This series is looking at past Notre Dame football National Championship seasons and imagining how things would have finished if a college football playoff system was in place at the time. We already looked at the 1973 title and today we look at Dan Devine’s lone championship from 1977 following an early season stumble.
Buckle up for some major changes to the post-season format.
Pre-Season Top 4
#1 Oklahoma
#2 Michigan
#3 Notre Dame
#4 USC
The Sooners were heading into Barry Switzer’s 5th season in Norman, a couple years removed from his back-to-back National Titles but coming off a disappointing 1976 that saw them lose twice and tie another. Michigan spent most of ’76 as the No. 1 team in the country before a huge upset at Purdue, and as per tradition, a loss in the Rose Bowl to USC. Those Trojans opened ’76 with a loss to Missouri but ran the table while narrowly missing out on a ring. The Irish were coming off a slightly disappointing year with 3 losses, including to unranked Georgia Tech and to USC in the regular season finale but were loaded with experienced seniors.
Do We Need Expansion to Fit in Notre Dame?
YES! An insane amount of teams would have an argument to make a playoff of any variety. Seven teams from power conferences would finish with 1-loss at the end of the regular season. In reality, this would’ve been a case of all hell breaking loose late in the season.
Drama Level: 8/10
1977 was one of those years where a National Champion would’ve been fairly awarded after the regular season but with a post-season a playoff scenario would’ve been really fun, too. That’s why we’re here today.
September
Oklahoma escaped with a 2-point win against Vanderbilt in their opener and were dropped to No. 5 the following week. The Sooners would finish September with a huge 1-point win on the road at No. 4 Ohio State to move back to the top spot in the country.
Michigan remained unbeaten and moved into the top spot until OU grabbed it back. Notre Dame opened with a big win over No. 7 Pitt but then lost a head scratcher on the road at Ole Miss to fall out of the top 10. USC won all 3 of their games in September and became the No. 2 team. Penn State rose 9 spots on the strength of a sound beating of No. 9 Houston.
New top 4: 1) Oklahoma, 2) USC, 3) Michigan, 4) Penn State
October
This month was defined by unranked Texas rising to No. 5 by the time of the Red River Rivalry following a combined 184-15 scoreline in their first 3 games with this guy named Earl Campbell at running back. They’d beat Oklahoma 13-6, ranked Arkansas the following week, and finished the month with a win over ranked Texas Tech.
USC had a rough October featuring a 1-point loss to No. 7 Alabama, a blowout loss to Notre Dame (the fabled “Green Jersey Game”), and a close loss in Berkeley to California. That win for the Irish jumped the good guys back up to No. 5 in the country. A pair of other teams would trip up, as well. First, Michigan was shut out 16-0 at Minnesota and Penn State lost by 4 points to Kentucky.
New top 4: 1) Texas, 2) Alabama, 3) Oklahoma, 4) Ohio State
November
Texas never looked back during the regular season cruising through the last month culminating in a 29-point demolition in College Station against A&M. The Sooners stayed in the mix shaking off their loss to Texas and won the rest of their games, including a 31-point win against No. 11 Nebraska in their finale.
Alabama remained steady. They’d lost in Lincoln back in week 2 but used their big win over USC to finish with 9 straight victories featuring a win in Death Valley, a 36-0 shutout of Miami, and 27-point win in the Iron Bowl. Michigan ended up only having their one defeat and took out Ohio State in The Game.
New top 4: 1) Texas, 2) Oklahoma, 3) Alabama, 4) Michigan
What If There Were Conference Title Games?
ACC – #14 UNC (8-2-1) vs. #11 Clemson (8-2-1)
These teams tied in the regular season so this is actually a fun re-match in an era without divisions. I like North Carolina to win this mostly because Clemson had a tough November with a close loss to Notre Dame and a draining win over rival South Carolina.
Big Eight – #2 Oklahoma (10-1) vs. Iowa State (8-3)
The Sooners won this game in late October by 19 points and surely wouldn’t drop it for a league championship trophy.
Big Ten – #4 Michigan (10-1) vs. #9 Ohio State (9-2)
This project is way too fun not to predict Michigan flopping on the biggest stage. A week after beating Ohio State 14-6, they lose the more important re-match and are left out of the playoffs.
Pac-8 – #13 Washington (7-4) vs. Stanford (8-3)
The Huskies dominated this game in mid-October and breeze to a conference title in a really weak year out west.
SEC – #3 Alabama (10-1) vs. Auburn (6-5)
This is a fun one. This should’ve been a game between Bama and Kentucky in a top 10 matchup when the school’s didn’t face each other during the regular season as the SEC was already bloated to 10 teams in a 7-game season. Except, Kentucky was ineligible for the post-season and 3rd place Auburn (who went 1-4 outside of the SEC) slots in after losing to Alabama by 27 points the prior week. Roll Tide.
Southwest – #1 Texas (11-0) vs. #6 Arkansas (10-1)
This was the season that showed off Lou Holtz’ promise for Notre Dame a decade later. In his first season with the Hogs he beat everyone except Texas. I’d predict an upset here for fun but the history of what happened to Texas later in the post-season is too much to replace.
New York Six Bowls & Playoffs
*We’ll use the 2019-20 bowl system for placement but expand the bowls to use all but the Orange and Sugar Bowls as part of an 8-team playoff.
Peach Bowl: #1 Texas vs #8 San Diego State
Fiesta Bowl: #2 Oklahoma vs #7 Washington
Cotton Bowl: #3 Alabama vs. #6 North Carolina
Rose Bowl: #4 Ohio State vs. #5 Notre Dame
Orange Bowl: #9 Penn State vs. #12 Michigan
Sugar Bowl: #10 Nebraska vs. #11 Arkansas
SDSU had a nice little season–and even demolished ranked Florida State–but they surely would’ve been grinded into pulp by Texas. Unfortunately, this playoff format where a non-Power program gets an at-large spot would’ve left out 10-1 Penn State. Hey, I don’t make the rules. Actually, I do! Sorry PSU you’re left out.
Similarly, Oklahoma should roll over a decent but absolutely not challenging Pac-8 champion in Washington.
I actually believe UNC could scare Alabama but the Tide would prevail. For the second time in our series, Notre Dame would meet Ohio State in the playoffs and the Irish move on.
This would’ve brought up a Texas vs. Notre Dame semi-final matchup which ironically happened to be the Cotton Bowl that year in real life, with both sides in the same #1 vs. #5 matchup. That was one of the best wins in Irish history.
I like the feeling of Notre Dame meeting Oklahoma for all the marbles. The two programs had a short but rich history through the late 60’s but didn’t play for 30 years until 1999. This matchup in ’77 would have been another gem in the series as the Irish fight for a National Championship.
