, who all had two rivalries reflected. I've laid out the formula that I've used to gather my data, but like all statistics, they can be manipulated or misconstrued. I think mine as being the fairest considering the circumstances, but if you think you've got a better system, let me know. Maybe we can fine tune it in the future.

Tommy Tuberville's golf days are over. It's time for football.

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

Good Monday morning to you. It's great to be back after spending a week on the Florida Gulf Coast. I'm rejuvenated and ready to shift into regular season mode here at Track'em Tigers.

When SEC Media Days concludes at the end of this week in Birmingham, look for conference beat writers to make Auburn the odds on favorite in the SEC West. LSU should be second now that quarterback Ryan Periloux has exited stage left.

Many that follow Auburn closely have pointed to 2008 for a long time. Auburn is deeper than it has ever been, the schedule is more favorable (I know, it almost sounds stupid to say it that way) and most importantly, the Tigers return a lot of experience at the marquee positions on both sides of the ball.

Despite all the positives, there are glaring question marks. Will Defensive Coordinator Paul Rhoads be able to pickup where Will Muschamp left off? How will the defense adjust to playing a mostly 4-3 front?

Give Rhoads credit. He managed to put his stamp on the defense during the spring while keeping things simple enough so the players can react first and think second. There's little doubt Rhoads was the best coordinator available for hire. But no mater how good you are, it takes time for a defense to get comfortable with new schemes. Rhoads is a master teacher. Fall practice will be interesting.

Is the Spread Offense the Way to Go?

The question I've been asked most during the off-season is what do I think about the spread? After listening to offensive coordinator Tony Franklin in the off-season, I feel much better. Franklin has been out front about his intentions to run the ball often. I sense that many Auburn fans have their doubts.

It's imperative that Brad Lester, Ben Tate and Tristan Davis not go to waste. I can't imagine Tommy Tuberville letting that happen. And Franklin is much too smart to allow it. With a new quarterback, look for the backs to get plenty of carries, especially early in the year. Look for Lester and Tate to put up more than 1,500 yards on the ground.

Most exciting offensively are the returning receivers. This year's group will have every opportunity to surpass what Ben Obomanu, Courtney Taylor and Devin Aromashodu accomplished a few years ago. 

Look for Rod Smith to be the go-to guy once again. But this year he should have more help. Robert Dunn, James Swinton, Montez Billings and Tim Hawthorne should all be much improved. If two of them aren't named all conference at the end of the year, I'll be shocked.

Coach Dye has questioned whether the spread offense can be successful in a physical conference like the SEC. Florida has proven that it can by running a variation of it the past two years. We should all be cautiously optimistic that it can succeed at Auburn. Besides, anything is better than what we had last year.

So Who Starts at Quarterback?

All of this leads to the biggest question mark of all. Who will start at quarterback and will they be successful running the Spread?

If you look at the history books, they will tell you that first year starting quarterbacks typically struggle in the league. There are exceptions - see Tee Martin and Tim Tebow. The question is does Kodi Burns or Chris Todd have that kind of talent? Probably not, but that doesn't mean they can't win.

Everyone has been fixated on who's going to start against Louisiana-Monroe. Truthfully, it probably doesn't matter. Franklin will name a starter for the first game - he has no choice. But if you are looking for the starter to be named in early August and written in non-erasable ink, you are probably going to be disappointed.

My guess is that Burns will be named the starter. Based on his play in the spring, I think he's the better quarterback at this point. But don't be surprised to see Todd come into the game on the second or third series. Don't be surprised if this goes on for several weeks - or months.

Franklin says he's not concerned with playing more than one quarterback. We need to get used to it now. It's going to be hard. I still have nightmares about that 1985 season. Remember that faithful trip to Knoxville?

It's just a guess, but I believe that Burns will distinguish himself before the season is out and solidify the starting spot. But it could be painful getting there.

Let the speculation begin.  We are two weeks away from fall practice and only 40 days from kickoff. Our time is near.

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

It's hard to believe that football practice starts in a few weeks. The coaches are taking their final vacations and the players are finishing up their "voluntary" summer workouts. Football season is finally here.

Before we get started, I'm going to take a little downtime with my family and squeeze in a week of vacation. Track'em Tigers will return full strength on July 21^st. We've got a lot of ground to cover before kickoff with Louisiana-Monroe. 

Next week we'll shift into regular season mode with tons of profiles on players and other gameday related stories. I can't wait. The long off-season is over.

In the meantime, if you haven't already, please sign up for our upcoming monthly newsletter (see below).  It'll be coming later this fall and will include lots of great interviews with current and former Auburn players. And don't worry about spam.  We'll never share your information with anyone.  We're using a company called Constant Contact and they are simply the best in the business when it comes to stopping spam. 

I hope all of you have a great week and War Eagle!

Subscribe to Talkin' Tigers Email:

By War Eagle Atlanta
glg68@aol.com

It's that time of the year again when with nothing left to do; it's time for the pundits to analyze the upcoming schedule for CFB, including a through examination of the purportedly weak SEC slate of out of conference games. The first article I saw was this one from NBC Sports, where the writer merely defines cupcakes as being 1-AA schools, then lists each OOC game for every team in the BCS conferences. (Editor's note. The Federal Government now requires a footnote each time that the terms Division 1-A or Division 1-AA are used that the new acceptable nomenclature be listed as well, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), respectively. No word yet if the Fed will eventually require this disclaimer in Spanish...)

Fair enough. Give us your list of who you think the cupcakes are, but also give us a shot at defining the term. Consulting the WEA dictionary, we come across this:

cup-cake: kŭp'kāk' n. Traditionally, a small, weaker team, usually from Div 1-AA, scheduled to play a bigger team, typically from Div 1-A, but now expanded to be any team from a non-BCS conference playing a team from the BCS conferences, with the possible exception of the Big Eas(y)t. See also, University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa, this century...

You can probably add to that definition the concept that if you're a team from a BCS conference, you are NEVER anyone else's cupcakes, with the possible exception of being an Inner-Conference Cupcake (ICC). Copyright pending, WEA, 2008. You know, like a Vandy or a Duke??

Okay, great. We now have our parameters. The reason I wanted to define the term is because the writer of that column goes on to gloriously boast that the Pac 10 had only two cupcakes lined up this season, compared to significantly more for the rest of the conferences. Only two cupcakes? Come on. So I decided that I'd lend my own analysis, using my definition above and find out where the cupcakes are being baked. Keep in mind that my definition is more liberal than the one the he uses so there will be more cupcakes for everybody. It's finally time to separate the men (BCS) from the boys (mid-majors). And since some conferences have more teams than others, I broke the cupcake count out to an average per team in the conference, rather than list the total per conference. Here's what I found:

1) PAC 10 1.4 cupcakes per conference team

2) ACC 2.17 per team

3) SEC 2.83 per team

4) Big 10(11) 2.91 per team

T5) Big East 3.00 per team

T5) Big 12 3.00 per team

As you can see, yes indeed, the Pac 10 did come out ahead of everyone else by far, but the SEC certainly wasn't the worst. And here's the problem that anyone should have with any cupcake count if you're trying to use it as some de facto strength of schedule barometer: IT DOESN'T TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE CONFERENCE SCHEDULE THAT YOU PLAY. And isn't that what we SEC fans have been screaming for decades? SEC teams have won 3 of the 7 Mythical National Championships this century; with a 4th team left out, so obviously something must be magical about our conference schedule to do that--especially considering that none of those three champions were undefeated.

So if you're going to mention the cupcakes in some team's schedule, why don't you mention their regular schedule in the same breath? Perhaps list how many of a team's opponents this season were ranked in the top 25 at the end of the last season? Sure, that was last year, but that's all the data we can use in a pre-season analysis. The point is that there's nothing wrong with scheduling a few cupcakes when you play the defending #1, #2, #6, and #12 teams from last year like we do this year, not to mention playing an additional 2-3 teams that will be ranked pre-season top 25.

And speaking of Auburn, no discussion of cupcakes can be complete without throwing the 2004 season in our face with the litany of Louisiana-Monroe, The Citadel, and Louisiana Tech. Everyone loves to discount our absence in the BCS CG to the cupcakes on our schedule, but they never remember that we beat four teams ranked in the top 15that year, compared to USC's two and Oklahoma's one. Yes, because of that BCS slight, we have unjustly become the poster child for cupcake reform in CFB--which is most ironic since we actually have the 5th strongest all-time strength of schedule rating in college football history. 

But that's all the ammunition the other BCS schools have against the SEC. Even The Wizard of Odds gets into the fray with his analysis of Auburn and the SEC's OOC schedule this century. He mentions us as having only traveled for 3 OOC games out of 34; to Syracuse, USC, and GA Tech, but he fails to disclose any 1-game series we have had (Washington State, Kansas State) nor does he mention our trip to West Virginia this year. He even goes as far as to calculate the distance that Georgia has traveled for away OOC games--358 miles. Anyone know if he used Mapquest or Tom Tom to get that number?

So if that's all you got, talking about the weak teams we play, conveniently forgetting to mention the ferocity of our conference competition, then why don't you go pound sand? While you continue to wonder why only two teams in your conference are really competitive year after year, we'll keep beating each other up and eating our own and still win those mythical national championships, biding our time until we get a playoff and they disperse a few of our teams into the bracket and you really get to see how we play.

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

There's little arguing that today's crop of SEC coaches are perhaps the best in the history of the conference. Nine of the 12 coaches have won a conference championship at least once in their careers. Five have won national championships and Tommy Tuberville was screwed out of one in 2004.

But with all the success, there's still something missing from today's SEC coaches. I haven't been able to pinpoint it until now. MaconDawg over at Dawgsports.com picked up on it this week and wrote about it. That's when it hit me.

Head coaches don't dress like real coaches anymore.

One of the things I liked most about Pat Dye when I was growing up in the 80's was the way he carried himself (when his pants were on and not at the bottom of Lake Martin).  Every Saturday in the fall he wore a blue blazer, orange and blue tie, khaki pants and an Auburn hat. He looked like a head coach. He looked like the boss.  His demeanor demanded respect from the players and other coaches.

Going the way of corporate America, college coaches have moved to a more casual look. Most head coaches wear the same thing as their assistants. At best they wear a nice school-branded shirt and slacks; and at worst they look like Charlie Weiss of Notre Dame. Note to Charlie: fat guys should never wear oversized sweatshirts. We still know you are fat.

You only need to go back 20 years to see an entirely different era in coaching. I can still picture Vince Dooley in that sweater with a tie underneath. I can see Johnny Majors of Tennessee on the sidelines with a coat and tie. And yes, even Bear Bryant wore a tie, although most of the time it only fell half way down his shirt.

Now before you start thinking I'm one of those fruity designers on the E! Channel, I'm not suggesting that putting on a coat and tie makes you a better coach. But it sure does make you look smarter. Watching Steve Spurrier throw his girly visor down on the ground after a bad call hardly invokes memories of  Neyland or Dodd.

I guess what I'm ranting about today is that coaches should dress like coaches. Leaders wear coats and ties. They don't wear knit shirts and visors. I know it's hot as hell in September. But these guys should be used to it.  Practice in a coat and tie if it helps the body adjust and eliminate flop sweat on game day. Show some pride in the outfit. Show you care like a Marine.

The SEC coaches today may make more money, stay in better shape and look more tan, but give me old school. Just once I'd like to see Tommy throw on a blue blazer and a tie for a game. Sadly, I can't picture it. I guess those days are gone forever and I'm just getting old.

How did Coach Dye lose his pants?  Read below...

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

Has any school ever locked up next year's recruiting class prior to the start of fall camp? Auburn is seven commitments away from doing just that.  On Monday, Auburn added its 18^th commitment of the year when it received word that Parkview (Ga.) High School running back Brandon Jacobs was headed to the Plains in 2009.

From all indications, Jacobs is a good one.  The three-star back missed two games last year due to injury, but still managed to rush for 950 yards and eight touchdowns.  Jacobs ran a 4.5 40-yard dash earlier this spring. He hails from the same high school as current starting Auburn tailback Brad Lester.  He is the nephew of former Auburn and NFL lineman Steve Wallace.

Having 18 commitments is a long ways from having 18 players signed.  Still, you have to be impressed with how the Auburn coaching staff has responded to the challenge laid down by Alabama in recruiting.  Give a lot of the credit to Auburn linebackers coach James Willis. He's turning into a star within the coaching profession. Willis has taken back much of the Mobile area that was lost last year.  Don't be surprised to see Auburn sign upwards of 30 players before National Signing Day in February.

I came across a great story last week while in Florida.  Perhaps you saw it.  Shannon McDuffie, who lives in the Emerald Shores area near Still Waters was looking around the nearly drained lake last December when she discovered something out of the ordinary.  It was a pair of Madress pants sitting at the bottom of the lake.

Examining the pants, she found an alligator leather wallet inside, complete with credit cards and other information that dated back to the mid 80's. There was also a set of Toyota car keys in the pocket. 

Who did they belong to?  Patrick Fain Dye.

At this point you've probably already drawn a lot of conclusions about this story.  After all, it has been rumored that Coach Dye was as colorful off the field as he was on it.  According to Dye, he has no recollection of losing his pants (no pun intended) or his wallet and car keys.

Now 25+ years is a long time.  But I do believe that if I ever lost my pants, wallet and car keys - assumingly at the same time, I would remember it - even 25 years later. "Well, I had a place in Still Waters in the early 80s," said Dye. "I don't remember losing it, but now listen, that was a long time ago," he said in a telephone interview with Lake Martin Magazine.

The legend of Pat Dye grows.  I love that man.

By War Eagle Atlanta
glg68@aol.com

Faithful readers of this blog will notice that a lot of what this article contains has been stated by me in the past. That's because I thought it as being so well-written that I could regurgitate it once again in order to preempt any more lame threads from popping up like weeds in the parched earth here in the CFB dry season. The bee in my bonnet about national championships came last spring when Washington tried to slip one through the back door 47 years after the fact. 

Since then, I've quit wearing bonnets and have educated myself on the history of the national championship. I now feel qualified to be the final arbiter of which teams' national championship claims are legit, and which are as bogus as a Jeff Spicoli quip.

Here are the qualifications that I will use:

1) Only current Divison 1-A (FBS) teams with three or more MNCs will be considered.

2) Only AP championships (1934, 1936-present) UP championships (1935, 1950-1957) UPI championships (1958-1995) USA Today/ESPN championships (1997-present) and BCS championships (1998-present) are counted. However, prior to 1950, before the AP and UP polls ran concurrently, I will accept a preponderance of the other selectors. In other words, if your team claims MNCs from selectors not listed here, they are illegitimate. If none of this makes sense, just read on and complain about it later.

3) No back-dated titles will be considered. Using the definitions in (2) above, that means no MNCs before 1934. If you still don't know what a back-dated title is, sign up for my remedial newsletter at my link below.

I, Richard Dawson, and the Survey says!!!

Notre Dame, 12 NCs claimed: 1924, 1929, 1930, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1953, 1966, 1973, 1977, 1988. First three titles back-dated, 1953 illegitimate. Real total: 8 titles. Talk about winning one for the Gipper, they won three BEFORE the Gipper--and before national championships ever existed. One third of your titles bogus--pretty shabby.

Alabama, 12 NCs claimed: 1925, 1926, 1930, 1934, 1941, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1992. First 3 titles back-dated, 1934 and 1941 titles illegitimate. Real total, 7 titles. Bama is famous for throwing everything that sticks into the trophy cabinet. If you want a more detailed analysis of the Tide, read this.

USC, 10 NCs claimed: 1928, 1931, 1932, 1962, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978, 2003, 2004. First 3 titles back-dated, all the rest legitimate. Real total, 7 titles. Not bad, other than the back-dated ones. Let's see: 60s and 70s, got that covered; 21st century--check. Hey, what happened to the 80s and 90s???

Michigan, 7 NCs claimed: 1901, 1902, 1923, 1933, 1947, 1948, 1997. First 4 titles back-dated, the rest legitimate. Real total: 3 titles. Oh, snap! Don't worry, Go Blue. Batting .429 in the major leagues earns you bazillions a year...

Oklahoma, 7 NCs claimed: 1950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985, 2000. All legitimate! Real total: 7 titles. The first perfectly honest team. Naturally, OU owes Texas for all this glory--not!

Minnesota, 6 NCs claimed: 1934, 1935, 1936, 1940, 1941, 1960 All legit! Real total: 6 titles. But what are you guys thinking about doing for the next half of the 20th century???

Pittsburgh, 6 NCs claimed: 1910, 1916, 1918, 1936, 1937, 1976. First 3 titles back-dated, 1936 illegitimate, other 2 fine. Real total: 2 titles. Only 33% of your claimed titles for real? We haven't seen this kind of illegitimacy outside of the Mugabe administration...

Miami, 5 NCs claimed: 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, 2001. All legit. Real total: 5 titles. Still can't figure out how you got the nod in 1983 over a far superior Auburn team...

Nebraska: 5 NCs claimed, 1970, 1971, 1994, 1995, 1997. All legit. Real total: 5 titles. Solid! Can't figure out why they can't duplicate this kind of success in the other corn-producing states...

Ohio State, 5 NCs claimed: 1942, 1954, 1957, 1968, 2002. All legit. Real total: 5 titles. Best in the Big 10(11). Best ever: Woody or The Vest?

Army: 4 NCs claimed, 1914, 1944, 1945, 1946. First is back-dated, the rest legit. Real total: 3 titles. Gee, if we could only have another World War to drain the nation's manpower again...

GA Tech: 4 NCs claimed, 1917, 1928, 1952, 1990. First 3 titles back-dated, 1990 legit. Real total: 1 title. "I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech and a helluva embellisher..."

Illinois: 4 NCs claimed, 1914, 1919, 1923, 1927. All back-dated! Oh come on! Are you kidding me? Real toal: ZIP!!! However, as luck would have it, the Zook era has arrived.

Tennessee: 4 NCs claimed, 1938, 1950, 1951, 1998. 1938 and 1950 illegitimate, the rest legit. Real total: 2 titles. The SEC's historic 2nd best team follows the SEC's historic best team, Alabama--in title embellishment.

Texas: 4 NCs claimed, 1963, 1969, 1970, 2005, all legit! Real total: 4 titles. Thanks Daryl Royal. Still wondering why they're so woefully behind Oklahoma in this category...

California: 3 NCs claimed, 1920, 1921, 1922. All back-dated! What?? Real total: ZERO titles. See admonishment to Illinois...

Michigan State: 3 NCs claimed, 1952, 1965, 1966. 1966 is illegitimate, although you probably got hosed! Real total: 2 titles. Not bad--only one behind your Ann Arbor cousins...

There you have it. Now let me have it. War Eagle Atlanta will now take your stinging rebukes...