Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2020 Notre Dame Football Preview
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1264448
6 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2020 FOOTBALL PREVIEW UNDER THE DOME For most of the past two decades, Michi- gan and Notre Dame have taken turns at the top spot for all-time winning percentage among Division I football schools. As a new decade commences, a third Mid- west-based school, Ohio State, is now at the summit, thanks to a remarkable eight-year record of 99-10 (.908 winning percentage) from 2012-19. Meanwhile, Boise State, which has played less than half the football games of almost all the top programs, has snuck into the No. 2 position. No. 3 Michigan remains one slot ahead of Notre Dame, but the Fighting Irish have picked up a two-game advantage each of the past three years versus the Wolverines: 10-3 to 8-5 in 2017, 12-1 to 10-3 in 2018, and 11-2 to 9-4 last year. Notre Dame's 33-6 record the past three years is the sixth best in the Football Bowl Sub- division. Unfortunately, an as- terisk element from earlier this decade remains in play for the calculations. By NCAA regulations, Notre Dame officially is at 908 victo- ries. That's because on Feb. 13, 2018, the NCAA denied the uni- versity's appeal to not have to va- cate its 21 total victories from the 2012 (12) and 2013 (nine) seasons due to academic misconduct from the inadvertent use of ineli- gible players during those two seasons that the school self-reported. If not for the NCAA-imposed vacancy of the 21 wins from the 2012-13 seasons, Notre Dame's all-time record would be 929-326-42 for a .73246 winning percent- age, ahead of Ohio State's current No. 1 pace of .72947. As it stands now, there is merely .00393 separation between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 6 Oklahoma. In NCAA parlance, "vacating" a victory is not the same as "forfeiting" one. It affects only the victor of the game, not the loser. For example, USC had to vacate its last two wins in 2004 (and thereby the national title) and all 12 wins from the 2005 season. However, that did not mean that the 34-31 win at Notre Dame in 2005 was now a "vic- tory" for the Irish. Notre Dame's final record remained 9-3 that year even with the loss to the Trojans. It counted neither as a win nor a "non-loss." The los- ing team retains the defeat. Likewise, when USC was stripped of the 2004 national title, unbeaten Auburn was not named the national champion. Neither was Oklahoma, which lost 55-19 to the Trojans in the title game. Hence, the word "va- cated." A vacated win affects only the penalized team's season records, all-time records and the head coach's record. This means that even though head coach Brian Kelly is 92-37 (.713 winning percentage) in ac- tual games played on the field, the NCAA and Notre Dame have to recognize it as 71-37 (.657) with the 21 vacated wins. NOTRE DAME REMAINS NEAR THE TOP IN ALL-TIME WINNING PERCENTAGE After a remarkable eight-year record of 99-10 (.908 winning percentage) from 2012-19, Ohio State is now the all-time leader in win percentage among Division I football schools. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision All-Time Won-Lost Records By Percentage Rk. School Games Pct. W L T Change 1. Ohio State 1,303 .72947 924 326 53 Up 1 2. Boise State 632 .72943 460 170 2 — 3. Michigan 1,344 .72917 962 346 36 Down 2 4. Notre Dame 1,276 .72806 908 326 42 — 5. Alabama 1,290 .72674 916 331 43 — 6. Oklahoma 1,288 .72554 908 327 53 — 7. Texas 1,324 .70431 916 375 33 — 8. USC 1,252 .69808 847 351 54 — 9. Nebraska 1,337 .68960 902 395 40 — 10. Penn State 1,333 .68942 898 393 42 — Notes: Tennessee (.67427) moved ahead of Florida State (.67208) for the 11th spot, while 2019 national champion LSU (.65580) edged past Georgia (.65496) at No. 13 … Ohio State had 12 victories vacated by the NCAA during the 2010 season … Alabama had eight victories and one tie forfeited by the NCAA during the 1993 season, plus 21 victories vacated by the NCAA for the 2005-07 seasons … USC had 14 victories vacated by the NCAA during the 2004 and 2005 seasons.