Simultaneous Champions

Though the New York Giants have been dethroned as NFL champions, they are the defending champions. That is the situation until either the Baltimore Ravens or San Francisco 49ers replace them after the 47th Super Bowl on Sunday.

I note that from the time that the San Francisco Giants won the World Series on October 28, 2012, both the football and baseball Giants were League Champions at the same time for the first time in history. That history goes back until at least 1933 when the first NFL Championship game was played.

Currently two all time great college programs: Alabama, in football, and Kentucky in basketball, are champions simultaneously for the first time in history. Since the advent of “mythical” college football titles with the Associated Press vote starting in 1936, Alabama University has claimed nine titles. There were five under Paul “Bear” Bryant and three under current coach, Nick Saban. The other was with Gene Stallings as coach in 1992.

The Kentucky basketball team has won eight titles, four under legendary coach “Baron” Rupp and one each with four different coaches. The four are Joe B. Hall, Tubby Smith, Rick Pitino and the current one under John Calipari.

Alabama won AP titles in 1961, 1964, 1965, 1978, 1979, 1992, 2009, 2011 and 2012 while Kentucky won the NCAA Basketball Tournament in 1948, 1949, 1951, 1978, 1996, 1998 and 2012. So this is the first time these two great programs have been champions at the same time.