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EXAMINING
NOTRE DAME'S RECORD
Notre Dame fans like to gloat that Notre Dame
has
the best record in the history of college football and the best winning
percentage. Technically, that isn't even true.
And if one doesn't ignore the context of Notre Dame's victories, it
isn't even close to being true:
Notre
Dame's record since modern pass blocking rules came into effect (1976)
| Rank |
College |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
| 1 |
Nebraska |
0.806 |
299 |
71 |
2 |
| 2 |
Florida State |
0.789 |
286 |
75 |
4 |
| 3 |
Miami-Florida |
0.764 |
272 |
84 |
0 |
| 4 |
Michigan |
0.758 |
274 |
86 |
5 |
| 5 |
Ohio State |
0.741 |
267 |
91 |
7 |
| 6 |
Oklahoma |
0.734 |
262 |
93 |
6 |
| 7 |
Penn State |
0.723 |
260 |
99 |
2 |
| 8 |
Georgia |
0.708 |
251 |
102 |
6 |
| 9 |
Brigham Young |
0.703 |
264 |
111 |
2 |
| 10 |
Tennessee |
0.702 |
250 |
104 |
8 |
| 11 |
Texas |
0.699 |
249 |
106 |
5 |
| 12 |
Florida |
0.693 |
248 |
108 |
6 |
| 13 |
Alabama |
0.692 |
251 |
111 |
2 |
| 14 |
Southern Cal |
0.691 |
247 |
108 |
8 |
| 15 |
Boise State |
0.688 |
100 |
45 |
1 |
| 16 |
Auburn |
0.678 |
237 |
111 |
6 |
| 17 |
Notre Dame |
0.678 |
240 |
113 |
4 |
Notre
Dame's record since unlimited substitution was legalized for good (1965)
| Rank |
College |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
| 1 |
Nebraska |
0.808 |
400 |
93 |
5 |
| 2 |
Michigan |
0.758 |
362 |
113 |
8 |
| 3 |
Ohio State |
0.757 |
357 |
112 |
8 |
| 4 |
Penn State |
0.745 |
359 |
122 |
3 |
| 5 |
Oklahoma |
0.737 |
352 |
123 |
8 |
| 6 |
Alabama |
0.724 |
353 |
133 |
5 |
| 7 |
Tennessee |
0.719 |
345 |
131 |
13 |
| 8 |
Texas |
0.717 |
342 |
133 |
6 |
| 9 |
Southern Cal |
0.716 |
341 |
131 |
15 |
| 10 |
Florida State |
0.715 |
343 |
134 |
8 |
| 11 |
Notre Dame |
0.713 |
334 |
132 |
8 |
Notre
Dame's record since unlimited substitution was first allowed (1941)
| Rank |
College |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
| 1 |
Oklahoma |
0.747 |
538 |
177 |
16 |
| 2 |
Ohio State |
0.742 |
506 |
169 |
21 |
| 3 |
Penn State |
0.733 |
514 |
184 |
11 |
| 4 |
Michigan |
0.730 |
506 |
182 |
16 |
| 5 |
Texas |
0.723 |
523 |
196 |
13 |
| 6 |
Notre
Dame |
0.711 |
496 |
196 |
18 |
Notre
Dame's record since the advent of the forward pass (1906)
| Rank |
College |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
| 1 |
Notre Dame |
0.749 |
742 |
238 |
34 |
| 2 |
Michigan |
0.730 |
696 |
248 |
31 |
| 3 |
Ohio State |
0.729 |
694 |
245 |
42 |
| 4 |
Boise State |
0.726 |
171 |
64 |
2 |
| 5 |
Alabama |
0.724 |
739 |
269 |
41 |
| 6 |
Washington
& Jefferson |
0.714 |
188 |
69 |
21 |
| 7 |
Oklahoma |
0.714 |
719 |
274 |
48 |
| 8 |
Texas |
0.712 |
731 |
287 |
28 |
| 9 |
Tennessee |
0.708 |
715 |
281 |
47 |
| 10 |
Southern Cal |
0.705 |
692 |
276 |
49 |
| 11 |
Nebraska |
0.703 |
707 |
288 |
35 |
| 12 |
Penn State |
0.701 |
691 |
285 |
35 |
| 13 |
Yale |
0.677 |
400 |
181 |
36 |
| 14 |
Dartmouth |
0.677 |
413 |
190 |
27 |
| 15 |
Florida State |
0.676 |
436 |
205 |
17 |
| 16 |
Georgia |
0.654 |
658 |
336 |
49 |
| 17 |
Miami-Ohio |
0.651 |
607 |
316 |
40 |
| 18 |
Princeton |
0.648 |
365 |
191 |
33 |
| 19 |
Miami-Florida |
0.640 |
525 |
291 |
19 |
| 20 |
Harvard |
0.640 |
376 |
204 |
34 |
| 21 |
Louisiana State |
0.635 |
632 |
354 |
47 |
| 22 |
Washington |
0.631 |
605 |
345 |
40 |
| 23 |
Santa Clara |
0.630 |
206 |
116 |
24 |
| 24 |
Auburn |
0.629 |
620 |
358 |
41 |
| 25 |
Georgetown |
0.625 |
212 |
123 |
22 |
Perhaps Notre Dame
can take pride in being dominant when Washington & Jefferson or
the
Ivy League schools were dominant, even besting such gridiron
powerhouses like Santa Clara and Georgetown.
Let us check out Notre Dame's schedule in 1919:
| 1919-Notre
Dame (Independent) |
| 10/4 |
vs. |
Kalamazoo (non-IA) |
W |
14 |
0 |
| 10/11 |
vs. |
Mount Union (non-IA) |
W |
60 |
7 |
| 10/18 |
@ |
Nebraska (3-3-2) |
W |
14 |
9 |
| 10/25 |
vs. |
Western Michigan
(non-IA) |
W |
53 |
0 |
| 11/1 |
vs. |
Indiana (3-4) |
W |
16 |
3 |
| 11/8 |
@ |
Army (6-3) |
W |
12 |
9 |
| 11/15 |
vs. |
Michigan State
(non-IA) |
W |
13 |
0 |
| 11/22 |
@ |
Purdue (2-4-1) |
W |
33 |
13 |
| 11/27 |
@ |
Morningside (non-IA) |
W |
14 |
6 |
| |
9-0-0 |
|
229 |
47 |
Wow. Kalamazoo, Mount
Union and Morningside were juggernauts that year. Nice schedule, Knute!
If you can personally remember when the Czar was in power and think
Kalamazoo is a great football team, then you may as well keep believing
that Notre Dame is great, because we can be accomodating of senility.
If you were born after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, face facts: Notre
Dame has a decent record, but it isn't better than better programs like
Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Nebraska, Alabama, etc..
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