Ranking the 30 Greatest National Championship Games

11. 1972 Orange Bowl

#1 Nebraska d. #2 Alabama 38-6

BEFORE THE GAME

Notre Dame had technically opened the season #1 in the preseason poll, but Nebraska leapfrogged into the top spot right away after playing their first game a week earlier than the Fighting Irish. They were the defending national champions and ended their season with a 31-game unbeaten streak after winning all 12 games on their regular-season schedule. Once they went over Notre Dame in the polls, Bob Devaney’s team went wire-to-wire to finish the year as the best team in the country.

But they got the chance not only to claim their supremacy but to prove it against undefeated SEC champion Alabama. The Crimson Tide averaged nearly 33 points per game during the regular season, with Johnny Musso rushing for over 1000 yards and 16 touchdowns. The defense was performing at just as high a level, holding opponents to fewer than eight points per game. Bear Bryant’s squad had finally broken the color barrier in Tuscaloosa, and it was beginning to pay dividends as they navigated to a perfect regular season.

The only other team to finish its regular season undefeated was Michigan, who was slated to play a three-loss Stanford team thanks to their Rose Bowl obligations. They entered the game ranked third behind not only Nebraska and Alabama, but the Wolverines sputtered against Jim Plunkett and a tough Stanford defense. For the first time in its history, the Orange Bowl was laying claim to providing the stage for a national champion to be crowned in college football.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Nebraska quickly asserted its dominance, scoring four touchdowns before halftime. The most electric came on a 77-yard punt return by Johnny Rodgers, who would parlay his success in this game into the Heisman Trophy the following season. The Cornhuskers were up 28-0 on their overmatched opponent by the intermission, and there was nothing that Bryant could do to inspire better play from his charges in the face of the Husker juggernaut.

A third-quarter touchdown run by Terry Davis eliminated the shutout for the Tide, but Alabama would not find its way back into the endzone for the rest of the game. Nebraska added a touchdown and a field goal after Bama pulled within three scores, putting an exclamation point on a perfect 13-0 season. The win also capped the dominance of the Big 8, which finished 1-2-3 in the post-bowl polls after Oklahoma finished 11-1 and Colorado finished 10-2 with the three combined losses all coming to one another.