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Part of it for me was that you cannot name (nor I) the previous record for consecutive top 5 finishes.  It's an impressive record, but what record did it beat?
Pretty much everyone knows Miami had 4 NCs in 9 years ('83-'91), and Bama has surpassed that. 

Bama's NCs.

The Bama NCs is a strong one, but for some reason I’m getting hung up on the system part.

Basically, I wonder if some older teams win near that rate with a system that creates more postseason head-to-heads. I suppose the counter is rules are rules and whatnot. But it’s weird to look back and wonder what titles don’t exist pre-BCS (Also random to consider the Spurrier national title is a weird bowl aliance failure byproduct).

Granted, Bama might’ve lost a title or two on that account.

With FSU, they went 10-2 or better, only lost bowls when ranked in the top 2 and I don’t think ever paired a bowl and UF loss. 

OAM

I think the first part might be less true. Yes, the road is harder, but in say 2012, there’s less a chance that ND team gets a softer bowl and Bama gets shut out. Basically, there’s less chance a random undefeated pops up and denies you. Of course, with 2013 rules, they win in 2014, so it’s all wonky.

Completely agree on the second part.

Lastly, I think the playoff system is good, better than what we had. It’s in part that way becuase it tamps down randomness and allows for good teams to have more chances. Bama is a good team and made good, but it also had (and lost) chances previous teams had. To a degree, I think the SEC streak slightly benefitted in that way too. But in the end, all of it is still very impressive.

i voted fsu top 5.

bama 5 in 9 is ridiculous though. but i think had fsu had the bcs and/or playoffs they might have close to 5/9 as well. but we know bama's not going to make the 14 year top 5 run.

bama's run as it stands:
08 - 6th both polls (re-emergence, lost to uf in seccg, to utah in sugar)
09 - 1st (undefeated)
10 - 10th/11th (3 loss injury plagued season, demolished msu in bowl)
11 - 1st (lsu rematch)
12 - 1st (nd blowout)
13 - 7th/8th (kick6, ou sugar loss)
14 - 4th (1st playoff, osu "upset")
15 - 1st (clemson 1.0)
16 - 2nd (clemson 2.0 the revenge)
17 - 1st (clemson 3.0, this time in quaters)
18 - 2nd (clemson 4.0, revenging the revenge of the first revenge)

average rank of 3rd (3.45) over 11 years (using worst rankings each year). fsu was 3.14 over 14. i don't know why this matters i was just curious.

maybe more impressive to me for bama is that they are 2 games (and 1 play) away from playing for 10 of the last 11 titles. in 2008, they had the lead in the 4th qtr before tebow pulled uf on top. and in 2013 they lead and controlled the kick6 game and had a chance to win at last second before the most unlikely of plays happen. (9/11 if you don't consider being in playoff playing for title, even then, there was a last second hail mary to tie the game with osu.)

...ND got every possible push from the voters in the 70s... 

How do you figure? Unbeaten #3 ND beat unbeaten #1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl in 1973 = NC. ND jumped #2 Oklahoma, which didn't play in a bowl.

In 1977, a host of major teams finished with one loss. #5 Notre Dame beat #1 Texas (previously unbeaten) in the Cotton Bowl...38-10. #2 Oklahoma got smoked by #6 Arkansas in the Orange Bowl. #4 Michigan lost to #13 Washington in the Rose Bowl. #3 Alabama beat up #9 Ohio State in the Sugar. At least this one takes some analysis: who was more deserving, Alabama or ND, both of whom won their bowl games. They had three common opponents. They both destroyed Miami (Bama 36-0 at home, and ND 48-10 at Miami); Alabama beat USC by 1 in LA, ND beat USC by 30 in South Bend; Alabama beat Ole Miss by 21 at home, ND lost to Ole Miss by 7 away. ND lost to Ole Miss in week 2, the same week Alabama lost at eventual #12 Nebraska (by seven). ND beat four teams that finished in the top 20: #4 Texas (neutral by 28), #8 Pittsburgh (away by 10), #13 USC (home by 30), and #19 Clemson (away, by four). Alabama beat #11 Ohio State (neutral by 29) and #13 USC (away by 1), but had the "better loss." So is this a close-ish call? Sure, but ND had the better wins, the better strength of schedule, and destroyed the #1 team in the nation in front of everyone.

And what about #6 Arkansas (finished #3), which smoked #2 Oklahoma by 25 in the Orange Bowl? Also a contender, with its loss to Texas (at home by four). But those were the only teams it played that finished ranked.

Oh, and Penn State had one loss, and finished #5. Penn State lost to eventual #6 Kentucky, at home; it beat #8 Pittsburgh away (by 2), and beat #18 Arizona State (the WAC champions) in the fiesta bowl (by 12). A fine season, but hardly deserving of jumping the teams ahead of it.

This post is an overreaction, but it counters the microaggression that ND's championships are the results of favors. I know there are some that are disputed (and the school only claims 11 of the 13 the NCAA recognizes), but the 70s aren't them.