Notre Dame 11-2 Finish Would Be A First
Once upon a time, two-loss regular seasons for the Notre Dame football team still received huge respect in the Associated Press poll, which began in 1936.
• The 1942 team, which played a rare 11 games back then, finished 7-2-2 — yet still placed No. 6 in the final AP rankings. Could you ever see coming out on top in only seven of 11 games and getting rated that high?
• In 1952, head coach Frank Leahy’s Fighting Irish were 7-2-1 but finished No. 3. Could you ever envision any team ever today not winning seven of its 10 contests but still slotted at No. 3 in the country?
That’s because that ’52 edition defeated four conference champions or co-champs: Oklahoma (Big 8), Texas (Southwest), Purdue (Big Ten) and USC (Pacific Coast).
Under head coach Ara Parseghian, Notre Dame finished 8-2 (1967), 7-2-1 (1968) and 8-2-1 (1969) in three consecutive years — and its final ranking each time in the AP was No. 5. And that was while never defeating either Purdue or USC, which were classified as “the big ones” on the Fighting Irish schedule.
Moreover, the Irish actually were 8-1-1 and ranked No. 9 at the end of the 1969 regular season but still matched up with No. 1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl. Because the Longhorns needed an 11th-hour drive to defeat Notre Dame 21-17, the Irish actually vaulted from No. 9 to No. 5 with a final 8-2-1 record.
Again, could you ever see that happening in today’s poll?
This year’s 10-2 regular season marks only the third time ever the Fighting Irish finished with that mark before a bowl game. In the two previous cases, Notre Dame entered the bowl scene ranked No. 11 in the AP.
The first was in 2002 under first-year head coach Tyrone Willingham. Following an 8-0 start that elevated them to a No. 4 placement, the Irish sputtered to a 2-2 finish in the regular season. Boston College pulled of a 14-7 upset and then the Irish were throttled 44-13 at USC.
Consequently, Notre Dame was invited to the Gator Bowl, where a 28-6 defeat to North Carolina State resulted in a No. 17 finish at 10-3.
The second occurred in 2006 with second-year head coach Charlie Weis. Notre Dame was 10-1 and No. 6 entering the regular season finale at USC, with the lone setback a 47-21 defeat to Michigan. But a 44-24 loss at USC again in the regular season finale dropped it to No. 11, just like in 2002.
And then a 41-14 dismantling in the Sugar Bowl by LSU led to a No. 17 final ranked at 10-3 — just like in 2002 again.
This year Notre Dame is No. 14 in the AP poll (No. 15 in College Football Playoff), but a victory in the bowl game to improve to 11-2 — a first such ledger in the program's annals — could lead to a final AP Top 10 ranking for the third time in head coach Brian Kelly’s 10 seasons, with No. 11 finishes mixed in at the end of 2015 and 2017.
As a program begins to grow and prosper and a fourth 10-win season in five years has been achieved, 11 victories soon could become "the new 10."
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