Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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sons: Here's a look at some of those best sea- Texas (10-0) would have played No. 4 Ten- nessee (10-1), while No. 2 Ohio State (10-0) would have faced No. 3 Nebraska (10-0-1). THE CAVEAT: No. 4 Tennessee was not even No. 4 in the country and already had ac- cepted a bid to the Cotton Bowl to play No. 1 and defending national champ Texas. Unfortunately, in the regular-season finale at USC, the Irish fell 38-28 and dropped to No. 6 with their 9-1 record. FOUR-TEAM PLAYOFF: In today's format, No. 1 SITUATION: Notre Dame was 9-0, ranked 1970: FROM 6 TO 2 Oklahoma (10-0-1) was on probation and ineligible to play in a bowl. FOUR-TEAM PLAYOFF: With Oklahoma on pro- bation, it might have been No. 1 Alabama versus No. 5 Michigan (10-0-1) and No. 3 Notre Dame versus No. 4 Ohio State (9- 0-1). THE CAVEAT: Penn State finished 11-0 during the SEC champion. It was only 4-1 in the league, while No. 5 LSU (which played Nebraska in the Orange Bowl) was 5-0 and the SEC champ. Notre Dame defeated LSU, 3-0, in November. Would the current committee take that game winning streak with a 24-11 victory in the Cotton Bowl. No. 2 Ohio State was then shocked by 8-3 Pac-8 champion Stan- ford in the Rose Bowl — meaning that if No. 3 Nebraska lost to LSU in the Orange Bowl, Notre Dame would move from No. 6 to become the national champ. Alas, Nebraska won (17-12) and the Irish finished No. 2. But would it have received that chance to win it all in today's format? into account today, or would the Irish still be on the outside looking in? RESULT: Notre Dame ended Texas' 30- lar season 10-0 and No. 3, and accepted a bid to the Sugar Bowl to play No. 1 and 11-0 Alabama for the national title. No. 2 1973: SUGAR IS SWEET ENOUGH SITUATION: Notre Dame finished the regu- the regular season, but was only No. 6 be- cause of a weaker schedule. It finished No. 5 at 12-0 after beating LSU, 16-7, in the Or- ange Bowl. Would the Nittany Lions have been selected over Ohio State and Michi- gan, which had played to a 10-10 tie in the regular-season finale, in the new format? RESULT: Notre Dame defeated Alabama, 24-23. The road to the national title would have been more difficult if it had to play in the semifinal versus Ohio State — an impressive 42-21 victor over 9-1-1 USC in the Rose Bowl. with a 10-1 record and nine straight victo- ries spearheaded by former No. 3 quarter- back Joe Montana. The Irish were invited to play 11-0 and No. 1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl. FOUR-TEAM PLAYOFF: No. 1 Texas versus No. 4 SITUATION: Red-hot Notre Dame was No. 5 1977: NOT IN TOP FOUR, BUT … Michigan (10-1) and No. 2 Oklahoma (10-1) versus No. 3 Alabama (10-1). THE CAVEAT: As sensational as Notre Dame 38-10, enabling it to leapfrog all the way to No. 1 because No. 2 Oklahoma lost to 10-1 Arkansas (coached by Lou Holtz) and AUGUST 2012 65 was down the stretch, there were still four major conference champs ahead of it. Would the current committee also leave the Irish out in the cold? RESULT: Notre Dame trounced Texas,