| FTBL 1973 College football season

[saturdaysarebetter]

At the end of the 1973 college football regular season, the final poll looked like this:

1. Alabama 11-0 SEC champion
2. Oklahoma 10-0-1 Big 8 Champion that had tied with USC in week two but was on probation for using an ineligible player
3. Notre Dame 10-0 Independent
4. Ohio State 9-0-1 tied with Michigan
5. Michigan 10-0-1 tied with Ohio State
6. Penn State 11-0 Independent

For sake of discussion, had there been a 4-team college football playoff back then selected by a playoff committee, who do you think should have been the four teams chosen? You can include or not include Oklahoma into your choices.

 

[252BAMA]

1. Alabama
2. Notre Dame
3. Penn State
4. Michigan

Alabama would have beaten Michigan. The tie with tOSU was the only final game of the season from 1967-1979 that Michigan did not lose. ND would have beaten PSU so you would still have had Bama-ND for the NC.

 

[bamatommy]

1) Bama
2) Notre Dame
3) Penn State
4) Michigan

 

[252BAMA]

FWIW: May have been surpassed since then, but at the time the 1973 Alabama coaching staff was arguably the best CFB coaching staff ever assembled.

Head coach

• Bear Bryant (16th year, Alabama)

Coordinators/assistant coaches

• Ken Donahue (10th year, Tennessee)
• Pat Dye (9th year, Georgia)
• Danny Ford (2nd year, Alabama)
• Jim Goostree (17th year, Tennessee)
• Clem Gryska (14th year, Alabama)
• Curley Hallman (1st year, Texas A&M)
• Dude Hennessey (14th year, Kentucky)
• Bobby Marks (2nd year, Texas A&M)
• Ken Martin (3rd year, Alabama)
• John Mitchell (1st year, Alabama)
• Bud Moore (2nd year, Alabama)
• Mal Moore (10th year, Alabama)
• Bill Oliver (3rd year, Alabama)
• Dee Powell (10th year, Texas A&M)
• Jack Rutledge (8th year, Alabama)
• Jimmy Sharpe (11th year, Alabama)

 

[rick4bama]

I remember watching the tOSt vs. Mich. game and for some reason it helps Bama out! Can any of you remember why it help? I do remember that in the tOSt vs. Mich. game, one team score it points in the first half, then the other scores all in the second half.

How many of you miss Woody on the sideline ?

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Made the nd- bama game....
Should have known it wasnt going to be a great nite...

Car broke down going downto BR...( staying with inlaws)was a student at LaTech...n broke
Ms50+..who was ms2 at the time...forgot her clothes
Started raining before ko
Old tulane stadium...sat in ez with cold wind in face

Incredible game...but...nd prevailed

 

[alabama mike]

FWIW: May have been surpassed since then, but at the time the 1973 Alabama coaching staff was arguably the best CFB coaching staff ever assembled.

Head coach

• Bear Bryant (16th year, Alabama)

Coordinators/assistant coaches

• Ken Donahue (10th year, Tennessee)
• Pat Dye (9th year, Georgia)
• Danny Ford (2nd year, Alabama)
• Jim Goostree (17th year, Tennessee)
• Clem Gryska (14th year, Alabama)
• Curley Hallman (1st year, Texas A&M)
• Dude Hennessey (14th year, Kentucky)
• Bobby Marks (2nd year, Texas A&M)
• Ken Martin (3rd year, Alabama)
• John Mitchell (1st year, Alabama)
• Bud Moore (2nd year, Alabama)
• Mal Moore (10th year, Alabama)
• Bill Oliver (3rd year, Alabama)
• Dee Powell (10th year, Texas A&M)
• Jack Rutledge (8th year, Alabama)
• Jimmy Sharpe (11th year, Alabama)

That is a very impressive coaching list.

 

[252BAMA]

I remember watching the tOSt vs. Mich. game and for some reason it helps Bama out! Can any of you remember why it help? I do remember that in the tOSt vs. Mich. game, one team score it points in the first half, then the other scores all in the second half.

How many of you miss Woody on the sideline ?

Why it helped Bama? Ohio State was ranked #1 and Bama #2. Ohio State fell to #3 after the tie with Michigan and Bama moved to #1.

 

[rick4bama]

Why it helped Bama? Ohio State was ranked #1 and Bama #2. Ohio State fell to #3 after the tie with Michigan and Bama moved to #1.

I found this on Wiki. You remember that the Big Ten and the PAC -8 only allow the winner of the conference championship to go to any bowl game.
This what I have found out

The big matchup was on Saturday in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where No. 1 Ohio State (9–0) and No. 4 Michigan (10–0) continued "The Ten Year War" with a game for the Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl bid. The two teams played to a 10–10 tie. The next day, Big Ten Conference athletic directors voted to send Ohio State to the Rose Bowl against No. 9 USC (which had just beaten No. 8 UCLA 23−13 to win the Pac-8 championship), due in large part to the broken clavicle suffered by Michigan quarterback Dennis Franklin in the game. Alabama, still unbeaten and untied, took over the top spot in the next poll: No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Michigan, and No. 5 Notre Dame.