College Football Champions And Presidential Elections The Past 25 Years

Yes, it's true. There is a connection over the past quarter century between college football champions and Presidential elections. The politics of destruction is alive and well in the game of NCAA football. At least they keep it on the field and shake hands afterward.

There have been several myths concerning how to predict the college champion. One is  "if the number of days the temperature exceeds 100 degrees during summer in Chicago exceeds five, the Big 10 will win the title."

Another is "if the cost of tobacco rises, the ACC will field a champion." And who can forget the 1980s mantra in south Florida which proclaimed "too many rainy days can cost the Hurricanes the championship."?

Who knows if there is any correlation between these old tales and what really happened? Perhaps it is no more than saying that something happened once so, it is likely to happen again.

But, there is one myth that has a basis in fact. Specifically, in the past 25 years, if a Democratic candidate was elected President of the United States the SEC won the college football national championship that season.

Sounds like good news for Alabama and Florida in 2008 doesn't it? Well, we must wait and see if the Democrats do claim the White House this year. In the meantime, let's look back at the facts concerning this statement.

Since 1983, the Republicans have won the Presidential election in 1984 with Ronald Reagan, 1988 with George Bush the Father, 2000 with George Bush the Son, and also 2004 with the younger George Bush again.

The football results? In 1984 Brigham Young of the old WAC won the national championship. In 1988 it was the Independent Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

2000 featured The Big 12 with the champion in the Oklahoma Sooners. 2004 found the PAC 10 with the national champion in Southern California.

An interesting side note is that all four of those teams were undefeated, sporting spotless records.

From the Democratic perspective, they have won two elections in the past 25 years, 1992 and 1996. William Jefferson Clinton was the victor both times. In '92 Alabama won the national championship and in '96 the Florida Gators captured the title, each from the SEC.

Coincidence? Perhaps, as there have been SEC schools who won the national title in other "off-election" years during this period. Examples are the past two national champions, Florida and LSU, as well as Tennessee in 1998.

Still, the figures are there, and the facts tell the truth concerning the 1983–2008 era to this point. If the pattern holds, and Obama does win the Presidential election, the SEC should be sitting pretty come January.