Like I said nice bowl win over an average FSU team.
Remember we lost on the road to UConn and were very lucky to beat Memphis and Cincy here.
Like Sam said our truly great teams in the early years beat national powers like UT, agy, Arkansas, Nebraska, Maryland, etc.
Sorry as much as I loved the ‘15 team it simply was nowhere near those teams.
I have to say the SWC was a tad more nationally respected than the AAC
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Yes, the SWC was considered arguably the best conference in the country in the 70s. I remember one AP writer split his #1 vote three ways between Houston, Texas, and Arkansas in ‘79. A&M was also a national power from ‘75-‘79. In addition, Tech had some really good teams, ranking as high as #5 in ‘76 and #11 in ‘73; moreover, Baylor finished in the Top 20 in ‘74, ‘76, ‘79, and ‘80.
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I am just past 30 so I can’t speak for teams past the late 90’s but that 2011 team was not bad. I’d say top 10 not top 5. The 60s-80’s seemed to have our top 5 teams.
The same could be said for basketball.
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I love the selective application of P5 bias this board displays.
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Very possibly. We actually were a national power in both sports in the late 60s through the 70s.
Florida St. was coming off a two year stint where they went 27-1 and won a national title. They were 10-2 playing in a P5 league and were ranked 9th heading into the Peach Bowl. They weren’t “average” by anyone’s standard. Maybe we made them look average but if so then thats just a testament to how studded we were. They were as much of a national power as any of the programs you listed.
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His foot was in.
The irony of this statement is that the 1978 team, which seems to be in everyone’s list, started the year by losing to a 4-7 Memphis team on the road 17-3. Meanwhile the 1973 team’s best wins came against SDSU, Memphis, and Tulane. Selective memory?
Well for starters we only won the SWC four times. '84 we did it with a 7-5 record so toss that out. Two of the three 70’s championships I already acknowledged as being above the 2015 season because both of those teams won the bowl and finished higher in the end of the year AP poll. So really all I’m arguing is that the 2015 team was better than the 1978 team which went 9-3. That team ended with three ranked wins which admittedly is impressive, but they also lost to Tech and famously choked against ND in the Cotton Bowl. And if thats not enough, they lost to a 4-7 Memphis team 17-3. End of discussion. The 2015 had the one ugly loss to UConn on the road when Ward was hurt but otherwise was perfect. They won the AAC in what was probably the best year in its history and capped it off by beating FSU in the Peach Bowl.
To me the better debate would be the 2011 team vs the 2015! Now thats a tough one!
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Additionally I challenge anyone on here to take a serious look at the '73 schedule and argue that it was more difficult than the 2015 schedule. And don’t get blinded by the names. FSU went winless that year and Va Tech went 2-9. South Carolina wasn’t SEC, so dont be that impressed with their 7-4 record. Frankly it kind of looks like the 2015 schedule minus the FCS game against Tennessee Tech and the Peach Bowl game against FSU (which the latter is kind of big deal). To me if the '73 season can be unquestionably in the Top 5 then so should the 2015 year. I have 2015, '76, and '79 as locks. Spots #4 and #5 can be up for debate.
We lopsidedly defeated #15 and #12 and our average margin of victory was 21 points. Thing is we just had a different kind of athlete in those days. We had 8 players drafted in the first 8 rounds the following season.
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Again take a serious look at that schedule. Miami ended up 5-6 and nowhere near being ranked. Tulane was #17 not #12 when we played them and they fell to #20 in the final rankings. That means UH only played one ranked team. Which would be comparable to the 2015 schedule if you took out the FSU game. The Tulane win was a good win, but somewhat comparable to the Navy win in 2015.
Edit: Also this whole better athletes thing is bogus. Getting drafted is cool but actually playing in the NFL is cooler. 14 members of the 2015 UH team have played in the NFL. How many members of the '73 team actually played in the league?
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Looks like 10.
There’s no way that that 2015 doesn’t get ranked as a top UH squad. Regardless of who they played or what teams were ranked, that team was super talented and could play with anybody!
Mack Mitchell, Wilson Whitley, Robert Giblin, Marshall Johnson, Larry Keller, etc. We had elite athletes then. Our recruiting would occasionally rank in the top 10 nationally. I will concede that the ‘15 team had some really good defensive players—Roberts, Jackson, Wilson, etc.—not that dissimilar from the ‘89 defense.
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By FSU standards they were average that year, it was still a proud moment in Coog history but frankly UCF’s win over Auburn was more impressive.
That said Go Coogs, beat TeeTee
Isn’t great to argue about the BEST UH teams…lets hope those days are in the near future where we can argue adding some more. 2015 was a beast, and I’m old, how many guys off that team played pro ball ? 12+ iirc ? It’s got to be Top 5 as it had what all our great teams had…FEROCIOUS defense
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2015 was better than 2011 and it’s not particularly close. Nearly 1/3 of the 2015 schedule consisted of games that would have been the 2011 team’s best win.
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I’m with you on this one. Elandon Roberts led the nation in unassisted tackles, and later captained a Super Bowl champion NFL defense. Of course, there was Greg Ward on the other side, who is likewise doing well in the NFL.
That 2015 team definitely makes my UH all-time Top Five…they are up there with the best from any other era.
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