Let’s just cut to the chase. I don’t like the results of this list, and after you look at it, you won’t like the results either. Athlon Sports recently published a list ranking all 62 college football national champions since 1968, including the eight split national titles during that timespan (1970, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1991, 1997, and 2003). Athlon used the following methodology to decide on their list.
- How strong was their schedule?
- What was their record?
- How dominant were their wins?
- Did they win their conference?
- Did they win their bowl game?
- How many elite players did they have?
Let’s be honest if you’re going to create a methodology to determine the greatest national champions and your system doesn’t select the greatest team of all time, the 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers, as the greatest national champion of all time… time to create a new system. Now, I could clearly and succinctly lay out the argument for why that’s true, but that’s for a different article.
Now is the time to sit back, begin scrolling, and look through the history of some of college football’s most memorable teams and greatest champions.