1940 Boston College Eagles football team
| 1940 Boston College Eagles football | |
|---|---|
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National Champions
Sugar Bowl Champions |
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Sugar Bowl vs Tennessee, W 19–13
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| Conference | Independent |
| Ranking | |
| AP | #5 |
| 1940 record | 11–0 |
| Head coach | Frank Leahy (2nd year) |
| Home stadium | Alumni Field (c. 15,000) Fenway Park (c. 38,805) |
The 1940 Boston College Eagles represented Boston College in the 1940 college football season. Playing as an independent, the team was led by head coach Frank Leahy in his second year, and played their home games at Fenway Park in Boston and Alumni Field in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They finished the season with ten wins and zero losses with a victory in the 1941 Sugar Bowl against Tennessee. A banner on BC's campus commemorating the team uses the phrase "national champions," but Boston College was not awarded a national championship by any of the national polls at the time of the 1940 season. Although BC's claim to a title is not recognized by the NCAA or college football historians in general, one website, the College Football Data Warehouse, claims that selectors named Cliff Morgan and Ray Bryne rated BC #1 in 1940.[1] This web site states that BC's historic 1940 run resulted in a split championship with the University of Minnesota, but it's not clear whether the selectors awarded BC a title at the time of the 1940 season, or if they did so retroactively.[2] The NCAA lists only Minnesota as the national champion in 1940, and does not credit BC with any national championships in football.[3]
Schedule
| Date | Opponent# | Rank# | Site | Result | Attendance | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 21 | Centre | Alumni Field • Chestnut Hill, MA | W 40–0 | 18,000 | |||||
| September 28 | at Tulane | Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA | W 27–7 | 42,000 | |||||
| October 12 | Temple | Fenway Park • Boston, MA | W 33–20 | 24,000 | |||||
| October 19 | Idaho | #8 | Fenway Park • Boston, MA | W 60–0 | 8,000 | ||||
| October 26 | St. Anselm | #10 | Alumni Field • Chestnut Hill, MA | W 55–0 | 15,000 | ||||
| November 2 | Manhattan | #9 | Alumni Field • Chestnut Hill, MA | W 25–0 | 5,000 | ||||
| November 9 | Boston University | #8 | Fenway Park • Boston, MA (Rivalry) | W 21–0 | 15,000 | ||||
| November 16 | Georgetown | #8 | Fenway Park • Boston, MA | W 19–18 | 41,700 | ||||
| November 23 | Auburn | #4 | Fenway Park • Boston, MA | W 33–7 | 30,000 | ||||
| November 30 | Holy Cross | #4 | Fenway Park • Boston, MA (Rivalry) | W 7–0 | 39,000 | ||||
| January 1, 1941 | vs. #6 Tennessee | #4 | Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl) | W 19–13 | 73,181 | ||||
*Non-conference game.  Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time. |
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*Schedule Source:[4]
References
- ↑ http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/acc/boston_college/all_national_champs.php
- ↑ http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/national_championships/nchamps_year.php
- ↑ NCAA list of recognized national champions http://www.ncaa.com/history/football/fbs
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
