Irish & Tide History

Earlier this year when the Irish were preparing to play Oklahoma, we drew numerous comparisons between these great programs.  Facing Alabama for the BCS National Championship in Miami on January 7^th will pair two of the most storied programs in college football history.

	Notre Dame	Alabama
First Season	1887	1892
Heisman Winners	7	1
Consensus All Americans	96	47
National Championships*	13	14
College Football Hall of Fame Players	44	11
College Football Hall of Fame Coaches	6	4
Pro Football Hall of Fame Players	10	7
Wins	864	826
Notable Icons	Knute Rockne, George “The Gipper” Gipp, The Four Horsemen, Frank Leahy, Paul Hornung, Ara Parseghian, Lou Holtz, Johnny Lujack, Leon Huarte, Tim Brown, and easily dozens more	Paul “Bear” Bryant, Gene Stallings, Cornelius Bennett, Don Hutson, Ozzie Newsome, Mark Ingram, Derrick Thomas, Joe Namath, Bart Starr, and Ken Stabler

 

*Individually recognized and/or claimed; not necessarily universally recognized.

All year, the Irish have respected Notre Dame’s history while maintaining that it does not pertain to how they play the game.  This matchup should be no different.  Although the Irish and the Tide may not have the long history of some other rivalries, there have been some big games that may draw comparisons.  Even though I agree with the notion that none of what happened in the past will affect the play on the field, I thought I would share some highlights of matchups past.

1973: top-ranked and unbeaten Alabama lost 24-23 to second-ranked and unbeaten Notre Dame at old Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, LA in the Sugar Bowl.

1975: The 11-0 Tide were ranked number one, while the Irish were 9-2 and rated eighth (both UPI rankings). Notre Dame won that game 13-11.

Overall, Notre Dame is 5-1 against Alabama.

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Initial Championship Game Thoughts

First, hats off to Georgia and Alabama for a great SEC title game Saturday night.  It was entertaining to say the least.  As the game progressed, I felt confident that the Irish could beat either team.  As great as the game was there, were several incidents that showed why each had lost a game during the season and why they could lose again.

There are several reasons why Irish fans should be happy that Notre Dame is facing the Crimson Tide on January 7^th.  For most of the season, Alabama has been seen as the best team in the country and many still think they are.  In any given season, there are so many Irish Haters that there is always talk of Notre Dame being overrated, and this year is no different.  With wins over more ranked teams and more bowl eligible teams than Alabama, there are still many people out there who feel Alabama is the better team that had a better season.  With Alabama being the defending National Champion from the SEC, the conference who has won the last seven national titles, there may be no better opponent to play for the Irish to solidify their claim as the number one team in the land.  As it is said, “to be the man you have to beat the man”.

These are two storied programs and there are and will be all kinds of historical statistics and tales of greatest for these two schools.  Wins, winning percentages, championships, Heisman winners, All- Americans and icons will all be rolled out in the coming weeks.  However, as this Irish team has displayed all season, their history and tradition is respected, but it has no bearing on this team’s play.  I am looking forward to the next five weeks of analyses and the match up itself on the 7^th of January in Miami.