Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME NO. 1 VS. NO. 1 FOOTBALL VICTORIES VS. NO. 1 1. Notre Dame (8) Notre Dame added another chapter to its history against top-ranked foes 2t. Miami, Oklahoma and Purdue (7) 5t. Texas (5) and Alabama (5) Note: Four of Purdue's victories are against the Irish (1950, 1954, 1965 and 1967). 1. North Carolina (12) 2t. Maryland and UCLA (10) 4t. Duke, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame and Ohio State (8) MEN'S BASKETBALL VICTORIES VS. NO. 1 Freshman Pat Connaughton celebrated with fans after the Irish earned their NCAA-best 16th victory BY LOU SOMOGYI N Syracuse Jan. 21, the Notre Dame men's basketball program recorded its eighth all-time victory against a top-ranked foe, tying it for the fourth most in the country, according to the NCAA record books. With its 67-58 victory against No. 1 ow this is what you would call a balanced attack. (eight in football and eight in men's hoops) over a No. 1 team with a 67-58 win over Syracuse Jan. 21. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND final game at Notre Dame. No. 1 in the AP poll that year was 11-0 Oklahoma. However, the Sooners were on NCAA probation that year, thereby making them ineligible for a bowl game and to be ranked in the coaches' UPI poll. So even though the Irish defeated gram does not receive any credit for defeating UPI No. 1 and 11-0 Alabama in the Jan. 1, 1975, Orange Bowl, head coach Ara Parseghian's 8 MARCH 2012 eight victories against No. 1 in foot- ball, thereby giving it 16 total in the two marquee sports in collegiate ath- letics. However, there is a caveat: the NCAA includes only the Associated Press in these two sports and does not take into account any other polls. That means the Irish football pro- The Irish also have a national-high 1. Notre Dame (16) — Eight football and eight basketball. Also notable is the fact that when the Irish upset Oklahoma 7-0 during the 1957 football season, the Sooners were ranked No. 2 in the AP poll despite winning 47 straight games and two consecutive national titles. 2. Oklahoma (14) — Seven football and seven basketball. 3. UCLA (13) — Ten in basketball and three in football. 4t. Ohio State (12) — Eight in basketball, four in football. 4t. Maryland (12) — Ten in basketball, two in football. 4t. North Carolina (12) — All are in basketball to rank tops on that side of the ledger. 7t. Kentucky (10) — Seven in basketball, three in football. 7t. Georgia Tech (10) — Eight in basketball, two in football. Note: Tied for ninth with nine apiece are Alabama (five in football, most recently this year's Sugar Bowl against LSU, and four in basketball), plus USC and Purdue (each with seven in football and two in basketball). FOOTBALL AND MEN'S BASKETBALL VS. NO. 1 the Crimson Tide, 13-11, the NCAA does not "officially" consider it a vic- tory against No. 1 because it's not the AP poll. The same holds true for the Irish basketball program on several oc- casions: A February 1948 victory against Kentucky, a March 1954 up- set of defending national champ In- diana (No. 1 UPI, No. 2 in the AP) in the NCAA Tournament and another triumph versus Kentucky (No. 1 UPI, No. 2 AP) in December 1980. The eight "official" Irish football victories against No. 1, as recognized by the NCAA are: Northwestern (26-6 in 1936, the first year of the AP poll), Texas (24-11 in 1971 Cotton Bowl), Alabama (24-23 in 1973 Sugar Bowl), Texas again (38-10 in 1978 Cotton Bowl), Pitt (31-16 in 1982), Miami (31-30 in 1988), Colorado (21-6 in 1990 Orange Bowl) and Florida State (31-24 in 1993). In men's basketball, the "official" eight are: UCLA (89-82 1971 and 71-70 in 1974), San Francisco (93-82 in 1977), Marquette (65-59 in 1978), DePaul (76-74 in double overtime in 1980), Virginia (57-56 in 1981), North Carolina (60-58 in 1987) and Syracuse (2012). BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED