The 1994 Penn State Nittany Lions were considered at the time to be the greatest offensive football squad ever put together, piling up a whopping 47.8 points/game en route to an undefeated season, but not a national title. One of the few seasons that the BCS could have salvaged, Nebraska got the sentimental vote thanks to Tom Obsorne never winning a National championship (at the time), so the voters decided to give him one on a platter.
ESPN this week is running a fantasy matchup to see where SportsNation voters feel the 2005 USC Trojans will stack up against history's top 11 teams. According to the voters, Penn State got the #4 seed of all-time, despite no official national championship. The top three haven't been nominated yet, but I doubt you'll see the Cornhuskers. Here's the text from ESPN:
- No. 4 Seed: 1994 Penn State Nittany Lions
Undefeated, untied, uncrowned -- unjust? The 1994 Penn State Nittany Lions had one of the greatest offenses in the history of college football and produced three of the top nine picks in the 1995 NFL draft. However, the fifth undefeated team in Joe Paterno's career didn't win a share of the national title, as Nebraska was voted No. 1 in the polls.
The Lions' potent offense, which featured Kyle Brady, Ki-Jana Carter, Kerry Collins, Bobby Engram and Jeff Hartings, averaged 47.8 points and 520.2 yards per game with near-perfect balance -- 250.9 yards rushing and 269.3 yards passing. The 47.8 points is the highest post-World War II average by any Big Ten team.
The Nittany Lions were the best team that just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The same week they throttled No. 21 Ohio State 63-14, No. 3 Nebraska beat No. 2 Colorado 24-7 and the Huskers vaulted to No. 1 for good. It didn't matter the Lions already had wins over No. 14 USC and at No. 5 Michigan as well, and then blew out No. 12 Oregon in the Rose Bowl. It wasn't enough to pass Nebraska.
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