Crowning a college football national champion appears headed “Back to the Future.”
Duke coach David Cutcliffe was asked during a Zoom interview following Friday’s practice if college football can have a national champion with some conferences playing in the fall and others, due to the COVID-19 pandemics, postponing their seasons to the spring.
“Well, I guess you could have multiple national champions,” Cutcliffe said. “We’ve seen that in the past. There has to be a carrot for a team to play for. It’s not that much different than when I was young and we had AP, UPI and all these different champions.
“Maybe that’s ok. We’ll have to play and declare to a champion among whoever is playing. Call it a national championship. Whoever is playing, whether fall or spring, is an outstanding team.”
Cutcliffe cited the era prior to the Bowl Championship Series (2001-2013) and College Football Playoffs (2014-) when the poll systems frequently crowned separate national championship teams.
Most recently was 1997. Michigan was the AP (writers) national champion, while the USA Today-ESPN poll (coaches) voted Nebraska the national champion.
The 1990s began with back-to-back split champions: 1990, Georgia Tech and Colorado, and 1991, Washington and Miami. The 1970s and 1960s both had four split championship seasons.
The Associated Press began voting national champions in 1936. The United Press International (coaches), which is now USA Today, followed suit in 1950. At the time that was considered an improvement. The first four years the polls were in agreement until a split national title in 1954, Ohio State (AP) and UCLA (UPI, FWAA).
Before the wire service polls, national titles were haphazard with independent organizations such as the Helms Foundation naming a champion. The NCAA currently only recognizes the AP, UPI/USA Today, NFF, FWWA groups as national champions. The NFF’s MacArthur Bowl, added in 1959, was independent during the poll voting, but it is now automatically presented to the CFP winner.
The The Big Ten Pac-12 are playing in the spring, while the other three Power 5 conferences, the ACC, Southeastern and Big 12, are proceeding in the fall. The Mountain West and Mid-American conferences also have postponed to the spring, while other Group of Five conferences are planning on the fall.
But a fall season will be a moot if students suffer COVID-19 outbreaks upon students returning to campuses.
Mitigation may be more difficult with students returning to campuses. The ACC has plans to open an 11-game season on Sept. 12. Duke travels to Notre Dame. But an outbreak anytime between now and with play underway could interrupt the season.
“It’s difficult to say,” Cutcliffe said about the likelihood of playing 11 games. “I’m very proud of our players. It’s difficult across the country as our students come back to campus. At this point the focus is on mitigation and the bubble, so to speak. Our players are aware of responsibility. I think we can play 11 games. I feel good about getting it done, but I can’t speak for others. We’ve tested twice a week and our guys have done a great job.”
Cutcliffe’s greater concern is how college football will emerge entering the fall of 2021. He had hope for more uniform plans organized by the American Football Coaches Association working with the NCAA. But schools and coaches have mapped their own plans since June when players were first permitted at some schools to return to campus for informal workouts.
NCAA president Mark Emmert recently said he doesn’t have the power to direct the Power 5 conferences.
“The subject, to be honest with you, is bothering me personally,” Cutcliffe said. “I was hoping at the beginning through AFCA board meetings and communication with the NCAA that we’d get a unified approach. I felt that was necessary. I do have a fear of never seeing college football the same. It’s a unique time.”
Duke’s practice Friday completed the first full week and was the first one in pads. Derrick Tangelo, a 6-foot-2, 285-pound senior from Gaithersburg, Maryland, is a returning starter at defensive tackle.
“I mean it was nerve-racking for everybody not knowing what was going to happen with the pandemic going on,” Tangelo said. “We didn’t really know what it was going to be like, but we’ve been following the right instructions. Now that we’re here it’s definitely exciting for everybody just to you know finally be back with each other, practicing and working hard going against each other. I think we’ve had a very good week. We’re building on something every day. We’re focusing more on conditioning and trying to get ourselves into the best shape possible. The coaches have got a great game plan and we’ve just been executing.”
