The 1974 NCAA Division I football season finished with two national champions. The Associated Press (AP) writers' poll ranked the University of Oklahoma, which was on probation and barred by the NCAA from postseason play, No. 1 at season's end. The United Press International (UPI) coaches' poll did not rank teams on probation, by unanimous agreement of the 25 member coaches' board.[2] The UPI trophy went to USC.
During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the major college football teams, later known as "Division I-A". The NCAA Football Guide, however, did note an "unofficial national champion" based on the top ranked teams in the "wire service" (AP and UPI) polls. The "writers' poll" by Associated Press (AP) was the most popular, followed by the "coaches' poll" by United Press International) (UPI). Starting in 1974, the UPI joined AP in issuing its final poll after the bowl games were completed. Both polls operated under a point system of 20 points for first place, 19 for second, etc., whereby the overall ranking was determined. The AP poll consisted of the votes of 60 writers, though not all voted in each poll, and the UPI poll was taken of a 25-member board.
Rule changes
Blocking below the waist is prohibited on kickoffs, punts, or free kicks, and anywhere on the field except in a three-yard area around the line of scrimmage.
Shoulder pads are required equipment for all players. Prior to this, kickers and wide receivers frequently played without shoulder pads.
Penalty enforcement on running plays is from the end of the run except for fouls committed by the offense; those are penalized from the spot of the foul.
Players who enter the field are required to remain for one play, and players who leave the field are required to stay on the bench for one play. This ended the practice of sending "messenger" players in to relay plays from the sideline, then leave the field without participating.
Players leaving the bench to participate in touchdown celebrations will result in a five-yard penalty for the scoring team. If a coach joins in the celebration on the field, the penalty is 15 yards.
Successful field goals now must travel between the uprights; previously a field goal was declared good if the ball went over an upright, the standard still used by the National Football League. This became a point of dispute in the 1974 Ohio State-Michigan game, as Michigan's game-winning field goal attempt was declared no good due to the ball going over the left upright. Michigan claimed the ball curled just inside the left upright.
In the preseason poll released on September 2, 1974, the AP ranked Oklahoma No. 1, followed by No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 USC.
September 7: No. 3 Notre Dame, the defending national champion, beat Georgia Tech in Atlanta, 31–7, in a nationally televised game on Monday night, September 9. The few other schools playing that weekend included No. 11 Houston, which lost 30−9 to No. 15 Arizona State, and No. 12 UCLA, which tied No. 16 Tennessee 17−17. Elsewhere, the scheduled Ole Miss-Tulane game in New Orleans was postponed until November 30 due to the threat of Hurricane Carmen. The next poll featured No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Ohio State, and No. 5 USC.
September 14: No. 1 Oklahoma beat Baylor, 28–11. No. 2 Notre Dame was idle. No. 3 Alabama won at No. 14 Maryland, 21–16. No. 4 Ohio State won at Minnesota, 34–19. No. 5 USC lost to No. 20 Arkansas in Little Rock, 22–7. No. 7 Nebraska, which beat Oregon in its opener, 61–7, moved up in the polls. There was considerable disagreement between AP voters at the top of the next poll, with 19 first-place votes going to Notre Dame, 18 to Oklahoma, and 17 to Ohio State. The top five were No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Nebraska, and No. 5 Alabama.
September 21: No. 1 Notre Dame won at Northwestern, 49–3. No. 2 Ohio State beat Oregon State 51–10. No. 3 Oklahoma was idle. No. 4 Nebraska lost at Wisconsin, 21–20. No. 5 Alabama beat Southern Mississippi at home, 52–0. No. 6 Michigan, which beat Colorado 31–0, replaced Nebraska in the top five. In the next poll, Notre Dame had the edge in first-place votes (26 to 23), but Ohio State took the lead based on overall points. No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Notre Dame were followed by No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Alabama, and No. 5 Michigan.
September 28: No. 1 Ohio State defeated SMU, 28–9. No. 2 Notre Dame was upset at home by Purdue, 31–20. No. 3 Oklahoma rolled over visiting Utah State, 72–3. No. 4 Alabama beat Vanderbilt 23–10. No. 5 Michigan beat Navy, 52–0. Losses by the sixth- through eighth-ranked teams opened the door for No. 9 Texas A&M, which won at Washington 28–15, to move into the top five. The next poll featured No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Michigan, and No. 5 Texas A&M.
October
October 5: No. 1 Ohio State beat Washington State 42–7 in Seattle. No. 2 Oklahoma shut out Wake Forest 63–0. No. 3 Alabama beat Mississippi at Jackson, 35–21. No. 4 Michigan won at Stanford, 27–16. No. 5 Texas A&M lost at Kansas, 28–10. No. 6 Nebraska, which beat Minnesota 54–0, moved up to No. 5 in the next poll, with the top four remaining the same.
October 12: No. 1 Ohio State beat visiting No. 13 Wisconsin 52–7. No. 2 Oklahoma barely defeated No. 17 Texas in Dallas, 16–13. No. 3 Alabama survived a game against winless (0–4) Florida State, winning 8–7. No. 4 Michigan beat Michigan State, 21–7. No. 5 Nebraska lost to Missouri 21–10 and was replaced in the next poll by No. 10 Auburn, which beat Kentucky 31–13. The poll featured No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Alabama, and No. 5 Auburn.
October 19: No. 1 Ohio State beat Indiana, 49–9. No. 2 Oklahoma won at Colorado, 49–14. No. 3 Michigan won at Wisconsin, 24–20. No. 4 Alabama won at Tennessee, 28–6. No. 5 Auburn beat Georgia Tech 31–22. The top five remained the same.
October 26: This week was defined by blowouts. No. 1 Ohio State won at Northwestern 55–7, No. 2 Oklahoma beat Kansas State 63–0, No. 3 Michigan beat Minnesota 49–0, No. 4 Alabama beat TCU 41–3 at Birmingham, and No. 5 Auburn beat Florida State 38–6. The top five again remained the same.
November
November 2: No. 1 Ohio State defeated Illinois at home, 49–7. With a record of 8–0, the Buckeyes had outscored their opposition 360 to 75. No. 2 Oklahoma won at Iowa State, 28–10. No. 3 Michigan won at Indiana, 21–7. No. 4 Alabama beat No. 17 Mississippi State 35–0, and thereby jumped over Michigan in the next poll. No. 5 No. 5 Auburn lost at No. 11 Florida, 25–14. No. 8 Texas A&M, which beat Arkansas 20–10, returned to the Top Five: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Michigan, and No. 5 Texas A&M.
November 9: In East Lansing, Michigan, No. 1 Ohio State was upset by unranked (and 4–3–1) Michigan State, 16–13. No. 2 Oklahoma, which had beaten Missouri 37–0, took the first spot. No. 3 Alabama beat LSU in Birmingham, 30–0. No. 4 Michigan won at Illinois, 14–6. No. 5 Texas A&M lost at SMU, 18–14. No. 8 No. 8 Notre Dame was idle, but rose to fifth place after losses by No. 6 Florida and No. 7 Penn State. The top five were No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Ohio State, and No. 5 Notre Dame.
November 16: No. 1 Oklahoma won at Kansas, 45–14. No. 2 Alabama won in Florida over Miami, 28–7, and No. 3 Michigan beat Purdue. All three teams were undefeated and untied. No. 4 Ohio State won at Iowa, 35–10, and No. 5 Notre Dame beat No. 17 Pittsburgh, 14–10. The top five remained the same.
November 23: No. 1 Oklahoma beat No. 6 Nebraska, 28–14. No. 2 Alabama was idle as it prepared for its season ender with Auburn. The latest battle of "The Ten Year War" took place in Columbus, Ohio, as No. 3 Michigan (10–0) met No. 4 Ohio State (9–1) in their annual clash for the Big Ten title. OSU won, 12–10, to clinch a third consecutive Rose Bowl berth. Over the last three years, Michigan was 30−0 against all opponents other than Ohio State, but the Big Ten's rule that only the conference champion could participate in a bowl game kept the Wolverines out of the postseason each year. No. 5 Notre Dame beat Air Force, 38–0. No. 6 USC topped UCLA 34–9 for the Pac-8 title and the right to face Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. The next poll featured No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Michigan, and No. 5 Notre Dame.
November 29−30: The annual Alabama-Auburn game took place on a Friday night in Birmingham, with No. 2 Alabama winning 17–13 over No. 7 Auburn to close its season at 11–0. The next day, No. 1 Oklahoma won its annual season ender against Oklahoma State, 44–13, to also finish 11–0. With Oklahoma barred from the postseason due to NCAA probation, the Orange Bowl organizers had already arranged for Alabama to meet No. 5 Notre Dame in a rematch of last year's national championship game. However, the Fighting Irish still had one more regular season game left, against No. 6 USC in Los Angeles. After trailing 24–0, the Trojans scored 55 unanswered points and cruised to victory, keeping themselves in national championship contention and effectively eliminating Notre Dame. The final regular season AP Poll featured No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Michigan, and No. 5 USC. Since teams on probation were ineligible to be ranked in the coaches' poll, the UPI named Alabama as No. 1, followed by Ohio State, Michigan, USC, and Auburn.
In other action, Tulane lost its final game at Tulane Stadium 26–10 to Ole Miss. The Green Wave played 38 of their next 39 seasons at the Superdome, except for 2005, when they were forced to play all of their games away from New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Tulane returned to campus in 2014 when Yulman Stadium opened.
Nebraska erased a 10-point deficit by defeating Florida in the Sugar Bowl played on New Year's Eve. The following afternoon, Penn State defeated the surprise SWC champion Baylor in the Cotton Bowl. Third-ranked Ohio State (led by Woody Hayes) and No. 5 USC (coached by John McKay) played in the Rose Bowl before a crowd of 106,721 in Pasadena. Ohio State led 7–3 after three quarters, and 17–10 in the closing minutes. With 2:03 left, Pat Haden fired a 38-yard pass to John McKay Jr. (son of USC's coach) to make the score 17–16. Coach McKay then passed up a chance for a tie over the favored Buckeyes, and ordered the Trojans to go for two. Shelton Diggs dove and caught Haden's low pass in the end zone to give USC an 18–17 lead. Ohio State could only get close enough for a desperation 62-yard field goal attempt that fell about 8 yards short as time expired.[4]
Alabama, coached by Bear Bryant was ranked No. 1 in the UPI poll, and No. 2 (behind on-probation Oklahoma) in the AP, as it went to the Orange Bowl, where it faced 9th ranked Notre Dame, playing its final game under Ara Parseghian. The Irish went out to a 13–0 lead early in the game, but Bama battled back with a field goal, a touchdown and a two-point run to close the score to 13–11 with three minutes left. After ruling out an onside kick attempt, the Tide force a Notre Dame punt and got the ball back with 1:37 left. Quarterback Richard Todd attempted to drive the team to field goal range, but he threw his 3rd interception of the game, and Notre Dame ran out the clock to preserve the upset win.
In the final polls, USC was ranked first by UPI, followed by Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame. The Trojans were second in the AP poll, where the Oklahoma Sooners were the first place choice for 51 of the 60 writers. The NCAA recognized both the Sooners and the Trojans as champions in its football guide.
The NCAA was without a playoff for the major college football teams in the University Division, later known as Division I-A, during the 20th century. The NCAA recognizes Division I-A national champions based on the final results of polls including the "wire service", FWAA and NFF. The 1964 AP poll continued to rank only ten teams, compiling the votes of 55 sportswriters, each of whom would give their opinion of the ten best. Under a point system of 10 points for first place, 9 for second, etc., the "overall" ranking was determined.
The 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with a split national championship and the ensuing controversy helped lead to the creation of the Bowl Coalition, a precursor to the Bowl Championship Series. The national title was split between the Colorado Buffaloes and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The Buffaloes (11–1–1) took the AP poll while the Yellow Jackets (11–0–1) took the UPI Coaches poll by one vote over Colorado, 847 to 846. During the season Colorado had a particularly controversial victory over Missouri in what would later be known as the "Fifth Down Game". It was the only time in UPI Coaches poll history that a coach changed his vote against the pre-bowl #1 after that #1 team won their bowl game. Unlike several seasons to come in the 1990s, the two teams that became split national champions could have actually met in a 1 vs. 2 bowl game. Georgia Tech's ACC champion status did not preclude them from taking their #2 ranking to the Orange Bowl to face the automatic Big-8 champion in #1 Colorado for a decisive title game. But the Orange Bowl committee wanted Notre Dame instead of Georgia Tech as the Buffaloes' opponent, because Notre Dame had a larger fan base and would accrue more money and better TV ratings than the Yellow Jackets would have.
The 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Miami winning its third National Championship during the 1980s, cementing its claim as the decade's top team, winning more titles than any other program.
The 1993 NCAA Division I-A football season saw Florida State crowned national champions, in both the AP and Coaches poll.
The 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Miami winning its second national championship of the 1980s in an Orange Bowl game featuring a rare No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup between the top ranked Oklahoma Sooners and the Hurricanes.
The 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Penn State winning the national championship. Coached by Joe Paterno, they defeated Miami (Fl) 14–10 in the Fiesta Bowl. This Fiesta Bowl was the first in the game's history to decide the national championship, launching it into the top tier of bowls.
The 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the Clemson Tigers, unbeaten and untied, claiming the national championship after a victory over Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. This was also the first year of the California Bowl, played in Fresno, California; this game fancied itself as a "junior" version of the Rose Bowl as it pitted the Big West Conference champion vs. the Mid-American Conference champion.
The 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season saw a university from the state of Georgia take its first national title since 1942.
The 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season saw the Alabama Crimson Tide bring home a national title with a perfect 12–0 season. The title was Alabama's 11th claimed, and their 6th Associated Press awarded title.
The 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season was the first season of Division I-A college football. Division I-A was created in January 1978 when Division I was subdivided into Division I-A and I-AA for football only. It was anticipated that 65 Division I football schools would transition to Division I-AA. Instead, just eight programs voluntarily opted for Division I-AA for the 1978 season, where they joined 35 schools that had reclassified from Division II. One school, UNLV, moved from Division II to I-A, bringing the total number of I-A institutions to 138 for the 1978 season.
During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the major college football teams in the University Division, later known as Division I-A. The NCAA did recognize a national champion based upon the final results of "wire service" polls. The "writers' poll" by Associated Press (AP) was the most popular, followed by the "coaches' poll" by United Press International) (UPI). Prior to 1965, both services issued their final polls at the close of the regular season, but before teams competed in bowl games. For the 1965 season, the AP took its final poll after the postseason games, an arrangement made permanent in 1968. The Associated Press presented the "AP Trophy" to the winner.
The 1966 University Division football season was marked by some controversy as the year of "The Tie", a famous 10–10 game between the two top-ranked teams, Michigan State and Notre Dame on November 19. Both teams were crowned national champions by various organizations after the regular season concluded, and neither participated in a bowl game. Alabama finished the regular season undefeated and was third in the AP poll, while Georgia was fourth. Alabama went on to win the Sugar Bowl in dominant fashion. During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the major college football teams in the University Division, later known as Division I-A.
The 1967 NCAA University Division football season was the last one in which college football's champion was crowned before the bowl games. During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the major college football teams in the University Division, later known as Division I-A and now as the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).
In the 1968 NCAA University Division football season, the system of "polls and bowls" changed. The Associated Press returned to its pre-1961 system of ranking the Top 20 rather than the Top 10, and voted on the national champion after the bowl games, rather than before. During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the major college football teams in the University Division, later known as Division I-A.
The 1970 NCAA University Division football season was marked by tragedy, due to two airplane crashes. On October 2, one of the planes carrying the Wichita State football team crashed on the way to a game against Utah State, killing 31 people on board, including 14 players. Then, on November 14, the charter for the Marshall Thundering Herd crashed on the way home from a game against East Carolina, killing all 75 persons.
The 1971 NCAA University Division football season saw Coach Bob Devaney's Nebraska Cornhuskers repeat as national champions. Ranked a close second behind Notre Dame in the preseason poll, Nebraska moved up to first place the following week, remained there for the rest of 1971, and convincingly won the Orange Bowl 38–6 in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 game against Alabama.
The 1972 NCAA University Division football season saw the USC Trojans, coached by John McKay, go undefeated and win the national championship as the unanimous choice of the 50 AP panelists. Eighth-ranked in the preseason, the Trojans were narrowly voted No. 1 in the first AP poll, and stayed out front for the rest of the year.
The 1973 NCAA Division I football season was the first for the NCAA's current three-division structure. Effective with the 1973–74 academic year, schools formerly in the NCAA "University Division" were classified as Division I. Schools in the former "College Division" were classified into Division II, which allowed fewer athletic scholarships than Division I, and Division III, in which athletic scholarships were prohibited.
The 1975 NCAA Division I football season saw University of Oklahoma repeat as national champion in the Associated Press (AP) writers' poll, and were ranked No. 1 in the United Press International (UPI) coaches' poll, just ahead of runner up Arizona State, runner-up in both final polls, despite having an undefeated 12–0 season and a win over Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl.
The 1977 NCAA Division I football season was one in which the top five teams finished with 11–1 records. Notre Dame, which beat top-ranked and undefeated Texas in the Cotton Bowl, became the national champion.
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