NCAA Division I-A national football championship
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The NCAA Division I-A national football championship is the only Division I NCAA-sponsored sport without an organized tournament to determine its champion; in fact, while various other organizations (as described below) designate a national champion at the Division I level, the NCAA itself does not award a championship for Division I-A football. In fact, the manner in which a "champion" is crowned is probably unique in that it uses neither a fully quantitative season-long scoring system (e.g., auto racing, tennis) nor a sequence-dependent playoff system in which qualification is clear and the top contenders enter in a largely non-controversial manner (e.g., professional football and other team sports).
The poll system
Since the start of college football, there have been many individuals, publications and organizations that have selected their national champions. Some carried more weight than others. Also, some organizations have gone back and researched those early seasons and retroactively constructed rankings and determined recognized champions of major college football. Some examples of these type of polls include the National Championship Foundation, the College Football Researchers Association, and the Helms Athletic Foundation. Other systems, such as the Dickinson System, used statistical analysis to determine a ranking.
One of the first major media poll was the AP Poll released in 1936, which is still in use today. This poll utilizes a vast network of sportswriters to determine its rankings. Although modified slightly, another poll still in use today is the Coaches' Poll, which polls a random selection of 62 collegiate football head coaches to determine its rankings. However, both polls failed to take into account bowl game results, often between two top-ranked teams, thus calling into question their designation of a "national champion" prior to the actual end of the season. Until 1968 college football season, the final AP poll of the season was released following the end of the regular season, with the exception of the 1965 season. Beginning in the 1968 season, a post bowl game poll was released and the AP championship reflected the bowl game results. The UPI did not follow suit with the Coaches' Poll until the 1974 season.
The tradition, and the controversy, is carried on today with the Bowl Championship Series ("BCS"), created for the 1998 season, and its predecessors — the Bowl Coalition from seasons 1992 to 1994, and the Bowl Alliance from seasons 1995 to 1997. The AP and Coaches' polls, computer rankings, strength of schedule, and performance against other top teams were combined into a formula, with the top two teams meeting in the BCS National Championship Game. But, the system has not been without controversy.
Most recently, in
On two occasions, the BCS formula has worked as planned. In both 2002 and 2005, there were only two undefeated teams at the end of the season. In 2002, those teams were the Ohio State University Buckeyes and the University of Miami Hurricanes, while in 2005, those teams were the USC Trojans and the University of Texas Longhorns. For the 2002 title, Ohio State defeated Miami in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl to claim the BCS title, while in the game for the 2005 title, Texas defeated USC in the Rose Bowl to claim the BCS title. The use of the Bowl Championship Series formula, however, has fostered debate amongst those college football fans who are proponents of a playoff system.
Football Bowl Subdivision
On August 3, 2006, the Division I Board of Directors took action regarding the two football subdivisions in Division I (Division I-A and I-AA), the Board approved new labels. The presidents approved a change in terminology to "Football Bowl Subdivision" for the former I-A classification and "NCAA Football Championship Subdivision" for the former I-AA group. The Collegiate Commissioners Association helped develop the new labels.
The presidents believe the new nomenclature, which became effective in December 2006, more accurately distinguishes Division I institutions for purposes of governing football, the only sport for which such a distinction is necessary. Members felt the old nomenclature inaccurately tiered Division I institutions in all sports, not just football, and produced instances in which media outlets and other entities incorrectly cited institutions as being Division I-AA in basketball or baseball, for example.
The new nomenclature does not affect the voting structure used in Division I governance matters.
College Football Data Warehouse Rankings overview
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As mentioned previously, the NCAA does not award a consensus national champion for Division I-A football. Throughout the season, human polls are used to subjectively rank the teams believed to be the best. The most widely accepted polls in use today are the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll. Beginning in 1998, the BCS became a determining system in crowning a national champion. The BCS uses both objective and subjective data, including human polls, to determine the top two teams at the end of the season. Those two teams play each other in the BCS National Championship Game.
Prior to 1936, determining national champions is more difficult. According to the website, College Football Data Warehouse, the most acceptable selectors throughout history are the National Championship Foundation, Helms Athletic Foundation, and the College Football Researchers Association.[1]
Also, prior to 1906, no governing organization existed for college football. The NCAA's predecessor organization was formed in 1906 and renamed in 1910.
Following is a table of the polls that will be used for this ranking.[2] Note that this table differs significantly from the NCAA's own listing of champions prior to 1924, most notably excluding the NCF rankings form 1883 to 1923, but including them prior to and after that period.[3] This omission creates the misimpression that that there were almost exclusively single champions prior to 1924 when in fact co-champions were the rule, as leading teams rarely played each other, or even had common opponents. The proliferation of co-champions after 1924 in the CFDW table below makes this point obvious:
| Retroactive/research polls | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
1869-2001
|
National Championship Foundation |
|
|
| Table below reflects selections from 1869-1882 and from 1924-1953 | |||
|
1919-1992
|
College Football Researchers Association |
|
|
| Table below reflects selections from 1924-1953 | |||
|
1883-1982
|
Helms Athletic Foundation |
|
|
| Retroactive 1883-1941, Contemporaneous 1942-1982 | |||
| Statistical analysis | |||
|
1924-1940
|
Dickinson System |
|
|
| Contemporaneous 1926-1940 | |||
| Media/opinion polls | |||
|
1934 and 1936-Current
|
Associated Press |
|
|
| Before Bowls 1936-68 except 1965; then After Bowls 1969-current | |||
|
1935
|
United Press |
|
|
| After Bowls | |||
|
1952-1957
|
International News Service |
|
|
| Before Bowls | |||
|
1954-Current
|
Football Writers Association of America |
|
|
| After Bowls 1955-current | |||
|
2005-Current
|
Harris Interactive Poll |
|
|
| Used only for BCS Rankings | |||
| The Coaches' poll, published by: | |||
|
1950-1957
|
United Press |
|
|
| Before Bowls | |||
|
1958-1990
|
United Press International |
|
|
| Before Bowls 1958-73, After Bowls 1974-1990 | |||
|
1991-1996
|
USA Today/CNN |
|
|
| After Bowls | |||
|
1997
|
USA Today/ESPN |
|
|
| After Bowls | |||
|
1998-2004
|
USA Today/ESPN |
|
|
| Required to vote for BCS title game winner | |||
|
2005-Current
|
USA Today |
|
|
| Required to vote for BCS title game winner | |||
By year
Most national championships
This is a source of much debate. Before 1901 the national title was dominated by teams that are now members of the Ivy League. Yale and Princeton each claim as many as 24 national championships. However, Yale's last title was in 1927 and Princeton's was in 1935 (according to Dunkel, not reflected above). The University of Michigan won the first non-Ivy League national championship in 1901 (game played in January, 1902).
In an attempt to settle countless arguments, in 1970 Sports Illustrated made an in-depth study into college football's mythical national champions. Every recognized authority that ever presumed to name a No. 1 was included: Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, United Press International and many other authorities. At that time they claimed Notre Dame had the most national championships with 17, Alabama with 13, Yale 13, Princeton 12, and USC 10.[1]
Using only the sources from the National Championship Foundation or the "consensus" champion, the following teams have won the most championships since 1901:
| Team | Recognized titles | Winning years |
|---|---|---|
| Notre Dame | 13 | 1924, 1929, 1930, 1938, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1953, 1966, 1973, 1977, 1988 |
| USC | 11 | 1928, 1931, 1932, 1939, 1962, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978, 2003, 2004 |
| Alabama | 11 | 1925, 1926, 1930, 1945, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1992 |
| Oklahoma | 9 | 1949, 1950, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985, 2000 |
| Ohio State | 7 | 1942, 1944, 1954, 1957, 1961, 1968, 2002 |
| Michigan | 7 | 1901, 1902, 1932, 1933, 1947, 1948, 1997 |
| Minnesota | 6 | 1934, 1935, 1936, 1940, 1941, 1960 |
| Nebraska | 5 | 1970, 1971, 1994, 1995, 1997 |
| Pittsburgh | 5 | 1916, 1918, 1936, 1937, 1976 |
| Miami | 5 | 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, 2001 |
| Texas | 4 | 1963, 1969, 1970, 2005 |
| Tennessee | 4 | 1938, 1950, 1951, 1998 |
| Georgia Tech | 4 | 1917, 1928, 1952, 1990 |
| Harvard | 4 | 1910, 1912, 1913, 1919 |
Several universities claim more championships than are listed above (e.g., Michigan claims 11 national championships) and some claim fewer championships than are listed above (e.g., Notre Dame claims 11 national championships, Oklahoma claims 7).
Most Associated Press National Championships
Since 1936