SMU and the BCS Championship

[RGV Pony]

Can someone tell me the last team was who had a legitimate claim to a national title who is not currently a BCS school? Not necessarily crowned national champs, but in the top two or three at the end of the year. By legitimate, I'd say they have to have been ranked in the top 5 before the bowl games at the end of the season. This would seem to exclude Tulane and Boise State.

If so, that's a pretty significant fact for the Ponies to hang their hat on. Not to live in the past, but I think it must be SMU.


edit: Right after I posted this, I remembered Robbie Boscoe & BYU. I guess that's it, though.

[MustangStealth]

BYU

[MustangStealth]

Other than that, the strongest contenders are Boise St. last year and Utah in '04.

Teams that might count as footnotes are the undefeateds from Tulane in '98 and Marshall in '99, and Miami (OH) in '03, who were 12-1 in the regular season and ranked as high as 3rd by some computers, but were slammed by the polls for losing their opener @ #12 Iowa.

[PhirePhilBennett]

That's not a fair question:

Penn State
Miami

and a host of others

were not BCS teams when they won the national championship...

And does anyone seriously consider Louisville and Rutgers 'legit' because they are in teh BCS now?

[FroggieFever]

And does anyone seriously consider Louisville and Rutgers 'legit' because they are in teh BCS now?

See, I get this all the time--fans tell me "you could never beat Louisville, now." That was right after the switch from CUSA to the Big East. I mean, come on, we whooped their butts up and down the field year after year, and, suddenly, we can't beat them anymore because they went "legit?"

Please.

[abezontar]

The image on your helmet looks kinda of like an angry llama

[FroggieFever]

It's been downsized--but, yeah, it does. It's our 60's helmet, my favorite.

http://www.nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/


In C-USA, as far as 2006 helmets go, I love the Ponies. In fact, they have some of the coolest uniforms I've seen in college football, in my opinion.

[LakeHighlandsPony]

It's been downsized--but, yeah, it does. It's our 60's helmet, my favorite.

http://www.nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/


In C-USA, as far as 2006 helmets go, I love the Ponies. In fact, they have some of the coolest uniforms I've seen in college football, in my opinion.

Don't you like the Pony Express uni's better though?

[FroggieFever]

It's been downsized--but, yeah, it does. It's our 60's helmet, my favorite.

http://www.nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/


In C-USA, as far as 2006 helmets go, I love the Ponies. In fact, they have some of the coolest uniforms I've seen in college football, in my opinion.

Don't you like the Pony Express uni's better though?

Most people do: I don't...

[PK]

I don't either...but if that is what we windup with again I can live with it.

[PonySnob]

We should either switch back to the uniforms of the Pony Express era.....or go really retro to the uniforms we wore with the red helmets.