Georgetown: 1938 National Champions?

[DFW HOYA]

Or so says this columnist at SB Nation:

"Georgetown football plays in the Patriot League at the FCS level now, and not particularly well. But in 1938, it finished 8-0, beat Maryland and West Virginia, and finished in the top 10 in scoring offense and scoring defense. Sure, it played a horrendous schedule, but hang the banner."

No, I don't buy the analogy, and the current story makes UCF look a little silly in the process.

For the record, the Associated Press named TCU (11-0) the champions that year, although Tennessee (10-0) also claims a title.

https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2018/1/4/16845380/college-football-national-title-ucf-sure-rutgers-toledo-vmi-tulane

[Laker]

Remember when Oklahoma State claimed a national championship in football- retroactively to 1945?

http://www.thestate.com/news/nation-world/national/article108046547.html

[Ivytalk]

Those were the days, my friend,
We thought they’d never end....

[Go Green]

Unless Maryland and WVA were the equivalent of D-III schools today, Georgetown's 1938 schedule doesn't look terribly different from Dartmouth's 1925 National Champion schedule.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1925_Dartmouth_Indians_football_team

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/georgetown/1938-schedule.html

[Laker]

Those were the days, my friend,
We thought they’d never end....

http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/welsh-singer-and-musician-mary-hopkin-posed-holding-an-acoustic-in-picture-id646987285?s=594x594

[The Boogie Down]

My go to place for how rankings should have gone down:
http://www.tiptop25.com/index.html

Unfortunately, even after fixing the AP poll, the 1938 Hoyas only finished 25th:
http://www.tiptop25.com/fixing1938.html

The 1937 Rams however (#3 according the AP with it's only blemish a 0-0 tie vs. #1 Pitt) did get a small bounce to the number #2 spot:
http://www.tiptop25.com/fixing1937.html

Not quite a national title but more worthy of a parade than UCF.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Print up that banner!

[Model Citizen]

SB who?

[Sader87]

Holy Cross was actually better than GTown in 1938 :)

[DFW HOYA]

Holy Cross was actually better than GTown in 1938 :)

1938 Holy Cross (7-1, ranked #9)
W- Rhode Island
W- Manhattan
L- Carnegie Tech
W- Georgia
W- Colgate
W- Temple
W- Brown
W- Boston College

1938 Georgetown (8-0, not ranked)
W- Hampden Sydney
W- Roanoke
W- Randolph Macon
W- Manhattan
W- Temple
W- Bucknell
W- West Virginia
W- Maryland

[Sader87]

Hard to believe that in 1938 Georgia played HC at Fitton Field.

HC is actually 3-0 lifetime versus the Dawgs.

[Herder]

I didn’t realize they had lawn bowling in 1938.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

1938

@HC 33, Temple 0
GTown 13, @Temple 0

Temple was 3-6-1, the final season where Glenn "Pop" Warner was their head coach


Temple beat Bucknell and tied BC that year

Fun fact: On Nov. 21st, 1938, Georgetown (No. 25), Fordham (No. 23), and Holy Cross (No. 11) were all nationally-ranked (as was Villanova at No. 16)

Holy Cross' only loss was to Carnegie Mellon, who ended the season ranked No. 6 in the country

[Laker]

A friend of mine sent this to me back in 2015- it has now been updated. There are some errors but overall it is really interesting. Change is something that has been going on since 1936 when this thing starts.

History of Conference Realignment

https://forums.rivals.com/threads/history-of-conference-realignment.150039/

[DFW HOYA]

Excellent link, thanks.

Patriot League schools by their major college status:

46 years: Holy Cross, Colgate (1936 through I-AA split after 1981)
19 years: Fordham (1936-1954)
15 years: Georgetown (1936-1950)
7 years: Bucknell (1936-39, 1944-46)
3 years: Lehigh (1963-65)
2 years: Lafayette (1945-46)

[Sader87]

Just curious, what distinguished Lehigh's years as University Division from 1963-65 from the years prior and after? More scholarships, schedule changes???

[Franks Tanks]

Excellent link, thanks.

Patriot League schools by their major college status:

46 years: Holy Cross, Colgate (1936 through I-AA split after 1981)
19 years: Fordham (1936-1954)
15 years: Georgetown (1936-1950)
7 years: Bucknell (1936-39, 1944-46)
3 years: Lehigh (1963-65)
2 years: Lafayette (1945-46)

Ya, some of those years require explanation. The 60's was probably Lehigh's worst era in football. Lafayette was most powerful circa 1920 to 40, and at their best under the guidance of hall of famer Jock Sutherland.

Lafayette last appeared in the major polls in 1940. Why were they not considered a major in 1940 when ranked, but were 6 years later?