Notre Dame president Rev. John Jenkins was quite angry Tuesday afternoon when the NCAA denied the school’s appeal against vacating the Irish’s wins from the 2012-13 seasons. But the NCAA did deny the appeal, which means 21 wins have now vanished into the ether.
While we can all agree this is an ultimately silly penalty -- we all saw Notre Dame win those games -- the rules are the rules, and those 21 wins are now gone. Which actually has a significant affect on Notre Dame’s standing on college football’s all-time wins list.
In dropping from 907 wins to 886, Notre Dame sunk from second all the way to sixth, falling below Texas, Ohio State, Nebraska and Alabama. Here’s the full top 10, according to Winsipedia:
1. Michigan -- 943 wins
2. Texas -- 898
Ohio State -- 898
4. Nebraska -- 893
5. Alabama -- 891
6. Notre Dame -- 886
7. Oklahoma -- 884
8. Penn State -- 878
9. USC -- 834
10. Tennessee -- 833
Though some of the programs ahead of them may be down at a given time (Texas and Nebraska currently) it’s nay impossible to imagine all of them being down at once. Which means it will take decades for Notre Dame to make up the ground it lost today -- if it ever does.