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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/stayclassypeople on 2024-07-25 02:26:15+00:00.

*Due to a 5AM flight tomorrow, I’m releasing this post tonight rather than tomorrow morning.

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

1973

This is the 24th and final 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.

Note: I will be doing an addendum post to this series sometime next week.

If you didn’t catch it last year, below is a link to my series covering the 1974-1997 seasons.

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

  • Preseason No. 1: USC
  • The Memphis Tigers left the Missouri Valley to become an independent
  • UC Santa Barbara dropped it’s football program.
  • Bowl Tie-ins
    • Rose: Pac 8 and Big 10 champs
    • Sugar: An SEC team (unofficially)
    • Cotton: SWC Champ
    • Orange: Big 8 champ
      • Oklahoma ineligible due to NCAA violations
      • The Big 8 champ could turn down the Orange Bowl invite

1973 is the final year where the the Coaches Poll released it’s final poll before the bowl games. Events playing out in the bowls this year would be what helped push it to release a post bowl rankings, joining the AP, who had been doing so permanently since 1968.

Big Games

  • Sept 29th

    • No. 1 USC (2-0) played No. 8 Oklahoma (1-0) to a 7-7 draw in LA. The tie dropped the Trojans to No. 4 in the following polls.
    • No. 14 Texas beat Texas Tech 28-12. This game would prove to be the de facto SWC title game and be the Red Raiders only loss of the season.

  • Oct 13th

    • NR. Missouri upset No. 2 Nebraska 13-12. The Huskers would draw and lose another game down the stretch.

  • Oct 20th

    • No. 2 Alabama secured an important SEC win over rival No. 10 Tennessee, 42-21.

  • Oct 27th

    • No. 6 USC (5-0-1) fell to No. 8 Notre Dame (5-0) in South Bend. The Irish moved to 5th in the ensuing polls.

  • Nov 22nd

    • No. 2 Alabama vs No. 7. LSU (both 9-0). This game was not only a de facto SEC title game (assuming both teams took care of business after) but also a national title elimination game. With 7 unbeaten teams remaining, a loss would likely be too much to overcome in the race for No. 1. The Tide were too much for the Tigers in a 21-7 win.

  • Nov 24th

  • This was the final weekend of the season for many teams, while others would have one more game to go the following week. There was a logjam of unbeatens: No. 1 Ohio St, 2. Alabama, 3. Oklahoma, 4. Michigan, 5. Notre Dame, 6. Penn St, and 7. LSU. Four of these teams would meet on the field in the next two weeks, (Alabama vs LSU in Birmingham and Ohio St vs Michigan in Ann Arbor) meaning at least two teams would fall from the ranks of the unbeaten.

    • No. 1 Ohio St (9-0) vs No. 4 Michigan (10-0)
      • The 10 year war continued, and once again, the Big 10 title and national title hopes on the line. Ohio St led 10-0 at the half before Michigan rallied in the 4th to tie it at 10-10.  This resulted in both teams tying for 1st place in the Big 10.
      • But who to give the Rose Bowl bid to?  Up until 1971, the Big 10 had a no repeat rule disallowing a school from playing in back to back Rose Bowls.  This rule would have disqualified Ohio State in favor of Michigan but with the rule being abolished, it came down to a vote from conference athletic directors. The vote went to Ohio St.  To put it nicely, Michigan’s Bo Schembechler took the news . . . not so well. In his 1989 biography, he argued “the Big Ten was nervous because the conference had lost the previous four Rose Bowls, and Michigan QB Ben Franklin’s injury late in the game, may have been a deciding factor.  Whether that was the logic or not, Ohio St was smelling Roses, and since the Big 10 only allowed the Rose Bowl team to play in the postseason, Michigan’s season was over.   The tie ultimately cost both teams a shot at finishing #1 in the Coaches poll.

  • Nov 26th

    • Alabama moved to No. 1 in the following Monday’s polls, followed by unbeaten Oklahoma, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Penn St. Michigan and Ohio St’s seasons were over, meaning it was unlikely either would move to number 1 in the final regular season polls, barring losses by Alabama and Oklahoma. With Oklahoma being once tied and behind the Alabama in the polls, the Tide appeared to control their destiny for a national title.
    • No. 6 Penn St (10-0) vs No. 20 Pittsburgh. Joe Pa had the Nittany Lions unbeaten once again but buried in the polls behind 5 other unbeaten teams. Penn St rocked Pitt 35-13, securing a perfect 11-0 regular season

  • Dec 1st

    • No. 1 Alabama (10-0) vs Auburn (5-5). After last season’s punt Bama Punt fiasco, Coach Bear and company put the hurt on Auburn with a 35-0 waxing. Unless the pollsters had a change of heart, they were almost certainly going to finish no. 1 in the polls.
    • No. 2 Oklahoma rolled Oklahoma St 45-18. Due to NCAA violations, this would be their final game of the season. Their championship hopes were now in the hands of voters, and to be frank, the odds weren’t great.
    • No. 3 Notre Dame finished a perfect 10-0 with an easy 44-0 win over Miami. With Alabama’s win in the Iron Bowl, they would not have a chance at a No. 1 Coaches poll ranking. They would still get their chance in the AP, as they accepted a bid to the Sugar to challenge Alabama for the AP crown.

Final Regular Season Polls

Team Record AP Rank Coaches rank Bowl
Alabama 11-0 1 (34) 1 (21) Sugar
Oklahoma 10-0-1 2 (16) 2 (9) none
Notre Dame 10-0 3 (2) 4 (1) Sugar
Ohio St 9–0-1 4 (2) 3 (2) Rose
Michigan 10-0-1 5 (1) 6 (1) none
Penn St 11-0 6 (3) 5 Orange
USC 9-1-1 7 7 Rose
Texas 8-2 8 8 Cotton
  • With Oklahoma being ineligible for the postseason, the Orange bowl was not obligated to invite a Big 8 team. They instead chose at large teams Penn St and LSU
  • No. 15 Miami (OH) finished a perfect 10-0, winning the MAC. They would go onto beat Florida 16-7 in the Tangerine Bowl
  • No. 9 Arizona St won the WAC, finishing 10-1, only losing to Utah mid season. They would go onto route Pitt in the Fiesta Bowl.
  • No. 16 North Carolina St won the ACC, finishing 8-3 on the season. They would Kansas in the Liberty bowl.
  • Iowa finished 0-11. Haha

Talk about a perfect year for a six team playoff. Six teams finished undefeated and three were perfect, yet only one team was a clear number 1. Alabama took the lionshare of 1st place votes in each poll, with once tied Oklahoma stealing a decent amount. In a year of so many unbeatens, why was Alabama the easy choice? Lets examine:

  • Penn St played arguably the weakest schedule of the bunch, with only one opponent ranked at the time they played them.
  • Ohio St and Michigan played no ranked teams other than each other, where they tied. Had OSU won, it’s likely they finish no. 1 in at least one poll. Michigan, who was ranked 4th at the time, would’ve been a tough call for the voters too.
  • Oklahoma played a solid schedule, beating five ranked teams during the season, more than anyone of the teams below them, but when compared to Alabama, their tie was too much to overlook
  • Notre Dame had a decent gripe that they should be no worse than no. 2, if not no. 1. They beat 2 ranked teams and one was USC (by 9), whom Oklahoma tied.
  • Finally, Alabama at No. 1 beat top 10 Tennessee and LSU. These ranked wins were a little more impressive than Notre Dame’s, and again, unlike OU, they were perfect.

The bowl match ups would at least allow for some clarity over who was most deserving of the AP crown. Notre Dame accepted a bid to take on no. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. With Oklahoma idle, this game felt like a de facto national title. Alabama obviously stays no. 1 with a win and Notre Dame would be a good bet to leapfrog them and the Sooners for the AP’s top spot should they win.

Ohio State had a chance to finish undefeated in a revenge game vs USC, but odds were highly unlikely they’d jump either Sugar bowl team, even if they tied. Penn…

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