1973 NCAA Division I football season


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.
In its inaugural season, Division I had two NCAA-recognized national champions, and they faced each other at year's end in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Eve. The New Orleans game matched two unbeaten teams, the Alabama Crimson Tide ranked #1 by AP and UPI, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish ranked #3 by AP and #4 by UPI.
While both wire services ranked Alabama first at the end of the regular season, the final AP poll was after the bowl games. By agreement with the American Football Coaches' Association, however, UPI bestowed its championship before the postseason bowl games, and Alabama was crowned champion by UPI on December 4. UPI ranked Notre Dame fourth: one coach had given the Irish a first place vote, compared to 21 for Alabama.
In a game where the lead changed six times, Notre Dame won by a single point, 24–23, to claim the AP national championship. During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for major college football teams that would become Division I-A in 1978. The NCAA Football Guide, however, did note an "unofficial national champion" based on the top ranked teams in the "wire service" polls. The "writers' poll" by Associated Press . In 1973, the UPI issued its final poll before the bowls, but the AP Trophy was withheld until the postseason was completed. The AP poll in 1973 consisted of the votes of as many as 63 sportswriters and broadcasters, though not all of them voted in every poll. UPI's voting was made by 34 coaches. Those who cast votes would give their opinion of the ten best teams. Under a point system of 20 points for first place, 19 for second, etc., the "overall" ranking was determined.

Conference and program changes

September

Elsewhere, Bluebonnet Bowl-bound Tulane defeated Orange Bowl-bound LSU 14-0 to end a 25-year winless drought in the Battle for the Rag in the final meeting at Tulane Stadium, leaving both the Green Wave and Bayou Bengals 9-2. Also, the 4-7 Navy Midshipmen trounced the Army Cadets 51-0. As for the Cadets, they completed one of their worst season in their football program history, when they completed a season with an imperfect 0-10 record.
In the final regular season poll, the top six schools were unbeaten. 1.Alabama 2. 2.Notre Dame 3.Oklahoma 4.Ohio State 5.Michigan and 6.Penn State. The other major college unbeaten, Miami , was #15. Oklahoma, however, was on probation for having used an ineligible player in three 1972 games, and was ineligible to play in a bowl game. #1 Alabama and #2 Notre Dame accepted invitations to play in the Sugar Bowl.

Rule changes

Bowl games

Major bowls

Monday, December 31, 1973
Tuesday, January 1, 1974
Alabama and Notre Dame had never met in a college football game before their encounter in the Sugar Bowl, which was played on New Year's Eve at Tulane Stadium, with kickoff at 7:15 pm CST. Two legendary coaches, Bear Bryant and Ara Parseghian brought their teams to New Orleans, and the game was a thriller. The Irish scored first, but missed the extra point. After Alabama took a 7–6 lead, freshman Al Hunter returned the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown, and a two-point conversion put Notre Dame up 14–7. Alabama went ahead 17–14 in the third, but a fumble on their own 12-yard line gave the Irish a chance to make it 21–17. In the fourth quarter, Bama got back the lead on a trick play, as quarterback Richard Todd handed off to running back, Mike Stock, who then fired a touchdown pass back to Todd; but Bill Davis, who had made 51 of 53 extra point attempts in his career, was wide right, and the score stayed 23–21. In the final minutes, Notre Dame's Bob Thomas kicked a 19-yard field goal that gave the team the 24–23 win. Asked whether Notre Dame would be voted #1, Coach Parseghian replied, "Certainly. What was the final score?"
BOWL
SUGAR#3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish24#1 Alabama Crimson Tide23
COTTON#12 Nebraska Cornhuskers19#8 Texas Longhorns3
ROSE#4 Ohio State Buckeyes42#7 USC Trojans21
ORANGE#6 Penn State Nittany Lions16#13 LSU Tigers9

The final AP writers' poll was split. Notre Dame received a majority of the first place votes, 33 out of 60, followed by #2 Ohio State and #3 Oklahoma. The fourth spot went to Alabama. UPI, who crowned Alabama as national champion at the end of the regular season, would begin holding the coaches' poll after the bowl games beginning with the 1974 season.

Other bowls

Running back John Cappelletti had the third best year in Penn State history when he gained 1,117 yards rushing in 1972. As a senior in 1973, he had the second best year in school history rushing for 1,522 yards. In his two-year running career, he gained 100 yards in the thirteen games and had a career total of 2,639 yards and twenty-nine touchdowns for an average of 120 yards per game and 5.1 yards per carry. Cappelletti's acceptance speech on December 13 at the Heisman Dinner was considered the most moving ever given at these ceremonies, as he honored his 11-year-old brother Joey, a victim
  1. John Cappelletti, RB - Penn State, 1,057 votes
  2. John Hicks, OT - Ohio State, 524
  3. Roosevelt Leaks, RB - Texas, 483
  4. David Jaynes, QB - Kansas, 394
  5. Archie Griffin, RB - Ohio State, 326
  6. Randy Gradishar, LB - Ohio State, 282
  7. Lucious Selmon, NG - Oklahoma, 250
  8. Woody Green, RB - Arizona State, 247
  9. Danny White, QB - Arizona State, 166
  10. Kermit Johnson, RB - UCLA, 122
  11. Tony Dorsett, RB - Pittsburgh, 118
  12. Lynn Swann, SE - USC, 108
  13. Anthony Davis, RB - USC, 104
  14. Condredge Holloway, QB - Tennessee, 98
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