Can A Team Win The Football NC where it snows?

[Tugg Speedman]

The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, is the final bowl game of the annual Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and is intended by the organizers of the BCS to determine the U.S. national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as NCAA Division I-A).   It was started in 1998

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BCS_National_Championship_Game

Past winners of the BCS  National Championship Game


1998
January 4, 1999
1 Tennessee 23
2 Florida St. 16
Fiesta Bowl
 
1999
January 4, 2000
1 Florida St. 46
2 Virginia Tech 29
Sugar Bowl

2000
January 3, 2001
1 Oklahoma 13
3 Florida St. 2
Orange Bowl
 
2001
January 3, 2002
1 Miami 37
4 Nebraska 14
Rose Bowl
 
2002
January 3, 2003
2 Ohio State 31
1 Miami 24
Fiesta Bowl
 
2003
January 4, 2004
2 LSU 21
3 Oklahoma 14
Sugar Bowl
 
2004
January 4, 2005
1 USC 55
2 Oklahoma 19
Orange Bowl
 
2005
January 4, 2006
2 Texas 41
1 USC 38
Rose Bowl
 
2006
January 8, 2007
2 Florida 41
1 Ohio State 14
BCS National Championship
 
2007
January 7, 2008
2 LSU 38
1 Ohio State 24
BCS National Championship


2008
January 8, 2009
1 Florida 24
2 Oklahoma 14
BCS National Championship
 

2009
January 7, 2010
1 Alabama 37
2 Texas 21
BCS National Championship
 

2010
January 10, 2011
1 Auburn 22
2 Oregon 19
BCS National Championship
 

2011
January 9, 2012
2 Alabama 21
1 LSU 0
BCS National Championship
 

2012
January 7, 2013
2 Alabama 42
1 Notre Dame 14
BCS National Championship


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Since the BCS championship was started, only the Ohio State in 2002 won and has a campus that is expected to get snow in the winter.  Yes some others were in the game (Oregon, ND) but they have not won.

Outside of a fluke here or there, can a cold weather school ever compete again?  I say no.  In its current structure, cold weather schools only have a goal of getting ranked and then losing a January bowl to a warm weather school.

thoughts?

[tower912]

To win the national championship, you have to be in a strong conference and go undefeated.   Generally, but not always, the only teams that can get in with one loss is an SEC school who loses a regular season game but wins their conference championship game.   Two schools who were, IMO, clearly better than ND from northern climes, K-State and Oregon, had a chance but failed to get it done in the regular season.   Again, IMO, the only non-SEC team with a chance to beat Bama was Oregon.    However, if tOSU hadn't been on probation, they probably would have been playing ND for the championship, though Bama was clearly better than either.    So, while the SEC is currently the best conference, there are scenarios where teams from other conferences go undefeated, shutting them out of the championship game.....until this all goes away in a couple of years.   

[Tugg Speedman]

To win the national championship, you have to be in a strong conference and go undefeated.   Generally, but not always, the only teams that can get in with one loss is an SEC school who loses a regular season game but wins their conference championship game.   Two schools who were, IMO, clearly better than ND from northern climes, K-State and Oregon, had a chance but failed to get it done in the regular season.   Again, IMO, the only non-SEC team with a chance to beat Bama was Oregon.    However, if tOSU hadn't been on probation, they probably would have been playing ND for the championship, though Bama was clearly better than either.    So, while the SEC is currently the best conference, there are scenarios where teams from other conferences go undefeated, shutting them out of the championship game.....until this all goes away in a couple of years.   

So you agree, it is a fluke season here or there that northern schools win.  Otherwise, pencil in the best southern school as the winner.

[RJax55]

Since the BCS championship was started, only the Ohio State in 2002 won and has a campus that is expected to get snow in the winter.  Yes some others were in the game (Oregon, ND) but they have not won.

Outside of a fluke here or there, can a cold weather school ever compete again?  I say no.  In its current structure, cold weather schools only have a goal of getting ranked and then losing a January bowl to a warm weather school.

thoughts?

Yes, Ohio State and Oregon (does it snow there??) can do it. With Urban Meyer at OSU, I expect them to be in position to win a title game and compete on a regular basis. Oregon is already there, finishing 3rd, 4th, and 2nd the past three years in the final AP poll. My guess is that Oregon will be the team that finally ends the SEC streak.

However, outside of those two programs, I don't see a consistent threat to win a title from a northern school.

[GGGG]

I think the chances of snow in Norman, OK are greater than in Eugene, OR.

[ATL MU Warrior]

Yes, Ohio State and Oregon (does it snow there??) can do it. With Urban Meyer at OSU, I expect them to be in position to win a title game and compete on a regular basis. Oregon is already there, finishing 3rd, 4th, and 2nd the past three years in the final AP poll. My guess is that Oregon will be the team that finally ends the SEC streak.

However, outside of those two programs, I don't see a consistent threat to win a title from a northern school.

Plenty of schools in cold climates have won NCs before the BCS system was implemented.  Why would the BCS change that? 

These things are cyclical

[MerrittsMustache]

I think the chances of snow in Norman, OK are greater than in Eugene, OR.

Average annual snowfall
Norman, OK: 4.9"
Eugene, OR: 2.8"

[tower912]

So you agree, it is a fluke season here or there that northern schools win.  Otherwise, pencil in the best southern school as the winner.

No.   Right now, we are in a cycle that makes it look that way.   I think that Meyer or Hoke can have an undefeated B1G school in the next few years.   I think ND can go undefeated again, and soon.   Oklahoma, and Oregon can run the table also.   What I AM saying, is, under the current system,  that only an elite SEC school can make the championship game with one loss.    We shall see what happens in a few years with the final 4 set up. 

[RJax55]

Plenty of schools in cold climates have won NCs before the BCS system was implemented.  Why would the BCS change that?  

These things are cyclical

I just pointing out two schools that I believe will compete on a regular basis for a national title, that are not in the South or SoCal. I actually disagree with the OP claim that the BCS structure is against cold-weather schools. Actually, I think it favors them. It allows less-talented teams to be able to play for a championship. A playoff, is going to expose those talent differences. Does ND play for the title in a playoff system?

[GGGG]

Average annual snowfall
Norman, OK: 4.9"
Eugene, OR: 2.8"

I am a meteorological genius. 

[Tugg Speedman]

We shall see what happens in a few years with the final 4 set up. 

It will be two SEC schools and two others.  The two SEC schools will win their semifinal games and meet in the NC game, like BamavLSU last year.  So, it will be the defacto SEC conference championship.

[ATL MU Warrior]

I just pointing out two schools that I believe will compete on a regular basis for a national title, that are not in the South or SoCal. I actually disagree with the OP claim that the BCS structure is against cold-weather schools. Actually, I think it favors them. It allows less-talented teams to be able to play for a championship. A playoff, is going to expose those talent differences. Does ND play for the title in a playoff system?

Not sure why I quoted you as I was trying to respond to the OP.  Sorry about that.

[Tugg Speedman]

Plenty of schools in cold climates have won NCs before the BCS system was implemented.  Why would the BCS change that? 

These things are cyclical

Or secular, BIG time college football is now a southern sport.  Northern schools produce one or two exceptions but otherwise are second rate to southern schools.

It is somewhat similar to urban schools dominance v rural schools in basketball.  EXCEPT, the urban schools do not dominate to the degree that southern schools do in football.

[NavinRJohnson]

I think a better question is can a non-SEC school win the NC? As other have said, limited options for the forseeable future, Ohio State and maybe Oregon.

[ATL MU Warrior]

Or secular, BIG time college football is now a southern sport.  Northern schools produce one or two exceptions but otherwise are second rate to southern schools.

It is somewhat similar to urban schools dominance v rural schools in basketball.  EXCEPT, the urban schools do not dominate to the degree that southern schools do in football.

This might be a better way to frame the initial question.  Southern vs everybody else.  Don't see what that has to do with the migration to the BCS system however.

[Tugg Speedman]

I think a better question is can a non-SEC school win the NC? As other have said, limited options for the forseeable future, Ohio State and maybe Oregon.

Yes ... Oklahoma (B12), Miami (ACC), USC (Pac-12), Texas (B12), Fla State (ACC).  All non-SEC schools that have won since 1999.  All are schools that see no snow in the winter.

The one Northern school (that gets snow) is tOSU way back in 2002.

It really is a nice weather v not-nice weather axis.

[GGGG]

DIDN'T YOU READ MY METEOROLOGICAL MASTERPIECE!!???!!!! 

Norman gets snow.

[Tugg Speedman]

DIDN'T YOU READ MY METEOROLOGICAL MASTERPIECE!!???!!!!  

Norman gets snow.

4 inches a year spread out over the 5 month winter is not "snow"  That is a series of dustings.

Friday's high in Norman is projected to be 64. Average high this week, mid-January when the weather is the worst, is 49.

So stop with the Norman is just like Columbus Ohio implications

[GGGG]

To more fully answer your question, I think schools from the SEC win most of the championships because the south, and Texas, seems to be where most of the skill positions come from.  Ohio seems to be exception to that rule.

Look at Florida's roster and look where they come from.  Almost entirely from Florida....specifically look at the DBs and WRs.  Now look at Wisconsin's, and you will see half of the players in those positions are from states other than Wisconsin.

Alabama's roster has about 98% of the players from the deep south.

So is it the warm weather that makes them better players?  (That's a serious question.)

[chapman]

Can a school whose players have a literacy rate above 20% win a football national championship?

[Tugg Speedman]

Can a school whose players have a literacy rate above 20% win a football national championship?

USC thought the answer was yes but then they had to vacate the title.


Stanford and ND have tried and failed so the answer appears to be no.