In the 1970s, college football was pretty predictable and coaches were larger than life. The Bear was at ‘Bama and JoePa was the man in Happy Valley. The Big Ten actually had 10 teams and the best of them was always coached by Woody or Bo. There was a conference called the Big Eight that was dominated by the Big Two and brash Barry almost always got the best of stoic Dr. Tom when Oklahoma played Nebraska. With Hall of Fame coaches at the helm of many of college football’s most successful programs, identifying the best teams in the country during the ’70s did not take a ton of searching for voters in The Associated Press poll. During the decade, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio State, Alabama and Notre Dame appeared in more than 90 percent of all Top 20s. (The poll expanded to 25 in 1989). Add in USC and Penn State, which both appeared in more than 86 percent of all polls, and the top nine schools in all-time total poll appearances were also the nine most represented on ballots in the 1970s. At Alabama, the ’70s were Phase II of Paul “Bear” Bryant’s dynasty. The Crimson Tide…
Continue Reading: Larger than life coaches, predictable powers dominate 1970s
