1970 college football season The 1970 college football season was marked by tragedy , due to two airplane crashes . On October 2 , one of the planes carrying the Wichita State football team crashed on the way to a game against Utah State , killing 31 people on board , including 14 players . Then , on November 14 , the charter for the Marshall Thundering Herd from a game against East Carolina , killing all 75 persons . At season ' s end , the Nebraska Cornhuskers won the AP national championship after Texas and Ohio State both lost in the postseason on New Year ' s Day . 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 ) . Until 1974 , the UPI issued its final poll before the bowls , but beginning in 1968 ( also 1965 ) , the AP Trophy was withheld until the postseason was completed . The AP poll in 1970 consisted of the votes of as many as 52 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 . In the preseason poll released on September 7 , Texas was placed # 1 with 19 1st place votes . Ohio State and USC followed , with 7 and 6 votes , and Arkansas and Mississippi , each with a vote . USC beat Alabama 42 – 21 at Birmingham , and Arkansas lost to # 10 Stanford 34 – 28 at Little Rock on September 12 . In the poll that followed , Stanford took the place of Arkansas , while the rest of the Top 5 was the same : 1 . Texas 2 . Ohio State 3 . USC 4 . Stanford 5 . Mississippi . September 19 : Number 1 Texas won in Austin against California 56 – 15 . In Los Angeles , # 3 USC tied Nebraska 21 – 21 . # 4 Stanford beat San Jose State 34 – 3 . # 5 Mississippi opened with a 47 – 13 win at Memphis State . # 7 Penn State , which had beaten Navy 55 – 7 , reached the Top Five . Poll : 1 . Ohio State 2 . Texas 3 . Stanford 4 . Mississippi 5 . Penn State September 26 : # 1 Texas won in Lubbock over Texas Tech , 35 – 13 . # 2 Ohio State opened its season at home in Columbus , beating Texas A & M 56 – 13 . # 3 Stanford ( in a battle between Jim Plunkett and Dan Fouts ) won at Oregon 33 – 10 . # 4 Mississippi escaped a loss to Kentucky in Jackson , 20 – 17 and fell to 5th . # 5 Penn State lost at Colorado 41 – 13 . # 7 USC returned to 6th place with a 48 – 0 win at Iowa . # 6 Notre Dame , which had beaten Purdue 48 – 0 , rose to 4th . The new poll was 1 . Texas 2 . Ohio State 3 . Stanford 4 . Notre Dame 5 . Mississippi 6 . USC . October . October 3 : # 1 Texas squeaked by UCLA at home 20 – 17 on a touchdown in the last 20 seconds . # 2 Ohio State beat Duke at home 34 – 10 . # 3 Stanford lost to Purdue 26 – 14 . # 4 Notre Dame beat Michigan State in East Lansing , 29 – 0 . # 4 Mississippi earned a 48 - 23 win in Jackson over Alabama . # 5 USC beat visiting Oregon State 45 – 13 Poll : 1 . Texas 2 . Ohio State 3 . Notre Dame 4 . Mississippi 5 . USC October 10 : # 1 Texas defeated Oklahoma in Dallas , 41 – 9 . # 2 Ohio State beat Michigan State in East Lansing , 29 – 0 . # 3 Notre Dame beat Army at home , 51 – 10 . # 4 Mississippi won at Georgia 31 – 21 . # 5 USC lost at Stanford 24 – 14 . # 6 Nebraska , which had tied USC earlier , rose to fifth after its 21 – 7 win over Missouri gave it a 4 – 0 – 1 record . Poll : 1 . Texas 2 . Ohio State 3 . Notre Dame 4 . Mississippi 5 . Nebraska October 17 : # 1 Texas was idle . # 2 Ohio State beat Minnesota at home , 28 – 8 . # 3 Notre Dame won at Missouri , 24 – 7 . # 4 Mississippi lost at home in Oxford to Southern Mississippi , 30 – 14 . # 5 Nebraska won at Kansas 41 – 20 . # 6 Michigan , which had beaten Michigan State 34 – 20 at home to reach 5 – 0 , got into the top five . Poll : 1 . Texas 2 . Ohio State 3 . Notre Dame 4 . Nebraska 5 . Michigan October 24 : # 1 Texas defeated Rice 45 – 21 in Houston . # 2 Ohio State won at Illinois 48 – 29 . # 3 Notre Dame was idle . # 4 Nebraska beat Oklahoma State 65 – 31 . # 5 Michigan beat Minnesota 39 - 13 at home . Poll : 1 . Texas 2 . Ohio State 3 . Notre Dame 4 . Nebraska 5 . Michigan October 31 : # 1 Texas beat SMU at home 42 – 15 . # 2 Ohio State beat Northwestern 24 – 10 . # 3 Notre Dame defeated Navy 56 – 7 in Philadelphia . # 4 Nebraska won at Colorado 29 – 13 . # 5 Michigan won at Wisconsin 29 – 15 . Despite reaching 6 – 0 , Ohio State dropped to # 3 . The poll was : 1 . Texas 2 . Notre Dame 3 . Ohio State 4 . Nebraska 5 . Michigan November . November 7 # 1 Texas won at Baylor 21 - 14 . # 2 Notre Dame beat Pittsburgh 46 - 14 at home . # 3 Ohio State won at Wisconsin 24 - 7 . # 4 Nebraska won at Iowa State 54 - 29 . # 5 Michigan beat visiting Illinois 42 - 0 . Notre Dame took over the top spot from Texas . Poll : 1 . Notre Dame 2 . Texas 3 . Ohio State 4 . Nebraska 5 . Michigan November 14 # 1 Notre Dame survived visiting Georgia Tech , 10 - 7 , and lost its top ranking . # 2 Texas , which won at Texas Christian , 58 - 0 , returned to # 1 . # 3 Ohio State eked out a win at Purdue 10 - 7 . # 4 Nebraska beat visiting Kansas State 51 - 13 , and # 5 Michigan shut out Iowa 55 - 0 . . Poll : 1 . Texas 2 . Notre Dame 3 . Ohio State 4 . Nebraska 5 . Michigan November 21 As # 1 Texas prepared for a Thanksgiving Day game , # 2 Notre Dame won , but just barely , beating visiting LSU 3 - 0 . # 3 Ohio State finished its season with a 20 - 9 win in Columbus over # 5 Michigan to go to the Rose Bowl . # 4 Nebraska beat Oklahoma 28 - 21 at home to finish its season unbeaten . Arkansas won at Texas Tech 24 - 10 , to reach the Top Five . Poll : 1 . Texas 2 . Notre Dame3 . Ohio State 4 . Nebraska 5 . Arkansas On Thanksgiving Day , # 1 Texas beat Texas A & M at home 52 - 14 to reach 9 - 0 - 0 . That Saturday , November 28 # 2 Notre Dame lost to USC in Los Angeles , 38 - 28 . # 4 Nebraska and Arkansas were idle . # 7 Tennessee , which had beaten Vanderbilt 24 - 6 in Nashville to finish its season at 9 - 1 - 0 , rose to fifth in the poll . The poll was : 1 . Texas 2 . Ohio State 3 . Nebraska 4 . Arkansas 5 . Tennessee . December . December 5 # 1 Texas beat Arkansas at Austin 42 - 7 to close a perfect season at 10 - 0 - 0 . LSU crushed Ole Miss 61 - 17 at Baton Rouge to clinch the Southeastern Conference championship and rise into the top 5 . Poll : 1 . Texas 2 . Ohio State 3 . Nebraska 4 . Tennessee 5 . LSU Conference standings . The following is an incomplete list of conference standings : Bowl games . Major bowls . In the Cotton Bowl , # 6 Notre Dame gained revenge for its narrow defeat to # 1 Texas in the previous year ' s Cotton Bowl by upsetting the # 1 Longhorns , 24 – 11 . Notre Dame Head coach Ara Parseghian created a " wishbone defense " , positioning his linebackers to mirror the Texas running backs and the Irish held the high - powered Texas running game in check . In Pasadena , # 2 Ohio State , the Big Ten champions , were positioned to claim the national championship as they took the field as heavy favorites against 8 – 3 # 12 Stanford of the Pac - 8 . The Buckeyes overcame a 10 – 0 early deficit to take a 14 – 10 lead on two touchdowns by John Brockington . OSU was still ahead 17 – 13 after three quarters . But Stanford , led by the passing of Heisman Trophy winner Jim Plunkett , scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to stun Ohio State 27 - 17 . With the door open , # 3 Nebraska of the Big 8 seized the opportunity that night in Miami in the Orange Bowl against stubborn # 5 LSU of the SEC . Down 12 - 10 after three quarters , the Huskers scored a fourth quarter touchdown and shut down the Tigers to prevail 17 – 12 on the new Poly - Turf and claim the national title . Other champions . The schools that are now in the NCAA ' s " Division I - AA " were ranked in the " college division poll " , taken by both the UPI ( coaches ) and AP ( a panel of writers ) . In 1970 , UPI and AP ranked the Arkansas State Indians ( 10 - 0 - 0 ) # 1 . The 34 coaches on the UPI board followed with # 2 Tampa ( 10 - 0 - 0 ) , # 3 Montana ( 10 - 0 - 0 ) , # 4 North Dakota State ( 8 - 0 - 1 ) and # 5 Tennessee State ( 10 - 0 - 0 ) . AP ranked Montana 2nd , North Dakota State 3rd , Tampa 4th and Tennessee State 5th Arkansas State went on to beat 10th ranked Central Missouri State in the Pecan Bowl , 38 - 21 . In the NAIA playoffs , Texas A & I beat Wofford 48 - 7 ( Division I ) and Westminster beat Anderson 21 - 16 ( Division II )