Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.college
Date: Sat,  7 Nov 1992 01:11:53 -0500 
From: "Mark J. Bearden" <mb7t+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: ** ALABAMA's RECORD! **


Recently somebody made an inquiry about Alabama's non-conference record,
during one of those "who plays the most patsies?" arguments.

These stats are all for 1980-1991, the Crimson Tide's second worst ever
decade.  (They didn't win any national championships in the 1950's either).

(Perhaps after this someone could post something similar for Michigan et. al.
 for comparison purposes?  Better than baseless "bigger patsy schedule"
 arguments.  Source for all statistics: The Official 1992 University of
 Alabama Football Media Guide.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are, by my call, the eight best teams Alabama played against during
regular season play, 1980-91 seasons, with record against each:

TEAM        # GAMES RECORD
Notre Dame    (3)   1-2        ALABAMA's
Penn State   (10)   6-4     <--NON-SEC, REGULAR SEASON, BEST OPPONENTS
Texas A&M     (2)   2-0        1980-91
Ohio State    (1)   1-0
Georgia Tech  (5)   3-2
Boston Collg. (2)   0-2  (One of these teams was national champs, I think.)
Southern Miss.(8)   6-1-1
Rutgers       (2)   2-0
-----------------------
OVERALL, THESE 8:  21-11-1 (.65)

Not exactly patsy schedules.  NO SEC schedule could be a patsy schedule!!!!
The last couple of schedules Bama has played have been easier in terms of
non-conference games than most during the 70's and 80's.  BUT! One big reason
several SEC teams are cutting down on playing tough non-conference teams
is because they get so beaten up playing each other.  SEC teams now are
required to play EIGHT conference games, after the SEC expansion.
Throw in the conference championship game, where Bama plans to be, and that's
NINE SEC games!  On top of that, what athletic director in his right mind
would NOT schedule some patsies in the non-conference slots?  (I'll point
out here that 4 of the top 13 teams in all-time number of wins are in
the SEC: Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and LSU.)

Continuing,...
-----------------------------------
BAMA'S BOWL GAME OPPONENTS, 1980-91:

1980 Baylor           1986 Washington     1989 Miami
1981 Texas            1987 Michigan       1990 Louisville
1982 Illinois         1988 Army           1991 Colorado
1983 SMU
1984 (first bowl absence since '58)
1985 Southern Cal

80's BOWL RECORD: 7-4 (.64)  (4 losses were to Louisville, Miami, Michigan,
                               Texas; 3 of these losses within 8 points)
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Total non-conference games, 1980-91, including the "real patsies" (like
Cincinatti, SW Louisiana, UTC, etc.)

1980-91 TOTAL NON-CONFERENCE RECORD: 48-17-1 (.73)

1980-91 TOTAL OVERALL RECORD:       103-39-2 (.72)

1989-current OVERALL RECORD:         36-8    (.82)

Last 29 games!!! RECORD:             26-3    (.90)  (Gene 'Bebes' Stallings!)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Miscellaneous Bama stats, at the 100th anniversary of Alabama football:

11 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (most of any school): 1925, 1926, 1930, 1934,
                                                  1941, 1961, 1964, 1965,
                                                    1973, 1978, 1979

Number of Top-5 Finishes in AP/UPI polls (1936-current): 16

Number of Top-10 Finishes in AP/UPI polls: 29

Number of Top-20 Finishes in AP/UPI polls: 37

Alabama is
   first in bowl appearances (44); USC is second with 34.
   first in bowl games won (24)
   second in total TV appearances (135), behind Notre Dame.
   fourth in total wins (669), behind Michigan, Notre Dame, and Texas

And guess what!!!?  After the slump of the eightees...with Gene Stallings
as head coach, Paul Bear Bryant's own personal choice as successor....the
Tide is back!!

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLL  TTT III DDD  EEE   RRR   O  L   L   !
                                     T   I  D  D E     R  R O O L   L   !
                                     T   I  D  D EE    RRR  O O L   L   !
                                     T   I  D  D E     R R  O O L   L
                                     T  III DDD  EEE   R  R  O  LLL LLL !

(Yes, we all do that.  We have the nation's best fight song, too.)

Mark Bearden
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA
UA '91
son of a UA '64
with a sister who will be a UA '93
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.college