Football: Bottoms Up

One thing about football experts: they do have to keep an open mind. In the preseason college polls, sportswriters fig ured this year to be much like last.

Mighty Notre Dame, No. 1 in 1966, was tapped to be champion again, followed by Alabama (No. 3 last year), Michigan State (No. 2), Texas, Miami, Georgia, U.S.C., U.C.L.A., Tennessee and Colorado. Yet as of the first week in October, the top five favorites had won only seven of 15 games after one of the most disastrous early seasons in anybody’s history.

Notre Dame made mincemeat of California and Iowa (41-8, 56-6), but in between was sorely embarrassed by a 28-21 upset at the hands of Purdue’s unranked Boilermakers. Alabama was lucky to emerge with a 37-37 tie against equally unranked Florida State, before getting up steam against little Southern Mississippi and Ole Miss. Michigan State suffered the humiliation of a decade, losing 37-7 to a surprising Houston team that everybody had overlooked, lost again to U.S.C. before finally posting a win over Wisconsin. Texas? Defeated by both U.S.C. and Texas Tech before venting its frustration on Oklahoma State. Miami? Another two-time loser—to Northwestern and Penn State—before seeing some sunlight against Tulane.

So it was bottoms up in the experts’ polls last week, with four-time winner U.S.C. ranked No. 1, closely followed by Purdue, which dumped its first three opponents in splendid spoilermaker form. Then came Georgia, a three-time victor, and U.C.L.A., winner of four straight. Michigan State, Texas, Miami and Tennessee were nowhere to be found in the top ten. Alabama was rated seventh, and Notre Dame was languishing unhappily in the No. 5 spot. But it’s a long season, and as the Fighting Irish’s Coach Ara Parseghian says: “Nobody wants to be No. 1 in September—only in December.” Not that Ara can expect to find any surprises in his own Christmas stocking: at week’s end Notre Dame absorbed a 24-7 shellacking from Coach Johnny McKay’s surprising U.S.C. Trojans, a result that could only cement U.S.C.’s claim to No. 1 and send the Irish even further down the ratings.