Simulating a Playoff for Every Single Season of College Football: 1879

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Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨bot@lemmit.online [bot]⁩ to ⁨cfb@lemmit.online⁩

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/eastexaslion on 2024-04-01 21:23:05.

Click here to see the introductory post about this series.

Click here to see previous entries in this series.

Claimed National Champions

Princeton (4-0-1) National Championship Foundation, Billingsley Report, Parke H. Davis

Yale (3-0-2) Parke H. Davis

Bold indicates main national championship selector recognized by NCAA Championship List

Notable Events

The first street is lit with electric incandescent light bulbs in Mosly Street in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
The U.S. Geological Survey is founded
The Ryukyu Kingdom/Okinawa is annexed by Japan
The Nebraska Marching Band is founded 11 years before Nebraska Football plays its first game
Sam Houston State University (Founded as Sam Houston Normal Institute) is established, taking over the original campus of Austin College.
CFB Hall of Famers Gordon “Skim” Brown, Jimmy Johnson, Dan McGugin, Art Poe, Neil Snow, and Robert Zuppke are born

Rules

The Ball: Egg-shaped, rubber covered Rugby ball.
The field is 140 yds. by 70 yds., uprights 18 1/2’ apart, crossbar 10’ high uprights
Goals are scored when a player kicks a ball through the uprights. They can be scored during play or after a touchdown is scored. A goal can also be scored if a team scores four touchdowns.
*Each team consists of 15 players
Holding and carrying the ball is finally permitted
The game’s regulation is separated into two halves, both 45 minutes. If the game is tied at the end of regulation, the next scored point wins the game.

Italics denote rule change from previous season.

\Yale played by all of the IFA rules, except for the player rule. Yale wanted to play the game with 11 players on the field.)

Rule Changes

Yale’s still playing with 11 players, other than that, no other rule changes. However, the next big rule changes are going to come from Yale, as they pass a resolution to advocate the reduction of the field to 133 1/3 yds x 66 2/3 yds, and more importantly, will advocate playing with 11 players in a rules convention next year.

The Teams

Of the 10 teams available in the matchup tool, only five qualified and are listed by their seeding in the bracket.

Season Breakdown by Zach Bigalke

Let’s talk about the big elephant in the room. Where’s Michigan? Well many databases don’t include Michigan until 1881 when they finally go across the country to play the Ivys. With databases being incomplete for the early years, many first seasons for a lot of programs don’t show up unless its sometime in the AP Poll era or after. So unfortunately, I don’t have the ability to add Michigan to this tournament even though they would qualify if they were in the matchup tool. Although, I do have this article from football archeology that goes into detail about Michigan and Toronto’s game that year. So please take it as a sorry until I can actually add them in later on.

However, we have on of two Canadian schools that will appear throughout this series. McGill, the team who showed Americans the game this would be built on, is finally in the tournament after playing one game and tying it.

Player of Interest

Princeton retains Ballard and McNair from last year, and Yale retains everyone and has two newcomers to their roster. Benjamin Bacon went to Yale Divinity School and would be part of Yale’s championship teams for the next five seasons. Frederic Remington was attending Yale’s art school. He wasn’t known as a star player, but he would be more well-known as an artist depicting the old West.

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

No. 5 McGill @ No. 4 Penn - McGill wins 3-1 and advances to play Princeton

Final Four

No. 5 McGill @ No. 1 Princeton - Princeton is looking forward to playing McGill after Woodrow Wilson finally taught them great strategy last year. McGill is looking to finally take the game back from the American schools, however, Princeton’s captain takes charge easily. Four drop kicks for goals make the game an easy win for the Tigers. Princeton wins 4-0 and advances to compete for their second consecutive championship.

No. 3 Harvard @ No. 2 Yale - Harvard is looking to finally win against Yale since the 1877 tournament, the most recent contest ended in a 0-0 tie. However, the rivalry is intense, and Yale’s Camp takes the ball and tries five different contested drop kicks. In the second half, Camp finally gets a touchdown and a kick to win the game. Yale wins 1-0 and advances to play Princeton in the championship game!

The Championship Game at the Capitoline Grounds Brooklyn, NY

We meet again, but something is different about this game. Around 9,000 show up, way past the capacity the grounds can hold. Organizers have to bring in make-shift wooden stands to support the large attendance, and police have to stand guard and make a lane to make sure both teams can enter the field. It is loud as well. Louder than any game before. Once again the game starts like the last championship game, with Walter Camp receiving a kick, except this time he runs it down the field and meets a the quarterback, where he kicks a dropkick goal to put Yale up 3-2. Both teams have strength and speed on their team, and Yale is up 3-1. Princeton has scored only one touchdown, so far. In the second half they keep scoring touchdowns but are unable to make the kick after in any of them due to positioning. Princeton however scores their fourth touchdown and gives them a point, a kick after will tie the game up, but once again it is missed. Yale wins the championship game 3-2 capturing their third championship!

Champions

Yale (3-0-2) Won against Princeton 3-2

Runner-Up:

Princeton (4-0-1) Loses against Yale 3-2

Final Four Finishes:

Harvard (2-1-2) Loses against Yale 1-0

McGill (0-0-1) Loses against Princeton 4-0

Quarterfinal Finish

Penn (2-2) Loses against McGill 3-1

Sources:

NCAA Championship List

1869 to 1890: How American Football Became (The Game You Love Today - College Football History by Corn Nation)