Eleven National Champions
In its 120-year history, the Notre Dame football team has been honored as the No. 1 squad in the country, by one source or another, in 21 seasons. In 11 of those, the Fighting Irish are considered consensus national champions. The Associated Press poll began in 1936, and eight times the Irish have finished as the nation’s No. 1 ranked team.
For a closer look at each of Notre Dame’s consensus national champions, click on the individual year:
Season Record Coach
1924 10-0 Knute Rockne
1929 9-0 Knute Rockne
1930 10-0 Knute Rockne
1943 9-1 Frank Leahy
1946 8-0-1 Frank Leahy
1947 9-0 Frank Leahy
1949 10-0 Frank Leahy
1966 9-0-1 Ara Parseghian
1973 11-0 Ara Parseghian
1977 11-1 Dan Devine
1988 12-0 Lou Holtz
| Sept. 3 | S. FLORIDA | L, 20-23 |
| Sept. 10 | @Michigan | L, 31-35 |
| Sept. 17 | MICH. ST. | W, 31-13 |
| Sept. 24 | @Pittsburgh | W, 15-12 |
| Oct. 1 | @Purdue | W, 38-10 |
| Oct. 8 | AIR FORCE | W, 59-33 |
| Oct. 15 | -- | -- |
| Oct. 22 | USC | L, 17-31 |
| Oct. 29 | NAVY | W, 56-14 |
| Nov. 5 | @Wake Forest | W, 24-17 |
| Nov. 12 | Maryland (FedEx) | W, 45-21 |
| Nov. 19 | BOSTON C. | W, 16-14 |
| Nov. 26 | @Stanford | L, 14-28 |
| Dec. 29 | Florida St. (Champs Sports Bowl) | L, 14-18 |
(All times Eastern)
| Sept. 4 | Purdue | W, 23-12 |
| Sept. 11 | Michigan | L, 24-28 |
| Sept. 18 | @MSU | L, 31-34 |
| Sept. 25 | Stanford | L, 14-37 |
| Oct. 2 | @BC | W, 31-13 |
| Oct. 9 | Pittsburgh | W, 23-17 |
| Oct. 16 | W.Mich. | W, 44-20 |
| Oct. 23 | Navy (M'lands) |
L, 17-35 |
| Oct. 30 | Tulsa | L, 27-28 |
| Nov. 13 | Utah | W, 28-3 |
| Nov. 20 | Army (NYC) | W, 27-3 |
| Nov. 27 | at USC | W, 20-16 |
| Dec. 31 | Miami (Sun Bowl) | W, 33-17 |