Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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defeat, noted how he hoped that servicemen who are being sent to the Vietnam War ���aren���t going over there for a tie.��� Eventually, author Keith Dunnavant wrote the book, The Missing Ring: How Bear Bryant And The 1966 Alabama Crimson Tide Were Denied College Football���s Most Elusive Prize. The Dream Matchup Seven years later, unbeaten and No. 1 Alabama and unbeaten and No. 3 Notre Dame finally had their first opportunity to play each other in the Sugar Bowl, a contest that Bryant referred to as the ���biggest game in the South���s history.��� The Crimson Tide was installed as a sevenpoint favorite. A case can be made that it was the greatest championship game ever played in football because of the seven lead changes that occurred before the Irish prevailed, 24-23. Gracious in defeat, Bryant visited the jubilant Notre Dame locker room to congratulate the victors and to personally shake the hand of quarterback Tom Clements, who ran for 74 yards and also completed 7 of 12 passes for 169 yards, highlighted by the 35yard pass completion to Robin Weber from his own end zone with 1:56 left to help seal the verdict. One of the interesting aspects to this game is that the UPI (or the coaches poll) had already voted Alabama as the 1973 national title which awards the MacArthur Bowl. ���We received national championship rings, and that was nice,��� 1973 Alabama All-American receiver Wayne Wheeler told The New York Times��� Bill Pennington this month. ���But we knew the Sugar Bowl was the national championship.��� Therein lies the root of some debates about who has more national Notre Dame-Alabama All-Time Results Dec. 31, 1973 (Sugar Bowl) Jan. 1, 1975 (Orange Bowl) Nov. 13, 1976 Nov. 15, 1980 Oct. 4, 1986 Nov. 14, 1987 Jan. 7, 2013 winner because it didn���t vote after bowls. Notre Dame is recognized as the ���consensus��� national champion of 1973 because it finished No. 1 in the other three NCAA-recognized outlets: the Associated Press, which began to vote after bowl games starting in 1968; the Football Writers Association of America, which awards the Grantland Rice Trophy; and the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, Notre Dame 24, Alabama 23 Notre Dame 13, Alabama 11 Notre Dame 21, Alabama 18 Notre Dame 7, Alabama 0 Alabama 28, Notre Dame 10 Notre Dame 37, Alabama 6 ? titles, Notre Dame or Alabama. How can the Crimson Tide truly claim 1973 as a national title year when it lost the game that decided it? Perhaps not coincidentally, the coaches��� poll never again voted for the national champion prior to a bowl game. One For Ara The following year, 1974, Alabama was 11-0 again and eager to avenge the previous year���s loss to Notre