Here at The Back Page, we have asserted before that with a little help from our friend degrees of separation, we can prove that Harvard actually should be the one playing in the national championship game Monday. In advance of the Oregon-Ohio State matchup, we’ve taken the courtesy of proving once again that, no matter who wins, undefeated Harvard is the real college football champion.

If Ohio State wins….

Harvard beat Yale, 31-24;

Yale beat Army, 49-43;

Army beat UConn, 35-21;

UConn beat UCF, 37-29;

UCF beat BYU, 31-24;

BYU beat Houston, 33-25;

Houston beat Pittsburgh, 35-34;

Pittsburgh beat Virginia Tech, 21-16;

Virginia Tech beat Ohio State, 35-21;

If Oregon wins….

Harvard beat Yale, 31-24;

Yale beat Army, 49-43;

Army beat UConn, 35-21;

UConn beat UCF, 37-29;

UCF beat BYU, 31-24;

BYU beat Texas, 41-7;

Texas beat West Virginia, 33-16;

West Virginia beat Baylor, 41-27;

Baylor beat Oklahoma, 48-14;

Oklahoma beat Tennessee, 34-10;

Tennessee beat Utah State, 38-7;

Utah State beat Air Force, 34-16;

Air Force beat Boise State, 28-14;

Boise State beat Arizona, 38-30;

Arizona beat Oregon, 31-24;