Notre Dame lead the rivalry 5-1-0, including two bowl victories, entering the game. The Irish defeated the Crimson Tide, 24-23, in their first meeting in the 1973 Sugar Bowl. It was the first bowl victory for Notre Dame since 1968.
Notre Dame went on to finish tenth in the final AP poll that year. Alabama finished second in the polls after defeating Penn State, 42-6, in its own bowl game. Texas A&M also had a strong season with a 9-1-0 record and a No. 2 ranking when it played in its own bowl against Mississippi State. The Aggies lost that game 21-9.
It was the first of three straight Sugar Bowl appearances for Alabama. The Crimson Tide went 0-3-1 in the game until they finally won it in 1975 under Joe Paterno. They beat Notre Dame, 27-7.
That same year, Ohio State finished the season with a 10-1-0 record and was ranked No. 1 when it played in the Fiesta Bowl. The Buckeyes lost to UCLA, 14-7.
UCLA then lost to Oklahoma, 52-17, in the Orange Bowl. So both teams were undefeated going into the last week of the regular season and they met again in the Fiesta Bowl.
The Rose Bowl, the granddaddy of all bowl games, was Notre Dame's maiden appearance. The Notre Dame Irish defeated the Stanford Cardinals 27-10 (who were not even known as the Stanford Indians at the time). In the 1970 Cotton Bowl, the Irish were defeated by the Texas Longhorns, 21-17. This would be their only loss during the 1969 season.
Notre Dame has an impressive record of 19-3-1 in bowl games. They have already surpassed their total from all of last season (8).
Here is where things get tricky for some people. Many consider the 1938 Sugar Bowl to be the first postseason game for Notre Dame because it was played before the NCAA came into existence. However, since that game was played against another Catholic school, Pope John Paul II University, we will not count it as part of Notre Dame's history.
In any case, the first official bowl game for Notre Dame was the 1963 Orange Bowl vs. Miami (OH). They went on to win that game too, defeating the Miami Hurricanes 34-13.
There was no National Championship system yet so whoever finished the season highest in the AP poll got to go to Miami. Notre Dame finished second that year but since they didn't have a chance to play in an actual championship game they received no national title recognition. It wasn't until the following year that Alabama took home the undisputed top spot.
Home game versus Boston College on September 20, 1993. The Irish (headed by head coach Lou Holtz) upset No. 1 Florida State 31-24 the week before at Notre Dame Stadium in a duel among the nation's top two teams. The match had been billed as the "Game of the Century."
Florida State was ranked first in both major polls while ND was second. It was the first time since 1956 that Notre Dame had won its opening game against a top 10 team.
BC entered the season as a clear favorite to win the national championship after losing just one game the previous year. The Eagles were considered one of the best defenses in football history. They finished the 1993 season with a dominant 4-0-1 record and were ranked No. 2 behind Florida State.
BC's defense shut out Notre Dame in this meeting for the first time since 1947. The Irish managed only 168 yards of total offense while the BC defense limited them to just 207 yards of total offense. John Carney scored three times for Boston College while Eric Ballinger recorded 12 tackles and one fumble recovery for the Irish.
This is the only meeting between these two schools during the regular season. South Bend wins by a score of 27-7.
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