Since we’re talking about Illinois football playoff possibilities this upcoming season, and thus, dreaming of bigger things, let’s do a Flashback Friday to the program’s five national titles. Yes, Illinois football has five, count ’em five national titles on their program CV.
Of course, these were all in the days long before the polls, like the Harris interactive, UPI, BCS (more like BcS), and so the term “national title” had a very different meaning.
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Let’s start with the most recent one, which came three-quarters of a century ago.
1951-
The orange and blue went 9-0-1, 5-0-1 in the Big Ten. The ’51 team outscored their opponents 220-83, including Stanford 40-7 in the Rose Bowl.
They were captained by a guy named Charles Studley. That’s not a joke. Let’s look at the other title teams.
1927-
Known as the year that produced maybe the greatest MLB team of all-time, that year’s edition of the New York Yankees, the Illini thrashed Butler 58-0 and out-scored their opponents 152-24.
Illini football finished 7-0-1, 5-0 in the Big Ten. The tie was Iowa State.
1923-
The only Illinois football title team with Red Grange on it. The greatest player in college football history, and one of the greatest players in NFL history, Grange led a team that went 8-0 with no ties.
1919-
In the sports world, we typically associate this year with the Chicago White Sox throwing the World Series (the Black Sox scandal).
But the Illini won it all in their respective competition, finishing the job that the Sox didn’t want to do in theirs.
1914-
The most dominant Illinois football team of all-time: 7-0, 224-22 in point differential.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter