We are back again this week with the MNC Wednesday prequel miniseries, and after the 1922 doozy last week, we’re hoping for something a bit more calming this time out with the mythical national championship analysis. Wait, who are we kidding?! We love to upend the “experts” and their often-inane selections based on … who knows what. That’s why we do this, of course, in short form. If we make it any more complicated than it needs to be, then we just go around in circles.

The 1921 MNC: Cornell (Helms, NCF); Vanderbilt (DMP)

Well, we have a “consensus” champion here this season: the Cornell Big Red. With an 8-0 record, the team finished No. 7 in the SRS rankings after playing the No. 93 SOS—out of 102 teams. It seems crazy that the analysis of the time had no ability to discern the weak schedules in this era. Cornell played a joke of a schedule: only four of their opponents could be considered major-college teams, but sure, let’s just hand them an MNC without thinking too deeply here. Come on, folks!

Not to rule Cornell out, but there has to be a team with a better profile than that, sabermetrically speaking. Right?!

  • Vanderbilt (7-0-1): No. 1 SRS, No. 2 SOS
  • Nebraska (7-1): No. 2, No. 21
  • Centre (10-1): No. 4, No. 34
  • Georgia Tech (8-1): No. 5, No. 35
  • Penn State (8-0-2): No. 6, No. 31
  • Lafayette (9-0): No. 8, No. 84
  • Iowa (7-0): No. 10, No. 45
  • Notre Dame (10-1): No. 12, No. 72

Well, we probably could have stopped after the Commodores, eh? Their only blemish was a tie against Georgia (No. 3 SRS), and the schedule was top notch, of course. Only one opponent in eight was a small college, and it was regional rivalry (Middle Tennessee State). Vandy gave up just 21 points all season, so the margin of victory was strong, too. The Commodores played eight straight weekends in October and November 1921 to secure their record and place in history.

One note: on paper, the top two teams in the SRS were separated by .05 points, which means Nebraska rated out pretty well despite the weaker SOS. It would have been fun to see the teams play, of course, in some sort of bowl-game matchup. The Cornhuskers lost to Notre Dame, however, which is another ding against them, with the Irish SOS. Vandy and Nebraska did not play any common opponents, but they were 2.5-plus points better than next-best sabermetric squads.

No other team above can match that profile, of course, and it looks silly to argue that a team like Cornell with its schedule would be selected over Vanderbilt for the MNC. We are not silly, of course, so congrats to the Commodores for this incredible achievement that has rarely been topped in terms of retrospective sabermetric analysis. This is the first championship for Vanderbilt, an independent during this season long ago despite its modern-day SEC affiliation.