Monday, August 28, 2017

The Championship of Life

On November 21, 2016, as Tennessee was already out of contention for the national and SEC championships, Butch Jones referred to his team as "Champions of Life".  Of course, he didn't wait until the season was over, having made this claim prior to the regular season finale against Vanderbilt.

Naturally, Vanderbilt won that game, and became the new "Champions of Life".  We're here to track the "Champions of Life" as they defend that title game by game.

A group of college football fans created "The Belt" in the 1980s to determine who the true college football champions were.  Since they could not create new matchups, they decided that no one could claim the Belt without defeating the current holder of the Belt on the field.  The full history of the Belt is explained at the site, but basically, they track who the current Belt champion is week by week, and season by season.

Here, we will be attempting to do the same thing with the Championship of Life.



Current Life Champion: Michigan Wolverines

DateDefendersChallengersOutcomeNotes
11/26/16TennesseeVanderbilt Vandy, 45-34
12/26/16VanderbiltNC StateNC State, 41-17Independence Bowl
9/2/17NC StateS. CarolinaUSCe, 35-28Belk Kickoff Game
9/9/17S. CarolinaMissouriUSCe, 31-13
9/16/17S. CarolinaKentuckyKentucky, 23-13
9/23/17KentuckyFloridaFlorida, 28-27
9/30/17FloridaVanderbiltFlorida, 38-24
10/7/17FloridaLSULSU, 17-16
10/14/17LSUAuburnLSU, 27-23
10/21/17LSUOle MissLSU, 40-24
11/4/17LSUAlabamaAlabama, 24-10
11/11/17AlabamaMississippi StateAlabama, 31-24Butch Jones fired
11/18/17AlabamaMercerAlabama, 56-0
11/25/17AlabamaAuburnAuburn, 26-14Iron Bowl
12/2/17AuburnGeorgiaGeorgia, 28-7SEC Champ.
1/1/18GeorgiaOklahomaGeorgia, 54-48Sugar Bowl (CFP)
1/8/18GeorgiaAlabamaAlabama, 26-23Nat'l Champ.
9/1/18AlabamaLouisvilleAlabama, 51-14Camp. World Kickoff
9/8/18AlabamaArkansas StateAlabama, 57-7
9/15/18AlabamaOle MissAlabama, 62-7
9/22/18AlabamaTexas A&MAlabama, 45-23
9/29/18AlabamaLouisianaAlabama, 56-14
10/6/18AlabamaArkansasAlabama, 65-31
10/13/18AlabamaMissouriAlabama, 39-10
10/20/18AlabamaTennesseeAlabama, 58-21
11/3/18AlabamaLSUAlabama, 29-0
11/10/18AlabamaMississippi StateAlabama, 24-0
11/17/18AlabamaThe CitadelAlabama, 50-17
11/24/18AlabamaAuburnAlabama, 52-21Iron Bowl
12/1/18AlabamaGeorgiaAlabama, 35-28SEC Champ.
12/29/18AlabamaOklahomaAlabama, 45-34Orange Bowl (CFP)
1/7/19AlabamaClemsonClemson, 44-16Nat'l Champ.
8/29/19ClemsonGeorgia TechClemson, 52-14
9/7/19ClemsonTexas A&MClemson, 24-10
9/14/19ClemsonSyracuseClemson, 41–6
9/21/19ClemsonCharlotteClemson, 52–10
9/28/19ClemsonNorth CarolinaClemson, 21–20
10/12/19ClemsonFlorida StateClemson, 45–14
10/19/19ClemsonLouisvilleClemson, 45–10
10/26/19ClemsonBoston CollegeClemson, 59–7
11/2/19ClemsonWoffordClemson, 59-14
11/9/19ClemsonNC StateClemson, 55-10
11/16/19ClemsonWake ForestClemson, 52-3
11/30/19ClemsonSouth CarolinaClemson, 38-3
12/7/19ClemsonuvaClemson, 62-17ACC Champ.
12/28/19ClemsonOhio StateClemson, 29-23Fiesta Bowl (CFP)
1/13/20ClemsonLSULSU, 42-25Nat'l Champ.
9/26/20LSUMississippi StateMiss State, 44-34
10/3/20Miss. StateArkansasArkansas, 21-14
10/10/20ArkansasAuburnAuburn, 30-28
10/17/20AuburnSouth CarolinaUSCe, 30-22
10/24/20USCeLSULSU, 52-24
10/31/20LSUAuburnAuburn, 48-11
11/21/20AuburnTennesseeAuburn, 30-17
11/28/20AuburnAlabamaAlabama, 42-13Iron Bowl
12/5/20AlabamaLSUAlabama, 55-17
12/12/20AlabamaArkansasAlabama, 52-3
12/19/20AlabamaFloridaAlabama, 52-46SEC Champ.
1/1/21AlabamaNotre DameAlabama, 31-14Rose Bowl
1/11/21AlabamaOhio StateAlabama, 52-24Nat'l Champ.
9/4/21AlabamaMiamiAlabama, 44-13
9/11/21AlabamaMercerAlabama, 48-14
9/18/21AlabamaFloridaAlabama, 31-29
9/25/21AlabamaSouthern MissAlabama, 63-14
10/2/21AlabamaOle MissAlabama, 42-21
10/9/21AlabamaTexas A&MTAMU, 41-38
10/16/21Texas A&MMizzouTAMU, 35-14
10/23/21Texas A&MSouth CarolinaTAMU, 44-14
10/30/21Texas A&MAuburnTAMU, 20-3
11/13/21Texas A&MOle MissOle Miss, 29-19
11/20/21Ole MissVanderbiltOle Miss, 31-17
11/25/21Ole MissMiss StateOle Miss, 31-21Egg Bowl
1/1/22Ole MissBaylorBaylor, 21-7Sugar Bowl
9/3/22BaylorAlbanyBaylor, 69-10
9/10/22BaylorBYUBYU, 26-20
9/17/22BYUOregonOregon, 41-20
9/24/22OregonWashington StateOregon, 44-41
10/1/22OregonStanfordOregon, 45-27
10/8/22OregonArizonaOregon, 49-22
10/22/22OregonUCLAOregon, 45-30
10/29/22OregonCalOregon, 42-24
11/5/22OregonColoradoOregon, 49-10
11/12/22OregonWashingtonWashington, 37-34
11/19/22WashingtonColoradoWashington, 54-7
11/26/22WashingtonWashington StateWashington, 51-33
12/29/22WashingtonTexasWashington, 27-20Alamo Bowl
9/2/23WashingtonBoise StateWashington, 56-19
9/9/23WashingtonTulsaWashington, 43-10
9/16/23WashingtonMichigan StateWashington, 41-7
9/23/23WashingtonCaliforniaWashington, 59-32
9/30/23WashingtonArizonaWashington, 31-24
10/14/23WashingtonOregonWashington, 36-33
10/21/23WashingtonArizona StateWashington, 15-7
10/28/23WashingtonStanfordWashington, 42-33
11/4/23WashingtonUSCWashington, 52-42
11/11/23WashingtonUtahWashington, 35-28
11/18/23WashingtonOregon StateWashington, 22-20
11/25/23WashingtonWashington StateWashington, 24-21
12/1/23WashingtonOregonWashington, 34-31Pac-12 Champ.
1/1/24WashingtonTexasWashington, 37-31Sugar Bowl (CFP)
1/8/24WashingtonMichiganMichigan, 34-13Nat'l Champ.
8/31/24MichiganFresno StateTBD


ParticipantAppearancesRecord
Alabama3128-3
Washington1918-1
Clemson1615-1
Oregon107-3
Auburn95-4
LSU94-5
Texas A&M74-3
Ole Miss73-4
South Carolina62-4
Florida52-3
Mississippi State51-4
Georgia42-2
Arkansas41-3
Vanderbilt41-3
Baylor32-1
NC State31-2
Tennessee30-3
Washington State30-3
Kentucky21-1
BYU21-1
Missouri20-2
Oklahoma20-2
Louisville20-2
Ohio State20-2
Mercer20-2
Colorado20-2
Cal20-2
Arizona20-2
Stanford20-2
Texas20-2
Michigan21-0
Arkansas State10-1
Louisiana10-1
The Citadel10-1
Georgia Tech10-1
Syracuse10-1
Charlotte10-1
North Carolina10-1
Florida State10-1
Boston College10-1
Wofford10-1
Wake Forest10-1
uva10-1
Notre Dame10-1
Miami10-1
Southern Miss10-1
Mizzou10-1
Albany10-1
UCLA10-1
Boise State10-1
Tulsa10-1
Michigan State10-1
Arizona State10-1
USC10-1
Utah10-1
Oregon State10-1

Because the Championship of Life is such a meaningful experience that transcends football, we have determined that even teams banned from postseason play are eligible for this title. We ran into a little trouble when Alabama grabbed it in 2018 and sucked the fun out of it, but then Clemson gloriously whipped them into submission in the national title game and took two championships from them.

COVID-19 also greatly affected the Championship of Life during the 2020 season, as it was not contested during the first three weeks of September, and was guaranteed to stay in the SEC for the duration of the regular season due to lack of non-conference games.  The CoL stayed in play each week until Auburn claimed it on Halloween and then went into their bye week.  They were originally scheduled to play Mississippi State on November 14, but that game was postponed, thus allowing original Champion of Life Tennessee to challenge for the title once more.  As usual, Tennessee has not been able to claim the Championship of Life on the field.
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