Bama-Notre Dame 73, 74 & 76

[Terry in Crapchester]

Sam, as I mentioned before, that '73 Sugar Bowl game was what set me on the course to becoming a hardcore ND fan. I was 9 years old, the game was on New Year's Eve, my parents went out, and our babysitter let us stay up late to watch the game. Great game if you were an ND fan.

A year later, I wasn't quite so fortunate. I had school the next day, my parents did not go out New Year's night, and so I had to go to bed before the game was over. Didn't find out about it until the next day. I'm still not quite sure how ND and 'Bama played in the Orange Bowl, as the Orange had a Big 8 tie-in back then (although, IIRC, both Oklahoma and Nebraska were on a no bowl game probation at the time, so perhaps that's how the Orange Bowl got that matchup).

Amazing, given how storied both programs are, that the '73 Sugar Bowl matchup was the first-ever meeting between them.

[King Crimson]

Oklahoma was on bowl/TV probation in 73 and 74. beat Nebraska 27-0 in 73.

http://soonerstats.com/fb/seasons/sched ... sonID=1973

the 74 OU team was one you wanted no part of. the D forced an average of 5 TO's per game. average.

http://soonerstats.com/fb/seasons/sched ... sonID=1974

[Mr T]

1973 - Bama is undefeated. Nice out of conference schedule: Beat Cal, 66-0 (how 'bout that, m2?!) to open the season. Beat Virginia Tech, 77-6. Beat Miami, 43-13.

Really?

Cal (4-7)
VT (2-9)
Miami (5-6)

Interesting note...

Miami's 1973 Schedule:
Texas w
Florida St. w
Oklahoma
Boston College w
Houston
Syracuse w
West Virginia
Army w
Alabama
Florida
Notre Dame

[Terry in Crapchester]

1973 - Bama is undefeated. Nice out of conference schedule: Beat Cal, 66-0 (how 'bout that, m2?!) to open the season. Beat Virginia Tech, 77-6. Beat Miami, 43-13.

Really?

Cal (4-7)
VT (2-9)
Miami (5-6)

Good point, that OOC schedule looks impressive based on the programs today, but not so much at the time.

Having said that, anytime you go through a season undefeated, that says a lot. And Bama did blow out all of their OOC opponents (combined 186-19).

[Cornhusker]

Sam, as I mentioned before, that '73 Sugar Bowl game was what set me on the course to becoming a hardcore ND fan. I was 9 years old, the game was on New Year's Eve, my parents went out, and our babysitter let us stay up late to watch the game. Great game if you were an ND fan.

A year later, I wasn't quite so fortunate. I had school the next day, my parents did not go out New Year's night, and so I had to go to bed before the game was over. Didn't find out about it until the next day. I'm still not quite sure how ND and 'Bama played in the Orange Bowl, as the Orange had a Big 8 tie-in back then (although, IIRC, both Oklahoma and Nebraska were on a no bowl game probation at the time, so perhaps
that's how the Orange Bowl got that matchup).

Amazing, given how storied both programs are, that the '73 Sugar Bowl matchup was the first-ever meeting between them.

My records show Nebraska beat Notre Dame 40-6 in the 1973 Orange Bowl, the 1972 season.

NU beat Texas 19-3 in the 1974 Cotton Bowl, the 1973 season.

Nebraska has never been on probation for anything!

[Mr T]

Hey, I knew those teams weren't worth a shit then. I figured all you youngsters would just assume they'd always been powerhouses! :D

Young or old.....we all know bama rarely plays good teams OOC.

[Terry in Crapchester]

Sam, as I mentioned before, that '73 Sugar Bowl game was what set me on the course to becoming a hardcore ND fan. I was 9 years old, the game was on New Year's Eve, my parents went out, and our babysitter let us stay up late to watch the game. Great game if you were an ND fan.

A year later, I wasn't quite so fortunate. I had school the next day, my parents did not go out New Year's night, and so I had to go to bed before the game was over. Didn't find out about it until the next day. I'm still not quite sure how ND and 'Bama played in the Orange Bowl, as the Orange had a Big 8 tie-in back then (although, IIRC, both Oklahoma and Nebraska were on a no bowl game probation at the time, so perhaps
that's how the Orange Bowl got that matchup).

Amazing, given how storied both programs are, that the '73 Sugar Bowl matchup was the first-ever meeting between them.

My records show Nebraska beat Notre Dame 40-6 in the 1973 Orange Bowl, the 1972 season.

NU beat Texas 19-3 in the 1974 Cotton Bowl, the 1973 season.

Nebraska has never been on probation for anything!

Actually, we're talking about the '74 season, the Orange Bowl played on 1/1/75. Not sure if Nebraska was on probation or not. I seem to recall that Oklahoma was, perhaps the Orange Bowl was only locked into the Big 8 champion, and if that was Oklahoma (who was undefeated that year), maybe the Orange wound up with two at-large bids.

Like I said, I was 10 back then, so I didn't follow college football all that closely. I have a Rainman-like memory about sports trivia, but I wasn't into college football enough at the time to remember all the bowl teams from that year.

[Cornhusker]

Sam, as I mentioned before, that '73 Sugar Bowl game was what set me on the course to becoming a hardcore ND fan. I was 9 years old, the game was on New Year's Eve, my parents went out, and our babysitter let us stay up late to watch the game. Great game if you were an ND fan.

A year later, I wasn't quite so fortunate. I had school the next day, my parents did not go out New Year's night, and so I had to go to bed before the game was over. Didn't find out about it until the next day. I'm still not quite sure how ND and 'Bama played in the Orange Bowl, as the Orange had a Big 8 tie-in back then (although, IIRC, both Oklahoma and Nebraska were on a no bowl game probation at the time, so perhaps
that's how the Orange Bowl got that matchup).

Amazing, given how storied both programs are, that the '73 Sugar Bowl matchup was the first-ever meeting between them.

My records show Nebraska beat Notre Dame 40-6 in the 1973 Orange Bowl, the 1972 season.

NU beat Texas 19-3 in the 1974 Cotton Bowl, the 1973 season.

Nebraska has never been on probation for anything!

Actually, we're talking about the '74 season, the Orange Bowl played on 1/1/75. Not sure if Nebraska was on probation or not. I seem to recall that Oklahoma was, perhaps the Orange Bowl was only locked into the Big 8 champion, and if that was Oklahoma (who was undefeated that year), maybe the Orange wound up with two at-large bids.

Like I said, I was 10 back then, so I didn't follow college football all that closely. I have a Rainman-like memory about sports trivia, but I wasn't into college football enough at the time to remember all the bowl teams from that year.

Like I said, never as far as NU being on probation, (players not withstanding Sam :wink:), I just can't recall why the Orange Bowl had 2 at large other than OU had some problems and did indeed have NCAA sanctions on or about that time. I gotta think they were Bowl exempt that year. They did beat NU in '74 and OU was ranked # 1 when we played them.
Nebraska played in the '75 Sugar Bowl, beat Florida, thank-ya very much.

[Terry in Crapchester]

I don't think any of the bowls were "locked in" with any conference(s) back then (except the Rose). At least not like they are now. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure there was no definite commitment to a conference. They may have had a gentleman's agreement or something, but if you look at this stretch, you'll see the Big 8 (Big 12) wasn't always in the Orange Bowl. Maybe it had something to do with how high their teams were ranked. I can't remember for certain.

January 1, 1975 -- Notre Dame 13, Alabama 11
January 1, 1974 -- Penn State 16, LSU 9
January 1, 1973 -- Nebraska 40, Notre Dame 6
January 1, 1972 -- Nebraska 38, Alabama 6 *
January 1, 1971 -- Nebraska 17, LSU 12 *
January 1, 1970 -- Penn State 10, Missouri 3
January 1, 1969 -- Penn State 15, Kansas 14
January 1, 1968 -- Oklahoma 26, Tennessee 24
January 2, 1967 -- Florida 27, Georgia Tech 12
January 1, 1966 -- Alabama 39, Nebraska 28 *

You had a stretch from '68 to '73 ('67 to '72 seasons) where there was a Big 8 team in the Orange Bowl every year. And all but one year between '66 and '73 ('65 to '72 seasons). Perhaps there was a short-term contract which was allowed to expire but thereafter renewed, or perhaps it had something to do with Oklahoma's probation (I seem to recall that they were on probation around the '73-'74 timeframe).

I seem to recall the bowl games having the following tie-ins:

Rose: Big Ten and Pac-10 champs
Sugar: SEC champ
Orange: Big 8 champ
Cotton: SWC champ

[Mr T]

Whoa now! Check out the OOC games this year:

Hawaii
Duke
Florida International
Louisiana-Monroe

I can really talk shit about OOC games....

Troy
Rice
Western Michigan
Florida

Next Year though....

UAB
Alabama
Colorado
Florida

[indyfrisco]

Sorry, you fuckers got nothing on me.

The Citadel
Louisianna-Lafayette
Army
Louisianna Tech

[stuckinia]

Ahem...

Sept. 2 Northeastern
Sept. 23 Cincinnati
Oct. 21 Southern Mississippi
Nov. 11 Kent State