How would the history of CFB have changed if..........?

[MassNole]

Re: How would the history of CFB have changed if..........?

I'll say it, if Nick Saban isn't at Alabama then Julio Jones is at FSU with Jimbo Fisher. Mark Ingram is at Michigan State and no where close to winning a Heisman.

[BurghFan]

Re: How would the history of CFB have changed if..........?

What if the Big East had managed to get Penn St. before the Big 10 snapped them up? . . .

[MassNole]

Re: How would the history of CFB have changed if..........?

To go along with Miami and VaTech? One of two things, the Big East is a very good conference, or PSU goes wild through the conference after Miami, VaTech, and BC bolt for the ACC.

Then again who knows, maybe they join Miami and VaTech in that move.

[Cebby]

Re: How would the history of CFB have changed if..........?

If Penn State was in the Big East, nobody would have moved.

The Big 10 would stay at 10 and the Big East's football revenues would have been so high that there would have been no incentive for Miami, VTech, and Penn St/BC to leave.

If anything, the Big East might have made a push for FSU and maybe UVA/UMD to add to the local rivalries and markets.

[jeremym480]

Re: How would the history of CFB have changed if..........?

I'll say it, if Nick Saban isn't at Alabama then Julio Jones is at FSU with Jimbo Fisher. Mark Ingram is at Michigan State and no where close to winning a Heisman.

Just think where LSU would be IF Saban would have never decided to take his shot in the NFL......... Pretty scary

[Perfect Zero]

Re: How would the history of CFB have changed if..........?

OK, I took one of these challenges on to see any differences that could be discerned. What if Maurice Clarett had stayed at the Ohio State University instead of perusing professional football. The story of Clarett is wide known, in which the young running back felt like his professional career was in jeopardy by staying in the NCAA (and, well, money also talks). My look is on his last year. The Buckeyes went 8-4 that year, and while winning the Alamo Bowl is nice, going for the National Championship is even better. That year, Troy Smith was the quarterback with two dominate wide receivers in Santonio Holmes and Ted Ginn Jr. This would have been Clarett's junior year, and most likely last year in NCAA football.

First off, I have to state that this predicts what would have happened all other things equal. This assumes that all the other players would have progressed as they did in real life. I also cannot assume what Clarett's stats would have been, so I took his stats from 2002. It may not seem too realistic, but it's the best I could think of. What if Sports will help decide the outcomes in this simulation.

First, I'll simulate every game on the schedule, which also includes the bowl game (assuming they're good enough, and I think they will be).

Week | Opponent | Results | # of Rushes - # of Yards - # of Touchdowns

1. | vs. CINN | W | 61-14 | 30 - 113 - 2
2. | vs. MARSH | W | 34-14 | 23 - 101 - 1
3. | at. NCST | L | 7-27 | 25 - 72 - 1
4. | at. NW | W | 44-23 | 24 - 221 - 3
5. | vs. WIS | W | 29-21 | 23 - 141 - 3
6. | at. IOWA | W | 17-0 | 23 - 101 - 1
7. | vs. IND | W | 72-7 | 26 - 226 - 4
8. | vs. PENN ST | W | 28-9 | 19 - 109 - 2
9. | at. MSU | W | 42-30 | 20 - 194 - 0
10 | at. PURDUE | W | 34-33 | 22 - 181 - 1
11 | vs. MICH | W | 33-32 | 24 - 218 - 2

Bowl| vs. TEX (Rose Bowl) | W | 38-20 | 24 - 118 - 2

All in all, the Ohio State Buckeyes would have been 11-1 in the regular season, and most likely would have been ranked fourth at the end of the season. With five teams being undefeated, the only bowl possible would have been the Rose Bowl, where a #5 Texas vs. #4 Ohio State would have been a ratings godsend.

As for the awards, I think with 1677 yards at 6.5 yards per carry and 20 touchdowns, he would have beaten Cedric Benson for the Doak Walker Award, but would have been behind both Adrian Peterson and Matt Leinart in the Heisman Trophy race.

Anyways, something to ponder on...

[Chip Douglass]

Re: How would the history of CFB have changed if..........?

More recent, but if Pete Carroll doesn't take the USC job, I think UCLA and USC flip. UCLA sits at or near the top the Pac-10 for the last 10 years while USC idly stands by saying they've turned the corner every year. UCLA raids all those recruits that USC has gotten as well as helping teams like Oregon, UW, and Cal out.

The turning point happened 2 years earlier when UCLA lost to Miami (which is another "What if?" in itself).

As Cebby indicated, I don't know if UCLA would have landed the top recruits in New Jersey, Louisiana, and Tennessee, but playing in the BCS title game would have been helpful for recruiting purposes.

I have no doubt though that UCLA would have dominated in-state recruiting during that period.

[Sting]

Re: How would the history of CFB have changed if..........?

...if Sting would've gotten that scholarship offer to GT instead of Reggie Ball then the southpaw Sting would've had the pleasure of throwing fades to Calvin Johnson. Sting could then die at that point.

[P2K]

Re: How would the history of CFB have changed if..........?

The turning point happened 2 years earlier when UCLA lost to Miami (which is another "What if?" in itself).

As Cebby indicated, I don't know if UCLA would have landed the top recruits in New Jersey, Louisiana, and Tennessee, but playing in the BCS title game would have been helpful for recruiting purposes.

I have no doubt though that UCLA would have dominated in-state recruiting during that period.

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[Hooe]

Re: How would the history of CFB have changed if..........?

...if ACC expansion would have gone down as originally planned (i.e. Miami, Boston College, and Syracuse), rather than then-Virginia governor Mark Warner forcing UVa to reject any ACC expansion efforts that did not involve Virginia Tech?

As a basketball conference at least, it'd be better off, though Cuse would run roughshod over everyone this season.

As far as football is concerned, Syracuse might be a little better off, if still mediocre. Virginia probably is the same overall because Al Groh's problem was his alienation of in-state recruits. They still get whipped by Tech most every year that Groh is there. The ACC probably does about the same as far as BCS bowl games are concerned, i.e. terrible.

I'm not sure what the Big East would have done at that point; they still would bring in Cincinnati, Louisville, and USF, so they'd probably still be a BCS conference. The Black Diamond Trophy game still exists.

Beyond that, what do you all think?

[TheShizNo1]

Re: How would the history of CFB have changed if..........?

OK, I took one of these challenges on to see any differences that could be discerned. What if Maurice Clarett had stayed at the Ohio State University instead of perusing professional football. The story of Clarett is wide known, in which the young running back felt like his professional career was in jeopardy by staying in the NCAA (and, well, money also talks). My look is on his last year. The Buckeyes went 8-4 that year, and while winning the Alamo Bowl is nice, going for the National Championship is even better. That year, Troy Smith was the quarterback with two dominate wide receivers in Santonio Holmes and Ted Ginn Jr. This would have been Clarett's junior year, and most likely last year in NCAA football.

First off, I have to state that this predicts what would have happened all other things equal. This assumes that all the other players would have progressed as they did in real life. I also cannot assume what Clarett's stats would have been, so I took his stats from 2002. It may not seem too realistic, but it's the best I could think of. What if Sports will help decide the outcomes in this simulation.

First, I'll simulate every game on the schedule, which also includes the bowl game (assuming they're good enough, and I think they will be).

Week | Opponent | Results | # of Rushes - # of Yards - # of Touchdowns

1. | vs. CINN | W | 61-14 | 30 - 113 - 2
2. | vs. MARSH | W | 34-14 | 23 - 101 - 1
3. | at. NCST | L | 7-27 | 25 - 72 - 1
4. | at. NW | W | 44-23 | 24 - 221 - 3
5. | vs. WIS | W | 29-21 | 23 - 141 - 3
6. | at. IOWA | W | 17-0 | 23 - 101 - 1
7. | vs. IND | W | 72-7 | 26 - 226 - 4
8. | vs. PENN ST | W | 28-9 | 19 - 109 - 2
9. | at. MSU | W | 42-30 | 20 - 194 - 0
10 | at. PURDUE | W | 34-33 | 22 - 181 - 1
11 | vs. MICH | W | 33-32 | 24 - 218 - 2

Bowl| vs. TEX (Rose Bowl) | W | 38-20 | 24 - 118 - 2

All in all, the Ohio State Buckeyes would have been 11-1 in the regular season, and most likely would have been ranked fourth at the end of the season. With five teams being undefeated, the only bowl possible would have been the Rose Bowl, where a #5 Texas vs. #4 Ohio State would have been a ratings godsend.

As for the awards, I think with 1677 yards at 6.5 yards per carry and 20 touchdowns, he would have beaten Cedric Benson for the Doak Walker Award, but would have been behind both Adrian Peterson and Matt Leinart in the Heisman Trophy race.

Anyways, something to ponder on...

i find it hard to believe w/ clarett there, that they don't run the table his sophomore and junior year. Not necessarily winning it all, but making it to the NC

[Cebby]

Re: How would the history of CFB have changed if..........?

Clarrett was good, but I think folk are making him out to be far better than he was, especially at the end of the season.

He wasn't Adrian Peterson, 2005 Reggie Bush, or someone who was a serious baller. There's a reason he couldn't make an NFL team.

There's no way he carries Ohio State's abortion of an offense in 2004.

[Sportsbuck]

Re: How would the history of CFB have changed if..........?

Clarrett was good, but I think folk are making him out to be far better than he was, especially at the end of the season.

He wasn't Adrian Peterson, 2005 Reggie Bush, or someone who was a serious baller. There's a reason he couldn't make an NFL team.

He ran for 1,237 yards and 16 TD's as a true freshman despite running behind a bad offensive line and missing all of 3 games and being severely hampered in two more games (The Penn St. game where he only ran it 4 times, and the Purdue game where he was so dinged up that Tressel had to pass the ball on 4th down to set up Holy Buckeye) because of arthroscopic surgery in September and a stinger that lingered from the Wisconsin game on.

He was definately a baller. Who knows how good of a pro player he could've been if he hadn't of been out of football for 2 years. That said, he likely would've been a cancer in the locker room for whatever NFL team drafted him.

There's no way he carries Ohio State's abortion of an offense in 2004.

I can agree with this. And the defense was terrible that year as well.

[pennstlbu]

Re: How would the history of CFB have changed if..........?

If Penn State doesn't allow a meaningless last second hail mary against Indiana on the road to win by just 7 when they were ranked number 1 in 1994, do they go on to win the 1994 National Championship and does Tom Osborne ever win a National Title?

If Randy Moss doesn't get in a fight in high school that leads him to losing his scholarship to Notre Dame, does the Fighting Irish not leave the top echelon of teams in the mid to late 90's? And when Moss gets kicked out of Florida State for pot possession, if he doesn't do that, does FSU win another national championship between 1996 and 1998?

If Rick Neuheisel doesn't get in trouble for the NCAA Tourney pool, does UW stay as one of the top Pac 10 schools through the 00's?

[Maxattax3]

Re: How would the history of CFB have changed if..........?

Homer Pick:

If Vince Young... then Jamaal Charles came back for their Senior year?

Texas would have ran the table again and won the NC VY's Senior year. If Jamaal Charles stayed for his Senior year Texas would have had a better chance of beating Tech and making an NC appearance. Then of course Colt and Shipley last season... Texas could have had 4-5 NC appearances this decade if 2 players didnt leave early.