The definition of clutch

By M. Edward Guest Sports Central Columnist

I've spoken about the standard before, in an earlier column about the 1993-1997 Nebraska Cornhuskers, but I'll explain it again. A team receives .01 for a win over any qualifying team (that is, a modern-day Big Six Conference school or Notre Dame) that it defeats on the road or .005 for a win over any qualifying team at a neutral site game.

That .01 jumps to .02 (for the winning squad) if the opponent won 70% of its games (not counting the game they played against the team), it escalates further, to .03, if the opponent won 80% of its games. Obviously, for neutral site games, the numbers correlate accordingly. For example, the 2002 Florida Gators would receive .015 for beating Georgia, but wait.

That Georgia team (13-1) did not lose another game, meaning Florida deserves extra credit. This special bonus (.05) applies to victories over teams that otherwise did not lose a game, reaching a maximum of .08 if Team A beat Team B on the road, and Team B did not lose any other games. A good example would be Tyrone Willingham's Stanford Cardinal rallying at Autzen to stun the Oregon Ducks in 2001. The .05 is applicable to any venue, but if the victory occurred on neutral or enemy turf, those points are also added.

So which team, since 1959, has the highest clutch score for a single season? If you're a college football fan, you probably already know, and you also know they're not No. 1 for beating Hawaii (though they did).

Part of this, in all truthfulness, is luck. One will find many of the undisputed greatest teams on this list, but others are noticeably absent. 1972 USC, or Keith Jackson's choice as the most impressive team he's seen, does not make the list (though two other USC teams do) primarily because Michigan failed to beat Ohio State.

Rather than take on the undefeated Wolverines in the Rose Bowl, USC was stuck with the one-loss Buckeyes and failed to receive the crucial .05 (or in this case, .065) for beating an otherwise undefeated team. Other prominent teams that did not/could not measure up include Pittsburgh '76, Texas '69 (hurt substantially by Arkansas' second loss) and Tennessee '98.

There was actually a three-way tie for 24th, forcing me to drop the 1982 Georgia Bulldogs, because the other two teams claimed at least a share of the national championship. One of the interesting aspects of this list is that it is pretty uniform; No. 1 is 0.175 and No. 24 is 0.120, with every succeeding .005 bracket filled (except for 0.170) by at least one team.

The two teams that tied for No. 24 both beat otherwise undefeated teams in the Sugar Bowl, 21 years apart. They are, of course, Alabama '78 and FSU '99. A pattern is beginning to develop, for if a team does not beat an otherwise undefeated team, they're not likely to make the cut -- though winning every road and neutral site game can mitigate the damage.

At No. 22, stand both Florida '95 and Oklahoma '85, each lost once. Florida still receives .05 for upending Tennessee, but because that game was in Gainesville, nothing more is added. OU's huge win came at the expense of No. 1 Penn State, leading to Barry Switzer's third AP national championship.

Nebraska '94 (at No. 21) ranks a bit higher, benefiting greatly from beating Colorado (their only loss) and one-loss Miami in the Orange Bowl. Statistically speaking, Nebraska did more than Penn State that year even if their offense wasn't as fun to watch. Of course, PSU was hurt by Michigan and Ohio State's mediocre seasons, not to mention their opponent (Oregon) in the Rose Bowl.

Next, another log-jam, this time three teams tying for No. 18, and one of them gets absolutely screwed. That would be Steve Spurrier's best (and most clutch) group, the '96 Gators who were victimized by Tennessee's horrendous loss to Memphis, marginalizing their huge win at Neyland -- this would have been the second one-loss team for the Gators.

If they had been healthy, this might have been the greatest team of all time, beating Tennessee at Knoxville, clipping FSU in Tallahassee (something that eluded Florida) and beating them again in the Sugar Bowl. Oh, well. Nebraska '97 and Florida State '87 wound up tied with Florida, the 'Huskers greatly assisted by a win over Kansas State -- the eventual Fiesta Bowl (who lost just once) champions.

Alabama '92, owing to a gigantic triumph at the Sugar Bowl over No. 1 Miami (.065, or nearly half their 0.140 total) checks in at No. 17. And yes, it also helps to go undefeated. Five schools share 12th place, even though just two went undefeated. Those schools are, in chronological order, Notre Dame '77, Penn State '86, Miami '89, Nebraska '95, and Florida State '97*.

This might seem a bit low for Nebraska '95, particularly with their Florida demolishing, but the rest of their schedule (particularly Michigan State's performance) let them down. Miami stopped ND in Coral Gables, and the Nittany Lions dropped Miami in Tempe. The '97 Seminoles received a magic .08, the highest possible one-game score, for defeating the 11-1 UNC Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, rather decisively, as well.

FSU's greatest team ('93) ties with Washington 2000 for 10th all-time. Had they beat ND (and had ND beaten Boston College a week later), Bobby Bowden's team would have scored a 0.230, easily the best ever. Nonetheless, that did not happen. Washington merits their position by beating both the eventual No. 2 (Miami) and No. 4 (Oregon State) in Seattle. Had they beaten Oregon, they likely would have played Oklahoma, and might have beaten their third undefeated team of the season. Maybe.

Four teams tie for sixth, two of them from Los Angeles. USC 1978-1979 ranks second all-time (for a two-year span) largely because of victories over Alabama and Ohio State, respectively, and the fact that the '78 team played one of the most difficult schedules in the modern era, no question -- they deserved the '78 title outright.

Auburn '83, led by sophomore Bo Jackson, also played a rigorous schedule, losing only to Texas -- although mostly forgotten, statistically they may have been '83's No. 1 team. And Buckeye fans may not believe it, but the '96 team ranks right up there. I know, I know. So how can a team that failed to put away a mediocre Michigan team (at home, with a 9-0 halftime lead) merit clutch status? Simple, they beat Notre Dame (and Iowa) on the road, and Arizona State in the Rose Bowl. OSU '96 is also the highest-rated clutch team since.

The '89 Irish, who tied with Penn State '82 for fourth. If Lou Holtz's most talented bunch had whipped Miami in the Orange Bowl, they'd be ranked even higher. Even so, wins over Michigan (in Ann Arbor) and Colorado (undefeated) are quite impressive indeed. Meanwhile, Joe Paterno's team ended Herschel Walker's career on a bad note, as only a loss to Alabama kept them from going undefeated -- those Nittany Lions also dropped an otherwise unbeaten 'Husker team in State College. We've now reached the magnificent three -- all national champions, and all teams that beat two otherwise undefeated teams.

Tying for second, Miami '87 and Notre Dame '88. Remarkably similar, each won an incredible game by the slimmest of margins (Miami's was on enemy soil), then backed up their impressive regular season by beating another undefeated in their bowl game. ND's 31-30 classic prevented the '88 'Canes from No. 1 status, while Miami kept '87 FSU out of the top three all-time. These two schools came in at 0.165, 0.010 behind the clutch of the clutch.

Bear Bryant was right -- the '71 Huskers were that good. Led by Jerry Tagge, Johnny Rodgers, Jeff Kinney, Rich Glover, Larry Jacobson, and a sterling supporting cast, Bob Devanney's team scored two of the most impressive victories in school history. In the Game of the Century, Nebraska went to Norman and bested OU 35-31, the Sooners would finish second. Following a celebratory journey to Hawaii, Big Red thwarted Alabama's title aspirations with a blowout win in the Orange Bowl -- laying claim to the championship.

As for the 2002 Buckeyes, they did not make the list, despite earning .065 for stopping Miami's 34-game winning streak in the Fiesta Bowl, culminating a 14-0 season. Unfortunately, neither Cincinnati, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Purdue, nor Illinois won 70% of their games (much like the '01 'Canes, who were hurt by FSU and VT slides) -- leaving the Bucks at 0.115, or tied for 27th.

Wins over otherwise 8-2 Notre Dame and 9-2 Iowa teams on the road, make the '96 Buckeyes a greater "clutch" team than their '02 successors. Find a Buckeye partisan that will believe that.

* 1972 Oklahoma, who beat otherwise undefeated Texas, was not considered due to the forfeiture of their conference title. They would have finished at 0.145.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.