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The 1973 season

Notre Dame finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 11–⁠0 under Ara Parseghian, after it beat Alabama 24–⁠23 in the Sugar Bowl. Alabama also claims the national title. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 3 Notre Dame 24, No. 1 Alabama 23 (Dec 31, 1973). 27 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: John Cappelletti, RB, Penn State, who also won the Maxwell and Walter Camp.

The Heisman vote: John Cappelletti 1,057 points, John Hicks 524
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
John Cappelletti RB, Penn State1,05722914286
John Hicks OT, Ohio State5241146454
Roosevelt Leaks RB, Texas4827480100
David Jaynes QB, Kansas394656863
Archie Griffin RB, Ohio State326456365
Randy Gradishar LB, Ohio State282475335
Lucious Selmon DT, Oklahoma250395229
Woody Green RB, Arizona State247315544
Danny White QB, Arizona State166322226
Kermit Johnson RB, UCLA122241520

First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published.

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1Notre DameIndependent
2Ohio StateBig Ten
3OklahomaBig Eight
4AlabamaSoutheastern Conference
5Penn StateIndependent
6MichiganBig Ten
7NebraskaBig Eight
8USCPac-8
9Arizona StateWestern Athletic Conference
9HoustonIndependent
11Texas TechSouthwest Conference
12UCLAPac-8
13LSUSoutheastern Conference
14TexasSouthwest Conference
15Miami (OH)Mid-American Conference
16NC StateAtlantic Coast Conference
17MissouriBig Eight
18KansasBig Eight
19TennesseeSoutheastern Conference
20MarylandAtlantic Coast Conference
20TulaneIndependent

Biggest upsets

Sep 21, 1973Miami 20, 6Texas 15
Oct 27, 1973Colorado 17, 7Missouri 13
Nov 3, 1973Utah 36, 8Arizona State 31
Dec 1, 1973Tulane 14, 8LSU 0
Oct 6, 1973Texas Tech 20, 11Oklahoma State 7
Nov 3, 1973Georgia 35, 11Tennessee 31
Oct 27, 1973Auburn 7, 12Houston 0
Nov 3, 1973Kentucky 34, 14Tulane 7
Nov 17, 1973Iowa State 17, 14Missouri 7
Sep 29, 1973Mississippi State 33, 16Florida 12
Oct 13, 197312Missouri 13, 2Nebraska 12
Nov 17, 1973Ole Miss 28, 16Tennessee 18

Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.

The AP poll, week by week

The AP poll’s top 10 in 1973, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 3Wk 5Wk 7Wk 9Wk 11Wk 13FinalArizona State: Wk 1 No. 14, Wk 2 No. 13, Wk 3 No. 13, Wk 4 No. 13, Wk 5 No. 12, Wk 6 No. 11, Wk 7 No. 12, Wk 8 No. 11, Wk 9 No. 8, Wk 10 No. 14, Wk 11 No. 13, Wk 12 No. 13, Wk 13 No. 11, Wk 14 No. 10, Final No. 99 Arizona StateHouston: Wk 1 No. 18, Wk 2 No. 18, Wk 3 No. 16, Wk 4 No. 15, Wk 5 No. 14, Wk 6 No. 14, Wk 7 No. 14, Wk 8 No. 12, Wk 9 No. 18, Wk 10 No. 15, Wk 11 No. 15, Wk 12 No. 14, Wk 13 No. 14, Wk 14 No. 14, Final No. 99 HoustonUSC: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 2 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 4, Wk 6 No. 4, Wk 7 No. 6, Wk 8 No. 6, Wk 9 No. 9, Wk 10 No. 8, Wk 11 No. 9, Wk 12 No. 9, Wk 13 No. 7, Wk 14 No. 7, Final No. 88 USCNebraska: Wk 1 No. 4, Wk 2 No. 2, Wk 3 No. 2, Wk 4 No. 2, Wk 5 No. 2, Wk 6 No. 2, Wk 7 No. 11, Wk 8 No. 10, Wk 9 No. 13, Wk 10 No. 11, Wk 11 No. 10, Wk 12 No. 10, Wk 13 No. 13, Wk 14 No. 12, Final No. 77 NebraskaMichigan: Wk 1 No. 5, Wk 2 No. 5, Wk 3 No. 5, Wk 4 No. 4, Wk 5 No. 5, Wk 6 No. 5, Wk 7 No. 4, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 4, Wk 10 No. 4, Wk 11 No. 4, Wk 12 No. 4, Wk 13 No. 4, Wk 14 No. 5, Final No. 66 MichiganPenn State: Wk 1 No. 7, Wk 2 No. 7, Wk 3 No. 7, Wk 4 No. 6, Wk 5 No. 7, Wk 6 No. 7, Wk 7 No. 5, Wk 8 No. 5, Wk 9 No. 6, Wk 10 No. 6, Wk 11 No. 6, Wk 12 No. 6, Wk 13 No. 6, Wk 14 No. 6, Final No. 55 Penn StateAlabama: Wk 1 No. 6, Wk 2 No. 6, Wk 3 No. 4, Wk 4 No. 5, Wk 5 No. 3, Wk 6 No. 3, Wk 7 No. 2, Wk 8 No. 2, Wk 9 No. 2, Wk 10 No. 2, Wk 11 No. 2, Wk 12 No. 2, Wk 13 No. 1, Wk 14 No. 1, Final No. 44 AlabamaOklahoma: Wk 1 No. 11, Wk 2 No. 11, Wk 3 No. 9, Wk 4 No. 8, Wk 5 No. 6, Wk 6 No. 6, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 3, Wk 9 No. 3, Wk 10 No. 3, Wk 11 No. 3, Wk 12 No. 3, Wk 13 No. 2, Wk 14 No. 2, Final No. 33 OklahomaOhio State: Wk 1 No. 2, Wk 2 No. 3, Wk 3 No. 3, Wk 4 No. 3, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 1, Wk 7 No. 1, Wk 8 No. 1, Wk 9 No. 1, Wk 10 No. 1, Wk 11 No. 1, Wk 12 No. 1, Wk 13 No. 3, Wk 14 No. 4, Final No. 22 Ohio StateNotre Dame: Wk 1 No. 8, Wk 2 No. 8, Wk 3 No. 8, Wk 4 No. 7, Wk 5 No. 8, Wk 6 No. 9, Wk 7 No. 8, Wk 8 No. 8, Wk 9 No. 5, Wk 10 No. 5, Wk 11 No. 5, Wk 12 No. 5, Wk 13 No. 5, Wk 14 No. 3, Final No. 11 Notre Dame
The top 10 of the final AP poll and where each stood every week before it; a gap is a week out of the Top 25. Hover or tab to a line for its weeks.

Climbed

  1. Miami (OH)unranked → No. 15
  2. HoustonNo. 18 → No. 9
  3. Texas TechNo. 20 → No. 11
  4. Missouriunranked → No. 17
  5. OklahomaNo. 11 → No. 3

Fell

  1. ColoradoNo. 11 → unranked
  2. AuburnNo. 13 → unranked
  3. TexasNo. 3 → No. 14
  4. FloridaNo. 15 → unranked
  5. TennesseeNo. 9 → No. 19

From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.

National leaders

Passing yardsJesse Freitas (San Diego State)2,993 yds
Passing touchdownsDanny White (Arizona State)23 TD
Passer ratingDanny White (Arizona State)157.4
Rushing yardsMark Kellar (Northern Illinois)1,719 yds
Rushing touchdownsJ.J. Jennings (Rutgers)21 TD
Yards per carryWilbur Jackson (Alabama)7.9
ReceptionsJay Miller (BYU)100 catches
Receiving yardsJay Miller (BYU)1,181 yds
Yards per catchLarry Stokes (Chattanooga)27.9
Receiving touchdownsKeith Denson (San Diego State)11 TD
PointsJim Jennings (Rutgers)128 pts
Points per gameJim Jennings (Rutgers)11.6
Total offenseJesse Freitas (San Diego State)2,901 yds
Total offense per gameJesse Freitas (San Diego State)263.7
Punt return averageGary Hayman (Penn State)19.2
Kickoff return averageSteve Odom (Utah)29.4

The NCAA’s official leaders. From Wikipedia’s yearly NCAA leader lists for passing, rushing, receiving, scoring, total offense and returns.

Conference champions

Division I

Atlantic Coast Conference
NC State
Big Eight
Oklahoma
Big Sky
Boise State
Big Ten
Michigan and Ohio State (shared)
Ivy League
Dartmouth
Mid-American Conference
Miami (OH)
Missouri Valley Conference
North Texas and Tulsa (shared)
Ohio Valley Conference
Western Kentucky
Pac-8
USC
Pacific Coast Athletic Association
San Diego State
Southeastern Conference
Alabama
Southern Conference
East Carolina
Southland Conference
Louisiana Tech
Southwest Conference
Texas
Western Athletic Conference
Arizona and Arizona State (shared)
Yankee Conference
UConn

Division II and below

California Collegiate Athletic Conference
Cal Poly
Conference Carolinas
Elon
Eastern Football Conference
Central Connecticut
Great Plains Athletic Conference
Northern Colorado
Gulf South Conference
Troy
Indiana Collegiate Conference
Butler
Lone Star Conference
Abilene Christian
Metropolitan Intercollegiate Conference
Long Island University
Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
Southeast Missouri State
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
North Carolina Central
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
St. Thomas (MN)
North Central Conference
North Dakota State and South Dakota (shared)
Northern California Athletic Conference
UC Davis
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Bethune-Cookman
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Grambling and Jackson State (shared)

From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.

Consensus All-Americans

23 playersAll 9 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 1973 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 1973 All-America teams page.

The 1973 awards

Every award

Player of the year

By position

Coaches

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Dec 17, 197316NC State 31, 19Kansas 18Liberty Bowl
Dec 21, 197310Arizona State 28, Pittsburgh 7Fiesta Bowl
Dec 22, 197315Miami (OH) 16, Florida 7Tangerine Bowl
Dec 28, 1973Georgia 17, 18Maryland 16Peach Bowl
Dec 29, 197314Houston 47, 17Tulane 7Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl
Dec 29, 1973Missouri 34, Auburn 17Sun Bowl
Dec 29, 197311Texas Tech 28, 20Tennessee 19Gator Bowl
Dec 31, 19733Notre Dame 24, 1Alabama 23Sugar Bowl
Jan 1, 197412Nebraska 19, 8Texas 3Cotton Bowl
Jan 1, 19744Ohio State 42, 7USC 21Rose Bowl
Jan 1, 19746Penn State 16, 13LSU 9Orange Bowl