Since everyone is doing it... The Florida Gators are the 1984 and 1985 National Champions!

[Escambia94]

In 1984, the 9-1-1 (5-0-1) Gators finished third in the Associated Press Poll and seventh in the Coaches Poll, and were also named national champions by twenty-two publications including Sagarin, The New York Times and The Sporting News.

In 1985, the 9-1-1 (5-1) Gators finished fifth in the Associated Press Poll, and were named national champions by Sagarin.

Several other teams have gone back years later to claim a mythical national championship, so maybe it is time for Florida to claim two more!

 

[Leakfan12]

Agreed especially with 1984 with BYU facing nobody good (even UCF beat USF, Memphis twice and Auburn) and Washington again facing no one good minus USC who beat them heck they didn't even win the then Pac 10. I think Florida would have been in consideration but the NCAA punish them DURING THE SEASON which has to be the first and only time in NCAA history. This has to be one of the biggest hatchet jobs in college sports. Also it was BS that the SEC removed the Conference title from the Gators. They would not do that with Bama heck even SMU kept their 1981 SWC title and they weren't allowed to compete in the postseason that year (they were punished before that season). 1985 would have been interesting because Oklahoma only lost to Miami (and probably go undefeated if Troy Aikman doesn't get hurt). Let's said if Florida played in the Sugar Bowl and beat Miami again, would Oklahoma or Florida be number one. Florida case was hurt by tying against Rutgers and UGA who beat the Gators collapsing in the end (sound familiar). I think Oklahoma would have been picked by majority of voters.

 

[Escambia94]

I will be honest, years ago this topic appeared on this forum and I was against the idea of crowning ourselves national champions. Now, I see that we should do it, since it really does not matter. With the right media spin, this could be a great marketing campaign. Maybe in 2019 we invite players from the 1984 team back for the 35th anniversary celebration, give those guys medals and trophies, unfurl a "New York Times and Sagarin National Champions" banner, and update our media guides. That "1984, 1985" that was on the facade of the Swamp needs to come back. We took it down to make room for SEC titles won by Spurrier's teams. Kids today may not care about Kerwin Bell, Ricky Nattiel, John L. Williams, and Neal Andersen, but then again they may never try to learn who they are unless we pull a UCF or an FSU and retroactively correct history. In our case, we would be correcting a correction, since we did have the titles displayed on the stadium facade at one time.

Speaking of media campaigns, I would also made 2018 the year we put two names on the Ring of Honor: Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer.

If I were king, these would be the media campaigns with appropriate Homecoming themes:

• 2018 - 10th anniversary of the 2008 BCS National Champions
• 2019 - 35th anniversary of the 1984 NYT/ Sagarin/ UPI National Champions
• 2020 - 35th anniversary of the 1985 Sagarin National Champions
• 2021 - 25th anniversary of the 1996 Bowl Alliance National Champions and 15th anniversary of the 2006 BCS National Champions

This might create some momentum for Florida to attract those players needed to win more championships.

 

[Leakfan12]

Well I'm sure those who played in 1984 and 1985 teams would appreciate being honored. Ask the Athletic Department to do that. Also I posted What If about if the titles counted and in the late 80's, the three biggest teams would have been all Florida teams and I believe that.

 

[Escambia94]

Well I'm sure those who played in 1984 and 1985 teams would appreciate being honored. Ask the Athletic Department to do that. Also I posted What If about if the titles counted and in the late 80's, the three biggest teams would have been all Florida teams and I believe that.

I agree. Then again, the downfall of Florida could have helped the rise of FSU. Miami was already riding high from 1984 to 1989. FSU really started to pick up around 1987.

In this alternative reality, Florida would have been the top team in 1984 and 1985, but Miami was already good in that era and the only thing that may have challenged the 1987 Hurricanes might have been the Gators and Emmitt Smith with a better roster not hampered by probation. I really do believe the rise of FSU was primarily due to the fall of Florida. Florida's dominance would have been amazing if they were able to transition from Charley Pell to Steve Spurrier. Imagine the momentum Florida would have under Spurrier if Bowden had not taken over while Florida was down.

 

[Leakfan12]

I did talk with someone from athletic department and asked the question (or might have been a questionarie) and a rep said "they did appeal but the NCAA denied it,". Probably because appeals go through the NCAA and the NCAA are dictators or should I said DICKTATORS.