The1970 NCAA University Division football season was marked by tragedy, due to two airplane crashes. On October 2, one of the planes carrying theWichita State football teamcrashed on the way to a game againstUtah State, killing 31 people on board, including 14 players. Then, on November 14, the charter for theMarshall Thundering Herdcrashed on the way home from a game againstEast Carolina, killing all 75 persons.

At season's end, theNebraska Cornhuskers won theAP national championship afterTexas andOhio State both lost theirbowl games onNew Year's Day.

No new teams were reclassified in the University Division for the 1971 season. A total of 119 teams competed in the University Division during the 1971 season.^[2]

This was the first season the NCAA allowed schools to schedule 11 regular season games.^[3] Some took advantage by scheduling high-profile intersectional games (Stanford-Arkansas, USC-Alabama, LSU-Notre Dame),^[4] but others, including the entireBig Ten Conference, waited until future years to add an 11th game.

During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the major college football teams, later known as "Division I-A." The NCAA Football Guide, however, did note an "unofficial national champion" based on the top ranked teams in the "wire service" (AP and UPI) polls. The"writers' poll" byAssociated Press (AP) was the most popular, followed by the"coaches' poll" byUnited Press International) (UPI).

Until1974, the UPI issued its final poll before the bowls, but beginning in1968 (also1965), the AP Trophy was withheld until the postseason was completed. The AP poll in 1970 consisted of the votes of as many as 52 sportswriters, though not all of them voted in every poll. Those who cast votes would give their opinion of the ten best teams. Under a point system of 20 points for first place, 19 for second, etc., the "overall" ranking was determined.

• Teams are allowed to schedule 11 regular season games, up from 10.^[3][4]
• Defensive pass interference is penalized from the spot of the foul, regardless if the pass was thrown or not. Previously, interference before the pass was thrown was a 15-yard penalty from the previous spot. This change would be repealed in the1984 season.
• Also, defenders were not allowed to touch pass receivers if the receiver had caught up to them in their pattern or if it was obvious they were attempting to catch a pass.
• Cleat length is reduced from 3/4 inches to 1/2 inch.

In the preseason poll released on September 7,Ohio State was placed No. 1 with 19 1st place votes.Texas andUSC followed, with 7 and 6 votes, andArkansas andMississippi each received a single first-place vote.

September 12: No. 3 USC beat No. 16Alabama 42–21 atBirmingham; the integrated Trojans' lopsided victory over the all-white Crimson Tide has often been described as a symbolic moment in the desegregation of college football in the South.^[5][6] In another showdown between southern and Californian teams, No. 4 Arkansas lost to No. 10Stanford 34–28 at Little Rock. The next poll featured No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 USC, No. 4 Stanford, and No. 5 Mississippi.

September 19: No. 2 Texas won in Austin againstCalifornia 56–15. In Los Angeles, No. 3 USC tied No. 9Nebraska 21–21. No. 4 Stanford beatSan Jose State 34–3. No. 5 Mississippi opened with a 47–13 win atMemphis State. No. 7Penn State, which had beatenNavy 55–7, reached the Top Five. The next poll featured No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Stanford, No. 4 Penn State, and No. 5 Mississippi.

September 26: No. 1 Ohio State opened its season at home inColumbus, beatingTexas A&M 56–13. No. 2 Texas won in Lubbock overTexas Tech, 35–13. No. 3 Stanford won atOregon 33–10 in a battle betweenJim Plunkett andDan Fouts. No. 4 Penn State lost at No. 18Colorado 41–13. No. 5 Mississippi escaped a loss toKentucky in Jackson, 20–17. No. 6Notre Dame, which had beatenPurdue 48–0, moved up in the poll. No. 7 USC returned to the top five with a 48–0 win atIowa. The next poll featured No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Stanford, No. 4 Notre Dame, and No. 5 USC.

October 3: No. 1Ohio State beatDuke at home 34–10. No. 2Texas squeaked by No. 13UCLA at home 20–17 on a touchdown with 12 seconds to play. No. 3Stanford lost toPurdue 26–14. No. 4Notre Dame beatMichigan State in East Lansing, 29–0. No. 5USC beat visitingOregon State 45–13. No. 7Mississippi earned a 48–23 win in Jackson over No. 17Alabama. The next poll featured No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 4 USC, and No. 5 Mississippi.

October 10: No. 1 Ohio State beat Michigan State in East Lansing, 29–0. No. 2 Texas defeatedOklahoma inDallas, 41–9. No. 3 Notre Dame beatArmy at home, 51–10. No. 4 USC lost at No. 12 Stanford 24–14. No. 5 Mississippi won atGeorgia 31–21. No. 6Nebraska, which had tied USC earlier, rose in the poll after its 21–7 win over No. 16Missouri gave it a 4–0–1 record. The next poll featured No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 4 Mississippi, and No. 5 Nebraska.

October 17: No. 1 Ohio State beatMinnesota at home, 28–8. No. 2 Texas was idle. No. 3 Notre Dame won at No. 18 Missouri, 24–7. No. 4 Mississippi lost at home in Oxford toSouthern Mississippi, 30–14. No. 5 Nebraska won atKansas 41–20.No. 6 Michigan, which had beaten Michigan State 34–20 at home to reach 5–0, got into the top five. The next poll featured No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 4 Nebraska, and No. 5 Michigan.

October 24: No. 1 Ohio State won atIllinois 48–29. No. 2 Texas defeatedRice 45–21 in Houston. No. 3 Notre Dame was idle. No. 4 Nebraska beatOklahoma State 65–31. No. 5 Michigan beatMinnesota 39–13 at home. In the next poll, Ohio State and Texas switched spots in a very close vote, with the Longhorns rising to No. 1 and the Buckeyes moving down to No. 2. The other three teams in the top five remained the same.

October 31: No. 1 Texas beatSMU at home 42–15. No. 2 Ohio State beat No. 20Northwestern 24–10. No. 3 Notre Dame defeatedNavy 56–7 in Philadelphia. No. 4 Nebraska won atColorado 29–13. No. 5 Michigan won atWisconsin 29–15. Despite reaching 6–0, Ohio State continued to drop in the next poll: No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Nebraska, and No. 5 Michigan.

November 7: No. 1Texas won at Baylor 21–14. No. 2Notre Dame beat Pittsburgh 46–14 at home. No. 3Ohio State won at Wisconsin 24–7. No. 4Nebraska won at Iowa State 54–29. No. 5Michigan beat visiting Illinois 42–0. After Texas' single-touchdown victory and Notre Dame's blowout, the next poll featured another switch between the top two teams: No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Nebraska, and No. 5 Michigan.

November 14: No. 1 Notre Dame survived visiting Georgia Tech, 10–7 and No. 2 Texas won at Texas Christian 58–0, triggering a reversal of last week's switch at the top of the poll. No. 3 Ohio State eked out a win at Purdue 10–7. No. 4 Nebraska beat visiting No. 20 Kansas State 51–13 to clinch the Big 8 title and a spot in theOrange Bowl, and No. 5Michigan shut out Iowa 55–0. The next poll featured No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Michigan, and No. 5 Ohio State.

November 21: As No. 1 Texas prepared for a Thanksgiving Day game,No. 2 Notre Dame won, but just barely, beating visiting No. 7LSU 3–0. No. 3 Nebraska beat Oklahoma 28–21 at home to finish its season unbeaten. Despite a first-place preseason ranking and an undefeated record, Ohio State had fallen all the way to No. 5, one spot behind their nemesis Michigan. In the second installment of "The Ten Year War," the rivals squared off in Columbus with the Big Ten championship and a spot in theRose Bowl on the line. In the end, Ohio State justified their early ranking with a 20–9 win and prepared to face Pac-8 championStanford in Pasadena. Meanwhile, No. 6Arkansas won at No. 19 Texas Tech 24–10. The next poll featured No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Notre Dame, and No. 5 Arkansas.

November 26–28: On Thanksgiving Day, No. 1 Texas beat Texas A&M at home 52–14 to reach 9–0. Two days later, No. 4 Notre Dame lost to USC in Los Angeles, 38–28, despite over 500 passing yards by quarterbackJoe Theismann in a torrential downpour. No. 3 Nebraska completed its regular season the previous week, and No. 5 Arkansas was idle. No. 7 Tennessee which had beaten Vanderbilt 24–6 in Nashville, moved up in the next poll: No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Arkansas, and No. 5 Tennessee.

December 5: No. 1Texas and No. 4Arkansas matched up inAustin for the same stakes asthe previous year: a SWC title, aCotton Bowl berth, and the opportunity to stay in national championship contention. The Longhorns had prevailed by a single point in the 1969 game, but in 1970 they would be far more dominant, winning 42–7. With this victory, Texas closed a perfect season at 10–0, ran its winning streak to 30, and clinched the UPI national championship; their last obstacle to the AP title would be No. 6Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl. No. 2Ohio State and No. 3Nebraska had finished their seasons. No. 5Tennessee defeated UCLA 28−17 and prepared to play Air Force in theSugar Bowl. No. 8LSU crushed No. 16Ole Miss 61–17 at Baton Rouge to clinch the Southeastern Conference championship and earn a berth in theOrange Bowl against Nebraska. The final regular-season poll was No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Tennessee, and No. 5 LSU.

In theCotton Bowl,No. 6 Notre Dame gained revenge for its narrow defeat toNo. 1 Texas in the previous year's Cotton Bowl by upsetting the No. 1 Longhorns, 24–11. Notre Dame Head coachAra Parseghian created a "wishbone defense", positioning his linebackers to mirror the Texas running backs and theIrish held the high-powered Texas running game in check.

InPasadena,No. 2 Ohio State, theBig Ten champions, were positioned to claim the national championship as they took the field as 10 1/2 point favorites against 8–3No. 12 Stanford of thePac-8. The Buckeyes overcame a 10–0 early deficit to take a 14–10 lead on two touchdowns byJohn Brockington. OSU was still ahead 17–13 after three quarters. But Stanford, led byHeisman Trophy winnerJim Plunkett scored two fourth-quarter touchdown to stun Ohio State 27–17.^[7]

With the door open,No. 3 Nebraska of theBig 8 seized the opportunity that night inMiami in theOrange Bowl against stubbornNo. 5 LSU of theSEC. Down 12–10 after three quarters, the Huskers scored a fourth-quarter touchdown and shut down the Tigers to prevail 17–12 on the newPoly-Turf and claim the national title. Nebraska took 39 of the 52 first place votes in the final AP Poll, while Notre Dame received eight, Texas three, and Arizona State (11–0) two.^[8]

1. Nebraska 946 (39), 11–0–1
2. Notre Dame 814 (8), 10–1
3. Texas 721 (3), 10–1
4. Tennessee 683, 11–1
5. Ohio State 588, 9–1^[8]

TheHeisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player

Source:^[9]

1970 Consensus All-America Team

• Player scoring most points:Don McCauley, North Carolina, 126

• 1970 NCAA University Division football season

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