This series will look at past Notre Dame football National Championship seasons and imagine how things would have finished if a college football playoff system was in place at the time. Remember when we used to live in a time when people believed there as no way a playoff would ever happen? Let’s jump back into a time machine and see what happens. First up is the 1973 season and one of the most important campaigns for modern college football.
Pre-Season Top 4
#1 USC
#2 Ohio State
#3 Texas
#4 Nebraska
The Trojans were defending National Champions coming off a 42-17 thrashing of Ohio State in the Rose Bowl to kickoff the New Year on January 1st. Texas was coming off a strong 1-loss season and impressive Cotton Bowl win over Alabama. The Cornhuskers came in for the pre-season 4th which is where they finished in 1972 following a complete 40-6 dismantling of Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl.
Where Was Notre Dame?
The Irish came in a respectable 8th for the pre-season considering the aforementioned ending to the previous year in what would be Parseghian’s worst loss at Notre Dame. That poor ending also included a 22-point loss in Los Angeles to the champion Trojans in a game USC running back Anthony Davis scored 6 touchdowns.
However, the Irish were absolutely loaded in 1973 featuring an absurd 10 players that would make our 18 Stripes Hall of Fame Pyramid when our list was published in 2019.
Do We Need Expansion to Fit in Notre Dame?
No, Notre Dame would comfortably make a 4-team playoff in 1973. A couple other blue-blood programs would feel hard done by missing out, though.
Drama Level: 9.5/10
Using our modern sensibilities this season would have been out of control crazy to experience with a 4-team playoff awaiting after the regular season. There were 6 major programs that finished the regular season unbeaten. SIX!
September
USC cruised in their first two games but tied Oklahoma at home on September 29th. Ohio State blew out a pair of opponents while Texas lost their opener at Miami. Meanwhile, Nebraska posted 2 big wins in September. Notre Dame cruised in their first two games, as well.
New top 4: 1) Ohio State 2) Nebraska 3) Alabama 4) USC
October
Ohio State looked phenomenal outscoring opponents 148-10 during this month. Nebraska faltered in a 1-point loss at Missouri, scraped past Kansas by 1-point the next week, then tied Oklahoma State. Down south, Alabama took out Florida and Tennessee in big rivalry games. October finished with Notre Dame beating USC 23-14 effectively pushing the Trojans out of the championship picture after week 8 as pre-season favorites.
New top 4: 1) Ohio State 2) Alabama 3) Oklahoma 4) Michigan
November
Michigan had beaten only 2 teams that would finish with winning records through October but were one spot ahead of Notre Dame heading into November.
Ohio State continued to roll through November before finishing the season in a 10-10 with the Wolverines. We witnessed Alabama breeze to an undefeated regular season with a close-ish 21-7 win at Death Valley the only minor nuisance they faced.
Oklahoma’s tie with USC looked impressive until the Trojans loss to Notre Dame. But, the Sooners would go on to destroy several ranked teams throughout the year and finish 10-0-1. Michigan didn’t play any winning teams in November until the fateful tie with Ohio State.
Notre Dame was not challenged in November and finished 10-0.
New top 4: 1) Alabama 2) Oklahoma 3) Notre Dame 4) Ohio State
What If There Were Conference Title Games?
ACC – NC State (#16, 8-3) coached by a fellow named Lou Holtz would’ve faced Maryland (#18, 8-3) in a re-match of a 2-point victory by the Wolfpack in week 5. Holtz went unbeaten in the ACC for this year so we’re not going to take away a title here. NC State wins.
Big Eight – Oklahoma was on probation and serving a post-season ban for 1973 so this would’ve shaken up the playoffs and league title races. This would allow Nebraska (#12, 8-2-1) to lose to the Sooners 27-0 in the regular season finale but still make the Big Eight Championship against Kansas (#19, 7-3-1). The Jayhawks did lose by just a point to Nebraska in week 6 but I imagine Nebraska was in a foul mood after their Oklahoma loss. Nebraska wins.
Big Ten – Ohio State (#4, 9-0-1) would immediately have a re-match with Michigan (#5, 10-0-1) effectively rendering their previous game null especially since it was a tie. Of course, Michigan isn’t winning this big game. Ohio State wins.
Pac-8 – Here the Trojans of USC (#7, 9-1-1) would give us another regular season finale re-match against UCLA (#12, 9-2) after the Bruins’ 10-point loss. No one beats Mark Harmon of NCIS fame twice in a row! UCLA wins.
SEC – The country’s top-ranked team Alabama (#1, 11-0) would face LSU (#13, 9-2) for the second time in 3 weeks. Alabama wins, they were above everyone in the SEC this season.
Southwest – Texas (#8, 8-2) went unbeaten in conference play and handed Texas Tech (#11, 10-1) their only loss. They played way back in week 2 and the Red Raiders get their revenge. Texas Tech wins.
New York Six Bowls & Playoffs
*We’ll use the 2019-20 bowl system for placement.
Peach Bowl: #1 Alabama vs #4 Penn State
Fiesta Bowl: #2 Ohio State vs #3 Notre Dame
Cotton Bowl: #7 Texas Tech vs. #9 Arizona State
Orange Bowl: #11 NC State vs. #15 Miami (OH)
Rose Bowl: #5 UCLA vs. #6 Michigan
Sugar Bowl: #16 LSU vs. #8 Nebraska
If this season actually played out like this in our simulation it’s about as good of an example as any on why conference title games are bad for conferences.
Alabama and Ohio State are forced to beat teams again they just beat in the regular season. USC and Texas lost out on major bowl games after failing to beat rivals for a second time. Meanwhile, this all allowed independent Penn State (11-0) to move up from 6th and into the playoffs thanks to Michigan’s collapse and Oklahoma’s probation.
Two independents in the playoffs, baby!
This was the end of Joe Paterno’s first mini-dynasty era at Penn State that saw him go 62-6 from 1968-73 and an incredible 3rd undefeated season (they beat LSU in the Orange Bowl for 1973 in real life) without a National Championship. 1973 also saw the Nittany Lions pick up their first Heisman in John Cappeletti who rushed for 1,522 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Penn State would’ve been a real tough matchup for Alabama. They had defeated NC State and Maryland late in the season, although their schedule was far from overwhelming overall.
Ohio State would be a major problem for Notre Dame in the semi-finals. These two programs faced the same 3 teams in 1973 and Ohio State out-scored those opponents 137-21 while Notre Dame out-scored them 87-31.
Of course, we know Notre Dame ultimately beat Alabama by 1-point to win the National Championship but this could’ve been one of the best playoffs in history. Using our simulation, the 4 teams were a combined 43-0-1 going into the playoffs and all non-Notre Dame teams would go home real unhappy without a title.
Well, shucks and golly, you would pick my all time favorite Natty and one I was at, along with my dad (ND ’36). And it was New Year’s Eve in New Orleans. And against a really really good Alabama team. It doesn’t get any better than that, but since you insist:
I do believe we beat Ohio State, they ran up some points that we didn’t, and I remember the Michigan game, I was not that impressed. So, especially since my dad roomed next to Bill Shakespeare who beat the Buckeyes in 1936 I think we prevail, and go on to replicate the game that actually happened.
So there.
But the whole idea of this series is tons of fun, thanks!
Very cool!
That Ohio St. team was loaded with tOSU all time greats. They didn’t really run up scores as much as the opposition didn’t score. (6 pts. against per game avg.) Besides the Mich. tie(which wouldn’t happen now) their next closest game was a 21 pt. win vs. USC in the Rose Bowl. The only time a team scored more than one TD against them. Their offense was one dimensional but so powerful.
Penn St. was an independent back then and their reputation suffered from playing “eastern” football. Programs like Navy, Army, Syracuse, UWV, and Pitt were not looked at with much respect at that time. Nor were the ACC schools compared to other parts of the country. In the next few years PSU would prove that theory incorrect or at least that they were a cut above the rest of the east.
I remember rooting for UCLA and Harmon (Tom’s kid) vs. USC. UCLA was over matched and I doubt very much they would have won in a rematch. Remember that USC team had Haden, Swann and Davis. Harmon was not a passer (13-30 for the year). Certainly they weren’t coming from behind.
Great idea for a series Eric……Who’s going to win the Cup?
I haven’t watched a second of the playoffs 🙁
My $ is on Dallas or Tampa
’73-’74 was my senior year (sadly, I didn’t make it to the NC game). However, I wanted to echo the comment about Penn State’s reputation. Although they eventually showed that they could play with the big boys, at this time, their schedule was a consistent joke. Despite what they did later on, allowing them into any playoff in this era would have been a travesty.
You’ve got to earn respect before you get it. And no one really respected the Nittany Lions at this time. I don’t recall it being even controversial that they weren’t given a chance to play for the National Championship.
Are you going to review seasons in which ND was in the to echelon too, like during the Holtz years?
It’s possible, 1993 was requested immediately.