Notre Dame-Clemson: 10 To 1 College Football Playoff Countdown
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10 Major bowl wins by Notre Dame in the 24 years from 1970 (the year after it rescinded its non-bowl policy) through 1993. That was the most in the country over that span. In the 24 years thereafter (1994-2017), the Fighting Irish have produced zero major bowl wins.
Perfect timing to begin a new 24-year cycle of glory from 2018-2041.
9 The Fighting Irish are seeking their ninth all-time victory in a bowl game versus an unbeaten opponent, and a first against one that is 13-0.
Notre Dame owns a remarkable 8-2 record in such encounters, with victories against 7-0-1 Stanford in the 1925 Rose Bowl (27-10), 10-0 Texas in the 1971 Cotton (24-11), 11-0 Alabama in the 1973 Sugar (24-23) and 1975 Orange (13-11), 11-0 Texas in the 1978 Cotton (38-10), 11-0 West Virginia in the 1989 Fiesta (34-21), 11-0 Colorado in the 1990 Orange (21-6), and 12-0 Texas A&M in the 1993 Cotton (28-3).
The two defeats were to 10-0 Texas in the 1970 Cotton (21-17) and 11-0 Georgia in the 1981 Sugar (17-10).
8 Notre Dame will look to avoid an eighth consecutive major bowl loss since the 1994 season. Adding to the woe is the seven previous defeats have come by an average of 20 points, and in the last five since the turn of the century, the Fighting Irish were ahead only 2:57 out of a possible 300 minutes.
7 Previous Cotton Bowl appearances made by Notre Dame in its history. It is the single most-played bowl — major or otherwise — in school history and easily the one with the most victories (5-2). In no other bowl have the Fighting Irish won more than twice.
This featured conquests of No. 1 Texas in both the 1971 (24-11) and 1978 (38-10) Cotton Bowls, the latter to capture the national title. It also had the greatest comeback game in school history versus Houston in 1979 (35-34), and then back-to-back wins versus Texas A&M teams in 1993-94 that entered the contest with a combined 22-1 ledger.
The Cotton Bowl has been so good to Notre Dame that even in the most recent defeat there, 35-10 to Texas A&M on Jan. 1, 1988, it served as an impetus to capturing the national championship 12 months later.
6 Victories by Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl if it defeats the Tigers. That would place the Fighting Irish alone in second place all time for most victories in the fifth-oldest bowl game, one that began in 1937. Only Texas with 11 has more (11-10-1 overall), and that was mainly because the Longhorns were constant representatives there as the home team and champions of the now defunct Southwest Conference back in the day.
Currently, Notre Dame is tied with Texas A&M (5-8-1 overall) for second place with most wins.
5 This season marks the fifth time Notre Dame enters a major bowl with an unblemished record in its 37-game postseason history (18-18 overall). The others were the 1925 Rose Bowl, 1973 Sugar Bowl and 1989 Fiesta Bowl — in which it clinched the national title in all three with victories — and the 2013 BCS Championship loss to Alabama.
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4 Clemson’s fourth consecutive appearance in the five-year history of the College Football Playoff. Only Alabama, which has been in it all five years, has more. The Tigers own a 3-2 record in the CFP, winning it all in 2016, but they lost 24-6 last year in the semifinal to the Crimson Tide.
Clemson also has lost only four games — 53-4 overall compared to Alabama's 54-3 — the past four seasons.
3 Coach Of The Year awards won by Notre Dame's Brian Kelly so far this month: Associated Press, Bobby Dodd Trophy and Home Depot.
Kelly also has played in three previous major bowl games in his career — and is seeking his first victory. His Big East champion Cincinnati Bearcats were defeated by Virginia Tech 20-7 in the 2009 Orange Bowl. Four years later in the South Beach area again, his No. 1-ranked Irish fell 42-14 to Alabama in the BCS Championship. Finally, on Jan. 1, 2016, Notre Dame lost 44-28 to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.
This has been a "Three Is A Magic Number" season for the Fighting Irish. They prevented three-game losing streaks to Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh (who won his last two encounters versus Notre Dame while at Stanford in 2009 and 2010), Northwestern (1995 and 2014) and at the Los Angeles Coliseum (2014 and 2016), plus snapped 0-3 spells versus Stanford, Florida State and on night games on the road versus a ranked ACC foe (Virginia Tech).
Perfect timing to end another 0-3 mark.
2 Notre Dame is seeking its second victory ever versus Clemson. The first came at Death Valley (21-17) during the run to the national title in 1977 — a year the Fighting Irish also won the Cotton Bowl by vanquishing an unbeaten team.
In addition, the Tigers have a two-game winning streak versus Notre Dame, the first at Notre Dame Stadium in 1979 (16-10) and then at home in 2015 (24-22) — which continues the "three is the magic number" theme.
1 A victory by Notre Dame would make it the first time in program history it achieved 13 victories in a season. It reached 10 for the first time in 1921, 11 initially in 1973, and debuted with 12 in 1988. Each of the last two "firsts" resulted in national titles.
This also is Notre Dame’s first appearance in the Cotton Bowl in which the game will be at a different venue — AT&T Stadium in Arlington. The Irish have played one other time at this edifice, but it was in the regular season, a 37-34 victory versus No. 22 Arizona State in the 2013 Shamrock Series.
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