Ranking the National Champions of the Last Twenty Years - #24

It’s a new day, Wednesday to be precise, which means it’s time for another edition of Ranking the National Champions of the Last Twenty Years. Yesterday kicked off the list with the #25 team on the countdown - the 1990 Colorado Buffaloes. Today another team will be revealed and placed onto the list. So, without anymore delay, let’s continue with our countdown.

24. The 1990 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Yes, the twenty-fourth team on our list also hails from the year 1990. While I was only three years old at the time, my research has led me to conclude that 1990 was an even wilder and crazier year than 2007. The two eventual national champions were not even thought of as the best by most fans and college football analysts. Many wanted to give the title to Washington or Miami - teams with two losses that were playing amazing football down the final stretch of the season.

The success of the 1990 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets was even more surprising than the ‘90 edition of the Colorado Buffaloes. Their head coach, Bobby Ross, had arrived in Atlanta in 1987 to a team that was struggling to find an identity for itself. The 1980s had been a terrible time to be a Georgia Tech fan, despite a few winning seasons here and there. Bobby Ross continued that trend of disappointment with a 2-9 inaugural season. Things didn’t improve that much in ‘88 either with the Yellow Jackets only managing a measly 3-8 record in Ross’s sophomore season. Ross was on the hot seat in 1989 and after an 0-3 start it looked as though his tenure was all but over. But Ross rebounded by winning 7 of his last 8 games, including a 33-22 win over rival Georgia. While Georgia Tech did not get a bowl invite (despite finishing with a 7-4 record), Ross was allowed to stay on for another year.

And what a year it was. The 1990 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, led by legendary quarterback Shawn Jones and a stout defense, opened their season with a 21-13 win over ACC foe North Carolina State. Next up was UT-Chattanooga, which the men from Atlanta handled very easily (44-6) before taking on another ACC foe - South Carolina - and defeating them, 27-6. Georgia Tech’s first road game of the season against Maryland proved to be a smashing success with the Yellow Jackets triumphing by the score of 31-3. The next week, October 13, Georgia Tech received its first challenge of the season. The Clemson Tigers were 5-1 and slightly favored over the Yellow Jackets. In a back and forth contest, Georgia Tech would emerge victorious by the score of 21-19.

The next week, after a tough and physical game against Clemson, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets traveled to Chapel Hill to take on North Carolina. In a game dominated by both defenses, the Yellow Jackets battled the Tar Heels to a 13-13 tie. The Yellow Jackets, now 5-0-1, dropped slightly in the rankings as a result of the tie. But still they pressed on. That next week they got into an aerial duel with the Duke Blue Devils, defeating them by the score of 48-31. The next game loomed large for Georgia Tech. On November 3, 1990, the #16 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets traveled to Charlottesville, Virginia to take on the #1 Virginia Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers were in the middle of a dream season. They were 7-0 and had been blowing out teams left and right. Their closest game so far that year had been a 20-7 victory over Clemson in the second game of the season. With a #1 ranking and an undefeated record to boot, the Cavaliers wanted to make a statement with a win over the Yellow Jackets.

All week long, all Georgia Tech heard from the media is how a win over Virginia couldn’t be achieved. The press had underdog syndrome and all Georgia Tech wanted to do was prove them and their critics wrong. Just before game time, as ESPN analysts broke down the game, some of them were predicting a Virginia victory by 21+ points. Georgia Tech, however, was soon to prove their detractors wrong.

The game itself was an offensive light show. Both offenses showed off their passing game while the defenses delivered hard and punishing blows. It was an intense, physical affair and at halftime the Yellow Jackets were clinging to a small lead. In the second half the game was more of the same. And with under a minute left to play the score was tied, 38-38. With 12 seconds left, Tech quarterback Shawn Jones fired a pass to wide receiver Lester which took them down to the Virginia 20-yard line. The Yellow Jackets called a time out and brought out their field goal team. The kick was true and Tech managed to pull off the upset, winning 41-38. After the victory, Georgia Tech climbed from #16 to #7 in both major polls.

After a 6-3 defensive victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies the next week, Georgia Tech never looked back. They destroyed Wake Forest 42-7 and finished off the regular season with a 40-23 drubbing of the Georgia Bulldogs to cap off a 10-0-1 record. The Yellow Jackets were now #2 in the nation in both polls and had been cordially invited to play the #19 Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Citrus Bowl.

Nebraska had been ranked as high #2 in the country until they were upset by Colorado, 27-12, in Lincoln on November 3 (the same day Georgia Tech defeated #1 Virginia). The Cornhuskers had finished their season 9-2 after they were blown out by unranked Oklahoma, 45-10. After a disappointing finish to the regular season, Nebraska was out looking for respect and hoped to get it against the #2 team in the country.

While Georgia Tech was #2 in the country behind Colorado, most people in America had no respect for the Yellow Jackets. There was so little respect for them that Vegas had them as underdogs against Nebraska. This was a huge slap in the face for Georgia Tech and its fan base. But when the game was played on January 1, 1991, all of the controversy and disrespect disappeared as the Yellow Jackets simply annihilated the Nebraska Cornhuskers by a score of 45-21.

Because of the sound beating that Georgia Tech gave Nebraska, the next day the Coaches Poll awarded their national championship to the Yellow Jackets…but only barely. Colorado and Georgia Tech were separated in the Coaches Poll by just ONE vote. Because of this, very few people like to acknowledge Georgia Tech as a national champion. Indeed, if you were to ask the average college football fan who won the national championship in 1990, very few would be able to answer correct. 1990 was a year that most college football historians would like to forget. It was an overall weak year that featured no dominant teams to speak of. And while Georgia Tech and Colorado can lay claim to the national title that year, most people tend to believe that the Miami Hurricanes were the better team.

But that should not take away from Georgia Tech’s season. They were the only team to not lose a game in 1990 and while their record did include a tie, they were still as worthy as anyone that year - perhaps even more so than Colorado. Which is why I have them above the Buffaloes on this list. Colorado finished the 1990 season 11-1-1 and, if not for a mistake by the referees, would have finished the year 10-2-1. That is why I give the nod to Georgia Tech over Colorado as the better national champion from 1990.

Join me tomorrow as I reveal #23 on my list.