At the national championship because the bowls weren't aligned to pit the very top ranked schools from a limited number of conferences.

1 would play 6. 3 would play 9. The voters would let the dust settle and vote.

And if you weren't undefeated, you could at least enjoy your bowl and smile about seeing your team ranked.

There was still a felling of satisfaction and success.

Things have changed. $$$$ is 1000x more important, so even Wake Forest is vulnerable as an undefeated, despite being in a P5, if Texas has one loss.