J T Chance
25+ Posts
I was recently educated about the aggie MNC. Thought I would post the info here.
The Aggies are fond of saying that they are an elite program due to having one of the richest football histories in the country - and this is all hinged on the firm foundation of a long ago national championship which they would have you believe is undisputed and as factual as the big national championship trophy that sits in their trophy case. A national championship that same season before there even was a MNC and before our lifetimes, in the era of time after the Civil War and before the great World War.
A few things you need to know as a football fan worth your salt…. First, A&M wasn’t the best team in the land in 1939, not even close. Texas Agricultural & Mechanical College actually was undefeated in 1939, but there were a total of seven (7) teams that were likewise undefeated that season.
1939, which is the year the Aggies claim to have won a national championship, was a down year for the SWC. The four top teams in the SWC back in 1939 were Texas, TCU, Rice, and Arkansas. Texas was 5-4, TCU was 3-7, Rice was 1-9-1 and Arkansas was 4-5-1 in 1939. In non-conference that season, A&M played Centenary (2 wins), Santa Clara (5 wins), Villanova and Oklahoma State (5 wins). Then A&M played Tulane in a bowl game, squeaked out a 1 point win and claimed a national championship. WHOOP! WHOOP!
There are a few problems, however, to the Aggies dubious claim to the disputed and fractured 1939 national championship. First, you need to know that there are a number of other teams that claim a national championship in 1939 and several have better claims to the title that season than Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College.
In 1939, the top conference in the country was the Pacific Coast Conference. The top Bowl Game in the country was the Rose Bowl. At the end of the 1939 regular season, the consensus No. 1 team of 1939 was Tennessee, undefeated, untied, unscored-on in its nine regular season games in 1939, while it rolled up a total of 205 points. This was a Volunteer team that had not been scored upon in 16 straight games and had not lost in 24 straight games (very impressive by any standard, in any era).
The No. 2 team in the country at the end of regular season in 1939 was Cornell, whose 1939 team was 8-0 and had defeated Syracuse, Penn State and Ohio State. Cornell played a considerably more difficult schedule in 1939 than A&M. The 1939 Cornell team was recognized as national champions in 1939 by the Litkenhous and Sagarin titles.
The #3 team in the country at the end of regular season was powerful Southern Cal (USC), who played in the Pacific Coast Conference. The 1939 USC Trojans were undefeated in 1939, shutting out six teams and allowing just seven points to three others. Only 33 points were scored on Troy that year, still a school record. Among its key victories: a 14-0 win over No. 1 Tennessee in the Rose Bowl against a Volunteer team that hadn't been scored upon in 16 games and hadn't lost in 24 games, a 20-12 win over No. 7 Notre Dame in South Bend (USC wouldn't win again at Notre Dame Stadium until 1967) and a 19-7 win over No. 11 Oregon State in Portland. The regular season finale was an epic scoreless tie with No. 9 UCLA in front of 103,303, the second-largest crowd in Coliseum history. Compare that schedule to Texas Agricultural & Mechanical College’s cream puff 1939 schedule.
Texas Agricultural & Mechanical College (SWC champs) was #4 at the end of the regular season. Duke was #5 at the end of regular season.
The Rose Bowl game between undefeated #1 Tennessee and undefeated Pacific Coast Champion #3 USC was considered to be the national championship game in 1939. After the undefeated USC Trojans defeated #1 Tennessee 14-0, they were presented with the Knute Rockne Intercollegiate Memorial Trophy, at the time emblematic of the nation's No. 1 team. The trophy (originally called the Rissman National Trophy) was given to the team that finished atop the Dickinson System, a mathematical point formula devised by Illinois economics professor and nationally-respected football analyst Frank G. Dickinson. His system crowned a national champion from 1926 to 1940 (with predated rankings in 1924 and 1925). It was the first to gain widespread national public and media acceptance as a "major selector," according to the NCAA Football Records Book (the Associated Press poll didn't begin until 1936).
Dickinson stated that in 1939 "the Trojans were the best team in the best conference...and the nation's other top teams did not play as strong a schedule as USC."
Ask an Aggie if he’s ever seen A&M’s national championship trophy. He hasn’t, because A&M never received one. There was a national championship trophy presented in 1939 but it resides at USC. The Aggies were in fact voted #1 in a number of polls at the end of 1939, most of which were local or regional polls (or in the case of the three year old AP poll so new as to not be recognized) and carried little weight nationally.
USC now recognizes its football teams of 1928, 1931, 1932, 1939, 1962, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978 and 2003 as national champions.
There were five other years (1929, 1933, 1976, 1979 and 2002) in which the Trojans finished atop polls, but USC does not consider the selectors in those years as being all-encompassing enough at the time to claim a national championship. But if you’ve never come close to winning even one, like Texas Agricultural & Mechanical College, you grab at whatever straws you can. Hey, you can’t blame them for trying. WHOOP! WHOOP! BTHO TU!! WHOOP! WHOOP!
Other Important A&M Football History Nuggets
Things Aggies Won’t Tell You About Their Non-Conference Scheduling….and Things They Don’t Tell Little Aggies at Fish Camp
Texas A&M played Texas Deaf School (yes they did), played Houston YMCA , lost to Transylvania 29-6, squeaked by Ream Field 6-0, outlasted Camp Travis 12-6, lost to Villanova 35-0, played Brian Field, lost to Centenary 6-0, played Camp Mabry and won in an upset, played Haskell, lost to Santa Clara 7-0, played Ellington Field, beat Hardin Simmons 3-0 in a thriller, played Phillips, played Centre, lost to Sewanee 17-5, played Daniel Baker, lost to Louisiana Lafayette (1996)….
The Aggies are fond of saying that they are an elite program due to having one of the richest football histories in the country - and this is all hinged on the firm foundation of a long ago national championship which they would have you believe is undisputed and as factual as the big national championship trophy that sits in their trophy case. A national championship that same season before there even was a MNC and before our lifetimes, in the era of time after the Civil War and before the great World War.
A few things you need to know as a football fan worth your salt…. First, A&M wasn’t the best team in the land in 1939, not even close. Texas Agricultural & Mechanical College actually was undefeated in 1939, but there were a total of seven (7) teams that were likewise undefeated that season.
1939, which is the year the Aggies claim to have won a national championship, was a down year for the SWC. The four top teams in the SWC back in 1939 were Texas, TCU, Rice, and Arkansas. Texas was 5-4, TCU was 3-7, Rice was 1-9-1 and Arkansas was 4-5-1 in 1939. In non-conference that season, A&M played Centenary (2 wins), Santa Clara (5 wins), Villanova and Oklahoma State (5 wins). Then A&M played Tulane in a bowl game, squeaked out a 1 point win and claimed a national championship. WHOOP! WHOOP!
There are a few problems, however, to the Aggies dubious claim to the disputed and fractured 1939 national championship. First, you need to know that there are a number of other teams that claim a national championship in 1939 and several have better claims to the title that season than Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College.
In 1939, the top conference in the country was the Pacific Coast Conference. The top Bowl Game in the country was the Rose Bowl. At the end of the 1939 regular season, the consensus No. 1 team of 1939 was Tennessee, undefeated, untied, unscored-on in its nine regular season games in 1939, while it rolled up a total of 205 points. This was a Volunteer team that had not been scored upon in 16 straight games and had not lost in 24 straight games (very impressive by any standard, in any era).
The No. 2 team in the country at the end of regular season in 1939 was Cornell, whose 1939 team was 8-0 and had defeated Syracuse, Penn State and Ohio State. Cornell played a considerably more difficult schedule in 1939 than A&M. The 1939 Cornell team was recognized as national champions in 1939 by the Litkenhous and Sagarin titles.
The #3 team in the country at the end of regular season was powerful Southern Cal (USC), who played in the Pacific Coast Conference. The 1939 USC Trojans were undefeated in 1939, shutting out six teams and allowing just seven points to three others. Only 33 points were scored on Troy that year, still a school record. Among its key victories: a 14-0 win over No. 1 Tennessee in the Rose Bowl against a Volunteer team that hadn't been scored upon in 16 games and hadn't lost in 24 games, a 20-12 win over No. 7 Notre Dame in South Bend (USC wouldn't win again at Notre Dame Stadium until 1967) and a 19-7 win over No. 11 Oregon State in Portland. The regular season finale was an epic scoreless tie with No. 9 UCLA in front of 103,303, the second-largest crowd in Coliseum history. Compare that schedule to Texas Agricultural & Mechanical College’s cream puff 1939 schedule.
Texas Agricultural & Mechanical College (SWC champs) was #4 at the end of the regular season. Duke was #5 at the end of regular season.
The Rose Bowl game between undefeated #1 Tennessee and undefeated Pacific Coast Champion #3 USC was considered to be the national championship game in 1939. After the undefeated USC Trojans defeated #1 Tennessee 14-0, they were presented with the Knute Rockne Intercollegiate Memorial Trophy, at the time emblematic of the nation's No. 1 team. The trophy (originally called the Rissman National Trophy) was given to the team that finished atop the Dickinson System, a mathematical point formula devised by Illinois economics professor and nationally-respected football analyst Frank G. Dickinson. His system crowned a national champion from 1926 to 1940 (with predated rankings in 1924 and 1925). It was the first to gain widespread national public and media acceptance as a "major selector," according to the NCAA Football Records Book (the Associated Press poll didn't begin until 1936).
Dickinson stated that in 1939 "the Trojans were the best team in the best conference...and the nation's other top teams did not play as strong a schedule as USC."
Ask an Aggie if he’s ever seen A&M’s national championship trophy. He hasn’t, because A&M never received one. There was a national championship trophy presented in 1939 but it resides at USC. The Aggies were in fact voted #1 in a number of polls at the end of 1939, most of which were local or regional polls (or in the case of the three year old AP poll so new as to not be recognized) and carried little weight nationally.
USC now recognizes its football teams of 1928, 1931, 1932, 1939, 1962, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978 and 2003 as national champions.
There were five other years (1929, 1933, 1976, 1979 and 2002) in which the Trojans finished atop polls, but USC does not consider the selectors in those years as being all-encompassing enough at the time to claim a national championship. But if you’ve never come close to winning even one, like Texas Agricultural & Mechanical College, you grab at whatever straws you can. Hey, you can’t blame them for trying. WHOOP! WHOOP! BTHO TU!! WHOOP! WHOOP!
Other Important A&M Football History Nuggets
Things Aggies Won’t Tell You About Their Non-Conference Scheduling….and Things They Don’t Tell Little Aggies at Fish Camp
Texas A&M played Texas Deaf School (yes they did), played Houston YMCA , lost to Transylvania 29-6, squeaked by Ream Field 6-0, outlasted Camp Travis 12-6, lost to Villanova 35-0, played Brian Field, lost to Centenary 6-0, played Camp Mabry and won in an upset, played Haskell, lost to Santa Clara 7-0, played Ellington Field, beat Hardin Simmons 3-0 in a thriller, played Phillips, played Centre, lost to Sewanee 17-5, played Daniel Baker, lost to Louisiana Lafayette (1996)….
