1947 McMNC: Michigan Wolverines

AP Top 10: Final Record -- Key Bowl Results

1. Notre Dame: 9-0-0 -- None
2. Michigan: 10-0-0 -- W, Rose, 49-0
3. SMU: 9-0-2 -- T, Cotton, 13-13
4. Penn State: 9-0-1 -- T, Cotton, 13-13
5. Texas: 10-1-0 -- W, Sugar, 27-7
6. Alabama: 8-3-0 -- L, Sugar, 7-27
7. Penn: 7-0-1 -- None
8. USC: 7-2-1 -- L, Rose, 0-49
9. North Carolina: 8-2-0 -- None
10. Georgia Tech: 10-1-0 -- W, Orange, 20-14

This is the year of the "Who's No. 1?" poll, when the AP caved in to pressure for re-vote after the bowl games. Alas, poor Michigan. They can claim the 1947 AP title all they want, but it's not theirs. It's Notre Dame's title of record.

But we're not the AP, and so Michigan has new life for 1947. And why not? Two teams finish unbeaten and untied, they didn't play each other, and only one of them played a bowl game. It's the usual McMNC non-debate, right? Too bad Penn State didn't win the Cotton Bowl, or else we'd have a three-way going on here!

Michigan has the edge in SOS: 48% to 39% of opponents' games won. Michigan also has the edge in common opponents, as they beat USC and Northwestern by a combined 98-21 score with both games on the road, while the Irish only beat the Trojans and the Wildcats by a combined 64-26 with both games on the road. But Notre Dame had the Heisman Trophy winner (Johnny Lujack) on their team, and well, they were the defending AP champions, too. They had a built-in voting carryover from 1946, to be sure.

But there's just no way in hell Notre Dame was a better team than Michigan in 1947. While the Irish were resting on their laurels at home over Christmas break, the Wolverines were preparing to go west for New Year's Day, to take on #8 USC in their backyard. And the Wolverines took the Trojans out behind the woodshed. Yes, Notre Dame beat the Trojans out there, too, by a pretty good score, and USC certainly had more to play for against the Irish, considering the Trojans had zero losses at the time. A 38-7 win for Notre Dame is comparable to the 49-0 win the Wolverines posted over the Trojans, considering USC's probable disinterest in the game having already blown their season against the Irish. So whatever.

But the SOS debate is clear, and while both defenses were stellar barely giving up more than 50 points on the season (Notre Dame gave up 52 points in nine games, while Michigan gave up 53 points in ten games), the Wolverines scored 103 more points than the Irish did in 1947 -- against a better schedule. And again, they laid it on the line in a bowl game against a decent opponent (albeit a non-motivated opponent).

Considering their 1946 AP title (which I've already stripped them of) and the Heisman Trophy vote in 1947, it's clear why AP voters were sentimentally voting for the Irish. Me? I have no sentiment, either way, especially since I know Notre Dame will get a few of these back later in the century.

Michigan gets the 1947 McMNC.

McMNC Revisions
1. Michigan
2. Notre Dame
3. Penn State
4. SMU
5. Tie -- Texas and Georgia Tech

RUNNING SCORECARD:
Tennessee: +1938, +1942
Michigan: +1947
Georgia: +1946
Alabama: +1945
Purdue: +1943
Stanford: +1940
California: +1937
Texas A&M: =1939
Ohio State: -1942, +1944
Pittsburgh: +1936, -1937
TCU: -1938
Army: -1944, -1945
Minnesota: -1936, -1940, =1941
Notre Dame: -1943, -1946, -1947