By Woodrow Carroll
There are 130 FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) teams. FBS refers to the heavy hitters playing collegiate football. In theory, any one of those 130 programs could win the national championship. The reality of the situation is a bit different.
What are the odds that this season’s national champion will not come from a group consisting of Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Georgia, Southern California, LSU, Texas A&M and Oregon? The pool of teams with a realistic shot at a championship is not expansive.
Yes, you might point to Washington, Florida, or Penn State among other teams with national championship aspirations. Still, it will be same general mix of teams at the top of the rankings. They are the schools in the Power 5 conferences. The Northern Illinois teams of the world may knock off a big name opponent now and then, but, winning the national championship will not happen.
Assuming there will be no resurgence of the pandemic that made a shambles of collegiate football in 2020, games for the FBS schools will kick off noon Saturday, Aug. 28 in Champaign with Illinois playing host to Nebraska.
Neither Illinois nor Nebraska will contend for the national championship this season. Saturday’s game is in Big Ten Conference for both schools with each head coach seeking to get off on the best foot.
Between 2011 and 2019 Illinois opened its football season with a victory each season. Yet, only in 2011 did the Illini close with a winning record. The 2011 Illini are seldom remembered fondly!
In 2011 Illinois ended up with a 7-6 record. The Illini opened with six victories and reached No. 16 in the polls. Then came six straight losses that cost Illinois head coach Ron Zook his job. Under interim coach, Vic Koenning, Illinois did defeat UCLA, 20-14, in the Kraft Fight Hunger to conclude 7-6 overall. It was a meaningless winning record that stands as the last time Illinois has finished better than .500.
The struggle of first-year Illinois head coach Bret Bielema during his time at Arkansas has been well documented. After success in his seven campaigns at Wisconsin, Bielema faltered in his five years at Arkansas.
Bielema’s counterpart at Nebraska, Scott Frost, has his own concerns.
Frost, 46, went to high school in Wood River, Neb. where he was coached by both parents. Frost’s mother was in the 1968 Olympic Games in the discus throw..
After playing briefly at Stanford, Frost transferred to Nebraska and made his mark in Lincoln.
Frost’s two seasons as Nebraska quarterback, 1996 and 1997, found the Cornhuskers with a combined 24-2 record. The ‘97 squad was 13-0 and beat Tennessee, with Peyton Manning, 42-17 in the Orange Bowl. Nebraska and Michigan ended sharing the national championship that season.
With mom and dad as coaches, it was only natural for Frost to end up working the sidelines. The past five years Frost coached first at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando for two years followed by three seasons at Nebraska. Overall in those five years, Frost’s record was 31-27. Yet, Frost had only one winning season.
Central Florida is a member of the American Athletic Conference. Frost’s first team at UCF was 6-7. Not bad, given the Knights were 0-12 the prior year. With more than 70,000 students, UCF has the largest student body of any public university. The 2017 football team gave many students plenty of bragging rights.
Central Florida was 13-0. In the Peach Bowl, UCF beat Auburn, 34-27, leading to fatuous claims of a national championship by the Knights. The reality of all this was Frost’s returning to Nebraska as head coach.
Spoiled by past Cornhuskers success, Frost’s three years in Lincoln have not gone well with season records of 4-8, 5-7 and 3-5. That’s not conducive to long-term employment!
Bielema and Frost each faces almost instant pressure to produce which adds extra interest to Saturday’s game.