Houlgate System Explained

The Houlgate System was a college football ranking method based on strength of schedule[1] that was syndicated nationally in the 1930s through 1950s. The system was created by Carroll Everard "Deke" Houlgate (May 8, 1905—July 31, 1959), a Los Angeles-based college football statistician and historian.

Starting in 1945 Houlgate selected competitors for the Futility Bowl, a hypothetical post-season matchup between the nation's two lowest-ranked teams. This bowl game to determine the country's worst team would be held in Death Valley in an empty stadium.[2]

Houlgate was the author of The Football Thesaurus, a leather-bound compilation of game scores, football history, and team facts.[3] The thesaurus was released in two editions in 1946 and 1954. Houlgate released annual supplements for the 1954–1958 seasons until his death in 1959.

The NCAA recognizes the Houlgate System as a "major selector" of college football national championships and lists the system's post-bowl selections, as published in the 1954 edition of The Football Thesaurus, in the official NCAA records book.[4]

Houlgate was born in Peru, Nebraska, on May 8, 1905. He graduated from Ventura High School and attended the University of Southern California. He served in the Air Force during World War II and died at the Wadsworth Veterans Administration Hospital in Los Angeles, California, on July 31, 1959, at age 54.[5] Houlgate's wife, Dorothy P. Houlgate, was considered "one of the leading feminine football experts" and assisted with the annual football ratings; she died in August 1959, less than a month after the death of her husband.[6]

In his career in public relations for the American Gas Association, Houlgate is known for coining or popularizing the phrase "Now you're cooking with gas!" and planting the phrase with writers for Bob Hope's radio programs in an early example of product placement.[7]

National champions

The Houlgate System is listed as a "major selector" of national championships in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records book.

Season Champion(s)[8] Notes
Retrospective selections
Princeton
No selection
Yale
Yale
Princeton
Harvard
Yale
Yale
Princeton
Princeton
Penn
Princeton
Penn
Harvard
Harvard
Yale
Michigan
Michigan
Princeton
Penn
Chicago
No selection
Yale
Penn
Yale
Harvard
Princeton
Harvard
Harvard
Army
Cornell
Pittsburgh
Georgia Tech
Pittsburgh
Harvard
California
Cornell
California
California
Notre Dame
Alabama
Navy
Houlgate System rankings
SMU[9]
Army[10]
Michigan[11]
Notre Dame[12]
Tennessee[13]
Georgia Tech[14]
Ohio State[15]

Foreman & Clark Trophy

Contemporary National champions under the Houlgate System were awarded the Foreman & Clark Trophy.[16] The award was sponsored by the Los Angeles department store and given to the No. 1 team in the contemporary pre-bowl final rankings.

Season Trophy Winner Record Notes
1934[17] 9–1–1
1935[18] 12–1
1936[19] 9–1–1

Futility Bowl

In 1945, Houlgate also initiated his selections for the Futility Bowl matching the two worst college football teams in a fictional football game to be played in Death Valley.[2] His annual picks for the Futility Bowl included: (1) Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Wooster in 1945;[2] (2) Kansas State and Carnegie Tech in 1947; (3) Kansas State and Montana State in 1948;[20] (4) BYU and Rhode Island State in 1949;[21] and (5) Davidson and Montana in 1951.[22]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Deke Houlgate Dead at 54 . Pasadena Independent . August 1, 1959 . 9 .
  2. News: Futility Bowl Game Is Proposed To Determine Champ Underdog . The Ogden Standard-Examiner . December 18, 1945 . 12 .
  3. News: Grid Thesaurus Out. The Waco News-Tribune. November 5, 1946. 8.
  4. Web site: National Poll Rankings . National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) . 2015. NCAA Division I Football Records . NCAA . 105–106 . January 4, 2016 .
  5. News: Grid Expert Houlgate Dies. Independent (Long Beach, CA). August 1, 1959. 10.
  6. News: Deke Houlgate's Widow Dies. Redlands Daily Facts. August 26, 1959. 8.
  7. Web site: Alter. Lloyd. The 'Now You're Cooking with Gas' Marketing Never Stops. June 24, 2020. TreeHugger. Dotdash Meredith. November 9, 2022.
  8. Book: 2000 NCAA Football Division I-A Records . . 2000 . May 10, 2023.
  9. Book: 1936 . The Rotunda 1936 . Football – Awards . 190 . Noel . David . Southern Methodist University — Dallas, Texas . S. M. U. Students Publishing Company Incorporated . In recognition of their outstanding ability on the gridiron, the Mustangs were awarded several trophies, most significant being the coveted national championship honors. SMU is the first Southwest team to receive the Knute K. Rockne Memorial Trophy. Equally prized is the Deke Houlgate Cup, which designates the Ponies national champions of 1935..
  10. News: . December 4, 1946 . Houlgate Rates Army At Top — Houlgate Puts Notre Dame in Sixth Place . . Los Angeles . Kansas City . C.E. (Deke) Houlgate, noted football statistician, placed Army on top and UCLA second today in his final ratings of the nation's gridiron teams for the 1946 season..
  11. News: Houlgate . Deke . Deke Houlgate . January 4, 1949 . Mustangs Hit Second Spot in Houlgate Ratings . Riverside Daily Press . Los Angeles . Riverside, California . July 6, 2024 . Results of those post-season bowl games made several important changes in national rankings for the past season. No change was great enough, however, to dethrone mighty Michigan, football champion for the second straight year..
  12. News: Houlgate . Deke . Deke Houlgate . January 7, 1950 . Bowl Win Puts Sooners Close Second To Irish . Riverside Daily Press . Los Angeles . Riverside, California . July 6, 2024 .
  13. News: Houlgate . Deke . Deke Houlgate . January 17, 1951 . Tennessee Tagged Best Grid Team . Riverside Daily Press . 14 . Los Angeles . Riverside, California . July 6, 2024 . Tennessee is the collegiate champion of the U.S. grid for the 1950 season following finals in the various big bowls..
  14. News: Houlgate . Deke . Deke Houlgate . January 6, 1953 . Georgia Tech's Sugar Bowl Champs Get Another Vote As Best in Land . Riverside Daily Press . 13 . Los Angeles . Riverside, California . July 6, 2024 .
  15. News: Taylor . Sec . January 18, 1955 . Sittin' In With the Athletes — Deke Houlgate Places Navy Fifth . . 13, 15 . Following the various bowl games he made some slight adjustments in his final ratings, but without disturbing Ohio State, Oklahoma, UCLA, and Notre Dame which he originally had placed at the top in the order named. 'The Buckeyes not only made their claims to the national championship more emphatic by defeating Southern California, 20–7, in the Rose Bowl...'.
  16. News: Associated Press . January 10, 1937 . Louisiana State Gets Foreman–Clark Trophy . The Capital Times . Dallas, Texas . Madison, Wisconsin . January 31, 2023 . The Foreman and Clark trophy, emblematic of the National football championship, won by SMU in 1935, will be sent to LSU ... awarded the trophy for the past season under the ratings of Deke Houlgate, Los Angeles, grid statistician..
  17. News: Levandusky . J. F. . January 11, 1935 . Here's a little incident that happened after the Rose Bowl game . Waukegan News-Sun . Waukegan, Illinois . January 31, 2023 . Last year Stanford was [Houlgate's] choice and the presentation of the trophy was scheduled to take place after the Alabama–Stanford battle..
  18. Book: 1936 . The Rotunda 1936 . Football – Awards . 190 . Noel . David . Southern Methodist University — Dallas, Texas . S. M. U. Students Publishing Company Incorporated . In recognition of their outstanding ability on the gridiron, the Mustangs were awarded several trophies, most significant being the coveted national championship honors. SMU is the first Southwest team to receive the Knute K. Rockne Memorial Trophy. Equally prized is the Deke Houlgate Cup, which designates the Ponies national champions of 1935..
  19. Book: Owen . Kimbrough . 1937 . Gumbo 1937 . Baton Rouge, Louisiana . The Students of Louisiana State University . Athletics — Football . 206 . Rated No. 1 team of the country by the Deke Houlgate system, the Tigers were presented with a beautiful national championship trophy by a Los Angeles firm..
  20. News: Kansas State Selected For 'Futility' Contest. Tucson Daily Citizen. December 21, 1948. 13.
  21. News: Futility Bowl: Bids Sent to Losingest Teams; No Ducat Worries. Daily Independent Journal. December 16, 1949. 9.
  22. News: No Crowd, No Teams -- Futility Bowl Billed For Death Valley Site. The Eugene Guard. December 26, 1951. 13.

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