CFB Most National Championships

Many people wonder which teams own the most NCAA football National Championships (1936-2010 history as well as rankings and complete list of teams below). In 1936, the AP Poll came into existence, and since that point, this has been the standard of college football rankings used to declare at least a share of the National Championship. The Bowl Championship Series took over in 1998, and since that point, there has only been one split title. However, this was common place back in the 1950s and 60s, and pushed all the way forward until the split championship in 1997. Below the team rankings (at the bottom of this article) you will find a complete listing of all the national champs from 1936 forward...

#1: Play Like a Champion Today! That's the sign hanging in the locker room of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who have won a whopping nine National Championships dating back to the start of the AP Poll has the most national championships in college football (as of 2010). However, prior to the foundation of the AP Poll, the Golden Domers were a dominating program as well. They also have four retroactively award titles dating back into the 1910s. This is the only team in the country that had at least one National Championship in a span of eight straight decades. However, starting in the 1990s when Lou Holtz left the program, the Irish have fallen upon hard times. The Irish haven't won a title since that point and haven't been to a heck of a lot of premier bowl games either. It is up to new Head Coach Brian Kelly to reverse the trends & put Golden Domers back to college football greatness.

#2: Closely behind the Irish are the Alabama Crimson Tide, the defending National Champions. The Tide rolled to their eighth championship last year (in 2009), though this was the first since 1992. Head Coach, Nick Saban is clearly building a lot more than just a flash in the pan though, as this is a team that is starting to look like one that is going to be good for a heck of a lot of years to come. Alabama has a great chance to become the first program to reach ten National Championships in the AP Poll era over the next decade, and that could start this year if it can get back on top of the SEC.

#3: Don't forget about the Ohio State Buckeyes either. It wasn't just Head Coach, Jim Tressel that had success with this program. In fact, Ohio State was winning Rose Bowls back in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. In a span of less than 20 years, this program came up with six National Championships, and the title won by beating the Miami Hurricanes in 2002 marked their seventh. Since then, Tressel and company have come awfully close, just as they very well could in 2010, but the Buckeyes haven't been able to figure out how to quite get over the top.

#4: The USC Trojans had an empire come crumbling down amidst an NCAA probe that found that RB Reggie Bush was getting perks from coming to Southern Cal. The program is on bowl probation until the 2012 season and won't be adding to their Pac-10 record seven National Championships any time in the near future. Lane Kiffin has his work cut out for him to get the Men of Troy back on top, but he has the tools, the resources, the facilities, and the recruiting hotbed of So Cal to try to turn things back around in the middle part of the decade. USC has seven national titles, five of which were won from 1962-1978.

#5: Head Coach, Bob Stoops brought a seventh championship to the Oklahoma Sooners in 2000, and the only knock on him since that point is that he hasn't brought numbers eight, nine, and ten since then. It certainly hasn't been from a lack of dominance, as this has clearly been one of the best teams in the country in the last decade and change. Oklahoma is still on top with QB Landry Jones still having three years left of eligibility. Stoops' teams are always prided on defense as well, and if all of that keeps up, perhaps the Sooners can move up this chart as quickly as this season.

#6: "The U," the University of Miami (Five National Championships) is truly an amazing story. From 1983, HC Jimmy Johnson helped build a program that would go on to win five titles in the span of just 18 years. The Canes are always one of the most feared teams in the south, but ever since they moved to the ACC, this is a program that has fallen upon hard times. Miami has never even played in a BCS bowl since that point, nor has a ever won the ACC. young coach, Randy Shannon is going to have to turn all of that around soon, or he'll never really get a chance to bring South Beach its sixth National Championship.

#7: In the mid 1990s, there was no program that was nearly as dominant as that of the Nebraska Cornhuskers behind a triple option offense, often led by QB Tommy Frazier, the 'Huskers were able to build a dynasty that won three National Championships in a span of just four years. Nebraska has five National Titles to its name, making it one of just seven schools that has at least five since the AP era began in 1932, and with QB Taylor Martinez making all sorts of waves in his first season in Lincoln, things are looking up for Big Red for the first time in well over a decade. Championship No. 6 might not be all that far away.

Complete Listing of all National Titles Since The Start of the AP in 1936:

1936: Minnesota Golden Gophers
1937: Pittsburgh Panthers
1938: TCU Horned Frogs
1939: Texas A&M Aggies
1940: Minnesota Golden Gophers (2)
1941: Minnesota Golden Gophers (3)
1942: Ohio State Buckeyes
1943: Notre Dame Fighting Irish
1944: Army Black Knights
1945: Army Black Knights (2)
1946: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2)
1947: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3)
1948: Michigan Wolverines
1949: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4)
1950: Oklahoma Sooners
1951: Tennessee Volunteers
1952: Michigan State Spartans
1953: Maryland Terrapins
1954: UCLA Bruins, Ohio State Buckeyes (2)
1955: Oklahoma Sooners (2)
1956: Oklahoma Sooners (3)
1957: Ohio State Buckeyes (3), Auburn Tigers
1958: LSU Tigers, Iowa Hawkeyes
1959: Syracuse Orange
1960: Minnesota Golden Gophers (4), Mississippi Rebels
1961: Alabama Crimson Tide, Ohio State Buckeyes (4)
1962: USC Trojans
1963: Texas Longhorns
1964: Alabama Crimson Tide (2), Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5), Arkansas Razorbacks
1965: Michigan State Spartans (2), Alabama Crimson Tide (3)
1966: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6), Michigan State Spartans (3)
1967: USC Trojans (2)
1968: Ohio State Buckeyes (5)
1969: Texas Longhorns (2)
1970: Nebraska Cornhuskers, Texas Longhorns (3), Ohio State Buckeyes (6)
1971: Nebraska Cornhuskers (2)
1972: USC Trojans (3)
1973: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7), Alabama Crimson Tide (4)
1974: USC Trojans (4), Oklahoma Sooners (4)
1975: Oklahoma Sooners (5)
1976: Pittsburgh Panthers (2)
1977: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8)
1978: Alabama Crimson Tide (5), USC Trojans (5)
1979: Alabama Crimson Tide (6)
1980: Georgia Bulldogs
1981: Clemson Tigers
1982: Penn State Nittany Lions
1983: Miami Hurricanes
1984: BYU Cougars
1985: Oklahoma Sooners (6)
1986: Penn State Nittany Lions (2)
1987: Miami Hurricanes (2)
1988: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9)
1989: Miami Hurricanes (3)
1990: Colorado Buffaloes, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
1991: Washington Huskies, Miami Hurricanes (4)
1992: Alabama Crimson Tide (7)
1993: Florida State Seminoles
1994: Nebraska Cornhuskers (3)
1995: Nebraska Cornhuskers (4)
1996: Florida Gators
1997: Michigan Wolverines (2), Nebraska Cornhuskers (5)
1998: Tennessee Volunteers (2)
1999: Florida State Seminoles (2)
2000: Oklahoma Sooners (7)
2001: Miami Hurricanes (5)
2002: Ohio State Buckeyes (7)
2003: LSU Tigers (2), USC Trojans (6)
2004: USC Trojans (7)
2005: Texas Longhorns (4)
2006: Florida Gators (2)
2007: LSU Tigers (3)
2008: Florida Gators (3)
2009: Alabama Crimson Tide (8)