SMQ: Which undefeated college football teams could end long championship drought?
By Zach Bigalke
The last win
Back in 1986, Joe Paterno had already brought Penn State a national title four years earlier. That ended a drought for the Nittany Lions that spanned more than half a century. After climbing up to No. 2 after an 11-0 regular season that included road wins at Boston College, Alabama, and Notre Dame, Penn State climbed up to No. 2 in the last polls before bowl season.
As an independent operator, the Nittany Lions had the flexibility to go wherever they were invited for their postseason contest. The Fiesta Bowl stepped up and invited No. 1 Miami and No. 2 Penn State to square off in a decisive national championship showdown.
The Hurricanes were favored to take down their counterparts, as they featured Heisman winner Vinny Testaverde at quarterback and boasted a slew of NFL talent on both sides of the ball. Instead, the Nittany Lions defense intercepted Testaverde five times. Penn State pulled off the 14-10 upset to move up to No. 1 in the final polls.
Since the last win
Paterno spent the next 25 years trying in vain to reach the summit yet again. Penn State joined a conference for the first time after the 1992 season, accepting the Big Ten’s invitation and giving up independence after 99 years.
Penn State earned the Big Ten’s spot in the Rose Bowl after an undefeated 11-0 regular season in 1994. The Nittany Lions deconstructed the Pac-10 champion Oregon Ducks 38-20 in Pasadena. But it wasn’t enough to sway pollsters to move them ahead of Tom Osborne‘s 13-0 Big Eight champion Nebraska. The Cornhuskers entered the postseason ahead of Penn State in the polls and remained No. 1 after winning the Orange Bowl over No. 3 Miami.
Since 1994, Penn State has failed to return to No. 1 at any point in a given season. They did get back to the Rose Bowl in 2008, but that was after the Nittany Lions, though, are the defending Big Ten champions and have a good shot at winning the league again in 2017. While a conference crown did not steer Penn State into the College Football Playoff, last year did not set a new precedent.