Incorrect about the “new kind of bowl deelie…” Back then, the bowls were largely locked into their conferences and the Sugar Bowl got the title game by default: the SEC champ, who had to play in the Sugar Bowl regardless of their ranking, happened to be #1 (Notre Dame was ranked 7th, iirc).
It wasn’t until the late nineties, and the BCS, was there an attempt to finish out the college season with a battle between #1 and #2.