We are down to our final three entries for the MNC Wednesday miniseries, and today we’re taking on the distant college football season of 1903. What did the sport even look like then? That’s not our question here, really, although it is interesting to consider. Would we even recognize the game? Maybe, but it makes it that much harder to determine the mythical national championship. After all, it’s not like there is video archived to show us what was what over 120 years ago. Oh, how technology has evolved!

The 1903 MNC: Princeton (Helms, NCF-tie) & Michigan (NCF-tie); Princeton (DMP)

Another split decision, and this time it’s shared between the Princeton Tigers (11-0, No. 1 SRS, No. 1 SOS) and the Michigan Wolverines (11-0-1, No. 4 SRS, No. 56 SOS). Beyond that, we really only see four other teams worth considering (see below). It’s funny that three of these six “finalists” are current Ivy League schools, and the other three squads are current B1G teams. What does that say about anything? We’re not sure, only that—again—it was a very different time than today. Onward with the maths!

  • Princeton (11-0): No. 1 SRS, No. 1 SOS (out of 70)
  • Yale (11-1): No. 2 SRS, No. 7 SOS
  • Dartmouth (9-1): No. 3 SRS, No. 3 SOS
  • Michigan (11-0-1): No. 4 SRS, No. 56 SOS
  • Nebraska (11-0): No. 6 SRS, No. 37 SOS
  • Minnesota (14-0-1): No. 7 SRS, No. 59 SOS

Well, this is going to be easier than usual. The Tigers have an impeccable profile, playing 10 major-college teams, engaging in two road games, and giving up just six points all season—in the finale against the Bulldogs. That eliminates Yale from consideration, of course, officially. As for the Big Green, it played nine major schools, losing only to Princeton. Yet we give Dartmouth major props for playing six times away from home. The Wolverines’ SOS is a joke, as is Minnesota’s schedule; both schools punked out.

The Cornhuskers didn’t face a much better slate, but at least it was closer to the middle than either of the upper Midwest pretenders here. This makes us wonder how much money Michigan donated to the National Championship Foundation to get this faux “half crown” for 1903: half of the Wolverines’ schedule was small schools, including Albion and Oberlin. Again, we’ve noted this before that so many of Michigan’s “wins” from the early era(s) of the sport came against teams that were basically high schools. Shame!

Therefore, it’s easy to give this full championship honor to the Tigers: this is the second time we’ve done so, as Princeton emerged in 1922 from a three-way split sitch to be the rightful king of the sport. Not many teams in our long analysis have earned both the No. 1 SRS spot and the No. 1 SOS ranking. That’s the daily double, and it’s basically immortal—and immovable. The Tigers had a 1.5-point edge on the Bulldogs, and they outdid that projection by beating Yale on the road by five points to cement this MNC.