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We're No. 1!: In AP poll, only 44 schools have made claim

No. 24 (tie) Clemson (7)

Championships - 1981.

Most recent No. 1 ranking - Dec. 6, 2015.

Longest run at No. 1 - Five straight polls, Nov. 8, 2015-Dec. 6, 2015.

Best decade - 2010s, five times.

Best No. 1 team - 1981.

Russo's reasoning: Clemson's first and only championship team ranks among one of the more surprising titles in the poll era. The Tigers were unranked to start the season, made some big jumps to get into the top five and then took the No. 1 ranking and unbeaten record into the Orange Bowl against Nebraska. Quarterback Homer Jordan led coach Danny Ford's team to a 22-15 victory that still stands as the greatest in program history.

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No. 24 (tie) Colorado (7)

Championships - One (1990).

Most recent No. 1 ranking - 1990 final.

Longest run at No. 1 - Four straight polls, Nov. 20, 1990-1990 final

Best decade - 1990s, four times.

Best No. 1 team - 1990.

Russo's reasoning: The championship was controversial. The 1990 team benefited from the infamous ''fifth down'' game, during which the Buffaloes scored the winning touchdown on a mistakenly given fifth down against Missouri. And a clipping penalty against Notre Dame on Raghib Ismail's fourth-quarter punt return for a touchdown helped them win the Orange Bowl. The coaches' poll crowned Georgia Tech its champion. There was no doubting, though, that coach Bill McCartney's team was loaded with players including running back Eric Bienemy and linebacker Chad Brown and can comfortably be called the best No. 1 in school history.

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No. 24 (tie) Syracuse (7)

Championships - One (1959).

Most recent No. 1 ranking - Oct. 3, 1960.

Longest run at No. 1 - Five straight polls, Nov. 9, 1959-1959 final.

Best decade - 1950s, five times.

Best No. 1 team - 1959.

Russo's reasoning: Led by Ernie Davis, who went on to win the 1961 Heisman Trophy, the then-Orangemen went undefeated behind coach Ben Schwartzwalder. Syracuse plowed through most of its competition. The only regular season game decided by a single-digit margin was a 20-18 victory at Penn State.

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No. 24 (tie) UCLA (7)

Championships - None.

Most recent No. 1 ranking - Oct. 25, 1988.

Longest run at No. 1 - Two straight polls, three times (1954, 1955, 1988).

Best decade - 1950s, four times.

Best No. 1 team - 1954.

Russo's reasoning: Coach Red Sanders had a string of top-notch teams in the 1950s, but we'll take the 1954 team that went 9-0, beat rival USC 34-0 and finished No. 2 in the country. Because the Bruins played in the Rose Bowl the previous season, the Trojans got to go after the 1954 season, which helps explain why the AP wasn't doing a poll after the postseason in those days

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No. 28 Texas A&M (6 1/2)

Championships - One (1939).

Most recent No. 1 ranking - Nov. 11, 1957.

Longest run at No. 1 - Four straight polls, Nov. 11, 1939-1939 final.

Best decade - 1950s, 3 1/2 times.

Best No. 1 team - 1939.

Russo's reasoning: Coach Homer Norton's Aggies rolled through the Southwest Conference, allowing only eight points in six games. The final No. 1 ranking came before they beat No. 5 Tulane 14-13 in the Sugar Bowl to finish 11-0.

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No. 29 Maryland (6)

Championships - One (1953).

Most recent No. 1 ranking - Oct. 31, 1955.

Longest run at No. 1 - Two straight polls twice (1953, 1955).

Best decade - 1950s, six times.

Best No. 1 team - 1953.

Russo's reasoning: The Terrapins had six shutouts in an undefeated regular season that ended with victories against Mississippi and Alabama by a combined 59-0. Coach Jim Tatum's team did lose the Orange Bowl to coach Bud Wilkinson and Oklahoma, 7-0.

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No. 30 (tie) Mississippi (5)

Championships - None.

Most recent No. 1 ranking - 1964 preseason.

Longest run at No. 1 - Two straight polls, Sept. 19, 1960-Sept. 24, 1960.

Best decade - 1960s, five times.

Best No. 1 team - 1960.

Russo's reasoning: Coach John Vaught reigned over the most successful era of Ole Miss football and the 1960 team stands as the best of the bunch. Quarterback Jake Gibbs and the Rebels had three weeks at No. 1 and only a 6-6 tie against LSU kept Ole Miss from going unbeaten. The Rebels finished No. 2 in the country.

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No. 30 (tie) Mississippi State (5)

Championships - None.

Most recent No. 1 ranking - Nov. 9, 2014.

Longest run at No. 1 - Five straight polls, Oct. 12, 2014-Nov. 9, 2014.

Best decade - 2010s, five times.

No. 1 team - 2014.

Mississippi State had never been ranked higher than No. 7 before the Bulldogs surged to the top of the AP poll in 2014 and stayed there for five weeks. Quarterback Dak Prescott and the Bulldogs stumbled some down the stretch and finished 10-3 and No. 11.

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No. 30 (tie) Northwestern (5)

Championships - None.

Most recent No. 1 ranking - Nov. 5, 1962.

Longest run at No. 1 - Three straight polls, Nov. 2, 1936-Nov. 16, 1936.

Best decade - 1930s, three times.

Best No. 1 team - 1936.

Russo's reasoning: The first year of the AP poll, the Wildcats spent three weeks at No. 1 and beat eventual national champion Minnesota 6-0. A 26-6 loss to Notre Dame in the season finale dumped coach Pappy Waldorf's team to 7-1 and a final ranking of No. 7.

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No. 30 (tie) Purdue (5)

Championships - None.

Most recent No. 1 ranking - Oct. 7, 1968.

Longest run at No. 1 - Five straight polls, 1968 preseason-Oct. 7, 1968.

Best decade - 1960s, five times.

No. 1 team - 1968.

After finishing ninth and being a top-10 team most of the 1967, the Boilermakers were No. 1 for the first time to start the 1968 season and stayed there for the first five weeks. Purdue won a 1 vs. 2 matchup against Notre Dame in September and running back Leroy Keyes went on to finish second to O.J. Simpson in the Heisman voting, but the Boilermakers lost at Ohio State and Minnesota to finish 8-2.

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No. 34 (tie) California (4)

Championships - None.

Most recent No. 1 ranking - Oct. 15, 1951.

Longest run at No. 1 - Three straight polls, Oct. 18, 1937-Nov. 1, 1937.

Best decade - 1930s, three times.

Best No. 1 team - 1937.

Russo's reasoning: The Golden Bears under coach Stub Allison were either No. 1 or No. 2 all season, with only a scoreless tie against Washington blemishing their record. Cal finished off the season beating Alabama 13-0 in the Rose Bowl.

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No. 34 (tie) Cornell (4)

Championships - None.

Most recent No. 1 ranking - Nov. 4, 1940.

Longest run at No. 1 - Four straight polls, Oct. 14, 1940-Nov. 4, 1940.

No. 1 team - 1940.

The only Ivy League team to hold the top spot in the AP poll, though it should be noted that the Ivy League didn't become an official NCAA conference until 1954. Big Red beat Army, Syracuse and Ohio State by a combined 99-13 during a three-week stretch but lost its final two games to Dartmouth (3-0) and Penn (22-20).

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No. 34 (tie) BYU (4)

Championships - One (1984).

Most recent No. 1 ranking -1984 final.

Longest run at No. 1 - Four straight polls, Nov. 20, 1984-1984 final.

No. 1 team - 1984.

The Cougars were the only undefeated major college team in a strange season that gave coach LaVell Edwards his only national championship. The only ranked team BYU beat was in its opener against No. 3 Pitt, but the Panthers finished 3-7-1. A hobbled quarterback Robbie Bosco led the Cougars to a 24-17 victory in the Holiday Bowl against Michigan (6-6) to cap a 13-0 season.

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No. 37 Virginia (3)

Championships - None.

Most recent No. 1 ranking - Oct. 30, 1990.

Longest run at No. 1 - Three straight polls, Oct. 16, 1990-Oct. 30, 1990.

No. 1 team - 1990.

The Moores (quarterback Shawn and receiver Herman) had the Cavaliers No. 1 in the country when they lost a thriller 41-38 to Georgia Tech, which went on to an unbeaten season. The Cavaliers' season came apart as they lost their final three games to finish 8-4 and ranked No. 23.

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No. 38 (tie) TCU (2)

Championships - One (1938).

Most recent No. 1 ranking - 1938 final.

Longest run at No. 1 - Never ranked No. 1 in consecutive weeks.

No. 1 team - 1938.

Led by quarterback Davey O'Brien, ,the guy who now has a trophy named after him, the Horned Frogs went undefeated, including a 15-7 victory in the Sugar Bowl against Carnegie Mellon.

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No. 38 (tie) SMU (2)

Championships - None.

Most recent No. 1 ranking - Oct. 23, 1950-Oct. 30, 1950.

No. 1 team - 1950.

A 5-0 start to the season that included victories against Georgia Tech, No. 11 Ohio State and No. 15 Rice put the Mustangs coached by H.N. Russell on top of the polls in late October. They finished the season losing four of five to Southwest Conference rivals and ended up 6-4 and unranked.

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No. 38 (tie) Missouri (2)

Championships - None.

Most recent No. 1 ranking - Nov. 25, 2007.

Longest run at No. 1 - Never ranked No. 1 in consecutive weeks.

Best No. 1 team - 1960.

Russo's reasoning: Both the 1960 and 2007 teams were No. 1 for one week late in the season, With a chance to win a national championship - or at least play for it - both Tigers teams lost. The 1960 team, which lost 23-7 in its season finale against rival Kansas, gets the close call as the best Missouri No. 1 team over quarterback Chase Daniel's 2007 squad. Coach Dan Devine's '60 team won five road games, including at No. 20 Penn State and No. 18 Colorado, and dominated its competition until losing to the Jayhawks at home and finished No. 5 in the nation. The '07 team lost to Oklahoma twice and finished No. 4.

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No. 41 (tie) Boston College (1)

Championships - None.

No. 1 ranking - Nov. 23, 1942.

No. 1 team - 1942.

The Eagles started 8-0 and had allowed only 19 points when they reached No. 1, but the most memorable thing about their stay was probably how it ended. BC was upset 55-12 by a Holy Cross team that was 4-4-1. Boston College also lost to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and the closest the Eagles have been to No. 1 again was No. 2 in 2007 with Matt Ryan at quarterback.

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No. 41 (tie) North Carolina (1)

Championships - None.

No. 1 ranking - Oct. 11, 1948.

No. 1 team - 1948.

The Tar Heels opened the season with wins against Texas and Georgia and quickly rose to No. 1, led by halfback Charlie Justice, who was the Heisman Trophy runner-up. Coach Carl Snavely's team kept winning but still slipped to No. 3 after wins by Notre Dame and Michigan. A 6-6 tie with William & Mary dropped UNC to sixth before finishing No. 4. The Heels ended up losing the Sugar Bowl to Oklahoma 14-6.

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No. 41 (tie) Wisconsin (1)

Championships - None.

No. 1 ranking - Oct. 6, 1952.

No. 1 team - 1952.

The Badgers beat No. 2 Illinois 20-6 for their second win of the season and jumped from No. 8 to No. 1 for the only time in school history. The very next week they lost 23-14 at Ohio State. With sophomore running back Alan Ameche, who would go on to win the Heisman in 1954, Wisconsin finished the regular season 6-2-1 and played in the school's first Rose Bowl. The Badgers lost 7-0 to Southern California.

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No. 41 (tie) Arkansas (1)

Championships - None.

No. 1 ranking - Oct. 18, 1965.

No. 1 team - 1965.

The Razorbacks reached No. 1 by beating top-ranked Texas 27-24, but they didn't stay long even though they kept winning until facing LSU in the Cotton Bowl. Arkansas lost 14-7 to finish 10-1 and No. 2 in the country under coach Frank Broyles.