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The 1991 team was 9-3 entering the Sugar Bowl by ShermanOaksND

The only 2-loss ND teams that got shut out of the top bowls were 1998 (9-2) and 2002 (10-2). Both lost in the Gator Bowl.

The 1971 team, which went 8-2, preemptively declined a Gator Bowl bid that was unofficially conveyed before the season-ending loss at LSU. Back then, the Gator was probably the 5th highest-rated bowl, but still not enticing enough for ND, which had only accepted bowl bids for the previous 2 years (both Cotton). There was no mutual interest for a 3rd straight Cotton match vs. Texas (which was also 8-2 in 1971, down markedly from the #1 teams of 1969 and 1970), and the Orange and Sugar were flush with then-undefeated teams from the Big 8 and SEC (the Orange got #1 Nebraska vs. #2 Alabama, while the Sugar had rivalry-game losers Oklahoma and Auburn). So the 1971 situation was not nearly as sorry as 1998, 2002, or 2019.