Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/669106
regular season. In basketball, center Dick Rosen‑ thal steered a school‑record 18‑game winning streak for the No. 6 Irish, including an upset of No. 1 Indiana in the Sweet 16 that made the Fight‑ ing Irish the odds‑on favorites to win it all. Alas, Penn State pulled off the upset in the Elite Eight in the ulti‑ mate letdown game. La Salle won the national title. 3. 1957‑58: THIRD DOUBLE PLAY IN SIX YEARS One year after finishing 2‑8, the 7‑3 football team concluded the year at No. 10, highlighted by ending Okla‑ homa's NCAA record 47‑game win‑ ning streak. On the hardwood, All‑American Tom Hawkins propelled the Irish to a No. 8 final ranking after falling to national champ Kentucky in the Elite Eight. 4. 1969‑70: RETURN TO PROMINENCE Football finished No. 5 despite los‑ ing late to No. 1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl, 21‑17, on an 11th‑hour score by the Longhorns. The loss lifted Notre Dame from No. 9 with an 8‑1‑1 re‑ cord to four spots higher at 8‑2‑1. Future No. 1 NBA pick Austin Carr led the resurrected basketball operation to a No. 9 placement, los‑ ing to No. 1 Kentucky in the Sweet 16. (The next season football would finish No. 2 after ending Texas' 30‑ game winning streak with a 24‑11 Cotton Bowl victory, and basketball just missed the top 10 with a No. 12 ranking.) 5. 1973‑74: GREATEST YEAR OF ALL? The 11‑0 football program won its second consensus national title under Ara Parseghian with a 24‑23 victory versus Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. It was the first time the program went unbeaten and untied in 24 years. That was followed by third‑year basketball coach Digger Phelps guid‑ ing a 26‑3 season in which the Irish won at Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio State, Michigan State and Final Four participant Kansas. It also toppled national runner‑up Marquette and snapped UCLA's NCAA record 88‑ game winning streak. That's why Notre Dame still finished No. 5 de‑ spite getting upset by Michigan in the second round of the 25‑team NCAA Tournament. The combined 37‑3 record of the two programs was the best at the school in the post‑World War II era. The only ones to top it are Kentucky's Bear Bryant (11‑1) and Adolph Rupp (32‑2 national champs) combining for a 43‑3 ledger in 1950‑51, and UCLA's Tommy Prothro (9‑1) and John Wooden (30‑0) tallying a 39‑1 mark in 1966‑67. 6. 1977‑78: HISTORY IS MADE For the first time in NCAA annals, a football team won the national title while its basketball team advanced to the Final Four. Florida would become the second — winning it all in both football and basketball in 2006‑07. T h i rd ‑ y e a r h e a d c o a c h D a n Devine's 11‑1 "Green Machine" tri‑ umphed in its final 10 games with