Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/259072
UNDER THE DOME After nine years, Notre Dame over- took Michigan for the top spot again in the Football Bowl Subdivision for best all-time winning percentage. Notre Dame's 29-16 victory versus Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl Dec. 28, coupled with Michigan's 31-14 loss to Kansas State in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl later that night, nudged the 9-4 Irish ahead of the 7-6 Wolverines for the first time since early in the 2004 season. The Irish had two chances to move ahead in November after the Wolver- ines lost 17-13 to Nebraska Nov. 9 and Ohio State 42-41 Nov. 30. However, on those same two weekends Notre Dame fell to Pitt (28-21) and Stanford (27-20), respectively, on the road. The third time was the proverbial charm. Notre Dame's winning percentage is now .7330057 (874-305-42) while Michigan's is .7324388 (910-321-36), a difference of .0005669. At No. 3 is Boise State with a .7205081 figure, but the Broncos have played less than half the games (551) Notre Dame and Michigan have. The Broncos posted a remarkable record of 129-15 from 2002-12 but fell to 8-5 this year to take a slight step back. Another chapter in the battle for the top spot will be written Sept. 6, 2014, in Notre Dame Stadium, which will be the final regular-season meeting between Notre Dame and Michigan for years to come. The two traditional powers began playing almost annually since 1978, with the exceptions coming in 1983-84, 1995-96 and 2000-01. The Wolverines own a 15-14-1 edge in the series since then and have won four of the last five and six of the last eight, including 41-30 last September. Notre Dame will want to end with a win to make it an even 15-15-1, while Michigan will seek to return to No. 1 on the winning percentage list. NOTRE DAME BACK AT NO. 1 Notre Dame suffered a 41-30 defeat at Michigan in 2013, but still moved past the Wolverines in all-time winning percentage with a stronger finish to the season. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA