June 24, 2003
Outland Trophy winner Bob Gain, All-America quarterback Babe Parilli, and NFL legend George Blanda are among the “Bear’s Boys” group of Kentucky football alumni who are having a reunion this week, June 26-28, in Lexington.
The “Bear’s Boys” are the Wildcats who played for Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant from 1946-53. The “Bear’s Boys” have been having a reunion since the 1980s, currently meeting every two years.
The primary events of the reunion are a cookout at the K-House, next to Commonwealth Stadium, Friday at 6:15 p.m. and a reception/dinner Saturday at 6:15 p.m. at the Hilton Suites. The reunion is being organized by John Griggs.
In addition to Gain, Parilli, Blanda, and Griggs, the “Bear’s Boys” who have registered to attend include Harry “Chug” Rogers, Dick Martin, Dick Holway, Jim Miller, Dick Rushing, John Baldwin, Dick Mitchell, J. C. Kennard, Bill Pesci, Jim Proffitt, Chet Lukawski, Frank Sadler, Tommy Adkins, Lee Truman, Bob Fry, Jim Bowie, Bill Moseley, Ken Lutz, Bill Evans, Ed Hamilton, Charles Lancaster, Joe Koch, Charlie Bentley, George “Chink” Sengel, Neil Lowry, Jack Kasson, Steve Meilinger, Chuck Bell, Joe Platt, Ben Zaranka, Millard Shirley, Don Netoskie, Ivan Curnutte, Leonard “Babe” Ray, and Dan Howard.
The “Bear’s Boys” have plenty to celebrate at their reunions:
a 60-23-5 record during Bryant’s eight seasons;
UK’s first bowl game, a 24-14 win over Villanova in the 1947 Great Lakes Bowl;
a 9-3 record in 1949, including a trip to the 1950 Orange Bowl;
an 11-1 mark in 1950, featuring UK’s first Southeastern Conference championship and a 13-7 win over No. 1-ranked Oklahoma in the 1951 Sugar Bowl, ending the Sooners’ 31-game winning streak; and
an 8-4 mark in the ’51 season, capped by a 20-7 win over Texas Christian in the 1952 Cotton Bowl.
However, the Wildcats assembling for this year’s reunion have a new accomplishment to talk about. Recognition came about a half-century after the fact, but the 1950 Kentucky team finally has received its just reward – the national championship – according to the Jeff Sagarin computer rankings.
Why did it take so long for Kentucky to be recognized as the title team for 1950?
In those days, The Associated Press and other polls only recognized the regular season. Therefore, the national champion(s) was chosen after the regular season, but before the bowl games. For example, that’s why Oklahoma was ranked No. 1 in the final AP poll for 1950 and UK was ranked No. 7.
That’s where the Sagarin rankings come into play. Sagarin has been analyzing college football by computer since 1973 and currently provides the computer rankings for USA Today.
In 1982, Sagarin began reviewing additional seasons, beginning with 1972 and working in reverse chronological order. It’s a long, tedious process. Sagarin does extensive research in verifying scores and game locations before loading the data into his computer for analysis. Sagarin didn’t complete the 1950 season until 1997.
Because there is no “official” national champ in Division I-A football, the NCAA Football Media Guide lists the champions chosen by various organizations, such as The Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, Sagarin ratings, etc. When Sagarin completed the 1950 analysis, the NCAA quietly added it to the record book and it went unnoticed in Kentucky until recently.
Of course, Kentucky isn’t the only team with a claim on the 1950 title. Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Princeton also share the championship for that year. Let’s take a look at each of their seasons:
Oklahoma is the national champion by six selectors listed in the NCAA Record Book. Why They Should Be National Champions: The Sooners went 10-1 and had a 31-game winning streak. Why They Shouldn’t: They lost their bowl game, which probably would be a fatal blow in today’s voting environment.
Tennessee is recognized by five selectors. Why They Should Be National Champions: The Volunteers won their last 10 games en route to an 11-1 mark, topped by a win over Texas in the Cotton Bowl. The Vols also posted a 7-0 win over Kentucky in Knoxville. Why They Shouldn’t: The blemish on Tennessee’s record was an early season loss to a mediocre Mississippi State team.
Princeton was chosen by two selectors. Why They Should be National Champions: The Tigers finished 9-0 and it’s hard to argue against an unbeaten team. Why They Shouldn’t: Strength of schedule hurts Princeton. The Sagarin analysis, for example, lists the Tigers as No. 101 in strength of schedule that year.
Kentucky is named by one selector. Why They Should be National Champions: The Wildcats were 11-1 and beat No. 1-ranked Oklahoma in the bowl game. Why They Shouldn’t: In today’s climate, the Sugar Bowl win might not be enough to offset the late-season loss at Tennessee.
“It (the national championship) is something we’ve always had on our mind,” said Griggs, who was a sophomore offensive lineman on that team. “We didn’t talk about it much at the time, because that was just how the system worked. The bowl games weren’t included as part of picking the national champion.
“But we’ve talked about it more and more over the years, especially after the bowl games began being included in the polls. We believed we had the best team in the country that year, and we’ve often said what a shame it was that we couldn’t be listed as national champs.”
Through the years, the beauty of college football (and for others, the drawback) is the debate over which team really should be the national champion. The advent of the Bowl Championship Series has helped to some degree, as there is a national championship game. The current debate still rises, however, over which two teams should be included in that game.
However, that’s another story for another time. For now, it’s enough for the “Bear’s Boys” to know that they have a claim on the 1950 national title.
