Boand System

The Boand System was a system for determining the college football national championship.^[1] It was also known as the Azzi Ratem system (derived from "As I rate 'em").^[2] The system was developed by William F. Boand.^[2] The rankings were based on mathematical formula.^[3] The Boand System is recognized as a "National Champion Major Selector" by the Official NCAA Division I Records Book.^[4]

Boand announced annual national champions on a current basis from 1930 to 1960. He also chose national champions on a retroactive basis for the years from 1919 to 1929. In the 1937 edition of The Illustrated Football Annual Boand went back and re-rated the seasons since 1924, this time including bowl game results in his calculations.^[5][6]

The rankings appeared in many newspapers, the Illustrated Football Annual from 1932 to 1942, and Football News from 1942 to 1944 and again from 1951 to 1960.^[2] The design of the system sought to combine the best parts of the Dickinson System, with mathematical systems developed by Ralph Powell of Ohio State University and William T. Van de Graaff, football coach and mathematics instructor at Colorado College.^[3] Prominent football coaches Knute Rockne, Howard Jones, and Pop Warner consulted with Boand on the rankings.^[3] At various times, the system was applied to high school football rankings.^[3]

National champions

Season	Champion
Retrospective selections
1919	Illinois
1920	Harvard Princeton
1921	California Lafayette Washington & Jefferson
1922	Princeton
1923	Illinois
1924	Notre Dame
1925	Alabama
1926	Navy
1927	Georgia[better source needed]
	Yale[6]
1928	Georgia Tech
1929	Notre Dame
Boand System rankings
1930[7]	Notre Dame
1931[8]	Southern California
1932[9]	Southern California
1933	Michigan
1934	Minnesota
1935	Minnesota
1936[10]	Pittsburgh
1937[11]	Pittsburgh
1938[12]	Tennessee
1939[13]	Texas A&M
1940[14]	Minnesota
1941[15]	Minnesota
1942	Ohio State
1943	Notre Dame
1944	Army
1945	Army
1946	Army Notre Dame
1947	Notre Dame Michigan
1948	Michigan
1949	Notre Dame
1950	Princeton
1951	Georgia Tech Illinois
1952	Michigan State
1953	Notre Dame
1954[16]	Ohio State
1955	Michigan State
1956	Oklahoma
1957	Ohio State
1958	Louisiana State
1959	Syracuse
1960	Iowa

Boand trophy

In February 1955, coach Woody Hayes was presented with the William F. Boand trophy in recognition of the 1954 Buckeyes' No. 1 selection in the year's final Azzi Ratem rankings.^[16] The award was presented by Byron F. Boyd, editor of Football News magazine, which carried Boand's ratings.^[16]

See also

• NCAA Division I FBS national football championship

Further reading

• Boand, William F. (1950). Azzi Ratem-Boand football ranking system: featuring famous coaches who have had top-rated teams in past years. Football News.
• Boand, William F. (1941). National Football Champions.

References

1. "Boand System National Championship Selections". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
2. Official 2007 NCAA Division I Football Records Book. Triumph Books. 2007. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-60078-034-9.
3. Boand, William F. (November 2, 1961). "Bill Boand's Baffling System Explained In Briefest Manner". The New Mexican. Sante Fe. Associated Press. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
4. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2015). "National Poll Rankings" (PDF). NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA. pp. 105–106. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
5. Jenkins, Dan (September 11, 1967), "This Year The Fight Will Be in the Open", Sports Illustrated, vol. 27, no. 11, Chicago, IL: Time Inc., pp. 28–34, retrieved March 16, 2016
6. Reiss, Malcolm, ed. (1937). "Ranking the Champions; A Review of National Football Ranking for the Past 13 Years". Illustrated Football Annual 1937. New York City: Fiction House, Inc. pp. 86–87. The final revision of the AZZI RATEM System was completed in the spring of 1936. This revision was used to re-rate previous years.
7. "Champion Must Pass Severe Tests on Grid". Arizona Daily Star. August 26, 1931. More than 500 universities and colleges made their bid for glory, but only one was granted the honor of being hailed as national champion. Of course, that was Notre Dame. — Notre Dame 164; Alabama 157;
8. "Trojans Again Powerful". Arizona Daily Star. September 27, 1932. Retrieved December 19, 2023. Southern California won the undisputed national football championship of the United States for 1931. According to Azzi Ratem... This calculation includes the Rose Bowl game.
9. "New Grid Rating System Gives 1932 Title to Trojans". The Tampa Times. January 4, 1933. Southern California 166; Michigan 158; Purdue 151
10. Quinn, Frank (September 9, 1937). "The National football rankings for the 1936 season under the Azzi Ratem system". The Butte Daily Post. Retrieved November 29, 2023. Pittsburgh, 81.1; Minnesota, 79.6;
11. Boand, William F. (January 5, 1938). "1937 Grid Ratings — Azzi Ratems System — By William F. Boand, Chicago". Chattanooga Daily Times. Retrieved November 29, 2023. 1. Pittsburgh: 83.6; 2. California: 82.4; 3. Fordham: 79.3;
12. "Boand Gives Grid Top to Tennessee Eleven". Omaha World-Herald. Chicago Tribune Press Service. January 3, 1939. Retrieved November 30, 2023. 1. Tennessee; 2. Notre Dame; 3. Texas Christian;
13. "Azzi Ratem Calls Aggies No. 1 Team". Lexington Herald-Leader. January 2, 1940. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Azzi Ratem Puts Huskers 12th in Final Ranking". Evening World-Herald. January 3, 1941. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "Navy Ranked Second by the Azzi Ratem". Evening World-Herald. December 2, 1941. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
16. "The William F. Boand trophy". The Baytown Sun. Baytown, Texas. International News Service. February 2, 1955. Retrieved January 19, 2023. The William F. Boand trophy... in recognition of the Bucks as the No. 1 football team of 1954 according to Board's Azzi Ratem system. Byron F. Boyd, editor of the Football News, will make the presentation