Simulating a Playoff for Every Single Season of College Football: 1885

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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/eastexaslion on 2024-04-07 19:21:34.

Click here to see the introductory post about this series.

Click here to see previous entries in this series.

Claimed National Champions

Princeton (9-0) Helms Athletic Foundation, National Championship Foundation. Billingsley Report, Houlgate System, Parke H. Davis

Bold indicates main national championship selector recognized by NCAA Championship List

Notable Events

The first successful appendectomy is performed
The first roller coaster is patented
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is first published
The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York
Dr. Pepper is served for the first time
The Benz Patent-Motorwagen is produced for the first time
The Home Insurance Building in Chicago is the first skyscraper built
The University of Arizona, and Arizona State (Est. as Territorial Normal School) are established.
Future Admiral Chester Nimitz, Future General George Patton, and CFB Hall of Famers Howard Jones, Ray Morrison, Frank Murray, Hunter Scarlett, and Francis Schmidt are born
Former President Ulysses S. Grant dies

Rules

The Ball: Egg-shaped, rubber covered Rugby ball.
The field is 110 yds. by 53 1/3 yds., uprights 18 1/2’ apart, with lines marked every five yards_,_ crossbar 10’ high uprights
When a team has possession of the ball, it must gain five yards within three downs, to gain a new set of downs
There are three different ways to score. A field goal is worth 5 points, A touchdown is worth 4 points, the kick after a TD is worth 2 points, and a safety is worth 2 Points.
Each team consists of 11 players on the field
*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.

*^(*Overtime rule was not in effect at this time, it is used for simulations only.)*

The Teams

Of the 24 teams, only 10 qualify and are listed by their seeding in the bracket.

Season Breakdown by Zach Bigalke

As the controversy between the Princeton-Yale game settled down, Harvard would be embroiled in a new one. In a 25-4 vote, Harvard faculty voted to ban students from playing football due to safety concerns. It isn’t clear what the safety concern was, but nevertheless, the ban was shortlived as they would resume football the following year.

This year also is the first year of an amazing innovation: The first recognized college football conference. The Northern Intercollegiate Football Association is created. So why is it different from the IFA? Well IFA members didn’t necessarily have an agreement that all teams had to play each other, and oftentimes didn’t. The NIFA (Later the New England Intercollegiate Football Association, and Triangular Football League). It consisted of Amherst, MIT, Tufts, and Williams with the agreement to play each other. The conference would continue into the early 20th century before folding.

And finally, we have to mention one of the greatest feats of football so far came to an end this year. When Yale went entered the game with Princeton, they were riding a 48-game unbeaten streak going back to 1879. It would have been a 33-game win streak if the previous meeting between these two teams wasn’t controversially declared a tie. However, Yale would score a field goal, and Princeton a TD and PAT to end Yale’s unbeaten streak that day with a 6-5 win. This so far has been the longest of such a streak in college football. And won’t be matched for a while, and by a while, I mean four seasons from now.

Round 1

No. 10 Seton Hall @ No. 7 Swarthmore - Swarthmore ends Seton Hall’s perfect season 28-0, and moves on to play No. 2 Yale.

No. 9 Massachusetts @ No. 8 Williams - Williams scores two touchdowns in its win vs UMass, and moves on to play No. 1 Princeton.

Quarterfinal

No. 8 Williams @ No. 1 Princeton - Williams puts up a better fight than most of Princeton’s opponents this year, but Princeton wins 23-0 to move onto the Final Four Round.

No. 7 Swarthmore @ No 2. Yale - Yale’s defense is shocked by the offensive production that Swarthmore is able to put up in the first half, but Yale comes into the second half to finish it and wins 42-24 to move onto the Final Four Round.

No. 6 Lafayette @ No 3. Penn. Lafayette is able to get a safety, but Penn responds with four touchdowns to win 24-2. Penn moves on to the Final Four Round to play No. 2 Yale.

No. 5 MIT @ No. 4 Haverford. Haverford’s bid for perfection ends with two MIT touchdowns as MIT wins 10-0 and moves on to play No. 1 Princeton.

Final Four

No. 5 MIT @ No. 1 Princeton - MIT stifles under Princeton’s defense, as Princeton scores seven touchdowns to win 42-0 to compete for their second straight championship

No. 3 Penn @ No. 2 Yale - Penn manages to score 16 points on Yale, but if this was anyone other than Yale’s offense they were up against, they would’ve had a chance. Yale instead puts up 75 points on the Quakers and moves on to face Princeton to reclaim the National Championship.

The Championship Game at the Polo Grounds I, Manhattan, New York, NY

15,000 come to see the game, as these teams have met in this same game for eight straight years. Almost every year has been at least a competitive game. However, Princeton dominates. By the end of the first half, the score is 24-0 Princeton. Yale can’t seem to stop them as Princeton scores two more touchdowns and misses a PAT. Half of the Polo Grounds is in shock, while the other half is making the grandstands shake from excitement. Princeton shuts out Yale 34-0 to win their second consecutive championship, their 7th overall.

Championship

Princeton (9-0) Won vs Yale 34-0

Runner-Up

Yale (7-1) Lost vs Princeton 34-0

Final Four

MIT (4-1) Lost @ Princeton 42-0

Penn (8-5) Lost @ Yale 75-16

Quarter Final

Haverford (2-0) Lost vs MIT 10-0

Lafayette (3-2-1) Lost @ Penn 24-2

Swarthmore (2-2) Lost @ Yale 42-24

Williams (4-0) Lost @ Princeton 23-0