A story from The Athletic has sought to determine college football’s 25 most dominant programs over the past 50 years. Rankings in 23 categories were averaged together to construct the list. All 65 Power Five teams, plus BYU, were eligible for consideration. When the list was completed, Notre Dame made the cut at 11th with a dominance score of 7.26 (Alabama, which topped the list, had a dominance score of minus 6.22).
In the past half-century, Notre Dame has three national championships, a .689 winning percentage and an average national rank of 10.26. Over the previous 50 years, the Irish earned eight national titles and the country’s best winning percentage at .760. If this list had been constructed for the 1920-1969 era using the same criteria, it’s likely Notre Dame would be at the top.
Alas, the past quarter-century hasn’t seen many dominant Irish teams. The 2012 and 2018 teams came close to national titles, but they were anomalies among seasons that either disappointed or featured losses in big games that could have pushed the program over the top had they turned out differently. The Notre Dame entry on this list concludes by saying that the Irish remain prestigious and capable of being great, but the true glory days continue to become more distant over time.
It’s hard to disagree with the ranking. While we should be grateful that the Irish are as relevant as ever, they aren’t the intimidating force they were when our parents and grandparents were growing up. If we’re lucky, the next 50 years of college football will be kinder to Notre Dame.