College football national champions by year from 1869 to 2021

Author:
James Parks
Publish date:
May 9, 2022

Picking a national champion in college football has always been something of a debate. For most of the last 150 or so years, the sport has not had a formal championship setting.

That changed in 2014, when the College Football Playoff introduced a four-team format to fix that. It replaced a system of media polls, coaches polls, and computer systems that came before.

Much better to settle things on the field, team vs. team. But that wasn't always the case.

Let's take a look at every national title team since the very beginning...

College football national championship teams since 1869

Where no selecting organization is listed below, a combination of the Associated Press, FWAA, NFF, UPI, or NCF is responsible for naming a national champion

2020s national champions

2021 Georgia (College Football Playoff)
2020 Alabama (College Football Playoff)

Need to know...

Alabama runs the table in '20 during the Covid-19 pandemic, outscoring SEC opponents 547-214, and all opponents 630-252... Georgia beats the Crimson Tide in 2021 to win its first national championship since 1980.

2010s national champions

2019 LSU (College Football Playoff)
2018 Clemson (College Football Playoff)
2017 Alabama (College Football Playoff)
2016 Clemson (College Football Playoff)
2015 Alabama (College Football Playoff)
2014 Ohio State (College Football Playoff)
2013 Florida State (BCS)
2012 Alabama (BCS)
2011 Alabama (BCS)
2010 Auburn (BCS)

Need to know...

Ohio State wins the first-ever College Football Playoff... OSU went undefeated in 2012, but played under a bowl ban... TCU ran the table and won the Rose Bowl in 2010... Congrove Computer Rankings, an NCAA-designated major selector, chose that TCU team as national champion.

2000s national champions

2009 Alabama (BCS)
2008 Florida (BCS)
2007 LSU (BCS)
2006 Florida (BCS)
2005 Texas (BCS)
2004 USC (BCS)
2003 LSU, USC (BCS, AP, FWAA)
2002 Ohio State (BCS)
2001 Miami (BCS)
2000 Oklahoma (BCS)

Need to know...

AP voters broke with the BCS and named USC the national champion in 2003 over LSU... Miami's 2001 team is considered one of the best in college football history... Boise State went undefeated in 2006 and beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, in addition to five bowl teams on the year... Those teams went 4-1 in bowls, and the one loser (Nevada) lost its bowl by one point.

1990s national champions

1999 Florida State (BCS)
1998 Tennessee (BCS)
1997 Michigan, Nebraska
1996 Florida
1995 Nebraska
1994 Nebraska
1993 Florida State
1992 Alabama
1991 Washington, Miami
1990 Georgia Tech

Need to know...

Nebraska, the team of the 90s, played more ranked teams in '97, won those games by larger margins, and had more selectors pick them... Michigan's '97 team finished No. 1 in AP, but Nebraska topped the Coaches Poll... Miami topped the AP college football rankings in '91, but the Coaches selected Washington.

1980s national champions

1989 Miami
1988 Notre Dame
1987 Miami
1986 Penn State
1985 Oklahoma
1984 BYU
1983 Miami
1982 Penn State
1981 Clemson
1980 Georgia

Need to know...

Voters favored Miami after it beat Nebraska by one point in the 1984 Orange Bowl. Or, more accurately, when the Huskers' famous two-point try failed at the end of the game... Auburn has a claim in '83, playing a harder schedule, including a win over a Florida team that beat Miami.

1970s national champions

1979 Alabama
1978 Alabama, USC
1977 Notre Dame
1976 Pittsburgh
1975 Oklahoma
1974 USC, Oklahoma
1973 Notre Dame, Alabama
1972 USC
1971 Nebraska
1970 Nebraska, Texas, Ohio State

Need to know...

ND and Bama split the '73 title, but the Irish beat the No. 1 Tide at the Sugar Bowl... AP voters gave Notre Dame the No. 1 spot, but the Coaches selected Alabama... USC ranked No. 1 in the '74 Coaches Poll, but AP gave it to Oklahoma...

Undefeated, one-tie Nebraska is the consensus college football champion in 1970, as Texas and OSU both lost their bowl games... Bama took the AP No. 1 in 1978 despite losing to USC (the Coaches' choice), but beating No. 1 Penn State in the Sugar Bowl.

1960s national champions

1969 Texas
1968 Ohio State
1967 USC
1966 Notre Dame, Michigan State
1965 Alabama, Michigan State
1964 Arkansas, Alabama, Notre Dame
1963 Texas
1962 USC
1961 Alabama, Ohio State
1960 Minnesota, Ole Miss

Need to know...

The '66 Irish controversially played for a tie at Michigan State, but ND did play a somewhat tougher schedule... Alabama should claim in 1966 but doesn't despite being the only undefeated team in college football that year... Bama has the stronger '61 claim... As does Arkansas in '64.

1950s national champions

1959 Syracuse
1958 LSU, Iowa
1957 Ohio State, Auburn
1956 Oklahoma
1955 Oklahoma
1954 UCLA, Ohio State
1953 Maryland
1952 Michigan State
1951 Oklahoma
1950 Oklahoma

Need to know...

Maryland won in both major polls, but lost its bowl... Notre Dame has a good claim in '53 instead, going 9-0-1 and beat four ranked teams... Ohio State has the better claim in 1957, going undefeated and beating USC in the Rose Bowl... Auburn was on probation in '57 and didn't play a bowl, but ran the table and placed No. 1 in the AP college football rankings.

1940s national champions

1949 Notre Dame
1948 Michigan
1947 Notre Dame
1946 Notre Dame
1945 Army
1944 Army
1943 Notre Dame
1942 Ohio State
1941 Minnesota
1940 Minnesota

Need to know...

The decade of dynasty... Army in '45 not only helped lick Germany and Japan, but was one of the best teams in college football history, outrageously talented and dominant... The Cadets destroyed everything in sight in 1944, outscoring teams, 505-35... Paul Brown brought the Buckeyes their first title in '42... Michigan won two straight under Fritz Crisler and then Bennie Oosterbaan... Notre Dame tied Army in '46 but destroyed a Navy team that almost lost to the Cadets.

1930s national champions

1939 Texas A&M
1938 TCU
1937 Pittsburgh
1936 Minnesota
1935 Minnesota
1934 Minnesota
1933 Michigan
1932 USC
1931 USC
1930 Alabama, Notre Dame

Need to know...

Bama and ND were perfect in '30, but the Irish got a nod thanks to a tough schedule, including a win over a USC team that outscored opponents, 382-66... USC destroyed everything in sight in 1931 and '32, winning 19 straight games... Minnesota was college football's dynasty during the Great Depression years... Gophers win three straight titles, including the first in the AP Poll era.

1920s national champions

1929 Notre Dame
1928 Georgia Tech
1927 Illinois, Yale
1926 Alabama, Stanford
1925 Alabama
1924 Notre Dame
1923 Illinois, Michigan
1922 Cal, Cornell, Princeton
1921 Cal, Cornell
1920 Cal

Need to know...

The decade college football moved out of the Ivy League and went nationwide... Notre Dame and Alabama emerge as national powers... ND beats Stanford in the '25 Rose Bowl, its last bowl game until the 1969 season... Crimson Tide wins the '26 Rose in a game that propels the South to national respect... Cal is the consensus 1921 champ and Princeton in '22.

1910s national champions

1919 Illinois
1918 Michigan, Pittsburgh
1917 Georgia Tech
1916 Pittsburgh
1915 Cornell
1914 Army
1913 Harvard
1912 Harvard, Penn State
1911 Penn State, Princeton
1910 Harvard, Pittsburgh

Need to know...

Harvard, Notre Dame, and Texas A&M also have claims in 1919, but Illinois remains the consensus... John Heisman's Georgia Tech killed teams in '17, outscoring them, 491-17, helping put Southern football on the map... Carlisle has an argument in 1911 when Hall of Famer Jim Thorpe helped beat Harvard in what is still one of the biggest upsets in college football history.

1900s national champions

1909 Yale
1908 LSU, Penn
1907 Yale
1906 Princeton
1905 Chicago
1904 Michigan, Penn
1903 Michigan, Princeton
1902 Michigan
1901 Michigan
1900 Yale

Need to know...

Michigan firmly plants itself in the ranks of the college football elite, in 1901 outscoring opponents, 550-0, and pounding Stanford in the first-ever Rose Bowl... LSU's 1908 claim is shrouded in controversy since Grantland Rice accused the team of paying players... Investigations cleared LSU of wrongdoing, but voters made their decision before that became clear

1890s national champions

1899 Harvard
1898 Harvard
1897 Penn
1896 Lafayette, Princeton
1895 Penn
1894 Yale
1893 Princeton
1892 Yale
1891 Yale
1890 Harvard

Need to know...

Harvard is the consensus winner in 1899, but Sewanee has a claim after beating Texas A&M, Texas, Tulane, LSU, and Ole Miss in six straight days. That might be the greatest achievement in college football history... Walter Camp, the father of the American football, wins his last title at Yale in 1892... Penn's '97 team was the only one to go 15-0 until Clemson did 110 years later.

1880s national champions

1889 Princeton
1888 Yale
1887 Yale
1886 Yale
1885 Princeton
1884 Yale
1883 Yale
1882 Yale
1881 Yale
1880 Princeton, Yale

Need to know...

Yale is the college football dynasty of the 80s... It becomes the first 10-win team in 1888, going 13-0 and not allowing a single point... Yale averaged 60 ppg in the '83 season under Walter Camp thanks to his revolutionizing the rules of the game.

1870s national champions

1879 Princeton
1878 Princeton
1877 Yale
1876 Yale
1875 Harvard
1874 Yale
1873 Princeton
1872 Princeton
1871 No champion
1870 Princeton

Need to know...

Football is still trying to evolve into a sport during the 70s, but builds on the foundations established by Princeton, which lays claim to being the first college football dynasty.

1860s national champions

1869 Princeton, Rutgers

Need to know...

Where college football began... There were only two teams, and two games between them. The teams split the series, 1-1, in what was a mix between a soccer match and a fistfight... Co-championship rewarded retroactively.