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SI Cover Jinx in CFB
Sports Illustrated Jinx in College Football
Will Tebow and the Gators fall victim to the Sports Illustrated Jinx against Arkansas?
10.14.09
All sports fans know of the Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx. For years the magazine has been blamed for several misfortunes of players, coaches, and teams. College Football is not safe from the jinx. Already this season we've seen Ole Miss and Oklahoma State fall victim to the jinx.
Possibly the biggest jinx was in 1957 when Sports Illustrated featured Oklahoma's Clendon Thomas on the cover and called the Sooners unbeatable. Oklahoma had won 47 straight games, but that week OU lost 7-0 to Notre Dame ending the 4 year old win streak.
Will Tebow and the Gators fall victim to the Sports Illustrated Jinx against Arkansas?
10.14.09
All sports fans know of the Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx. For years the magazine has been blamed for several misfortunes of players, coaches, and teams. College Football is not safe from the jinx. Already this season we've seen Ole Miss and Oklahoma State fall victim to the jinx.
Possibly the biggest jinx was in 1957 when Sports Illustrated featured Oklahoma's Clendon Thomas on the cover and called the Sooners unbeatable. Oklahoma had won 47 straight games, but that week OU lost 7-0 to Notre Dame ending the 4 year old win streak.
This week Tim Tebow is on the cover of Sports Illustrated. After a big win over LSU, will the Gators be the next victim to the jinx? The opponent is Arkansas, who in 1981 handed #1 Texas a 42-11 loss in Little Rock. That week the Longhorns just happened to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Gator fans will likely shrug off the jinx as a myth, but all they have to do is go in the closet and dust off the November 11, 1985 issue of SI that featured Ray McDonald on the cover. That week Florida, who hadn't lost prior to the issue, lost to Georgia 24-3. Then again Tebow has already been on the SI cover 7 times and it hasn't hurt him as of yet.
Some Examples of Sports Illustrated Jinx in College Football
-Oklahoma State was on the cover of SI after beating Georgia in the opener. The Cowboys then lost to unranked Houston 45-35 at home
- Ole Miss was on the preseason cover and have been CFB's biggest dissapointment this season
-Ole Miss was on the cover last year after beating Florida. The next week they lost to unranked South Carolina
- SI had a cover dedicated to Michigan last year in the preseason. The Wolverines ended the year with its worst record in school history
-In 2007 Kansas made the cover because they were undefeated late in the year. A couple days later they lose to Missouri
-On 9/24/07 Southern Cal was on the Cover with the headline "USC on Fire". 2 weeks later the Trojans lost to Stanford, a game that USC was favored to win by 5 TDs
-On a preseason issue in 2007 Michigan RB Mike Hart was featured on the cover with the headline "Michigan The Big Run for Number 1". Michigan's first game resulted in a loss to 1-AA Appalachian State
-After Beating Michigan in 2006 Ohio State was featured on the cover with the headline "The Best Period". Ohio State's next game resulted in a 41-14 loss to Florida in the National Championship Game
- For the week of Sept 12, 2005 Ohio State is on the cover. A couple days later OSU loses to Texas 25-22
- For the week of Sept 29, 2003 Oregon is featured on the cover. The Headline reads "Dazzling Ducks Rich, Cool, and 4-0 quack quack" A couple days later the Ducks lost to Washington State 55-16.
- For the week of Novermber 26,2001 Nebraska's Eric Crouch is on the cover. A couple days later Nebraska loses to Colorado 62-36
- After beating Florida in 2000, the undefeated FSU Seminoles made the cover. Their next game was a loss to Oklahoma in the NC Game
- For the week of 11/16/98 Rickey Williams of Texas is on the cover. That same week the Longhorns lose to a Texas Tech team that had just lost 3 straight games
- After beating #1 Florida in October of 97 the LSU Tigers are on the cover. The next week they lose to an unranked Ole Miss team by 15 points
- An animated Peyton Manning is on the cover of SI for the week of Sept 22, 1997. This cartoon has Manning putting a Gator in a headlock. Unfortunately for the Vols, the Gators were the ones choking out Manning in a 33-20 win over the Vols
- After beating Florida 24-21 SI declares it a "Dunn Deal! Florida State and Warrick Dunn are No. 1". In the rematch Florida beats FSU 52-20 to win become the real No. 1.
- For the week of September 23, 96 Notre Dame's Ron Powlus is the coverboy. On September 28 the Irish lose to Ohio State 29-16
- "Red Alert Ahman Green and Nebraska set their sights on a third straight national title" This was the headline going into the week of the Arizona State game in 96. The SunDevils ended up shutting out Nebraska 19-0
- In 1994 there was a push for Steve McNair of Alcorn State to win the Heisman Trophy, despite playing for a 1-AA team. Sport Illustrated jumped on the bandwagon during the week of September 26, 1994 by putting Air McNair on the cover with the headline "Hand him the Heisman". That week Sam Houston State handed Alcorn State a 48-23 loss.
- "We Did It"...... Well, the Irish did beat Florida State late in 93, but the #1 Irish weren't able to beat Boston College the following week after gracing the SI cover. Don't feel too bad for Notre Dame though. The next week BC was on the cover, but the Eagles then lost to West Virginia. This was the 2nd time that BC had been featured on the cover and then lose to WVU the same week.
- Desmond Howard and Michigan made the cover of SI after beating Notre Dame. The next game they lost by 20 to Florida State
- David Klingler of Houston made the preseason magazines cover in 1991. SI claimed Houston had the nation's most explosive offense. Houston ended the season 4-7 and didn't have another winning season until 5 years later
- After one of the strangest seasons in CFB History Ty Detmer of BYU was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. His next game ended with a 65-14 loss to Texas A&M in the Holiday Bowl.
- Frank Baur of Lafeyette made the preseason cover in 1989. Baur was predicted by SI to be one of the top 3 QBs taken in the NFL draft in 1990. Baur's senior season was plagued with tendinitis in his throwing elbow and he never did get drafted into the NFL. Lafayette ended the year 5-5. In fairness to Baur, he shared the cover with Pete Rose
- Rodney Peete and Southern Cal were "Gunning for No.1" after appearing on the cover fort he week of Nov 26, 1988. That week they also lost by 17 to Notre Dame
- For the November 11, 1985 issue of SI the question was asked "Who's Number 1 Now?" after Iowa was upset by Ohio State. The cover featured Florida's Ray McDonald because the Gators were 7-0-1 on the season. That week Florida lost to Georgia 24-3
- Napoleon McCallum of Navy was on the cover of SI's football preview in 1985. Navy lost their first 3 games of the season and finished the year 4-7
- Nebraska's Jeff Smith made the cover of SI with the headline "Big Red Machine". The Huskers were undefeated in 84 when the cover came out and ranked #1. The week this issue hit the bookstands, Nebraska lost to Syracuse 17-9
- Doug Flutie was on the cover for the 9/26/83 issue. That week Flutie and his Eagles fell to West Virginia 27-17
- After beating Washington 43-31 in week 8, Stanford's John Elway was on the cover. The Cardinal didn't win a game the rest of the year(1982)
- After beating Oklahoma in 1981 Texas was number 1 in the country and they were on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The week they were on the cover, Lou Holtz's Arkansas Razorbacks best the Horns 42-11
- On a cover of SI for the week of Nov 12, 1979 the magazine asked "Who's #1" Houston's Derick Brown was on the cover. That week Houston lost to Texas 21-13 at home
- Notre Dame beat Michigan in the opener of 1979. This led SI to put the Irish on the cover of their next magazine. Unfortunately Notre Dame was upset by Purdue the same week
- Nebraska won its big rivalry game against Oklahoma on 11-11-1978. The Big Red's Rick Berns was on the cover the following week. That week Nebraska lost to Missouri 35-31 in Lincoln. From 1978-2003 this was Missouri's only win over Nebraska
- While this isn't a college football team that made the cover, in 1976 one of college football's highest profile names was on the cover. Tampa Bay's Steve Spurrier made the preseason NFL cover. Spurrier and the Bucs finished the year 0-14
- Notre Dame QB Tom Clements was on the cover of SI in 1974 the week prior to the Purdue game. The Irish would lose to Purdue that week. This was 1 of only 4 wins for Purdue in 1974.
-Anthony Davis of Southern Cal was on the cover for the 10/1/73 issue of SI with the headline "Best of the Best". Southern Cal lost to Oklahoma that week
- Texas was featured on the cover of the 1973 preseason SI. They weren't #1 very long as Miami beat Texas to open week 1.
-Prior to week 3 of the 1970 season Colorado was featured on the cover after beating Penn State. That week the Buffs fell to Kansas State
- The week of Nov 10, 1969 saw Steve Owens of Oklahoma on the cover. That week OU lost to Missouri 44-10. Since that time OU has only lost to Mizzou 4 times in 40 years.
- Georgia defeated eventual ACC Champ South Carolina in week 3 of the 1969 season. Week 4 the Dogs we on the cover of SI, a couple days later Ole Miss beat UGA.
- Maybe the games greatest linebacker, Dick Butkus, was featured on the 10/12/64 issue of SI while in college at Illinois. That week Illinois lost to Ohio State 26-0
-Northwestern's offensive line was on the cover the last week of October in 1963. The Wildcats lost to Michigan 35-0 that week and ended the year 3-6
-Miami's George Mira was named the best passer in CFB by SI on its cover in September of 1963. Miami lost to FSU that week 24-0 and finished the year 3-7
-Prior to the Army-Navy game Paul Dietzel was on the cover as head coach for Army. Army lost the game 34-14
-Terry Baker of Oregon State was named "The Best Athlete in College" in October of 1961 on the cover of SI. That week Oregon State lost to Washington 14-13
-Washington finished the 1960 season at 10-1. Their 1 loss happened the week of the Navy game that season, the same week Bob Scholoredt of the Huskies appeared on SI
-For the Oct 26, 1959 issue of SI Notre Dame's George Izo was chosen for the cover. The Irish lost 30-24 to Northwestern that week.
-Maybe one of the most historic covers was the week of November 16,1957. The Oklahoma Sooners' Clendon Thomas was on the cover with the headline "Why Oklahoma is Unbeatable". The Sooners had won a NCAA record 47 straight games. After appearing on the cover, a couple days later Oklahoma suffered their first loss since 10/3/53
-The Princeton Band represented the undefeated Tigers on the 10/17/55 cover of SI. That week Princeton lost to Colgate 15-6 in Princeton. This cover started the jinx for college football
Matt Barber
