Ohio State eyes repeat, and could join these elite college football teams

Only two college football teams have ever begun the season in the No. 1 position in the AP rankings and won the national championship in the 21st century.

That could be good news for Ohio State, college football’s reigning champs, which debuted at No. 3 in the preseason rankings, and not so good for Texas, which checked in at the top of the early poll for the first time ever.

Winning consecutive national championships is not a common occurrence across the history of college football, averaging out at roughly one program per decade to do it, including a quarter-century stretch where no school was able to.

What other college football programs have won back-to-back national championships in the AP poll era? It’s a very select, elite club the Buckeyes are looking to join.

Georgia

College football repeat champions: Ohio State can make history in 2025 — Joshua L. Jones via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Repeats: 2021-22

For two straight seasons in recent memory, the Bulldogs demolished everything in their path behind a historically-dominant defense that shredded opponents, culminating in a win over TCU for the title that was the biggest winning margin in a game, ever.

Georgia made the last two SEC Championship Game appearances, and won the conference’s title last season, proving that this program is still well within striking distance, but this 2025 team will look different and likely has to go through Texas again.

Alabama

Repeats: 1964-65, 1978-79, 2011-12

Predictably it’s the Crimson Tide, a program that has dominated this century, that emerged as the only school to pull off repeats more than twice, although two of those came under head coach Bear Bryant.

Nick Saban, college football’s record-holder with seven career national championships, won his consecutive natties by beating LSU and Notre Dame in succession.

Bama’s title in ‘64 is a little controversial given it didn’t win the bowl game against Texas, but the consensus favors the legitimacy of the school’s claim.

USC

Repeats: 2003-04

We’re counting the shared national title USC has in the 2003 season, when AP voters broke with the BCS and picked the Trojans over LSU, when the Men of Troy beat up on Michigan to win the Rose Bowl, keeping them atop the final Associated Press poll.

Not content with sharing a national championship, USC’s motto the year after was “Leave No Doubt,” and the Trojans didn’t running the table as quarterback Matt Leinart won the Heisman Trophy en route to a 55-19 drubbing against OU, which lost to LSU in the BCS game the year before.

Nebraska

Repeats: 1970-71, 1994-95

Cornhuskers greats Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne redefined college football during their generation of dominance, and the latter surpassed his predecessor by winning three national championships in a span of four years.

Nebraska outscored opponents 459 to 162 during the ‘94 title run, edging out Miami to lift the trophy that year, and won games by an average of nearly 38 points in ‘95, culminating in a 62-24 shellacking of Florida for the championship.

Oklahoma

Repeats: 1955-56

The Nifty Fifties found Bud Wilkinson put the Sooners on the map, winning three national championships in seven years, including two straight in ‘55 and ‘56.

During that run, Oklahoma completed an astonishing 107-7 record that included a 47-game win streak that remains college football’s longest, until it was snapped by Notre Dame in the 1957 season.

Army

Repeats: 1944-45

There’s domination, and there’s what Army did to opponents during the World War II era. In the 1944 season, the Cadets outscored the opposition 504 to 35, including a 59-0 drubbing of Notre Dame, and saw the beginning of a 32-game win streak that only ended in the ‘46 campaign.

They did it again in ‘45, outscoring teams 412 to 46, and hung another 48 on the Irish.

Minnesota

Repeats: 1940-41

A founding member of the Big Ten back in the day, Minnesota was an early dynasty out of the Midwest, winning five of its six national titles under head coach Bernie Bierman that included the last two championships won before the inception of the AP poll.