Historical National Champions

Recognized National Champions by Year

1869-1899

1869	1870	1871	1872
		None No Games
Princeton Tigers	Princeton Tigers		Princeton Tigers
1-1	1-0		1-0


1873	1874	1874	1875

Princeton Tigers	Princeton Tigers	Yale Bulldogs	Princeton Tigers
1-0	2-0	3-0	2-0


1875	1876	1877	1877

Harvard Crimson	Yale Bulldogs	Princeton Tigers	Yale Bulldogs
4-0	3-0	2-0-1	3-0-1


1878	1879	1880	1880

Princeton Tigers	Princeton Tigers	Princeton Tigers	Yale Bulldogs
6-0	4-0-1	4-0-1	4-0-1


1881	1881	1882	1883

Princeton Tigers	Yale Bulldogs	Yale Bulldogs	Yale Bulldogs
7-0-2	5-0-1	8-0	9-0


1884	1884	1885	1886

Yale Bulldogs	Princeton Tigers	Princeton Tigers	Princeton Tigers
8-0-1	9-0-1	9-0	7-0-1


1886	1887	1888	1889

Yale Bulldogs	Yale Bulldogs	Yale Bulldogs	Princeton Tigers
9-0-1	9-0	13-0	10-0
		Walter Camp


1890	1891	1892	1893

Harvard Crimson	Yale Bulldogs	Yale Bulldogs	Princeton Tigers
11-0	13-0	13-0	11-0
George Adams George Stewart	Walter Camp	Walter Camp


1894	1894	1895	1896

Penn Quakers	Yale Bulldogs	Penn Quakers	Princeton Tigers
12-0	16-0	14-0	10-0-1
George W. Woodruff	William Rhodes	George W. Woodruff


1896	1897	1898	1898

Lafayette Leopards	Penn Quakers	Harvard Crimson	Princeton Tigers
11-0-1	15-0	11-0	11-0-1
Parke H. Davis	George W. Woodruff	William Forbes


1899	1899

Harvard Crimson	Princeton Tigers
10-0-1	12-1
Benjamin Dibblee

1900-1909

1900	1901	1902	1903

Yale Bulldogs	Michigan Wolverines	Michigan Wolverines	Michigan Wolverines
12-0	11-0	11-0	11-0-1
Malcolm McBride	Fielding Yost	Fielding Yost	Fielding Yost


1903	1904	1904	1905

Princeton Tigers	Michigan Wolverines	Penn Quakers	Chicago Maroons
11-0	10-0	12-0	10-0
	Fielding Yost	Carl Williams	Amos Alonzo Stagg


1906	1907	1907	1908

Princeton Tigers	Penn Quakers	Yale Bulldogs	LSU Tigers
9-0-1	11-1	9-0-1	10-0
William Roper	Carl Williams	William Knox	Edgar Wingard


1908	1909

Penn Quakers	Yale Bulldogs
11-0-1	10-0
Sol Metzger	Howard Jones

1910-1919

1910	1910	1911	1911

Harvard Crimson	Pittsburgh Panthers	Penn State Nittany Lions	Princeton Tigers
8-0-1	9-0	8-0-1	8-0-2
Percy Haughton	Joseph Thompson	Bill Hollenback	William Roper


1912	1912	1913	1913

Penn State Nittany Lions	Harvard Crimson	Auburn Tigers	Harvard Crimson
8-0	9-0	8-0	9-0
Bill Hollenback	Percy Haughton	Mike Donahue	Percy Haughton


1914	1914	1915	1915

Army Black Knights	Illinois Fighting Illini	Pittsburgh Panthers	Cornell Big Red
9-0	7-0	8-0	9-0
Charles Daly	Robert Zuppke	Glenn Warner	Albert Sharpe


1916	1916	1917	1918

Army Black Knights	Pittsburgh Panthers	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	Pittsburgh Panthers
9-0	8-0	9-0	4-1
Charles Daly	Glenn Warner	John Heisman	Glenn Warner


1918	1919	1919	1919

Michigan Wolverines	Harvard Crimson	Illinois Fighting Illini	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
5-0	9-0-1	6-1	9-0
Fielding Yost	Robert Fisher	Robert Zuppke	Knute Rockne


1919

Texas A&M Aggies
10-0
Dana Bible

1920-1929

1920	1920	1921	1921

California Golden Bears	Princeton Tigers	California Golden Bears	Cornell Big Red
9-0	6-0-1	9-0-1	8-0
Andy Smith	William Roper	Andy Smith	Gil Dobie


1921	1922	1922	1922

Lafayette Leopards	Princeton Tigers	Cornell Big Red	California Golden Bears
9-0	8-0	8-0	9-0
Jock Sutherland	William Roper	Gil Dobie	Andy Smith


1923	1923	1924	1925

Illinois Fighting Illini	Michigan Wolverines	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	Dartmouth Big Green
8-0	8-0	10-0	8-0
Robert Zuppke	Fielding Yost	Knute Rockne	Jesse Hawley


1925	1926	1926	1926

Alabama Crimson Tide	Alabama Crimson Tide	Lafayette Leopards	Stanford Cardinal
10-0	9-0-1	9-0	10-0-1
Wallace Wade	Wallace Wade	George McCracken	Glenn Warner


1927	1927	1928	1928

Yale Bulldogs	Illinois Fighting Illini	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	Southern California Trojans
9-1	7-0-1	10-0	9-0-1
Thomas Jones	Robert Zuppke	William Alexander	Howard Jones


1929	1929

Notre Dame Fighting Irish	Pittsburgh Panthers
9-0	9-1
Knute Rockne	Jock Sutherland

1930-1939

1930	1930	1931	1931

Alabama Crimson Tide	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	Pittsburgh Panthers	Southern California Trojans
10-0	10-0	8-1	10-1
Wallace Wade	Knute Rockne	Jock Sutherland	Howard Jones


1932	1932	1933	1933

Michigan Wolverines	Southern California Trojans	Princeton Tigers	Michigan Wolverines
8-0	10-0	9-0	7-0-1
Harry Kipke	Howard Jones	Fritz Crisler	Harry Kipke


1934	1934	1935	1935

Alabama Crimson Tide	Minnesota Golden Gophers	Minnesota Golden Gophers	Princeton Tigers
10-0	8-0	8-0	9-0
Frank Thomas	Bernie Bierman	Bernie Bierman	Fritz Crisler


1935	1936	1936	1937

Southern Methodist Mustangs	Minnesota Golden Gophers	Pittsburgh Panthers	Pittsburgh Panthers
12-1	7-1	8-1-1	9-0-1
Matty Bell	Bernie Bierman	Jock Sutherland	Jock Sutherland
	AP		AP


1937	1938	1938	1939

California Golden Bears	Texas Christian Horned Frogs	Tennessee Volunteers	Texas A&M Aggies
10-0-1	11-0	11-0	11-0
Leonard Allison	Dutch Meyer	Robert Neyland	Homer Norton
	AP		AP

1940-1949

1940	1940	1941	1942

Minnesota Golden Gophers	Boston College Eagles	Minnesota Golden Gophers	Ohio State Buckeyes
8-0	11-0	8-0	9-1
Bernie Bierman	Frank Leahy	Bernie Bierman	Paul Brown
AP		AP	AP


1942	1943	1944	1945

Georgia Bulldogs	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	Army Black Knights	Army Black Knights
11-1	9-1	9-0	9-0
Wally Butts	Frank Leahy	Earl Blaik	Earl Blaik
	AP	AP	AP


1946	1946	1947	1947

Notre Dame Fighting Irish	Army Black Knights	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	Michigan Wolverines
8-0-1	9-0-1	9-0	10-0
Frank Leahy	Earl Blaik	Frank Leahy	Fritz Crisler
AP		AP


1948	1949

Michigan Wolverines	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
9-0	10-0
Bennie Oosterbaan	Frank Leahy
AP	AP

1950-1959

1950	1950	1951	1951

Oklahoma Sooners	Tennessee Volunteers	Tennessee Volunteers	Michigan State Spartans
10-1	11-1	10-1	9-0
Bud Wilkinson	Robert Neyland	Robert Neyland	Biggie Munn
AP, UPI		AP, UPI


1952	1952	1953	1954

Michigan State Spartans	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	Maryland Teripans	Ohio State Buckeyes
9-0	12-0	10-1	10-0
Biggie Munn	Bobby Dodd	Jim Tatum	Woody Hayes
AP, UPI		AP, UPI	AP


1954	1955	1956	1957

UCLA Bruins	Oklahoma Sooners	Oklahoma Sooners	Auburn Tigers
9-0	11-0	10-0	10-0
Henry Sanders	Bud Wilkinson	Bud Wilkinson	Ralph Jordan
FWAA, UPI	AP, FWAA, UPI	AP, FWAA, UPI	AP


1957	1958	1958	1959

Ohio State Buckeyes	Louisiana State Tigers	Iowa Hawkeyes	Syracuse Orange
9-1	11-0	8-1-1	11-0
Woody Hayes	Paul Dietzel	Forest Evashevski	Ben Schwartzwalder
FWAA, UPI	AP, UPI	FWAA	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI

1960-1969

1960	1960	1961	1961

Minnesota Golden Gophers	Mississippi Rebels	Alabama Crimson Tide	Ohio State Buckeyes
8-2	10-0-1	11-0	8-0-1
Murray Warmath	Johnny Vaught	Bear Bryant	Woody Hayes
AP, NFF, UPI	FWAA	AP, NFF, UPI	FWAA


1962	1962	1963	1964

Southern California Trojans	Mississippi Rebels	Texas Longhorns	Alabama Crimson Tide
11-0	10-0	11-0	10-1
John McKay	Johnny Vaught	Darrell Royal	Bear Bryant
AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI		AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI	AP, UPI


1964	1964	1965	1965

Arkansas Razorbacks	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	Alabama Crimson Tide	Michigan State Spartans
11-0	9-1	9-1-1	10-1
Frank Broyles	Ara Parseghian	Bear Bryant	Duffy Daugherty
FWAA	NFF	AP, FWAA	FWAA, NFF, UPI


1966	1966	1967	1968

Notre Dame Fighting Irish	Michigan State Spartans	Southern California Trojans	Ohio State Buckeyes
9-0-1	9-0-1	10-1	10-0
Ara Parseghian	Duffy Daugherty	John McKay	Woody Hayes
AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI	NFF	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI


1969

Texas Longhorns
11-0
Darrell Royal
AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI

1970-1979

1970	1970	1970	1971

Nebraska Cornhuskers	Texas Longhorns	Ohio State Buckeyes	Nebraska Cornhuskers
11-0-1	10-1	9-1	13-0
Bob Devaney	Darrell Royal	Woody Hayes	Bob Devaney
AP, FWAA	NFF, UPI	NFF	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI


1972	1973	1973	1974

Southern California Trojans	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	Alabama Crimson Tide	Oklahoma Sooners
12-0	11-0	11-1	11-0
John McKay	Ara Parseghian	Bear Bryant	Barry Switzer
AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI	AP, FWAA, NFF	UPI	AP


1974	1975	1976	1977

Southern California Trojans	Oklahoma Sooners	Pittsburgh Panthers	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
10-1-1	11-1	12-0	11-1
John McKay	Barry Switzer	Johnny Majors	Dan Devine
FWAA, NFF, UPI	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI


1978	1978	1979

Alabama Crimson Tide	Southern California Trojans	Alabama Crimson Tide
11-1	12-1	12-0
Bear Bryant	John Robinson	Bear Bryant
AP, FWAA, NFF	UPI	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI

1980-1989

1980	1981	1982	1983

Georgia Bulldogs	Clemson Tigers	Penn State Nittany Lions	Miami Hurricanes
12-0	12-0	11-1	11-1
Vince Dooley	Danny Ford	Joe Paterno	Howard Schnellenberger
AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI, USAToday/CNN	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI, USAToday/CNN


1984	1985	1986	1987

Brigham Young Cougars	Oklahoma Sooners	Penn State Nittany Lions	Miami Hurricanes
13-0	11-1	12-0	12-0
LaVell Edwards	Barry Switzer	Joe Paterno	Jimmy Johnson
AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI, USAToday/CNN	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI, USAToday/CNN	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI, USAToday/CNN	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI, USAToday/CNN


1988	1989

Notre Dame Fighting Irish	Miami Hurricanes
12-0	11-1
Lou Holtz	Dennis Erickson
AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI, USAToday/CNN	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI, USAToday/CNN

1990-1999

1990	1990	1991	1991

Colorado Buffaloes	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	Miami Hurricanes	Washington Huskies
11-1-1	11-0-1	12-0	12-0
Bill McCartney	Bobby Ross	Dennis Erickson	Don James
AP, FWAA, NFF, USAToday/CNN	UPI	AP	FWAA, NFF/UPI, USAToday/CNN


1992	1993	1994	1995

Alabama Crimson Tide	Florida State Seminoles	Nebraska Cornhuskers	Nebraska Cornhuskers
13-0	12-1	13-0	12-0
Gene Stallings	Bobby Bowden	Tom Osborne	Tom Osborne
AP, FWAA, UPI/NFF, USAToday/CNN	AP, FWAA, UPI, USAToday/CNN, USAToday/NFF	AP, FWAA, UPI, USAToday/CNN, USAToday/NFF	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI, USAToday/CNN


1996	1997	1997	1998

Florida Gators	Michigan Wolverines	Nebraska Cornhuskers	Tennessee Volunteers
12-1	12-0	13-0	13-0
Steve Spurrier	Lloyd Carr	Tom Osborne	Phillip Fulmer
AP, FWAA, NFF, USAToday/CNN	AP, FWAA, NFF	USAToday/ESPN	BCS, AP, FWAA, NFF, USAToday/ESPN


1999

Florida State Seminoles
12-0
Bobby Bowden
BCS, AP, FWAA, NFF, USAToday/ESPN

2000-2009

2000	2001	2002	2003

Oklahoma Sooners	Miami Hurricanes	Ohio State Buckeyes	Louisiana State Tigers
Bob Stoops	12-0	14-0	13-1
13-0	Larry Coker	Jim Tressel	Nick Saban
BCS, AP, FWAA, NFF, USAToday/ESPN	BCS, AP, FWAA, NFF, USAToday/ESPN	BCS, AP, FWAA, NFF, USAToday/ESPN	BCS, NFF, USAToday/ESPN


2003	2004	2005	2006

Southern California Trojans	Southern California Trojans	Texas Longhorns	Florida Gators
12-1	13-0	13-0	13-1
Pete Carroll	Pete Carroll	Mack Brown	Urban Meyer
AP, FWAA	BCS, AP, FWAA, NFF, USAToday/ESPN	BCS, AP, FWAA, NFF, USAToday/ESPN	BCS, AP, FWAA, NFF, USAToday


2007	2008	2009

Louisiana State Tigers	Florida Gators	Alabama Crimson Tide
12-2	13-1	14-0
Les Miles	Urban Meyer	Nick Saban
BCS, AP, FWAA, NFF, USAToday	BCS, AP, FWAA, NFF, USAToday	BCS, AP, FWAA, NFF, USAToday

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1935	1936	1937	1938

Jay Berwanger	Larry Kelly	Clint Frank	Davey O'Brien
RB - Chicago	E - Yale	RB - Yale	QB - Texas Christian


1939	1940	1941	1942

Nile Kinnick	Tom Harmon	Bruce Smith	Frank Sinkwich
RB - Iowa	RB - Michigan	RB - Minnesota	RB - Georgia

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