Introduction
Notre Dame, which had last won a National Championship in 1953, was ranked #1 in one poll and #2 in the other. Defending National Champion Michigan State, who had finished the season #1 in the UPI poll, but was upset by UCLA in the Rose Bowl the previous year, entered the game ranked Number 2 in one poll and #1 in the other. The Fighting Irish, whose bid for a National Championship two years earlier was snuffed out by USC, were hungry, while the Spartans had history and home-field advantage on their side. This was the first time in 20 years that a college football match-up was given the "Game of the Century" tag by the national media, and ABC had the nation's viewers in its grip, with equal parts Notre Dame fans and Michigan State fans.
A fortuitous quirk in scheduling brought these two teams together late in the season. They weren't even supposed to meet when the 1966 schedules were first drawn up. Michigan State had only nine games scheduled (even though they were allowed to have ten) while Notre Dame was originally scheduled to play Iowa that week, as had been the custom since 1945, then in 1960 the Hawkeyes suddenly dropped the Irish after 1964. Michigan State was available and agreed to return to Notre Dame's schedule in 1965–66.
The game was not shown live on national TV. Each team was alloted one national television appearance and two regional television appearances each season. Notre Dame had used their national TV slot in the season opening game against Purdue. ABC executives did not even want to show the game anywhere but the regional area, but pressure from the West Coast and the South (to the tune of 50,000 letters) made ABC air the game on tape delay. The official attendance was announced at 80,011 (111% capacity) and was the most attended game in Michigan State football history at the time (the current record is 80,401 on Sept. 22, 1990 vs. Notre Dame).
Much of the original ABC telecast footage survives. The second half exists in its entirety, as do both scoring drives originating in the second quarter (Michigan State's field goal and Notre Dame's touchdown).
Read more about this topic: 1966 Notre Dame Vs. Michigan State Football Game
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