Ladies and Gentlemen, The Undisputed College Football Champion!

Before you wonder why I picked a photo of Floyd Mayweather, please continue to read!

I came across an interesting site a few weeks ago while researching the 1989 Florida State-Southern Mississippi game in Jacksonville. Little did I know, the true import of that early-season game, won by the Golden Eagles 30-26 who were led by their scrappy quarterback who wore jersey No. 4 (do I *really* need to tell you to whom I refer?)...

http://collegefootballbelt.com/index.htm

This website, "The College Football Belt", was created by serious college football fans who lamented the lack of a true way to settle who was champion on the field. I'll leave the details of how they came up with the sequence of champions for you to peruse on the site given above.

They've come up with alternate paths, but they all converge by a certain point, which is January 1, 1972. They have a complete timeline as well, showing how long each champion "held" the belt (defending it successfully), and when they "lost" the belt to a "challenger" (who thus became the next champion).

The idea of an "Unofficial College Football Champion" has existed for a while, of course; Division I-A (and before it, Division I, the University Division, etc.) has had nothing but unofficial champions throughout its existence. While technically part of the NCAA, the championships determined by FBS and its predecessors are not official, and are sometimes referred to as "mythical"... fancy crystal only adding to the make-believe, fairy-tale aspect.

But this is more direct, more gritty, and rather free of pollsters. Something for everybody.

So, who are the current holders, you ask? The "Undisputed Champions"?

Texas Tech. Yup, that's right.

The next challengers?

Of course, that would be Oklahoma State... who have already held "The Belt" this season, but lost it. Little did the Cowboys know they'd have a chance to get it back so soon!

(Look under "Championship Preview" at the link above for whichever game involves the current "champion" or "belt-holder").

This alternate college football universe is something to throw out there for those who:

(A) Are repulsed by the thought of a college football playoff, and prefer their regular-season matchups to define the season, with a shoddy postseason; or

(B) Are repulsed by the current shoddy excuse for a postseason, and would like to have some way of following college football that determines a champion on the field, with no regard for polling.

I was intrigued by this concept, as I have been familiar for several years with its equivalent in "world football" (what we here in the USA call "soccer"): The "Unofficial Football World Championship". This is a similar thread of games, in this case involving national soccer ("football") teams.

The most popular iteration involves England's victory in the World Cup in 1966, followed by their loss to Scotland in a qualifying round for the European "soccer" championship ("EURO 1968"):

http://www.ufwc.co.uk/2007/10/about-ufwc.html

http://www.ufwc.co.uk/search/label/results (dating back to 1872... roughly about the time that both "World football" and "American football" began).

So, for those of you who are already planning to watch Texas Tech "get in the ring" with Okie State tomorrow, remember this (and apologies to Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed):

Ding.

Ding.

;-)