How Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame And NIU Beat Alabama
(CBS) The transitive property may offer the absolute worst argument in sports.
Attempting to state sports superiority between Team A and Team B by boasting what Team A did against Team C just doesn't work, but at least it can be entertaining.
Alabama won the college football national championship Monday night with an impressive 45-40 win over Clemson. There's no disputing who's the best team in college football -- unless you want to try really hard.
A website called myteamisbetterthanyourteam.com creates laughable and often ridiculous scenarios of the transitive property in which the unlikeliest of teams is a champion through the transitive property. So, let's look at the local teams that won a national championship.
But, just to be safe, don't go using these arguments in public.
Illinois, national champion -- Illinois beat Nebraska, 14-13. Nebraska beat Michigan State, 39-38. Michigan State beat Michigan, 27-23. Michigan beat Florida, 41-7. Florida beat Ole Miss, 38-10. Ole Miss beat Alabama, 43-37.
Thus, Illinois beat Alabama.
Northwestern, national champion -- Northwestern beat Stanford, 16-6. Stanford beat Notre Dame, 38-36. Notre Dame beat Navy, 41-24. Navy beat Memphis, 45-20. Memphis beat Ole Miss, 37-24. Ole Miss beat Alabama, 43-37.
Thus, Northwestern beat Alabama.
Notre Dame, national champion -- Notre Dame beat Navy, 41-24. Navy beat Memphis, 45-20. Memphis beat Ole Miss, 37-24. Ole Miss beat Alabama, 43-37.
Northern Illinois, national champion -- Northern Illinois beat Toledo, 32-27. Toledo beat Arkansas, 16-12. Arkansas beat Ole Miss, 53-52. Ole Miss beat Alabama, 43-37.
Thus, Northern Illinois beat Alabama.
North Central, national champion -- North Central beat Illinois Wesleyan, 33-15. Illinois Wesleyan beat Simpson, 49-7. Simpson beat River Falls, 28-21. River Falls beat SW University, 35-20. SW University beat Austin Col, 35-28. Austin Col beat Hendrix, 55-41. Hendrix beat Birmingham So., 21-16. Birmingham So. beat Huntingdon, 35-34. Huntingdon beat Maryville, 38-14. Maryville beat ETSU, 28-21. ETSU beat Kentucky Wesleyan, 42-27. Kentucky Wesleyan beat NC Pembroke, 39-31. NC Pembroke beat Tuskegee, 29-17. Tuskegee beat North Alabama, 35-31. North Alabama beat Shorter, 28-7. Shorter beat SE Missouri State, 26-21. SE Missouri State beat SIU, 27-24. SIU beat Liberty, 34-13. Liberty beat Georgia State, 41-33. Georgia State beat Georgia Southern, 34-7. Georgia Southern beat Western Michigan, 43-17. Western Michigan beat Toledo, 35-30. Toledo beat Arkansas, 16-12. Arkansas beat Ole Miss, 53-52. Ole Miss beat Alabama, 43-37.
Thus, North Central beat Alabama.