The MNC Wednesday miniseries got a little sidetracked in the last five months, so we apologize. But it’s a good time to re-visit the early days of college football and the mythical national championship. So, we are picking up where we left off in the mid-1920s with this look at another season from the past. Who really deserved the MNCs of yonder years? That’s what we’re here to find out, of course, so enjoy the ride … again.

The 1925 MNC: Alabama (Helms, NCF); Michigan (DMP)

The Alabama Crimson Tide posted a 10-0 record to win the retroactive nods from Helms and NCF, but we have to look at other teams, too, of course. Michigan posted a 7-1 record and finished No. 1 in the SRS rankings, while Alabama was No. 2 there. So, already, we have a legitimate challenger to the established “champion” of record. Any other teams? The Crimson Tide escaped in the Rose Bowl, too, by one point, so …

Yeah.

The Dartmouth Big Green ran the table, also, with its 8-0 record, to finish No. 3 in the SRS. Every other team finished a distance behind Dartmouth in the sabermetric rankings, so these are our three best teams to consider. Alabama may yet get to keep its “title” although we have to do our due diligence here. Let’s start with SOS ratings: Michigan was fifth; the Crimson Tide were 17th; and the Big Green was 74th out of 104!

That eliminates Dartmouth pretty readily, as that SOS is on the bottom side of the equation. The Wolverines have the edge over Alabama by 12 spots, so that can eliminate the Crimson Tide’s edge in the win-loss column. Michigan’s loss was a weird one, too, a 3-2 loss on the road at Northwestern on November 7. Interestingly enough, those were the only points the Wolverines surrendered on defense all season long.

That is not a typo.

Clearly Michigan had the No. 1 scoring defense in the nation, while Alabama delivered the No. 4 scoring offense and the No. 7 scoring defense. Before the Rose Bowl against the Washington Huskies, the Crimson Tide had coughed up just seven points all season themselves—to a small school, no less, in early October. But perhaps if Alabama had scheduled a bit better, the SOS wouldn’t be so far behind the Wolverines’ rank.

In the end, that is what does it: the schedule strength that Michigan played—and dominated, too—is too hard for the Crimson Tide to overcome. How does a team play the fifth-hardest slate in the country and only give up three points total? The Wolverines also played a full schedule of major colleges, while Alabama cheesed its way to two wins against small schools to start the season. These little things come back to hurt.

So, this is another title for Michigan—and one less for the Crimson Tide. And remember, these Wolverines also held Red Grange and the Illinois Fighting Illini scoreless in his final season of college football … and in front of his own fans in Champaign. That is really impressive, all things considered, even if it is just a side note to this analysis. It’s a qualitative example that augments the quantitative analytics very nicely, eh? Yes.