RB Respect Month, Day 28: Edgerrin James vs. UCLA (1998)

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Welcome to day 28 of Running Back Respect Month™️! Yesterday, we covered Knowshon Moreno's breakout performance against Florida in 2007. Here's where we're at today, and how the rest of the month looks:

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Today: Edgerrin James vs. UCLA (1998)

This might shock my younger readers, but there was a time in the not-too-distant past where UCLA was a win away from playing in the National Championship. That's right! On December 5, 1998, all the Bruins had to do was beat a 7-3 Miami team on the road for a spot in the inaugural BCS Title Game in Tempe, Arizona, and wait for the results of the Big 12 and SEC Title games featuring Tennessee and Kansas State:

All three were undefeated, and this was a scenario the BCS was created in-part to help solve. Not everyone was happy with the new way of determining the national championship, though: