1.
Houston Cougars football
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The Houston Cougars football program is an NCAA Division I FBS football team that represents the University of Houston. The team is referred to as Houston or UH. The UH football program is a member of the American Athletic Conference West Division, over the history of the program, the Cougars have won eleven conference championships and have had several players elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, including a Heisman Trophy winner. In 1941, Johnny Goyen, then editor for The Cougar. The next year, the two called a student body meeting to organize another petition and this petitions purpose was to challenge Rice Institute to a football game. The Rice Owls were a program, having played since 1919 as a member of the Southwest Conference. In August 1945, the University of Houston announced that the school would field a team for the first time. In September 1946, the became a reality after Harry Fouke, UHs first athletic director, hired successful high school coach Jewell Wallace. One hundred thirty students showed up, only ten of whom had played college football before. Prior to joining the Cougars, Wallace served as coach for San Angelo High School. During the spring training for the first team, Goyen and Valentis petition was finally answered, the meeting was to be at Rice. When the team arrived at the field in their practice uniforms, officials were there, and the stadium was full of spectators. The game ended with Rice demolishing the Houston Cougars, the game had an attendance of 11,000. It wouldnt be until 1971 that the Cougars and Owls competed again, although Charlie Manichia, the Cougars starting quarterback, scored the first touchdown of the game, the team lost to SLI 13–7. The next game, the Cougars played against West Texas State Teachers College, the Cougars finished up their first season with a 4–6–0 record. Wallace continued as coach for the Cougars until the end of the 1947 season. Clyde Lee, a University of Tulsa assistant coach, became Houstons second head coach in February 1948, to replace the remainder of Wallaces team that didnt return, Lee turned to junior colleges for the majority of his recruiting. At this time, the University of Houston, along with Texas Tech University, attempted to join the established Southwest Conference, in response, several universities from the Lone Star Conference formed the Gulf Coast Conference
2.
Cincinnati Bearcats football
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The Cincinnati Bearcats football program represents the University of Cincinnati in college football. They compete at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level as members of the American Athletic Conference and they have also earned a bowl berth every year, with only two exceptions since the 2006 season. The Bearcat football program is one of the nations oldest, having fielded a team as early as 1885, in 1888, Cincinnati played Miami in the first intercollegiate football game held within the state of Ohio. That began a rivalry which today ranks as the eighth-oldest and 11th-longest running in NCAA Division I college football, robert Burch served as Cincinnatis head coach from 1909-1911, compiling a record of 16–8–2. It was during his tenure that Cincinnati joined the Ohio Athletic Conference, in March 1927, George Babcock was hired as a professor of athletics and physical training at the University of Cincinnati. From 1927 to 1930, he was the football coach of the Bearcats football. Sid Gillman, a member of the College and National Football League hall of fame shrines, was the architect of one of the top eras of Cincinnati football history. He directed the Bearcats to three titles and a pair of bowl game appearances during his six seasons before leaving for the professional ranks. Cincinnati, with Gillman developing the passing offenses which would make him successful in the pro ranks, George Blackburn served as the Bearcats head coach from 1955-1960, compiling a 25–27–6 record. It was during Blackburns tenure, in 1957, that the Bearcats joined the Missouri Valley Conference, chuck Studley left UMass and became the Bearcats 25th head football coach. Under Studleys tutelage, the Bearcats won two championships in 1963 and 1964, However, Studleys teams struggled in his other four seasons. Oklahoma assistant coach Homer Rice was hired as Studleys replacement, after accepting the head coaching position at Cincinnati, Oklahomas coach Jim McKenzie died of a massive heart attack. Upon Jims death, Oklahomas athletic director and president called Homer Rice to request that he return to replace Jim as head coach at Oklahoma and he had already hired his staff at Cincinnati and turned down the Oklahoma job to stay committed to his staff at Cincinnati. Rice compiled an 8–10–1 record in his two seasons at Cincinnati, in 1968, the Bearcats were the nations top passing team. Quarterback Greg Cook was the NCAAs total offense leader with receiver/kicker Jim OBrien the national scoring champ, a year later, Cook earned Rookie of the Year honors as a Cincinnati Bengal. Two years later, OBrien kicked the field goal for the Baltimore Colts in the Super Bowl. Ray Callahan was promoted assistant coach to head coach after Rices departure. After a 4–6 campaign in his first season, Callahans Bearcats posted back to back 7–4 records in 1970 and 1971, However, a 2–9 season in 1972 ended his tenure at Cincinnati
3.
Rutgers University
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Rutgers was chartered as Queens College on November 10,1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution, for most of its existence, Rutgers was a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church. The college expanded its role in research and instruction in agriculture, engineering and it gained university status in 1924 with the introduction of graduate education and further expansion. However, Rutgers evolved into a public research university after being designated The State University of New Jersey by the New Jersey Legislature in laws enacted in 1945 and 1956. It is one of two colonial colleges that later became public universities. Rutgers has three campuses located throughout New Jersey, the New Brunswick campus in New Brunswick and adjacent Piscataway, the Newark campus, the university has additional facilities elsewhere in New Jersey. Instruction is offered by 9,000 faculty members in 175 academic departments to over 45,000 undergraduate students and more than 20,000 graduate, through several years of effort by the Rev. Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen and Rev. The Grammar School, today the private Rutgers Preparatory School, was a part of the community until 1959. New Brunswick was chosen as the location over Hackensack because the New Brunswick Dutch had the support of the Anglican population, despite the religious nature of the early college, the first classes were held at a tavern called the Sign of the Red Lion. When the Revolutionary War broke out and taverns were suspected by the British as being hotbeds of rebel activity, in its early years, due to a lack of funds, Queens College was closed for two extended periods. Early trustees considered merging the college with the College of New Jersey, in Princeton, in 1808, after raising $12,000, the college was temporarily reopened and broke ground on a building of its own, called Old Queens, designed by architect John McComb, Jr. The colleges third president, the Rev. Ira Condict, laid the cornerstone on April 27,1809, shortly after, the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, founded in 1784, relocated from Brooklyn, New York, to New Brunswick, and shared facilities with Queens College. During those formative years, all three institutions fit into Old Queens, in 1830, the Queens College Grammar School moved across the street, and in 1856, the Seminary relocated to a seven-acre tract less than one-half miles away. According to the Board of Trustees, Colonel Rutgers was honored because he epitomized Christian values, the Rutgers Scientific School would expand over the years to grow into the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and divide into the College of Engineering and the College of Agriculture. Rutgers created the New Jersey College for Women in 1918, with the development of graduate education, and the continued expansion of the institution, the collection of schools became Rutgers University in 1924. Rutgers College continued as an arts college within the university. Rutgers was designated the State University of New Jersey by acts of the New Jersey Legislature in 1945 and 1956, shortly after, the University of Newark was merged with Rutgers in 1946, as were the College of South Jersey and South Jersey Law School, in 1950. These two institutions became Rutgers University–Newark and Rutgers University–Camden, respectively, on September 10,1970, after much debate, the Board of Governors voted to admit women into Rutgers College
4.
Giants Stadium
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Giants Stadium was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and primarily hosted sporting events and concerts in its history, the maximum seating capacity was 80,242. The structure itself was 756 feet long,592 feet wide and 144 feet high from service level to the top of the bowl and 178 feet high to the top of the south tower. The volume of the stadium was 64,500,000 cubic feet,13,500 tons of structural steel were used in the building process and 29,200 tons of concrete were poured. It was owned and operated by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, in the early 1970s the New York Giants, who at the time were sharing Yankee Stadium with the New York Yankees baseball team, began looking for a home of their own. The Giants struck a deal with the fledgling New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority in 1971, the 1972 season was the Giants last full season in Yankee Stadium, as the ballpark was closed for a massive reconstruction following the end of the Yankees season. After spending two years in New Haven, the Giants would return to New York for one season in 1975 and shared Shea Stadium in Flushing, Queens with the Yankees, New York Mets. The Giants finally moved into their new home on October 10,1976, eight years after Giants Stadium opened, it gained a second major tenant. The Jets lease at Shea Stadium had expired at the end of the 1983 season, the city of New York was unwilling to agree to his terms and Hess decided to move the Jets to the Meadowlands permanently. Their first game in Giants Stadium was on September 6,1984, the sharing of the stadium by both the Giants and Jets enabled it to break a record that had long been held by Chicagos Wrigley Field. Entering the 2003 season, its 28th, Giants Stadium had played host to 364 NFL games, the Giants season opening game with the St. Louis Rams tied the record, and the following week the Jets home opener against the Miami Dolphins broke it. Giants Stadium was closed following the 2009 NFL season following the construction of what is now MetLife Stadium in the parking lot. The stadiums final event was the January 3,2010 game featuring the Jets hosting the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday Night Football, a month after the game, demolition of the structure began and was completed on August 10,2010. Giants Stadium opened on October 10,1976, as 76,042 fans witnessed a loss by the Giants to the Dallas Cowboys, the Giants had played their first four games on the road that season. College football made its debut at Giants Stadium on October 23,1976, with Rutgers University defeating Columbia 47–0, the New York Giants played their season-opening home game in the stadium on September 18 of the 1977 season. The 1985 USFL championship game which turned out to be the last USFL game played was held at Giants Stadium. In the second week of the 2005 season, the New Orleans Saints used the stadium for a game against the Giants because of extensive damage to the Louisiana Superdome after Hurricane Katrina. One end zone was painted in Saints colors, Saints banners were hung on the walls around the sidelines, the game was rescheduled to a Monday night with a special start time of 7,30 PM EDT, preceding the other scheduled game on Monday Night Football
5.
Southern Miss Golden Eagles football
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The Southern Miss Golden Eagles football program represents the University of Southern Mississippi in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The Eagles are members of Conference USA and play their games at M. M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg. Southern Miss first fielded a team in 1912, coached by Ronald Slay. That team posted a 2-1 record, dille coached the Golden Eagles from 1914–1916, posting a record of 6-10-1. USM did not field a team from 1917–1919 because of World War I. Allison Hubert was the Golden Eagles head football coach for six seasons. His Golden Eagles teams were known to be fast and fierce, Hubert departed after the 1936 season to accept the head football coach position at VMI. After Hubert came Reed Green, who coached USM for a total of nine years, the Golden Eagles did not compete in football from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II. During the coaching tenure of Thad Vann, the Golden Eagles became one of the nations most elite football programs, Vann compiled a 139-59-2 record, had only one losing season in his 20 seasons in Hattiesburg, his last. His 1953 and 1954 Golden Eagles teams upset Alabama and posted records of 9-2 and 6-4, the Golden Eagles made it to the Sun Bowl in 1954. Vanns 1958 and 1962 teams claim a national championship, Vann retired after the 1968 season and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1987. P. W. Underwood returned to his alma mater from his post as an assistant coach at Tennessee, Underwood compiled a 31-32-2 record in his six seasons and engineered one of the biggest wins in school history in 1970, a 30-14 upset of fourth-ranked Mississippi. Bobby Collins was the Golden Eagles head football coach for seven seasons, Collins led the Golden Eagles to two bowl appearances, the Independence Bowl and the Tangerine Bowl after the 1980 and 1981 regular seasons. His 1981 team finished ranked #19 in the final Coaches Poll, under Carmodys tutelage, Carmodys Golden Eagles compiled a record of 37-29. Only one of six seasons did the Golden Eagles finish with a losing record. The Golden Eagles would only have one losing season until 2012. During Carmodys tenure, the Golden Eagles defeated Alabama, 38-29, in Tuscaloosa in 1982 and it was the first time since 1962 that UA had lost there and also proved to be the final loss of legendary coach Paul Bear Bryants career. Carmody recruited a young Kiln, Mississippi high school quarterback named Brett Favre to Southern Miss in 1987. Curley Hallman came to Southern Miss from his post as defensive coach at Texas A&M. Hallmans.676 winning percentage at USM is the highest of any coach in Southern Miss football history
6.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights football
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The Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team represents Rutgers University in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletics Association. The team was formerly a member of the American Athletic Conference, Rutgers joined the Big Ten Conference on July 1,2014. Rutgers plays its games at High Point Solutions Stadium, located on the universitys Piscataway. The team is coached by Chris Ash. The Rutgers University football program is considered to be one of the most historic programs in the country, in 1869, Rutgers defeated Princeton University by a score of 6–4 in what is considered to be the first ever intercollegiate football game. For this reason, Rutgers has been described as The Birthplace of College Football. The team currently holds a record of 641–622–42, giving Rutgers the 37th most victories among NCAA FBS programs. On November 6,1869, Rutgers and nearby neighbor Princeton competed in the first ever football game. The site for the contest was a plot of land where the College Avenue currently stands on Rutgers campus in New Brunswick. The structure of the game resembled more of a rugby-style contest instead of football, with players allowed to kick and bat the ball with their fists. At the time, Rutgers was referred to as the Queensmen, the Rutgers squad was captained by William J. Leggett and donned scarlet kerchiefs atop their heads in an effort to distinguish between the two teams. Rutgers would go on to win the contest by a score of 6 goals to 4, a week after the first game was held in New Brunswick, Rutgers would visit Princeton for a second matchup. This time, Princeton prevailed by a score of 8 goals to 0, Rutgers and Princeton had planned for a third game in the 1869 season, but the contest never took place due to fears that the games were interfering with the students studies. Thus, both schools would end the season with a record of 1-1, Rutgers first undefeated season was in 1876. From 1929 to 1975, Rutgers was a member of the Middle Three Conference, J. Wilder Tasker served as the head football coach of the Queensmen football program for seven seasons, from 1931 to 1937. Under his leadership, the Scarlet Knights compiled a record of 31–27–5, Tasker was replaced by Harvey Harman, who led the team from 1938 through the 1940s and into the 1950s. Harmans record at Rutgers stands at 33–26–1 in a total of 14 seasons, succeeding Tasker was John Stiegman, who compiled a record of 22–15 in four seasons. Starting in 1940, the champion received the Little Brass Cannon
7.
Temple Owls football
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The Temple Owls football team represents Temple University in the sport of college football. The Temple Owls compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the American Athletic Conference and they play their home games at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The Owls were a member of the Big East Conference from 1991 until 2004. Temple was expelled from the due to a lack of commitment to the football program from university officials. Temple played the 2005 and 2006 seasons as an independent before playing in the Mid-American Conference from 2007 to 2011, in March 2012, the Owls rejoined the Big East Conference, with football membership beginning in the 2012 season and all other sports beginning conference play in 2013. That same year, the conference was renamed the American Athletic Conference after several basketball-only schools split off to form a new conference that kept the Big East name, Temple is the last original Big East football member still in the The American. Five of the eight members play in the ACC, while the other two teams play in the Big 12 and the Big Ten. Temple began playing organized football in 1894, a decade after the school was founded, physical education instructor and basketball coach Charles M. Williams organized an 11-man squad that won their first game against Philadelphia Dental College. For its first few years, the team played small schools. The Owls modern era began in 1925 and that was the year that Henry J. Heinie Miller was hired as head coach, and for a time, the Owls were a regional power. In the 1927 season, after wildly mismatched victories over Blue Ridge College, Juniata, Gallaudet and Washington College and their only loss that season came from Dartmouth, and a 44-year long rivalry with Bucknell College began with Temple posting a 19–13 victory. To start the 1928 season, the Owls moved to Temple Stadium, Miller coached eight seasons and compiled a 50–15–8 record, with two notable victories over growing regional football power Penn State. Following Millers departure in 1933, the Owls made a splash with the hiring of their next coach. Warner had spent the previous 19 years at Pittsburgh and Stanford and he ended his career at Temple, going 31–18–2 in six seasons. In 1934, the Owls went 7–0–2 in the season and were invited to play in the inaugural Sugar Bowl on New Years Day,1935. In 1936, the Owls were ranked in the AP Poll in its first year for two weeks, in Warners last game, Temple upset Florida 20–12, who were coached by future Temple coach Josh Cody. From the time Warner retired at the end of the 1938 season until 1963, Warners top assistant, Fred H. Swan, took over as head coach in 1939. He lasted one season before Temple hired SMU coach Ray Morrison, during this time, Temple had several successful seasons and had All-American and All-Star players
8.
Holy Cross Crusaders football
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The Holy Cross Crusaders football team is the collegiate American football program of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Patriot League, an NCAA Division I conference that participates in Football Championship Subdivision, the team plays their home games at Fitton Field. Football began at Holy Cross in 1884 with games against teams from other schools beginning in 1891, starting in 1896 the Holy Cross Football team played at the Worcester Oval. The first home game played at Holy Cross was a 6–0 defeat of Massachusetts Agricultural College on September 26,1903, in 1908, the football field was moved to next to the baseball field which bears the same name. Since 1910, the Holy Cross Crusader Goodtime Marching Band has performed half time shows at football games. The original field was built wooden and concrete stands. These were replaced with steel stands in 1924 and aluminum seating in 1986, the largest crowd ever to pack Fitton Field was the 27,000 who showed up to see Holy Crosss All-American back Bill Osmanski in his last home game in 1938. In 1896, Holy Cross and Boston College played the first football game between the two schools, starting the Boston College–Holy Cross football rivalry, for much of the early to mid 20th century, BC and The Cross drew some of New Englands largest sports crowds. To accommodate larger crowds, the Holy Cross game was held at larger venues off campus. A record 54,000 attended the 1922 game at Braves Field, on November 28,1942, Holy Cross beat BC in a huge upset 55–12. The game is still the most famous between the two foes, not only for its result but also its aftermath, the Eagles had booked their victory party that night at the popular Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, but canceled after the loss. As a result, the BC team was absent when the club caught fire, but fortune did not always favor the Crusaders, and the series was suspended in 1986 after BC had won 17 games over a 20 year span. After an over three decade hiatus, the series will resume in 2018 as Holy Cross once again travels to Chestnut Hill to take on Boston College, the series will continue into the future, with a rematch already scheduled for 2020. In 1946 Holy Cross brought their best team in history to the Orange Bowl only to feel the heartbreak they gave BC four years earlier. On January 1,1946, Holy Cross faced off against the University of Miami for the Orange Bowl title, with the score tied 6–6 and only seconds remaining in regulation, Holy Cross was intercepted by Miamis Al Hudson who ran the ball 89 yards for a touchdown. In 1969, Holy Cross had to cancel the final eight games of the season when a contaminated faucet on a practice field led to an outbreak of hepatitis. Through the 1970s Holy Cross continued to play major East Coast football powers, Holy Cross enjoyed a football renaissance for a decade starting in 1981 with coaches Rick E. Carter and especially Mark Duffner. In 1983 the team was No.3 in the nation in I-AA under Carter, later under Duffner Holy Cross became the nations most successful I-AA program
9.
NCAA Division I FBS independent schools
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National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Bowl Subdivision independent schools are four-year institutions whose football programs are not part of an NCAA-affiliated conference. This means that FBS independents are not required to each other for competition like conference schools do. All Division I FBS independents are eligible for the College Football Playoff, or for the access bowls associated with the CFP. Notre Dame has a potential tie-in with the Orange Bowl, Army has an agreement with the Military Bowl, and Notre Dame, in addition to its CFP agreement, has other bowl agreements as part of its affiliation with the Atlantic Coast Conference. BYU had an agreement with the Armed Forces Bowl for 2011, the ranks increased by two in 2013 when the WAC dropped football and New Mexico State and Idaho did not have a conference for football. Massachuetts became FBS independent in 2016, in recent years, most independent FBS schools have joined a conference for two primary reasons, A guaranteed share of television and bowl revenues, and ease of scheduling. The four remaining independent FBS schools have unique circumstances that allow for freedom from conference affiliation, one of the remaining independent programs is the service academy Army. Army has annual games guaranteed with Navy and with Air Force and it also has a historic rivalry with Notre Dame, the Army game is semi-regular. Television rights for the longstanding Army–Navy Game, which is the last regular game in the NCAA. The academy also uses its football program to do recruiting, without a conference schedule, navys arrival in The American also brought the leagues football membership to 12 schools, allowing it to play a conference championship game. During the conference realignment that saw the university choose football independence in August 2010, both are prominent faith-based schools, Notre Dame is arguably the best-known Catholic university in the U. S. while BYU is the flagship university of the LDS Church. The 1984 teams national championship is the most recent by a university that is not a current member of the College Football Playoff coalition, BYU was getting less than $2 million a year through its contract with The MTN, the now-defunct TV network of the Mountain West Conference. BYU has its own channel, but had a very restrictive contract which did not allow BYU to broadcast its own football games. The new contract with ESPN will pay BYU an estimated $800,000 to $1.2 million per home game, the University of Massachusetts football program historically played in the Football Championship Subdivision of NCAA Division I prior to 2011. The Minutemen began a two-year Football Bowl Subdivision transition period in 2011, in March 2014, the MAC and UMass announced an agreement for the Minutemen to leave the conference after the 2015 season due to declining an offer to become a full member of the conference. Massachusetts announced that it would look for a more suitable conference for the team. In September 2014, Notre Dame is now one of the most prominent programs in the country. Because of its national popularity built over decades, Notre Dame is the only independent program to be part of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. These factors help make Notre Dame one of the most financially valuable football programs in the country, previously, Notre Dame had filled its annual schedule without needing conference games to do so
