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[4] and 1954.[5] Houlgate released annual supplements for the 1954–1958 seasons until his death in 1959.[5]
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,[5] in the official NCAA records book.[6]
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.[7] 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.[8]
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.[9]
National champions
Foreman & Clark Trophy
National champions under the Houlgate System were awarded the Foreman & Clark Trophy.[10] The award was sponsored by the Los Angeles department store and given to the No. 1 team in the contemporary pre-bowl final rankings.[11]
| Season | Trophy Winner | Record | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1934[12] | Stanford | 9–1–1 | |
| 1935[10] | SMU | 12–1 | |
| 1936[10][11] | LSU | 9–1–1 | |
NCAA records book
The Houlgate System is listed as a "major selector" of national championships in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records book. The NCAA records book lists the following national championship selections by the Houlgate System.
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;[13] (4) BYU and Rhode Island State in 1949;[14] and (5) Davidson and Montana in 1951.[15]
See also
References
- ↑ "Deke Houlgate Dead at 54". Pasadena Independent. August 1, 1959. p. 9.
- 1 2 3 "Futility Bowl Game Is Proposed To Determine Champ Underdog". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. December 18, 1945. p. 12.
- ↑ "Grid Thesaurus Out". The Waco News-Tribune. November 5, 1946. p. 8.
- ↑ Deke Houlgate (1946). The Football Thesaurus: 77 years on the American gridiron. Nash-U-Nal Pub. Co. OCLC 1487183.
- 1 2 3 Houlgate, Deke (1954). The Football Thesaurus: 85 Years on the American Gridiron. Los Angeles, California: Houlgate House.
In the Huddle with Deke Houlgate: College Football from 1869 through 1953; Annual Supplements for 1954–1958
- 1 2 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2015). "National Poll Rankings" (PDF). NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA. pp. 105–106. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
- ↑ "Grid Expert Houlgate Dies". Independent (Long Beach, CA). August 1, 1959. p. 10.
- ↑ "Deke Houlgate's Widow Dies". Redlands Daily Facts. August 26, 1959. p. 8.
- ↑ Alter, Lloyd (June 24, 2020). "The 'Now You're Cooking with Gas' Marketing Never Stops". TreeHugger. Dotdash Meredith. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
- 1 2 3 Written at Dallas, Texas. "Louisiana State Gets Foreman–Clark Trophy". The Capital Times. Madison, Wisconsin. Associated Press. January 10, 1937. Retrieved 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.
- 1 2 Owen, Kimbrough, ed. (1937). "Athletics — Football". Gumbo 1937. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: The Students of Louisiana State University. p. 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.
{{cite book}}:|journal=ignored (help) - ↑ Levandusky, J. F. (January 11, 1935). "Here's a little incident that happened after the Rose Bowl game". Waukegan News-Sun. Waukegan, Illinois. Retrieved 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.
- ↑ "Kansas State Selected For 'Futility' Contest". Tucson Daily Citizen. December 21, 1948. p. 13.
- ↑ "Futility Bowl: Bids Sent to Losingest Teams; No Ducat Worries". Daily Independent Journal. December 16, 1949. p. 9.
- ↑ "No Crowd, No Teams -- Futility Bowl Billed For Death Valley Site". The Eugene Guard. December 26, 1951. p. 13.