9-0; won the AP's official final poll, released December 8, 1947, 1,410 points to Michigan's 1,289.
Notre Dame’s 1947 schedule1947 National Champion: And Who Else Claims It
MULTIPLEDISPUTEDNotre Dame's AP title was decided in the official final poll before bowl season; Michigan's rival claim rests on an unofficial post-Rose Bowl straw poll that the AP itself said did not supersede its regular final rating.
The case for each side
Claimed by the program: no recognized selector picked them
10-0, then routed USC 49-0 in the Rose Bowl. Its claim rests on a special, unofficial post-bowl "free poll" organized by Detroit Free Press sports editor Lyall Smith, which Michigan won 226-119. The AP explicitly stated this post-bowl ballot did not supersede its official final rating, and it is not recognized in the NCAA's official FBS records.
Michigan’s 1947 scheduleNo national title game was played after the 1947 season: before 1998 there was no mechanism to play one, which is why so many of these seasons were settled by vote instead.