Notre Dame’s Best Teams Not To Win A Consensus Title

Whenever an all-time list is assembled in sports, disagreement is inevitable.

So it goes with the recent ESPN Top 25 survey from Bill Connelly on the best teams never to win a national title since the advent of the Associated Press poll in 1936. A well-respected analytics specialist, Connelly used his historical SP + rankings as the base and then “took creative control from there.”

Oklahoma made the most appearances with five, including three of the top six, while the 1959 Ole Miss team that finished 10-1 was rated No. 1.

Get a FREE 60-day trial using promo code Irish60

Two aspects surprised me. One was the omission of numerous teams such as the 9-0-1 Michigan State unit in 1966 that had four of the top eight draft picks in the following spring’s draft and whose lone tie was versus national champ Notre Dame, which had nine future first- or second-round picks drafted.

I might have argued for Michigan 1973, Miami 1988, 2000, 2002, USC 2005 or Ohio State 2015 in place of others, but that is purely subjective.

The other surprise was not one Notre Dame team appeared. While that can lead to an accusation of “homerism,” I would put up the 1989 unit with any on the list. Certainly, at least one Fighting Irish edition could have been represented.

Here would be my top five among Notre Dame teams not to win the AP title, with strength of schedule especially weighing heavily into the equation.

Name another team since the AP’s advent in 1936 to defeat seven foes that finished in the final 18.

You can’t — although Notre Dame’s 1943 national champs did defeat six that finished among the top 13, including Nos. 2, 3 and 4.

Among those vanquished by head coach Lou Holtz and Co. in 1989 were three major conference champions: No. 4 Colorado in the Orange Bowl (which was 11-0 and No. 1 coming into the game), Big Ten champ Michigan (No. 7) on the road and Pac-12 and Rose Bowl champ USC (No. 8).

Four others finished Nos. 15-18: Penn State, Michigan State, Pitt and Virginia — which tied for the ACC title (not considered a “major” conference back then) and won 10 games.

Furthermore, this reigning national champion had the proverbial target on its collective back but still navigated the NCAA’s No. 1-ranked schedule to start 11-0 — extending its school-record winning streak to 23 games — before losing to ultimate national champ Miami.

Notre Dame was No. 1 throughout September through the final weekend of No. 1 and then defeated the new No. 1 in the bowl game by two touchdowns (21-6).

From 1946-49, head coach Frank Leahy’s Fighting Irish are the lone program since the AP started to never experience defeat over a four-year period. This was the one team among the four not to win the national title, finishing 9-0-1 and No. 2 after salvaging a tie at USC in the finale.

The 1946-47 units are renowned among the greatest ever in college football annals, and the 10-0 national champs in 1949 had four future College Football Hall of Fame members starting in Leon Hart (the Heisman winner that season), Jim Martin, Emil Sitko and quarterback Bob Williams.

That same quartet was on the 1948 team — plus that year’s Outland Trophy winner and another Hall of Famer in Bill “Moose” Fischer.

Michigan was plenty worthy of the title this year (and thought it should have been in 1947 when it finished unbeaten). But when you talk of college football dynasties, this four-year run is as good as it gets.

Leahy’s final outfit finished 9-0-1 and No. 2 behind Maryland — which lost the Orange Bowl to Oklahoma, a team Notre Dame had defeated on the road to open the season. Back then, though, final polls were taken prior to bowl games (part of the reason why the Irish had bans on bowls until 1969).

This Irish team also snapped No. 4 Georgia Tech’s 31-game unbeaten streak (27-14) and crushed No. 20 USC on the road (48-14).

Consider this: The starting backfield with quarterback Ralph Guglielmi, halfbacks Johnny Lattner (this year’s Heisman winner) and Joe Heap and fullback Neil Worden all were top 9 NFL picks.

Linemen Art Hunter, Frank Varrichione and Dick Szymanski also were top 16 picks and future Pro Bowl players, while Jim Schrader played 11 years in the NFL. (Back then, the starting 11 played both offense and defense, too.)

The 1992 team that finished 10-1-1 actually had more overall pro talent than this 11-1 group, especially in the backfield. But this unit improved to 10-0 following a 31-24 defeat of No. 1 and eventual national champ Florida State.

Notre Dame was stunned the following week on a last-second field goal by a Boston College team that finished No. 13, but it rebounded by defeating SWC champ and 10-1 Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl. Alas, there was not even a share of the title this season while finishing No. 2.

In 1964, first-year head coach Ara Parseghian rallied a 2-7 Fighting Irish team to an unbeaten and No. 1 spot in the AP before losing a 17-0 lead and suffering a 20-17 defeat in the 11th-hour in the finale at USC. The upset was aided by several numerous questionable calls, including a “Phantom Hold” on a one-yard touchdown run that would have made the score 23-7 and likely sealed the outcome.

The ’64 edition still was awarded the MacArthur Bowl, an NCAA-recognized title from the National Football Foundation. This unit featured 1964 Heisman winner John Huarte at quarterback and receiver Jack Snow, a first-round pick who placed No. 5 in the Heisman voting. The defense was spearheaded by sophomores such as Alan Page and Jim Lynch, who would help lead a consensus national title two years later.

Heisman runner-up Joe Theismann at quarterback propelled the ’70 edition that also was unbeaten before losing at USC in the finale.

But with a defense led by first-round picks Walt Patulski, Mike Kadish and Clarence Ellis, it stunned No. 1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl (24-11), snapping the Longhorns’ 30-game winning streak.

Notre Dame also defeated SEC champ LSU in November, a week before the loss at USC.

----

• Talk about it inside Rockne’s Roundtable

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.

• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_MikeSinger, @PatrickEngel_, @ToddBurlage and @AndrewMentock.

• Like us on Facebook.