Notre Dame

FBSI · 1981 Season · Final

Season

Struggling

Record

5–6

0.455 Win %

Conference

—

0–0 in FBSI

All-Time Resume

Ranked Seasons

120

1899–2026

All-Time Record

919–327–33

0.731 Win %

Peak Final Rank

1929, 1930, 1953 +2

#1 Finishes

Top 5: 24 · Top 10: 42 · Top 25: 83

12-Team Playoff & Revenue Era · 2 seasons · 1 Top 10
Limited Playoff Era · 26 seasons · 5 Top 10
Independents & Bowl Tie-In Era · 16 seasons · 6 Top 10 · 1× #1
Divisional Era · 26 seasons · 9 Top 10 · 1× #1
AP Poll & Postwar Era · 20 seasons · 13 Top 10 · 1× #1
Forward Pass & Stadium Boom Era · 23 seasons · 8 Top 10 · 2× #1
Pioneer Era · 6 seasons

Final finishes, as published; the season in progress counts toward record only. Compare Notre Dame head-to-head · History & Eras

1981 Schedule & Results

Wk	Date	Opponent	Conf	Opp. Record	Result
3	Week 3 · Sep 15	LSU H2H	SEC	3–7–1	W 27–9
4	Week 4 · Sep 22	Michigan (MICHIGAN)H2H	B10	9–3	L 7–25
5	Week 5 · Sep 29	Purdue (PURDUE)H2H	B10	5–6	L 14–15
6	Week 6 · Oct 6	Michigan State (MICHIGAN STATE)H2H	B10	5–6	W 20–7
7	Week 7 · Oct 13	Florida State (FLORIDA STATE)H2H	IND FBSI	6–5	L 13–19
9	Week 9 · Oct 27	USC H2H	PAC	9–3	L 7–14
10	Week 10 · Nov 3	Navy (NAVY)H2H	IND FBSI	7–4–1	W 38–0
11	Week 11 · Nov 10	Georgia Tech (GEORGIA TECH)H2H	IND FBSI	1–10	W 35–3
12	Week 12 · Nov 17	Air Force (AIR FORCE)H2H	IND WAC	4–7	W 35–7
13	Week 13 · Nov 24	Penn State (PENN STATE)H2H	IND FBSI	10–2	L 21–24
14	Week 14 · Dec 1	Miami (MIAMI)H2H	IND FBSI	9–2	L 15–37

Past season results come from the published weekly rankings; home/away is not recorded. Unranked = opponent outside the ranked field. Kickoff times in Eastern Time. TBD = not yet announced. vs* = neutral site. Opp. Record is the current season record; — = unavailable.

Rating Tier Spectrum

3.283

Paramount (best)Rock Bottom

Where the rating sits on the 12-tier scale (lower is better).

NOW — Net Opponent Wins

-1

-21+20

Navy +7
Michigan State +5
Air Force +4
LSU +3
Georgia Tech +1
Penn State -2
Miami -2
Michigan -3
USC -3
Florida State -5
Purdue -6

Each win stacks that opponent's win total to the right; each loss stacks that opponent's loss total to the left.

National Standing

Rank #65Better than 53%

Win % Place 76thBetter than 45%

0.455 Win % · Change -1

Percent of all FBS teams this team is ahead of.

Rank by Week

Higher on the chart = better rank.

Game Margins

+18

-18

-1

+13

-6

-7

+38

+32

+28

-3

-22

Bars above the line are wins, below are losses; height = point margin.

Final Rank by Season

Higher = better finish. Ranks as published.