1971 college football season The 1971 college football season saw Coach Bob Devaney ' s Nebraska Cornhuskers repeat as national champions . After being ranked 2nd in the preseason poll , Nebraska captured first place the following week and remained there for the rest of 1971 and won the Orange Bowl 38 – 6 in a # 1 vs . # 2 game against Alabama . During the 20th Century , the NCAA had no playoff for the college football teams that would later be described as " Division I - A " . The NCAA Football Guide , however , did note an " unofficial national champion " based on the top ranked teams in the " wire service " ( AP and UPI ) polls . The " writers ' poll " by Associated Press ( AP ) was the most popular , followed by the " coaches ' poll " by United Press International ) ( UPI ) . In 1971 , the UPI issued its final poll before the bowls , but the AP Trophy was withheld until the postseason was completed . The AP poll in 1971 consisted of the votes of as many as 55 sportswriters , though not all of them voted in every poll . 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 . September . September 18 # 1 Nebraska beat Minnesota 35 – 7 # 3 Texas won at UCLA , 28 – 10 . # 2 Notre Dame beat Northwestern 50 – 7 . # 4 Michigan shut out Virginia , 56 – 0 . # 5 Ohio State was idle and fell to 6th . # 6 Auburn , which crushed UT - Chattanooga 60 – 7 , reached # 5 . The poll was 1 . Nebraska 2 . Notre Dame 3 . Texas 4 . Michigan 5 . Auburn September 25 # 1 Nebraska beat Texas A & M , 34 – 7 . # 3 Texas beat Texas Tech 28 – 0 . # 2 Notre Dame narrowly won at Purdue , 8 – 7 . # 4 Michigan beat visiting UCLA 38 – 0 . # 6 Ohio State lost to visiting # 10 Colorado , 20 – 14 . # 5 Auburn edged # 9 Tennessee at home , 10 – 9 . Michigan and Notre Dame traded places in the poll that followed : 1 . Nebraska 2 . Michigan 3 . Texas 4 . Notre Dame 5 . Auburn October . October 2 Fifteen of the Top 20 teams remained unbeaten , including the Top 12 . # 1 Nebraska beat Utah State at home , 42 - 6 . # 3 Texas defeated Oregon 35 - 7 . # 4 Notre Dame beat Michigan State 14 - 2 , and fell to 7th place in the next poll . # 2 Michigan registered its third straight shutout at home , beating Navy 46 - 0 . # 5 Auburn Tigers beat Kentucky 38 - 6 # 6 Colorado rose to 5th after beating Kansas State 31 - 21 Poll : 1 . Nebraska 2 . Michigan 3 . Texas 4 . Auburn 5 . Colorado October 9 The top 9 teams improved their records to 4 - 0 or 5 - 0 . In their first Big 8 game and first on the road , # 1 Nebraska shut out Missouri 36 - 0 . # 3 Texas lost to # 8 Oklahoma in Dallas , 48 - 27 . # 2 Michigan won at Michigan State 24 - 13 . # 4 Auburn Tigers beat Southern Mississippi 27 - 14 . # 5 Colorado won at Iowa State , 24 - 14 , but dropped in the poll to 6th . # Alabama , which won at Vanderbilt 42 - 0 , rose to 4th . Texas dropped to 10th place , while Oklahoma rose to 2nd . The poll : 1 . Nebraska 2 . Oklahoma 3 . Michigan 4 . Alabama 5 . Auburn October 16 # 1 Nebraska crushed Kansas 55 - 0 , raising its record to 6 - 0 - 0 and outscoring its opposition 238 - 27 . # 2 Oklahoma beat visiting # 6 Colorado 45 - 17 . # 3 Michigan beat Illinois 35 - 6 . # 4 Alabama beat # 14 Tennessee 32 - 15 at Birmingham . # 5 Auburn won over Georgia Tech in Atlanta , 31 - 14 . Eight teams had records of 5 - 0 or 6 - 0 . The next poll : 1 . Nebraska 2 . Oklahoma 3 . Michigan 4 . Alabama 5 . Auburn 6 . Notre Dame 7 . Penn State 8 . Georgia . October 23 Seven of the top 8 teams stayed unbeaten , playing unranked opponents . # 1 Nebraska allowed Oklahoma State to reach double digits , but still won at Stillwater , OK , 41 - 13 . # 2 Oklahoma invaded Manhattan , KS and decimated the Kansas State Wildcats 75 - 28 . # 3 Michigan won at Minnesota , 35 - 7 . # 4 Alabama hosted Houston and won 34 - 20 . # 5 Auburn beat Clemson 35 - 13 . # 6 Notre Dame lost to visiting USC , 28 - 14 . # 7 Penn State # 8 Georgia beat Kentucky at home , 34 - 0 Poll : 1 . Nebraska 2 . Oklahoma 3 . Michigan 4 . Alabama 5 . Auburn 6 . Penn State 7 . Georgia October 30 # 1 Nebraska handed visiting # 9 Colorado a 31 - 7 defeat . # 2 Oklahoma beat Iowa State 43 - 12 # 3 Michigan rolled over visiting Indiana 61 - 7 . # 4 Alabama beat Mississippi State at Jackson , Miss . , # 5 Auburn beat Florida 40 - 7 , # 6 Penn State won at West Virginia , 35 - 7 , and # 7 Georgia recorded its third consecutive shutout , at South Carolina , 24 - 0 The Top 7 , all staying unbeaten , remained the same in the next poll : 1 . Nebraska 2 . Oklahoma 3 . Michigan 4 . Alabama 5 . Auburn 6 . Penn State 7 . Georgia November . November 6 # 1 Nebraska beat Iowa State 37 - 0 . # 2 Oklahoma won at Missouri , 20 - 3 . # 3 Michigan crushed Iowa , 63 - 7 . # 4 Alabama won at # 18 LSU , 14 - 7 . # 5 Auburn beat Mississippi State 30 - 21 . # 6 Penn State won 63 - 27 over Maryland . # 7 Georgia beat Florida at Jacksonville . As the Top 7 teams extended their records to 8 - 0 or 9 - 0 , the poll stayed unchanged : 1 . Nebraska 2 . Oklahoma 3 . Michigan 4 . Alabama 5 . Penn State 6 . Auburn 7 . Georgia November 13 # 1 Nebraska won at Kansas State 44 - 17 . # 2 Oklahoma beat Kansas 56 - 10 . # 3 Michigan narrowly won at Purdue , 20 - 17 . # 4 Alabama defeated the visiting Miami Hurricanes , 31 - 3 # 5 Auburn ( 8 - 0 - 0 ) and # 7 Georgia ( 9 - 0 - 0 ) met at Athens , Ga . , with the Auburn winning a decisive 35 - 20 victory . # 6 Penn State beat North Carolina State 35 - 3 . Poll : 1 . Nebraska 2 . Oklahoma 3 . Michigan 4 . Alabama 5 . Auburn 6 . Penn State November 20 Four of the Top 5 teams were idle . # 1 Nebraska and # 2 Oklahoma were preparing for their Thanksgiving Day meeting at Norman , OK , while # 4 Alabama and # 5 Auburn prepared for their season closer in Birmingham . # 3 Michigan ( 10 - 0 - 0 ) defeated Ohio State , 10 - 7 , to win the Big 10 title and earn the Rose Bowl berth . # 6 Penn State won at Pittsburgh 55 - 18 Poll : 1 . Nebraska 2 . Oklahoma 3 . Michigan 4 . Alabama 5 . Auburn 6 . Penn State As the regular season neared its close , Big 8 rivals Nebraska and Oklahoma were unbeaten , as were SEC rivals Alabama and Auburn , and Big 10 champ Michigan . On Thanksgiving Day , # 1 Nebraska ( 10 - 0 - 0 ) and # 2 Oklahoma ( 9 - 0 - 0 ) met on the Sooners ' field in a game that would determine the Big 8 title , the # 1 ranking , and a trip to the Orange Bowl . The Nebraska Cornhuskers won a classic battle with a toucdown with 90 seconds left , 35 - 31 . The loss dropped Oklahoma behind the unbeatens into 5th place in the polls . That weekend ( November 27 ) , # 4 Alabama ( 10 - 0 - 0 ) and # 5 Auburn ( 9 - 0 - 0 ) played their annual season - ender at Birmingham , with Alabama handing the Tigers their first loss , 31 - 7 ; as a result of this impressive win , Alabama jumped over Michigan . As SEC champion , Bama was invited to , but not obligated to play in , the Sugar Bowl ; instead accepted a bid to play # 1 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl instead . Auburn went to the Sugar Bowl instead , to face Oklahoma in a meeting of the runners up in the SEC and the Big 8 . # 6 Penn State was idle . The next poll : 1 . Nebraska 2 . Alabama 3 . Michigan 4 . Penn State 5 . Oklahoma December . December 4 # 1 Nebraska , with an 11 - 0 - 0 record , had NCAA permission to play a 12th game . . . in Hawaii . They beat the Rainbows 45 - 3 for their 12th win . # 4 Penn State took its unbeaten ( 10 - 0 - 0 ) record to face # 12 Tennessee ( 8 - 2 - 0 ) , and lost , 31 - 11 . # 4 Oklahoma ' s season ender was in Stillwater , Oklahoma , for their annual game against Oklahoma State , which the Sooners won 58 - 14 . The final regular season poll was 1 . Nebraska 2 . Alabama 3 . Michigan 4 . Oklahoma 5 . Auburn . Colorado , who lost only to Big 8 conference foes Nebraska and Oklahoma , was ranked 6th and headed for the Bluebonnet Bowl . Conference standings . The following is an incomplete list of conference standings : Bowl games . Major bowls . With # 1 Nebraska slated to play # 2 Alabama in the Orange Bowl , there was little suspense as to which game or games would decide the national title . # 3 Michigan held out the slim hope that , if they handily defeated Stanford while Nebraska or Alabama barely won or tied , they could leapfrog both teams into the # 1 position . But for the second year in a row , underdog Stanford came from behind to defeat the undefeated Big 10 champion in the Rose Bowl , this time beating Michigan 13 – 12 on a last second field goal by Rod Garcia ( who had missed 4 field goals when Stanford was upset by San Jose State earlier in the season , ironically by the score of 13 – 12 ) . Nebraska then walloped Alabama in the Orange Bowl 38 – 6 to claim its second straight national title . In the Sugar Bowl , Oklahoma intercepted Heisman Trophy winner Pat Sullivan 3 times and easily handled Auburn 40 - 22 to regain the # 2 ranking in the final poll . With # 2 Alabama , # 3 Michigan , and # 5 Auburn all losing , # 6 Colorado , winner of the Bluebonnet Bowl , rose to # 3 . In fact , in the final poll , the Big 8 occupied the top 3 spots , with Oklahoma # 2 and Colorado ( whose only losses were to Nebraska and Oklahoma ) # 3 . This is the only time teams from one conference were rated 1 - 2 - 3 in the final poll . Other champions . The schools that are now in the NCAA ' s " Division I - AA " were ranked in the " small college poll " , taken by both the UPI ( coaches ) and AP ( a panel of writers ) . The University of Delaware Blue Hens , which defeated Rutgers , Villanova and Boston University , averaged 40 points per game , and had a 9 - 1 - 0 record , were named best by UPI ' s 32 member coach board , followed by the ( 9 - 0 - 1 ) McNeese State Cowboys , # 3 Eastern Michigan ( 7 - 0 - 2 ) , # 4 Tennessee State ( 8 - 1 - 0 ) and # 5 C . W . Post ( 8 - 1 - 0 ) . The AP writers ' panel also ranked Delaware , McNeese and Eastern Michigan 1 , 2 and 3 , with Louisiana Tech fourth and Tennessee State fifth . Delaware and C . W . Post met in the Boardwalk Bowl on December 11 in Atlantic City , with the Blue Hens winning 72 - 22 . In the NAIA playoffs , Livingston beat Arkansas Tech 14 - 12 ( Div . I ) and California Lutheran beat Westminster 30 - 14 ( Div . II )