Fun With Victory Chain Linker

The Internet is one of humanity's great advancements precisely because it facilitates such incredibly edifying wastes of time as Victory Chain Linker, an old favorite that's sat neglected since the end of last season - a particularly useful one for the Linker, it should be noted, because it marked the first time in the site's existence the mythical national championship was bestowed upon a team with a loss - you can't build a chain of defeat to a team that wasn't defeated, after all. So Boise State is exempt. But as for the mighty Gators, meet Frostburg State, which finished 2-7 as a member of Division III's Alleghenny Mountain Conference (Celebrating a Decade of Excellence!) but could theoretically dethrone the Gators, as this chain proves:

If Florida don't know, it better ask Randolph Macon College: Frostburg State ain't no joke.
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That's 21 degrees from Frostburg to Florida, which, as Paul Kislanko showed us last November, is the most convenient way to judge two teams' strength relative to one another without having them actually, you know, play, since in this case Frostburg State players would likely be maimed in short order on an actual field. Insurance and all that. Temple's chain to Florida, for comparison, is ten degrees; USC's chain is three. Frostburg State's chain to USC? A mere nineteen degrees.

The 2006 chain is a richer one not only because the champions are part of the mix, but because the Championship Subdivision fared far better against I-A competition last year. In 2005, the only way to jump from the little guys to the Bowl Subdivision was via Cal-Davis' upset of Stanford, but Montana State, Southern Illinois, New Hampshire and Richmond threw the doors open by beating Colorado, Indiana, Northwestern and Duke, respectively. Okay, so beating Duke doesn't factor here because the Blue Devils failed to beat a I-A opponent their own selves, but the principle remains: victory over a I-AA team is not to be taken for granted if your squad sucks.

Some other favorites from last season: