2005 Shaping Up a Lot Like 1984

For some reason, all seems right with college football this year. It all started as I was watching my beloved Washington State Cougars get trounced by Southern Cal last weekend. During the game, announcer Keith Jackson started to talk about the importance of the USC/UCLA game coming up and reminisce about great Trojan/Bruin games of the past. That got me thinking about the "good ol' days" of college football when I was a kid (including watching WSU "Coug" a bunch of games like they're doing this year — how do you blow so many leads? — but I digress).

Speaking of digressing, looking at the rankings and some of the games coming up makes me think back to my youth when a lot of my favorite teams were always in the polls and going to big bowl games. I grew up rooting for Alabama, Penn State, Ohio State, and UCLA, and subsequently rooting against Auburn, Notre Dame, Michigan, and Southern Cal. With so many of those teams being ranked and in contention for BCS games this season, it seemed very familiar, almost like deja vu.

In 1984, I was a senior in high school. I didn't play sports that year, had a long-distance girlfriend, and had a pretty easy class schedule. Therefore, I had nothing better to do with my time than watch, read, and talk about sports. My best friend at the time and I spent the hour in World Civ playing paper football and picking every USFL game that season. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

When it comes to college football, there are quite a few similarities between this year and 1984, and a number of differences, as well. One of those similarities is the number of teams ranked in the top 20 in both years. When looking at the polls in '84, a dozen teams ranked back then are in the top 20 this year. (Since the AP poll only ranked the top 20 teams, I've only included the top 20 in this year's AP poll for consistency.) A really eerie coincidence is that three teams are ranked in the exact same spot they were at this point in the season 21 years ago: Texas was No. 2, Florida was No. 13, and TCU was No. 20, right where they are today. Another team, No. 5 Miami, is just one place off from where they were in 1984 at No. 6.

In 1984, there were four undefeated teams ranked 1, 2, 4, and 5. This season there are five undefeated teams, ranked 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7. But the biggest difference is three of those unbeaten teams from '84 are not ranked this year: Washington (No. 1), BYU (No. 4) and South Carolina (No. 5). And Texas, 8-0 this year, was 5-0-1 that year. On the flip side, five teams ranked in the top 10 this year were surprisingly missing from the polls altogether in 1984: Virginia Tech, Alabama, UCLA, Notre Dame, and Penn State. Go figure.

Another major difference between this season and 1984 is the number of games remaining between top 20 teams. There are seven games on the schedule that has teams from the top 20 squaring off, including a pair this week (No. 6 Miami at No. 3 Virginia Tech and No. 14 Wisconsin at No. 10 Penn State). The other games include No. 17 Auburn at No. 11 Georgia and No. 6 LSU at No. 4 Alabama next week, Alabama at Auburn on Nov. 19, No. 8 Florida State at No. 13 Florida on Nov. 26, and No. 1 USC at No. 7 UCLA on Dec. 3.

Back in 1984, there were nine games between top-20 teams. Two matchups had notable outcomes. Top-ranked and undefeated Washington lost to USC 16-7, dashing the Huskies' hopes of a national title, and the famous Boston College/Miami game where Doug Flutie's game-ending heave landed in the arms of Gerard Phelan in the end zone to give the Eagles a 47-45 upset win over the Hurricanes.

One element missing from 1984 that is evident this year is the prevalence of rivalry games with "meaning." In '84, the only serious rivalry game that pitted two ranked teams was Florida/Florida State, won by the Gators 27-17. This season, that game along with Alabama/Auburn and USC/UCLA, have top-20 teams squaring off. The latter two games could also have a huge impact on the national championship hunt as three of the four teams are currently undefeated. The Crimson Tide could head into the Iron Bowl unbeaten for the first time since 1994 when the Tigers knocked them out of the championship race with a 21-14 win. The last time Southern Cal and UCLA met when neither had lost a game was in 1969 when both teams were 8-0-1 — USC won 14-12.

So while the past echoes of great games and down-to-the-wire championship races, this year is shaping up to be one to remember. And maybe in 20 years when my high school freshman looks back at 2005, he'll say, "I remember when..." For some reason, all seems right with college football this year. It all started as I was watching my beloved Washington State Cougars get trounced by Southern Cal last weekend. During the game, announcer Keith Jackson started to talk about the importance of the USC/UCLA game coming up and reminisce about great Trojan/Bruin games of the past. That got me thinking about the "good ol' days" of college football when I was a kid (including watching WSU "Coug" a bunch of games like they're doing this year — how do you blow so many leads? — but I digress).

Speaking of digressing, looking at the rankings and some of the games coming up makes me think back to my youth when a lot of my favorite teams were always in the polls and going to big bowl games. I grew up rooting for Alabama, Penn State, Ohio State, and UCLA, and subsequently rooting against Auburn, Notre Dame, Michigan, and Southern Cal. With so many of those teams being ranked and in contention for BCS games this season, it seemed very familiar, almost like deja vu.

In 1984, I was a senior in high school. I didn't play sports that year, had a long-distance girlfriend, and had a pretty easy class schedule. Therefore, I had nothing better to do with my time than watch, read, and talk about sports. My best friend at the time and I spent the hour in World Civ playing paper football and picking every USFL game that season. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

When it comes to college football, there are quite a few similarities between this year and 1984, and a number of differences, as well. One of those similarities is the number of teams ranked in the top 20 in both years. When looking at the polls in '84, a dozen teams ranked back then are in the top 20 this year. (Since the AP poll only ranked the top 20 teams, I've only included the top 20 in this year's AP poll for consistency.) A really eerie coincidence is that three teams are ranked in the exact same spot they were at this point in the season 21 years ago: Texas was No. 2, Florida was No. 13, and TCU was No. 20, right where they are today. Another team, No. 5 Miami, is just one place off from where they were in 1984 at No. 6.

In 1984, there were four undefeated teams ranked 1, 2, 4, and 5. This season there are five undefeated teams, ranked 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7. But the biggest difference is three of those unbeaten teams from '84 are not ranked this year: Washington (No. 1), BYU (No. 4) and South Carolina (No. 5). And Texas, 8-0 this year, was 5-0-1 that year. On the flip side, five teams ranked in the top 10 this year were surprisingly missing from the polls altogether in 1984: Virginia Tech, Alabama, UCLA, Notre Dame, and Penn State. Go figure.

Another major difference between this season and 1984 is the number of games remaining between top 20 teams. There are seven games on the schedule that has teams from the top 20 squaring off, including a pair this week (No. 6 Miami at No. 3 Virginia Tech and No. 14 Wisconsin at No. 10 Penn State). The other games include No. 17 Auburn at No. 11 Georgia and No. 6 LSU at No. 4 Alabama next week, Alabama at Auburn on Nov. 19, No. 8 Florida State at No. 13 Florida on Nov. 26, and No. 1 USC at No. 7 UCLA on Dec. 3.

Back in 1984, there were nine games between top-20 teams. Two matchups had notable outcomes. Top-ranked and undefeated Washington lost to USC 16-7, dashing the Huskies' hopes of a national title, and the famous Boston College/Miami game where Doug Flutie's game-ending heave landed in the arms of Gerard Phelan in the end zone to give the Eagles a 47-45 upset win over the Hurricanes.

One element missing from 1984 that is evident this year is the prevalence of rivalry games with "meaning." In '84, the only serious rivalry game that pitted two ranked teams was Florida/Florida State, won by the Gators 27-17. This season, that game along with Alabama/Auburn and USC/UCLA, have top-20 teams squaring off. The latter two games could also have a huge impact on the national championship hunt as three of the four teams are currently undefeated. The Crimson Tide could head into the Iron Bowl unbeaten for the first time since 1994 when the Tigers knocked them out of the championship race with a 21-14 win. The last time Southern Cal and UCLA met when neither had lost a game was in 1969 when both teams were 8-0-1 — USC won 14-12.

So while the past echoes of great games and down-to-the-wire championship races, this year is shaping up to be one to remember. And maybe in 20 years when my high school freshman looks back at 2005, he'll say, "I remember when..."