In the 88 years since the Associated Press first named a college football national champion and attempted to bring some order to a haphazard sport, many title winners have overcome a bad loss along the way. The 1975 Kansas Jayhawks (7–5) beat the eventual champion Oklahoma Sooners by 20 points in Norman, Okla.; the ’77 Mississippi Rebels (6–5) beat the future champion Notre Dame Fighting Irish in September of that year; and the 2014 Virginia Tech Hokies (7–6) beat the Ohio State Buckeyes by 14 points in Columbus, Ohio, early in Ohio State’s most recent national title season.
But if the current Notre Dame team wins the College Football Playoff championship game, nothing in the history of bad losses comes anywhere close to the Irish being upset 16–14 by the Northern Illinois Huskies on Sept. 7 in South Bend. It would be without precedent for a national champion to drop such a game—one which the Irish paid the Huskies $1.4 million to play without benefit of a return game in DeKalb, Ill.]
In terms of point spread, it was the biggest upset of 2024—the Huskies were 28-point underdogs coming into Notre Dame Stadium. It quite likely stands as the greatest win in Mid-American Conference history—at the time it happened, and even more now. Pondering how it happened is like trying to understand the mystery of how the Inca built their pyramids in Peru in the 1400s.
Notre Dame (14–1) was No. 5 in the AP poll then, and is one of two teams still playing. The Irish have mowed down three straight opponents ranked in the Top 10. NIU, meanwhile, finished tied for sixth in the MAC with an 8–5 overall record—but the Huskies did win the Potato Bowl. NIU currently is No. 94 in the Sagarin Ratings, while Notre Dame is No. 2.
NIU used that stunner as a springboard to leave the MAC and land in the Mountain West Conference as a football member, a move that became official last week. Notre Dame, paradoxically, used it as a springboard as well.
“We have to keep the pain,” coach Marcus Freeman told his players in a team meeting the Monday after the loss to Northern Illinois. The pain of defeat, and the lessons learned about failing to respect an opponent. All subsequent opponents were respected, and most were routed.
Notre Dame has rarely even come close to losing since that surreal September afternoon. During the Irish’s 13-game winning streak, the average winning margin is 25.6 points. Only two of those 13 victories were decided by single digits (the Louisville Cardinals in late September and Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl semifinal). The only time Notre Dame has trailed by more than seven points in a game was the first half against Penn State, when the deficit was 10–0.
For many college football fans, the touchstone upset was the FCS program Appalachian State Mountaineers beating the Michigan Wolverines, 34–32, to open the 2007 season. But Northern Illinois over Notre Dame should supersede it.
More than anything, that was imprudent scheduling of a dangerous opponent by Michigan. That App State team was the two-time reigning FCS national champion, while the Wolverines were a bit overrated at No. 5 to start the season. App State went on to win a third straight FCS title that season and finished No. 44 in the Sagarin Ratings; Michigan went 8–4 and finished No. 21 in Sagarin.
By comparison to NIU–Notre Dame, Ohio State’s massive flop against 20-point underdog Michigan on Nov. 30 is almost explainable. The 2024 Wolverines have NFL talent at several positions and ended up 8–5, with a victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide in the ReliaQuest Bowl. And it is a rivalry game—one that has burrowed into the psyches of the Buckeyes to an incredible degree over the past four seasons.
But the Buckeyes had no get-well games to use as a means to distance themselves from that defeat. Whereas Notre Dame could heal itself with romps of Big Ten cellar-dweller Purdue and Miami (Ohio), the Buckeyes’ next task (albeit three weeks later) was a playoff game against the Tennessee Volunteers.
And when roughly 35,000 orange-clad Vols fans showed up in Ohio Stadium, the karma seemed very bad for the home team. A decent percentage of the fan base bailed on the Buckeyes, disgusted or traumatized by the four-game losing streak to their biggest rival.
But Ohio State showed up for that game with a renewed vigor that has not ceased. The Buckeyes’ playoff run through Tennessee (by 25 points), the No. 1 Oregon Ducks (by 20) and the Texas Longhorns (by 14) showed the restorative power of learning from defeat.
Both Notre Dame and Ohio State embody the age-old sports bromides about responding to adversity, getting up after being knocked down and refusing to be defined by your worst moments. Their championship matchup is a football symposium on the power of resilience.
Of course, it’s also a testament to the one thing the expanded, 12-team playoff offers for the first time in the history of the sport: second (and even third) chances. This Notre Dame team proved a single loss—even one as inconceivable as theirs—is not fatal to playoff aspirations. This Ohio State team proved multiple losses can be overcome, if they are counterbalanced by enough quality wins (Penn State, Indiana) to get in the bracket.
“I do think the new [playoff] format has allowed our team to grow and build throughout the season, and as much as losses hurt, they really allow us as coaches and players to take a hard look at the issues and get them addressed,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said.
In the four-team playoff era, neither the Buckeyes nor Fighting Irish would have even gotten a bid. Their talent would have likely dispersed in early December, opting out of bowl games and perhaps hitting the transfer portal.
Notre Dame fans would have spent the offseason grumbling about the loss to Northern Illinois that kept them out of the playoff. Ohio State fans would still be stewing in dismay and anger over The Michigan Thing. The past month of euphoric victories and title aspirations would never have existed.
In the 12-team playoff, both teams got an inch of opportunity and took it many miles—all the way to Atlanta. One of them will win the national championship, despite a stunning loss that could have ruined their seasons just a year earlier.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Notre Dame's Ascent After Historic NIU Loss Ushers in New CFP Era.