UO And OSU Both In Top Ten AP Poll For A Shining Moment
Oregon joins a legion of great states sharing the honor since 1936.
Do you believe in sports magic? Miracles even?
Thinking college football in the state of Oregon approaches Texas or Alabama or Pennsylvania is crazy. How about Georgia and California? Florida had three teams finish in the top ten more than once.
Even saying the Ducks and the Beavers are both in the top ten the same week sounds like a foreign tongue.
Well find a good translator because you’re going to hear it this week. A lot.
No one suggests breaking into the top ten together in the middle of the season is the same as finishing the season up there. But you know, your neighbor knows, even your momma knows, every journey begins with the first step, and this week’s AP poll feels like the middle part of track and field’s Triple Jump.
Beavers and Ducks. Top ten. Say it again. Keep saying it while we look at the top ten finishers from 1936 onward. Colleges from the same state had to be as proud as everyone here in the Beaver State. It’s catching.
Any year missing means no state had over two colleges in the top ten. (Associated Press stats from http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/)
1936: Pittsburgh at #3. Pennsylvania #4.
1937: Pittsburgh #1. Villanova (near Philadelphia, Howie Long played there,) #6.
1938: Carnegie Tech (in Pittsburgh) #6. Pittsburgh #8.
1939: USC #3. UCLA #7.
1941: Texas #4. Texas A&M #9.
1942: Georgia #2. Georgia Tech #5.
1943: Notre Dame #1. Purdue #5.
1944: No double, but Army #1 and Navy #4 during WWII.
1945: No double, but Army #1, Navy #3 after WWII ended.
1947: SMU (Dallas) #3, Texas #5. Penn State #4, Pennsylvania #7 for the double double.
1948: No double, but Oregon #9.
1950: Michigan State #8. Michigan #9.
1952: USC #5. UCLA #6.
1956: Michigan # 7. Michigan State #9. Oregon State #10
1957: Rice #8. Texas A&M #9.
1958: Army (West Point, NY) #3. Syracuse #9.
1959: Texas #4. Texas Christian # 7.
1962: No double but Terry Baker won the Heisman at Oregon State.
1963: Auburn #5. Alabama #8.
1964: No double, but Oregon State #8.
1965: UCLA #4. USC # 10.
1966: Notre Dame #1, Purdue #7. Georgia #4, Georgia Tech #8. Another double double for the states of Indiana and Georgia.
1967: Indiana #4, Notre Dame #5, Purdue #9. Indiana scores a triple top ten. Oregon State #7.
1968: Notre Dame #5. Purdue #10.
1972: Auburn #5. Alabama #7.
1974: Alabama #5, Auburn #8. Ohio State #4, Miami (Ohio) #10.
1976: Houston #4. Texas A&M #7.
1977: Penn State #5. Pittsburgh #8.
1978: Texas #9. Houston #10.
1980: Pittsburgh #2. Penn State #8.
1981: Texas #2, SMU #5. Penn State #3, Pittsburgh #4. Double double.
1982: Penn State #1. Pittsburgh #10.
1983: Miami (Fla.) #1. Florida #6.
1984: Oklahoma #6, Oklahoma State #7. UCLA #9, USC #10.
1985: Florida #5. Miami (Fla.) #9.
1986: Auburn #6. Alabama #9.
1987: Miami (Fla.) #1. Florida State #2.
1988: Miami (Fla.) #2, Florida State #3. UCLA #6, USC #7. Double double.
1989: Miami (Fla.) #1, Florida State #3. Auburn #6, Alabama #9.
1990: Miami (Fla.) #3. Florida State #4.
1991: Miami (Fla.) #1. Florida State #4. Florida #7. The first triple play for the sunshine state.
1992: Florida State #2. Miami (Fla.) #3. Florida #10.
1993: Florida State #1. Florida #5.
1994: Florida State #4, Miami (Fla.) #6, Florida #7. Alabama #5, Auburn #9.
1995: Florida #2, Florida State #4. Kansas State #7, Kansas #9.
1996: Florida #1. Florida State #3.
1997: Florida St. #3. Florida #4.
1998: Florida St. #3. Florida #5.
1999: Michigan #5. Michigan State #7.
2000: Miami (Fla.) #2, Florida St. #5, Florida #10. Oregon State #4, Oregon #7.
2001: Miami (Fla.) #1. Florida #3. Oregon #2.
2003: Ohio State #4. Miami (Ohio) #10.
2004: USC #1. California #9.
2008: Texas #4. TCU #7. Oregon #10.
2009: Texas #2. TCU #6.
Hold the presses. The news about Sean Mannion’s injury just came in.
Sports fans, this is how seasons of great promise grow into seasons of great despair. Sports lift you up only to you crashing back down.
That’s why we engage in the experience. Beaver fan pulls together to will their team to victory. It’s happened before with a new guy calling signals.
Prayers and best wishes to Corvallis. It makes it hard to finish the list of states that finish with two teams in the final standing. Help this writer while he hangs his head at what might have been.
Do you know what they say when important teammates go down to injuries? Yes, you do.
“That’s football.”
Cherish the special moments when they happen. They end all too quickly.
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