1993 McMNC: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

AP Top 11: Final Record -- Key Bowl Results

1. Florida State: 12-1-0 -- W, Orange, 18-16
2. Notre Dame: 11-1-0 -- W, Cotton, 24-21
3. Nebraska: 11-1-0 -- L, Orange, 16-18
4. Auburn: 11-0-0 -- NONE (probation)
5. Florida: 11-2-0 -- W, Sugar, 41-7
6. Wisconsin: 10-1-1 -- W, Rose, 21-16
7. West Virginia: 11-1-0 -- L, Sugar, 7-41
8. Penn State: 10-2-0 -- W, Citrus, 31-13
9. Texas A&M: 10-2-0 -- L, Cotton, 21-24
10. Arizona: 10-2-0 -- W, Fiesta, 29-0
11. Ohio State: 10-1-1 -- W, Holiday, 28-21

I am including 11 teams in the "Top 10" this year, for obvious reasons.

Welcome to another clusterfucked college football analysis! Florida State, Notre Dame, Florida, Wisconsin, Penn State, Arizona and Ohio State are in; Nebraska, Auburn, West Virginia and Texas A&M are out.

First thing first: Florida State cannot win the McMNC, because they lost to Notre Dame head-to-head. What the hell the AP voters were thinking (oh, poor Bobby Bowden!) is beyond me. But the Seminoles are out, because they lost to another TUC in a head-to-head matchup. Too bad, too, because FSU's 60% SOS rating was PHAT. Arizona is out, because they lost the Pac-10 tiebreaker on the basis of their head-to-head loss to UCLA. Penn State is out, because they finished third in the Big Ten.

Florida is an interesting call: they lost to FSU and Auburn, but with the Tigers on probation, is Florida the default SEC rep? Yes, because they are the official SEC champion of record. So they're in, with the two losses. BUT, since they lost to FSU and the Seminoles lost to Notre Dame, the Gators are actually out.

So this comes down to Notre Dame and the Big Ten co-champions. Why co-champs? Because they each went 6-1-1 in the Big Ten, with the tie being against each other. The only reason the Badgers went to the Rose Bowl, was because Ohio State got Cooper'd against Michigan (see below). Since the Badgers hadn't been to Pasadena since JFK's presidency, they got to go and represent.

Here's the rub, though: the Badgers' sole loss was to 4-7 Minnesota. That's a bad loss, and you can't have a McMNC with a loss to a loser. Plus, Wisconsin's SOS rating of 48% wasn't going to hold much water, anyway.

Ohio State? Their sole loss was a 28-0 road pounding at AP #21 Michigan (8-4) when the Buckeyes were 9-0-1. You can't have a McMNC who lost by 28 points, even if it was to a decent team on the road. Shutout losses by four touchdowns are not good. The Buckeyes got exiled to the Holiday Bowl for their trouble, in a disturbing bowl assignment trend that continues to this day (i.e., just-misses get tucked away where no one cares, including themselves).

Which means Notre Dame wins this by default. Of course, with a 52% SOS rating, they might have half-earned it, anyway. Their sole loss was by two points at home to AP #13 Boston College (9-3) in their last regular season game. Otherwise, they beat AP #21 Michigan, USA #25 USC (8-5), #1 Florida State and #9 Texas A&M. The SOS was dragged down by 2-9 Northwestern, 1-10 Purdue, and 3-8 Pittsburgh.

Whether by attrition or not, it's the Irish in 1993. Somewhere, Lou Holtz is gumming it up with joy ...

McMNC Revisions
1. Notre Dame
2. Florida State
3. Nebraska
4. Ohio State
5. Wisconsin

RUNNING SCORECARD:
USC: -1962, =1967, +1969, =1972, +1978, +1979
Pittsburgh: +1936, -1937, =1976, +1980
Tennessee: +1938, +1942, +1950, -1951
Penn State: +1977, +1981, =1982, =1986
Washington: +1960, +1991
Georgia Tech: +1952, +1990
UCLA: +1965
Arkansas: +1964
Mississippi: +1962
Iowa: +1956
Illinois: +1951
Michigan: +1947, =1948
Purdue: +1943
Stanford: +1940
California: +1937
Nebraska: =1970, =1971
BYU: =1984
Syracuse: =1959
LSU: =1958
Texas A&M: =1939
Auburn: -1957, +1983
Georgia: +1946, -1980
Michigan State: -1952, +1953
Ohio State: -1942, +1944, =1954, =1968
Oklahoma: +1949, -1950, =1955, -1956, +1957, =1975, =1986
TCU: -1938
Maryland: -1953
Clemson: -1981
Colorado: -1990
Florida State: -1993
Texas: =1963, -1969
Army: -1944, -1945
Miami-FL: -1983, =1987, =1989, -1991
Minnesota: -1936, -1940, =1941, -1960
Alabama: +1945, =1961, -1964, -1965, -1978, -1979, =1992
Notre Dame: -1943, -1946, -1947, -1949, =1966, =1973, -1977, =1988, +1993