In the end, Knute Rockne, Joe Montana and the East Race on the Saint Joseph River couldn't quite overcome Jackie Robinson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the beach at Santa Monica.
In its first-ever ranking of "America's Top 50 Jock Schools" Sports Illustrated crowned UCLA No. 1 with Notre Dame its runner-up.
The light-hearted comparison, which appeared in the magazine's April 28, 1997, issue, derived from what the editors called "a mathematical formula slightly more complicated than particle physics and not nearly as much fun to read about."
It was intended to identify the best colleges to attend if you love to watch and play sports, not as a knock against the institutions' academic credentials. Stanford, for instance, came in third and Princeton was 10th.
UCLA got the nod over Notre Dame by virtue of its better beaches and weather, 94 national team titles in 19 sports (the most of any school) and galaxy of alumni stars.
Not that John Walters, a 1988 Notre Dame graduate, didn't make a strong case for his alma mater. His profile of Notre Dame mentioned, among other things, the Bengal Bouts, Bookstore Basketball, intramural football played in pads and helmets, and the fact that three-quarters of undergrads lettered in high school sports.
Walters also reminded readers of Notre Dame's place in college football history.
He wrote that the Fighting Irish have given the sport its most famous coach (Knute Rockne); pep talk (Rockne's "Win one for the Gipper" speech); fight song ("Cheer, cheer for Old Notre Dame. . . ") and even newspaper lead (Grantland Rice's "Outlined against a blue, gray October sky. . .").