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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/stayclassypeople on 2024-07-21 14:16:32+00:00.

There is no official standard because there is no official national champion. It all depends on the standard the school wishes to utilize. The national champion is in the eye of the beholder."

— Kent Stephens, historian

1970

This is the 21st post in a series covering the 1950-1973 seasons. Each year I will cover the big games the shaped the race for #1 and how they performed in the bowls. Season by season you’ll see the gradual evolution of how college football went from a regular season only sport into a game into a sport where bowls would become national championship events. This is my amateur attempt at understanding college football’s bizarre journey in declaring who is #1.

Master Post (check out prior seasons here)

A Brief History of the bowls and Polls

https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/1dkhvs5/a_brief_history_of_the_bowls_and_polls/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

News & Notes

  • The 1970 season was marked by two major tragedies. On Oct 14th, Wichita State’s team plane crashed on way to a game vs Utah St, killing 31 on board, including 14 players. On November 14th, Marshall’s team played crashed on the way home from a game vs East Carolina, killing all 75 aboard the plane.
  • The NCAA began allowing teams to play 11 games per season. Teams were not required to play 11 games, however.
  • Boise moved up from the NAIA to the Big Sky conference. The Big Sky was apart of college football’s biggest division at the present time, but would eventually become apart of the IAA (FCS) subdivision in 1978
  • Cal State Fullerton established it’s program and joined the CCAA. The Program would eventually fold in 1992 due to financial constraints.
  • Northern Arizona joined the 8 Big Sky
  • Cincinnati left the Missouri Valley to become an independent.
  • Bowl Tie Ins
    • Rose: BIG 10 and PAC 8 champs
      • Michigan barred in this season due to the Big 10’s no repeat rule
    • Sugar: An SEC team
    • Cotton: SWC champ
    • Orange: Big 8 champ
  • Preseason No. 1: Texas

Big Games

  • No. 10 Stanford stunned No. 4 Arkansas 34-28.

  • Sept 19th

    • No. 3 USC ties No. 9 Nebraska at 21.

  • Sept 26th

    • No. 17 Tennessee lost their only game of the season, 23-36, at the hands of Auburn
    • No. 4 Penn St saw it’s two year unbeaten streak end with an ugly 41-13 loss to Colorado. The would finish the year 7-3.

  • Oct 26th:

    • Texas jumps Ohio St for No. 1 in the AP Poll

  • Nov 9th:

    • Notre Dame moved to No. 1 in the AP Poll, followed by Texas and OSU.

  • Nov 16th.

    • There were still 5 unbeaten teams. Texas regained No. 1 in the AP poll, followed by Notre Dame, Nebraska, Michigan, and OSU.

  • Nov 21

    • No. 4 Michigan (9-0) vs No. 5 Ohio St (8-0). The 10 year war: Part 2. Last season, the Wolverines denied the Buckeyes both a national title and Rose Bowl bid in ‘The Game.’ The game was national champion elimination game. Both teams trailed unbeaten Texas, OSU, and Nebraska in the polls, but there was a lot of football to be played yet. Michigan was not eligible for the Rose Bowl, due to the Big 10’s ‘no-repeat’ rule, but a big win here would make them hard to ignore. Interestingly, OSU had not secured a Rose Bowl bid yet. Lose here, and they would finish tied with Northwestern in the standings. Typically the Big 10 gave the bid to the team with a longer drought in the Rose, so NW would potentially get the spot.
    • The Buckeyes got sweet revenge with a 20-9 victory. At worst they were going to Pasadena, but a No. 1 ranking was a very real possibility.
    • No. 3 Nebraska (8-0-1) capped off an unbeaten season with a 28-21 victory in a de facto Big 8 title game vs Oklahoma. There hopes for No.1 in the Coaches poll were essentially nil with OSU having already competed a perfect season. Their hopes still remained in the Coaches Poll.

  • Nov 23rd:

    • The unbeaten Irish fell to No. 4 behind Nebraska and OSU

  • Nov 28th

    • No 4 Notre Dame (9-0) at USC (5-4-1). The Irish had a murky path to No. 1. They would need to win here, beat the SWC champ in the Cotton Bowl, where they had already accepted a bid to, have Ohio St get knocked off in the Rose and preferably Nebraska lose in the Orange, although, it’s not unreasonable to think they could jump Nebraska in the polls either way. Notre Dame did not complete their part of the equation as USC shocked them with a 38-28 upset.

  • Dec 5th

    • No. 1 Texas (9-0) vs No. 4 Arkansas. (9-1). The Horns and Razorbacks once again would decide the SWC crown and Cotton Bowl bid in their final game of the regular season. The Horns had more on their mind than just that. Win here and they are almost certainly back to back national champs. Not to mention, it would be their 30th straight win. Lose and No. 2 Ohio St instead is likely your No.1 team for the 2nd time in three years. Texas made this battle much less suspenseful than last year, thrashing the Hogs 42-7.

Regular Season Polls

Bold=conference champs

(…)=first place votes

Team Record AP Final Coaches Bowl
Texas 10-0 1 (30) 1 (25) Cotton
Ohio St 9-0 2 (10) 2 (6) Rose
Nebraska 10-0-1 3 (2) 3 (2) Orange
Tennessee 10-1 4 4 Sugar
LSU 9-2 5 6 Orange
Notre Dame 9-1 6 5 Cotton
Michigan 9-1 7 7 none
Arizona St 10-0 8 (2) 8 Peach
  • Toledo finished a perfect 11-0. The WAC champs were invited to the Tangerine bowl, where they would beat William & Mary 40-12.
  • Wake Forrest won the ACC with a 6-5 record. They went 1-4 out of conference and were not invited to a bowl
  • No. 14 Dartmouth finished 9-0. Ivy teams were not allowed to play in post season games
  • Arizona St went finished 10-0, but failed to break into the top 5. The WAC champs would route North Carolina in the Peach Bowl, 48-26

The Longhorns were back to back national champs! At least according to the AP poll. They would be able to control their own destiny for a consensus crown by taking care of Notre Dame again in a Cotton Bowl rematch. Elsewhere, none of the unbeaten teams were playing each other. No. 2 Ohio St would be playing a three loss Stanford team in the Rose, and No. 3 Nebraska would challenge No. 5 LSU in the Orange. No. 5 Tennessee wasn’t out of the national title race either. They were off to the Sugar Bowl, where a win, coupled with losses by Texas, Ohio St, and Nebraska could elevate them to No. 1. Notre Dame could also steal a national title in this scenario as well. Six teams had national title hopes, playing in four different bowl games.

Sugar Bowl: Jan 1, 12pm CST: No. 4 Tennessee (10-1) vs No. 11 Air Force (9-2)

Tennessee’s path to #1 was murky at best.  What was clear is that they would need Texas, Ohio St and Nebraska to all lose their respective bowls to have a shot.  What wasn’t clear was whether the AP voters would anoint them No. 1 over team like Notre Dame and LSU who would have better wins (over #1 Texas and #3 Nebraska) in that scenario.  The Falcons, which represents the nation’s weakest, softest branch (GO ARMY!) were no match for the Vols who raced out to a 24-0 lead and cruised to a 34-13 route.  Being first major bowl result going final, meant they would now be anxiously tuning into the remaining 3 games to find out their fate.

Cotton Bowl, Jan 1, 1pm CST No. 1 Texas (10-0) vs No. 6 Notre Dame (9-1)

This was a rematch of the 1970 Cotton bowl where Texas secured a 21-17 victory over Notre Dame to secure a unanimous national title.  They would need to do it again to claim back to back consensus national titles.  If not for an upset at the hands of USC in their final regular season game, Notre Dame would have come into this game No.2, creating a de facto national title.  While Texas fully controlled the race for the AP’s top spot, Notre Dame’s hopes were less clear.  They would need losses by Ohio St and Nebraska at a minimum.  They would then need the voters to leapfrog them over LSU and Tennessee (if they won).  I think this would be likely, given that ending No. 1 defending champ Texas’ 30 game win streak would likely be convincing.  

The Irish came to play. After spotting the Horns an early FG, Joe Theismann tossed a 26 yard TD pass and added a rushing TD to give the Irish a 14-3 lead. Theismann added his 3rd TD of the day on a 2nd quarter 15 yard scamper, making it 21-3. Texas’ Jim Bertleson scored from 2 yards out to cut the lead to 21-11, but Notre Dame countered with a FG before half, making it 24-11. Notre Dame held the Longhorns Wishbone offense in check the rest in a scoreless 2nd half. The Horns 30 game win streak and AP national title hopes were over. Notre Dame’s slim title hopes remained, but they’d have to tune into the Orange Bowl that evening and root for LSU to help keep them alive.

Rose Bowl No. 2 Ohio St (9-0) vs No. 12 Stanford (8-3)

The Buckeyes would not h…

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