1977 college football season The 1977 college football season was one in which the top five teams all finished with records of 11 - 1 - 0 . Notre Dame , which beat a # 1 ranked Texas team in the Cotton Bowl Classic , became the national champion . The year 1977 was the last before NCAA ' s Division I was divided into I - A and I - AA . On the eve of a national playoff for the smaller programs that would be I - AA , the Sugar Bowl in 1977 became the fourth bowl game to sign a contract guaranteeing an appearance by a major conference champion . The result was that meetings between the media poll choices for the top two teams were less likely , unless those teams were in the Big Ten and Pac - 8 ( which met in the Rose Bowl ) , or one of the teams was not obligated to play in a particular bowl game . Besides the Big 10 - Pac 8 matchup in the Rose Bowl , the SWC champion played in the Cotton Bowl Classic , the Big 8 titlist in the Orange Bowl , and the SEC champ in the Sugar Bowl . Top teams that had their choice of which bowl to play were either in a conference outside of the five major powers ( such as the ACC or the WAC ) or those that were " independent " ( not affiliated with any conference ) , 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 ) . The AP poll consisted of the votes of as many as 64 writers , though not all voted in each poll , and the UPI poll was taken of a 42 member board of coaches . September . In the preseason poll released on September 5 , 1977 , the AP ranked Oklahoma first , followed by # 2 Michigan , # 3 Notre Dame , # 4 USC and # 5 Ohio State . Alabama was 6th , and the defending champion , Pittsburgh ( minus Tony Dorsett and Johnny Majors ) was ranked 7th . September 10 # 1 Oklahoma opened its season against the visiting Vanderbilt Commodores , who had finished 2 - 9 - 0 the year before . Though the Sooners avoided an upset , their 25 - 23 win didn ' t impress the pollsters , and OU dropped to fifth . # 2 Michigan won at Illinois , 37 - 9 . # 3 Notre Dame won at Pittsburgh , 19 - 9 . # 4 USC won at Missouri , 27 - 10 . # 5 Ohio State beat visiting Miami ( of Florida ) 10 - 0 . # 6 Alabama beat Ole Miss , 34 - 13 , at Birmingham . Although the top six teams all won their openers , The next poll shuffled the rankings ( 2 - 4 - 3 - 6 - 1 - 5 ) : 1 . Michigan 2 . USC 3 . Notre Dame 4 . Alabama 5 . Oklahoma 6 . Ohio State . September 17 # 1 Michigan beat Duke , 21 - 9 and # 2 USC won at Oregon State , 17 - 10 . A week after losing to Alabama , the Ole Miss Rebels stunned the nation as they defeated # 3 Notre Dame 20 - 13 in a humid 100 degree plus day in Jackson . Humiliated by their loss to Red and Blue , Irish dropped to 11th , and as low as 14th the week after . The # 11 Maryland Terrapins fell to an unranked West Virginia team in College Park , 24 - 16 . # 4 Alabama lost at # 14 Nebraska , 31 - 24 . # 5 Oklahoma crushed visiting Utah , 62 - 24 . # 6 Ohio State and # 10 Penn State which beat Minnesota ( 38 - 7 ) and Houston ( 31 - 14 ) , respectively , reached the top five : 1 . Michigan 2 . USC 3 . Oklahoma 4 . Ohio State 5 . Penn State September 24 # 1 Michigan beat Navy , 14 - 7 . # 2 USC beat visiting TCU , 51 - 0 . # 3 Oklahoma and # 4 Ohio State met in Columbus , Ohio , in the season ' s first big matchup . In a close game , the visiting Sooners won 29 - 28 after a touchdown , an onside kick recovery , and a last second field goal by Uwe Von Schaman , and reclaimed first place in the next poll . # 5 Penn State beat Maryland , 27 - 9 . # 6 Texas A & M , which won at # 7 Texas Tech , 33 - 17 , reached the top five : 1 . Oklahoma 2 . USC 3 . Michigan 4 . Penn State 5 . Texas A & M October . October 1 # 1 Oklahoma beat Kansas 24 - 9 and # 2 USC was idle , but the Trojans were voted # 1 anyway in a split vote ( 23 vs . 19 for OU and 16 for UM ) . # 3 Michigan beat # 5 Texas A & M 41 - 3 . # 4 Penn State lost at Kentucky , 24 - 20 . # 6 Ohio State won at SMU , 35 - 7 . # 8 Texas defeated the visiting Rice Owls , 72 - 15 . With USC having a plurality of votes ( 23 vs . 19 for OU and 16 for UM ) , the poll was : 1 . USC 2 . Oklahoma 3 . Michigan 4 . Ohio State 5 . Texas October 8 In Los Angeles , # 1 USC was beaten by # 7 Alabama , 21 - 20 when Alabama intercepted the pass on the last minute 2 - point conversion try by USC . The same day , in Dallas , # 2 Oklahoma and # 5 Texas met in their annual game , with Texas winning 13 - 6 . The # 2 Sooners ' fall on the same day that # 1 was beaten was a foreshadowing of something worse . In Big Ten play , # 3 Michigan won at Michigan State 24 - 14 and # 4 Ohio State beat Purdue 46 - 0 . # 6 Colorado beat visiting Oklahoma State , 29 - 13 , to reach the Top Five , which had the Wolverines return to first place : 1 . Michigan 2 . Texas 3 . Colorado 4 . Alabama 5 . Ohio State October 15 # 1 Michigan beat # 14 Wisconsin 56 - 0 . # 2 Texas won at # 7 Arkansas , 13 - 9 . # 3 Colorado played at Kansas to a 17 - 17 tie . # 4 Alabama beat Tennessee in BIrmingham , 24 - 10 . # 5 Ohio State beat Iowa 27 - 6 . # 6 USC beat Oregon , 33 - 15 , to return to the top five : 1 . Michigan 2 . Texas 3 . Alabama 4 . Ohio State 5 . USC October 22 Previously unbeaten ( 6 - 0 - 0 ) # 1 Michigan was shut out when it visited unranked ( 4 - 2 - 0 ) Minnesota , 16 - 0 . # 2 Texas won at SMU , 30 - 14 . # 3 Alabama beat Louisville , 55 - 6 . # 4 Ohio State won at Northwestern , 35 - 15 . In South Bend , IN , # 11 Notre Dame wore their green jerseys for the first time in decades and overwhelmed # 5 USC 49 - 19 . # 7 Oklahoma , which beat # 16 Iowa State 35 - 16 , returned to the Top Five , and the Longhorns became the fourth team to lead the poll : 1 . Texas 2 . Alabama 3 . Ohio State 4 . Oklahoma 5 . Notre Dame October 29 # 1 Texas beat visiting # 14 Texas Tech , 26 - 0 . # 2 Alabama beat Mississippi State 37 - 7 in Jackson . # 3 Ohio State beat Wisconsin , 42 - 0 . # 4 Oklahoma won at Kansas State , 42 - 7 , and # 5 Notre Dame beat Navy , 43 - 10 . Other than the Sooners ' trade with the Buckeyes , the poll was stable : 1 . Texas 2 . Alabama 3 . Oklahoma 4 . Ohio State 5 . Notre Dame November . November 5 # 1 Texas won at Houston , 35 - 21 . # 2 Alabama embarrassed # 18 LSU in Baton Rouge 24 - 3 . # 3 Oklahoma won at Oklahoma State , 61 - 28 , # 4 Ohio State won at Illinois , 35 - 0 , and # 5 Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech , 69 - 14 . For the first time since the season began , the top five remained unchanged ( in fact , the top nine were the same ) : 1 . Texas 2 . Alabama 3 . Oklahoma 4 . Ohio State 5 . Notre Dame November 12 # 1 Texas beat TCU 44 - 14 . # 2 Alabama beat the visiting Miami Hurricanes , 36 - 0 . # 3 Oklahoma beat Colorado , 52 - 14 . # 4 Ohio State beat Indiana , 35 - 7 , and # 5 Notre Dame won at # 15 Clemson , 21 - 17 . # 6 Michigan won at Purdue , 40 - 7 , and returned to the Top Five : 1 . Texas 2 . Alabama 3 . Oklahoma 4 . Ohio State 5 . Michigan November 19 # 1 Texas beat Baylor , 29 - 7 , while # 2 Alabama and # 3 Oklahoma were idle . Once again , the Big Ten title came down to a meeting between # 4 Ohio State and # 5 Michigan , 7 - 0 and 6 - 1 in conference play , respectively . The game , at Ann Arbor , Michigan , saw the host Wolverines win 14 - 6 and gain the trip to the Rose Bowl . # 6 Notre Dame beat Air Force , 49 - 0 . The poll : 1 . Texas 2 . Alabama 3 . Oklahoma 4 . Michigan 5 . Notre Dame November 25 On this Friday night after Thanksgiving , USC defeated UCLA on a last second field goal , 29 - 27 to knock UCLA out of the Rose Bowl and put the Washington Huskies in . November 26 # 1 Texas closed with a 57 - 28 win at # 12 Texas A & M , with an 11 - 0 - 0 record , the SWC title , and a trip to the Cotton Bowl Classic . # 2 Alabama closed its season in Birmingham , beating Auburn 48 - 21 . The Crimson Tide was unbeaten ( 7 - 0 ) in SEC conference play , as was Kentucky ( 6 - 0 ) . The Kentucky Wildcats , 10 - 1 - 0 overall , might otherwise have gone to the Sugar Bowl , but were ineligible because of NCAA probation . # 3 Oklahoma had beaten # 11 Nebraska , 38 - 7 , on the day after Thanksgiving to close the regular season 10 - 1 - 0 . # 4 Michigan was idle , as was # 5 Notre Dame , which closed its season on December 3 with a 48 - 10 win at Miami . The final regular season poll had been released on November 28 : 1 . Texas 2 . Oklahoma 3 . Alabama 4 . Michigan 5 . Notre Dame Conference standings . The following is an incomplete list of conference standings : Bowl Games . Two former NFL head coaching failures became college football successes , upsetting the # 1 and # 2 teams . Dan Devine had been unspectacular as Green Bay ' s coach before succeeding the legendary Ara Parsheghian at Notre Dame , while Lou Holtz had coached the New York Jets to a 3 - 11 finish before taking over at Arkansas . In the Sugar Bowl , it was a matchup of legendary coaches in Bear Bryant and Woody Hayes ; Bryant ' s # 3 Alabama squad easily handled 8th ranked Ohio State , 35 - 6 . The largest crowd in Cotton Bowl Classic history ( 76 , 701 ) turned out in Dallas to watch the unbeaten # 1 Texas Longhorns finalize a national championship . Notre Dame ' s defense , however , forced five turnovers , setting up five scores . Vagas Ferguson scored three touchdowns , including one on a pass from Joe Montana in a 38 - 10 win . For Texas , both Earl Campbell and Johnny Lam Jones were injured . Devine changed his mind about resigning his Irish coaching job . Following the Cotton Bowl Classic and Texas ' loss , # 4 Michigan hoped an impressive win over the Washington might vault them to a possible national championship . However the Huskies , led by Rose Bowl MVP Warren Moon , raced to a 24 - 0 3rd quarter lead and held on for a 27 - 20 upset . With # 1 Texas out of the way , # 2 Oklahoma was in a position to claim the championship with a win over # 6 Arkansas . The Razorbacks had finished behind Texas in SWC play and had settled for the Orange Bowl . The week of the game , Holtz suspended the Hogs ' top rusher , Ben Cowins , and the top receiver , Donny Bobo for violating team rules . The Sooners were 18 point favorites but Cowins ' backup Roland Sales rushed for two touchdowns and over 200 yards as the Razorbacks shut down the Sooners ' ground game en route to a 24 - 0 lead and a 31 - 6 win . The national championship was disputed as there were 4 one loss teams - Alabama , Arkansas , Notre Dame , and Texas . Notre Dame , on the strength of its lopsided win over # 1 Texas , vaulted over Texas , Oklahoma ( who lost in the Orange Bowl ) , Alabama ( who won in the Sugar Bowl ) , and Michigan ( who lost in the Rose Bowl ) . Alabama fans cried foul as they assumed , as the # 3 team before the bowls , that if # 1Texas and # 2 Oklahoma lost ( which they did ) , they would ride to # 1 with a win over Ohio State . Some believe Alabama was granted a share of the national title in 1978 despite its loss to the team it shared it with ( USC ) to make up for 1977 . There were several good choices for a champion — giant killers Notre Dame and Arkansas , and third - ranked Alabama — and the electors for AP and UPI were divided , but a majority for each service picked Notre Dame . With one AP writer naming all three schools as number one , the writers poll was 37⅓ for Notre Dame , 19⅓ for Alabama and 5⅓ for Arkansas UPI had 23 for Notre Dame , 13 for Alabama and 2 for Arkansas . Dan Devine , who had followed in the footsteps of both Vince Lombardi and Ara Parseghian , reversed his earlier plans and stayed on as coach of the defending NCAA football champion . Other bowls : Other champions . With NCAA Division I - AA football set to begin in 1978 , some of the schools that had played in Division II ( such as Montana State ) moved to Division I . Soon to be I - AA schools with great records in 1977 included Grambling State ( 10 - 1 - 0 ) , Colgate ( 10 - 1 - 0 ) , Louisiana Tech ( 9 - 1 - 2 ) , UT - Chattanooga ( 9 - 1 - 1 ) , and Tennessee State ( 8 - 1 - 1 ) .