IMO, special > great, excellent, very good, etc.
Special for Alabama or Ohio State means national championship. Even an undefeated regular season for Alabama, but no national championship is not special.
For BYU, NY6 and a win in the bowl game is probably special regardless of number of losses.
IOW, special can't be defined by the number of losses across the board for all teams. Each school has their own bar that defines special.