Today we’re taking a look at the most painful college football snubs of all time — or at least since 2000.
10. 1999-2000 University of Miami (Record 11-1)
Florida St. was selected over Miami in year three of the BCS, despite losing the head-to-head matchup. Miami went on to crush in-state rival Florida, 37 – 20, in the Sugar Bowl. This team included future NFL stars such as Bryant McKinnie, Reggie Wayne, Ed Reed, Andre Johnson, and Santana Moss. With a large chunk of this roster returning, the Hurricanes would go on to win the national title the following year in dominating fashion.
9. 2004-2005 Auburn University (Record 12-0)
Going undefeated in the SEC is never easy, and Auburn did just that, beating four ranked teams along the way. The problem was that USC and Oklahoma also went undefeated. With three teams laying claim to a chance in the title game, Auburn got the short end of the stick. Led by the high-powered attack of Jason Campbell, Ronnie Brown, and Carnell Williams, the Tigers had beaten two top 15 teams in Georgia and Tennessee — each by double digits — in the previous three weeks leading up to the selection. But it wasn’t enough. They would go on to beat Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl 16-13.
8. 2003-2004 University of Southern California (Record 11-1)
Reggie Bush, Matt Leinhart, Lendale White, and Mike Williams were all future NFL players who took the Trojans to the Pac-10 Championship. Technically, they finished as the national champions according to the AP poll, but we didn’t get to see them square off against undefeated LSU or Oklahoma that year for the BCS championship. Besides a triple OT loss at Cal, this team didn’t win a game by less than 17 points along the way. The foundation of this team would go on to play in two more national title games including a win the following year.
7. 2006-2007 Boise State University (Record 12–0)
What’s not to love about this team? A WAC team who averaged 39 points per game was never seriously considered for the national title, finishing 8th in the BCS. They took that personally as they would go on to beat the Big-12 champion Oklahoma Sooners in a Fiesta Bowl OT thriller running the famous Statue of Liberty play. Jared Sabransky and company laid the foundation for what has been a college football powerhouse ever since.
6. 2001-2002 University of Oregon (Record 10-1)
It could be argued that this is where the idea for the four-team playoff first came into existence. Miami was the only undefeated team, but there was an argument to be had for the second spot. Oregon and Nebraska both only had one loss, and a 10-2 Colorado team had just completely crushed Nebraska in Boulder. The Pac-10 champion Ducks were led by Heisman Trophy finalist Joey Harrington with their only resume blemish coming against Stanford at home. Ultimately, this proved to be too much to overcome for the BCS computers. They would go on to slaughter Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl, 38-16.
5. 2008-2009 University of Utah (Record 12–0)
Champions of the Mountain West Conference, Utah posted an impressive resume including wins at Michigan, an 11th ranked TCU team, and a #16 ranked BYU team in the Holy War. They averaged 37 points per game while only giving up 17. Future NFL players Matt Asiata and Sean Smith led the way and veteran Brian Johnson provided a steady veteran presence at QB. They would go on to beat #4 Alabama in the Sugar bowl by two touchdowns leaving many to wonder how they would have fared against either of the one loss teams who played for the national title in Florida or Oklahoma.
4. 2014-2015 Texas Christian University (Record 11-1)
In the first year of the four team playoffs, TCU found itself on the outside looking in at #6. They lost in a shootout to Baylor in Waco in their 5th game (the team who ultimately finished 5th). With one of the highest scoring offenses ever, the Horned Frogs went 4-1 against ranked teams and never put up less than 30 points in a game. However, there was a logjam of teams with the credentials to make the playoffs, and the two Big 12 teams were left out. Trevone Boykin finished 4th in the Heisman voting that year and his team would decimate the 9th ranked Ole Miss Rebels in the Peach Bowl by a score of 42-3.
3. 2018-2019 University of Central Florida (Record 12–0)
The argument is there for the Knights in 2017-2018, in which they went undefeated and defeated Auburn in the Peach Bowl. However, a better case can be made for them when they went undefeated again the following season. Led by Mckenzie Milton at QB, they never got much consideration for a playoff invite. They finished 8th in the playoff rankings before losing to LSU in the Fiesta Bowl. Back-to-back years being snubbed certainly could have taken the air out of the tires in that final game, so this team deserves a spot.
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2. 2018-2019 Ohio State University (Record 12-1)
This team was loaded with NFL talent. J.K. Dobbins, Nick Bosa, Chase Young, and Chris Olave to name a few. They did suffer a bad defeat 49-20 to a six loss Purdue team in week 8. On paper this team was great, but in a year with three undefeated teams, they needed more to overcome an Oklahoma team who’s only loss was by less at Kansas St.
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1. 2020-2021 University of Cincinnati (Record 9–0)
In a Covid shortened season, Cincinnati beat three ranked opponents on their way to a perfect season. They were a top 15 ranked team from start to finish but were unable to break into the top 4. Their high-powered offense, led by Desmond Riddler, didn’t put up less than 24 points until their bowl game, which they lost by three to #9 Georgia. Still, in arguably the weirdest year of college football, a six-win Ohio St. and two one-loss teams were selected over them.
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