In regard to the Alabama Crimson Tide section in Wikipedia, right off the bat in the first paragraph the fabrication begins by mentioning that Alabama has claimed 12 national championships. I assume by "claimed" the writer means "captured". If he was using "claims" in the literal sense and is merely implying that the university itself claims it won 12 national championships, then I would agree. The University of Alabama does in fact claim that it claimed 12 national championships. I can claim to be fluent in twelve different languages, that doesn't make it a fact. Scrolling down to the "Championships" section is where you need to put your boots on, because it gets pretty deep. It opens up by attempting to confuse the reader by noting that the NCAA does not name a national champion in college football, which is true. The writer then uses that point to try to justify the smallest of organizations as being legitimate, going as far to say that Alabama only claims 12 of the "17 referenced by the NCAA". This is a play on words that does not get past educated, intelligent people.
The reference list is nothing more than the NCAA naming the organizations that have claimed national champions, and in no way shape or form is the NCAA giving validity to these organizations by acknowledging their existence. The article continues by proclaiming "National Championships prior to 1936 were determined by several committees and organizations, some retroactively". Just one sentence, but where do I begin to tear this to pieces? There were NO committees before 1936 that awarded a national championship in college football. Forget about several, there wasn't one. As for "some" of them being retroactive, I will copy directly from NCAA.org. "Before 1936, national champions were determined by historical research and retroactive ratings and polls". ALL national championships awarded by ANY organization prior to 1936 were retroactive. I'm nowhere near done with that single sentence on Wikipedia. Let's take a closer look at these "committees and organizations" noted in the article, shall we?
Helms Athletic Foundation - Proclaimed Alabama national champions for 1925 and 1926. This organization was founded in 1936 and did not start naming national champions until 1941, 15 years after the completion of the 1926 season. In 1941 the Helms Athletic Foundation started voting on national champions for the current season, although it was not considered a major poll and being named national champions by the organization had no bearing on who was considered the national champion for the given season. All national champions named from 1883 - 1940 by the Helms Athletic Foundation were done so retroactively. Unlike other organizations mentioned on Wikipedia, this one is at least a poll and not just a mathematical theory invented by a single person. Even so, 1925 and 1926 were awarded retroactively, poll or not.
Dunkel Index - Proclaimed Alabama national champions for 1934. Uses a mathematical system to determine national champions. Created by a single person with a single theory and to this day claims to be the "most accurate sports index". This "most accurate sports index" named USC national champions of the 2002 season, despite the fact that Ohio St was the unanimous national champion of both the AP and Coaches Poll. Ohio St was 14-0, while USC was 11-2, and their only common opponent, Washington St, lost to Ohio St by 18 and defeated USC by 3. Most accurate indeed !! The Index's website claims to be a "powerful forecaster of future performance". Add psychic ability to their resume. Furthermore, as I just eluded to, this organization names a national champion to this day. If I had to take a guess I would say no less than 95% of college football fans have never heard of this ratings system, further evidence of how serious claims by this organization should be taken.
Houlgate System - Proclaimed Alabama national champions for 1925 and 1934. Uses a mathematical system to determine national champions. Created by a single person with a single theory. One man, one theory. Heck, that's enough for me. It's not like the system favors Alabama or anything. Let's just completely ignore the fact that this same mathematical system named Alabama national champions in 1941, despite being ranked #20 in the AP Poll which was without question the authority in the rankings in 1941.
Edward Litkinhaus - This claim is absolutely incorrect. This ranking system did not name Alabama national champions before 1936, the first year it named Alabama national champions was 1961. Regardless, to show how some of these organizations were all over the board, this system used mere point differential and not the quality of the opponent to rank teams. It ended up disagreeing with the AP Poll in 3 of the 6 seasons the AP Poll ranked Alabama #1 while this system was in existence, I'm guessing Alabama fans don't mention this ranking system in those years. A classic example of how Alabama fans cherry pick which minor selectors to mention in which years. Mention them the years it agrees with them, ignore it the years it doesn't. It was created by a chemical engineer and his brother Frank. Seriously, if a chemical engineer and his brother Frank don't know football, who does? Another example of what extremes Alabama fans will go to claim championships. Quote a garbage system that did not name Alabama national champions until at least 26 years after it's claimed to have named them. An incorrect claim that Wikipedia continues to allow on their site.
College Football Research Association - Proclaimed Alabama national champions for 1925, 1926 and 1930. Do I really have to address this organization? Doesn't the name of it say enough? This organization was founded in 1982 and proceeded to vote on who was the national champion going back to 1919. Taking 1930 into consideration, it was at a minimum 52 years after the fact, meaning that if anybody involved in this poll was alive to see the 1930 season, they were more than likely at least 75 years old. What 75 year old cannot accurately recall football seasons 52 years previous to the date he casts his vote? This organization was so valuable to college football that is was discontinued 10 years after it was founded.
Football Thesaurus - Was in fact the Houlgate System. The Houlgate System was known as Football Thesaurus from 1946-1958 when it was finally discontinued.
Moving on in the national champions article posted on Wikipedia, the very next sentence after it lists the organizations it states named Alabama national champions before 1936, it notes that in 1936 the AP Poll became "the most widely circulated and accepted national champion selector". This implies there was an accepted national champion selector before 1936, which there was not. In fact, the concept did not even exist. It was in 1936, when the AP Poll first introduced the concept of voting on a national champion. The concept simply did not exist before 1936. It is the reason that after 1936, countless organizations began retroactively naming national champions. Once the AP Poll introduced the idea, organizations thought it was a good idea and started going back to seasons already played and, for the most part, used mathematical systems to name champions in seasons prior to 1936. The same mathematical systems that awarded Alabama four national championships prior to 1936 also awarded Princeton 32 national championships and Yale 31 national championships. In fact, between Princeton, Yale, Oklahoma, USC, Michigan, Notre Dame and Ohio St combined, they have captured 198 national championships when all selectors are considered. 198 national championships by seven teams in 139 years of college football. Perhaps they can create a mathematical system to explain that one.
The final line of one of the most misleading sections I have ever read on Wikipedia goes back to a play on words used in the previous paragraph in the section. Once again, the writer makes the claim that the NCAA lists organizations it recognizes and the national championships they have awarded to Alabama. Interestingly enough however, the writer disagrees with the previous paragraph on Wikipedia and claims the NCAA credits Alabama with 16 national championships and not 17 as noted in the previous paragraph. To make it very clear, the NCAA does NOT recognize the University of Alabama as winning 12 national championships, or 16, or 17. It merely provides a list of organizations that do. In this list, for example, is the Seattle Times. According to the Seattle Times, Utah was the national champion in 2008 and Missouri was the national champion in 2007. Missouri, a team that twice lost to Oklahoma, a team that got destroyed in the Fiesta Bowl. Missouri didn't even go to a BCS bowl game, but yet according to the Seattle Times, they were the 2007 national champions. Another organization the NCAA lists is the National Championship Foundation. In 1993 it named four teams national champions and in 1981 it named FIVE teams national champions. I could spend more time discrediting these organizations Alabama fans hold in such high regard, but I think my point has been made about them.
