Link: https://collegefootballnews.com/201...e=smg&utm_medium=wasabi&utm_content=home-hero
College Football's 150 Most Important Games of All-Time
by Pete Fiutak, CollegeFootballNews.com
Which games turned out to be the ones that shaped each season's national championship chase?
Once the BCS Championship and College Football Playoff came around, that became easy to figure out, but in the 150th anniversary of the first college football game, which ones in each of the 149 seasons -- there wasn't a season in 1871 -- turned out to change the history of the game? (We double up in one year to get to the top 150 games).
Here are the ground rules:
1. These aren't necessarily the "greatest" games ever or the best played. They're the ones that ended up being the most important in each season when it came to determining the national champion.
2. For most of the seasons, we cut to the chase. The games back in the 1800s up until the dawn of the more sophisticated polling eras usually acme down to one key matchup to determine the historically-awarded national championships -- the races for the titles usually weren't all that compelling. We fly through those.
3. Remember, the bowls weren't a part of the national championship puzzle up until 1968 for the AP rankings and 1974 for the Coaches Poll. We try to take that into account when it came to determining the key games, and then from the early 1970s up until 1997, the bowl games became almost everything. We go into a bit more detail with these.
4. The BCS era was the most fascinating in college football history when it came to arguments and debates, and then came the College Football Playoff. We dive deep into those. For those years, we only highlight the top regular season or conference championship games that made a difference in the respective races, since the most important games were obviously the national championships themselves.
5. Only the main national championship ranking methods and selection organizations for each era are counted ....
1869: Princeton 8, Rutgers 0
1870: Princeton 6, Rutgers 2
1871: (Other than a few light scrimmages, there was no season in 1871)
1872: Princeton 4, Rutgers 1
1873: Princeton 3, Yale 0
1874: Yale 6, Stephens 0
1875: Harvard 4, Yale 0
1876: Yale 1, Harvard 0
1877: Yale 0, Princeton 0
1878: Princeton 1, Yale 0
1879: Princeton 0, Yale 0
1880: Princeton 0, Yale 0
1881: Princeton 0, Yale 0
1882: Yale 1, Harvard 0
1883: Yale 6, Princeton 0
1884: Princeton 0, Yale 0
1885: Princeton 6, Yale 5
1886: Princeton 0, Yale 0
1887: Yale 17, Harvard 8
1888: Yale 10, Princeton 0
1889: Princeton 10, Yale 0
1890: Harvard 12, Yale 6
1891: Yale 19, Princeton 0
1892: Yale 28, Penn 0
1893: Princeton 6, Yale 0
1894: Yale 24, Princeton 0
1895: Penn 17, Harvard 14
1896: Princeton 24, Yale 6
1897: Penn 15, Harvard 6
1898: Harvard 10, Penn 0
1899: Cornell 5, Princeton 0
1900-1920
1900: Yale 28, Harvard 0
1901: Harvard 22, Yale 0
1902: Michigan 21, Chicago 0
1903: Princeton 11, Yale 6
1904: Michigan 22, Chicago 12
1905: Chicago 2, Michigan 0
1906: Princeton 0, Yale 0
1907: Carlisle 26, Penn 6
1908: LSU 10, Auburn 0
1909: Yale 8, Harvard 0
1910: Michigan 0, Penn 0
1911: Penn State 0, Navy 0
1912: Harvard 10, Yale 0
1913: Harvard 3, Princeton 0
1914: Illinois 21, Minnesota 6
1915: Cornell 10, Harvard 0
1916: Pittsburgh 31, Penn State 0
1917: Georgia Tech 41, Penn 0
1918: Cleveland Naval Reserves 10, Pittsburgh 9
1919: Harvard 10, Princeton 10
1920: Princeton 0, Harvard 0
1921-1935
1921: Cal 0, Washington & Jefferson 0 (Rose Bowl)
1922: Cal 12, USC 0
1923: Illinois 7, Chicago 0
1924: Illinois 39, Michigan 14
1925: Alabama 20, Washington 19 (Rose Bowl)
1926: Alabama 7, Stanford 7 (Rose Bowl)
1927: Georgia Tech 12, Georgia 0
1928: Georgia Tech 8, California 7 (Rose Bowl)
1929: Notre Dame 13, USC 12
1930: Notre Dame 7, Army 6
1931: USC 31, Tulane 12 (Rose Bowl)
1932: USC 35, Pittsburgh 0 (Rose Bowl)
1933: Michigan 0, Minnesota 0
1934: Minnesota 13, Pittsburgh 7
1935: Stanford 7, Southern Methodist 0 (Rose Bowl)
1936-1949 (AP Era)
Now things get interesting. 1936 was the first year of the AP rankings, so from here on, the national championships from some formula or a college professor – while still validated by the NCAA – aren’t nearly as prestigious until college football gets to 1) when the Coaches Poll gets involved and 2) the start of the BCS era. The AP rankings were hardly perfect, but they established a baseline and a steady goal to shoot for.
Each of the games on the list had something to do with deciding the AP national title because until 1950, that’s what really mattered.
1936: Notre Dame 26, Northwestern 6
1937: Pittsburgh 0, Fordham 0
1938: TCU 39, Baylor 7
1939: USC 0, UCLA 0
1940: Minnesota 7, Michigan 6
1941: Minnesota 7, Michigan 0
1942: Auburn 27, Georgia 13
1943: Notre Dame 33, Navy 6
1944: Army 59, Notre Dame 0
1945: Army 32, Navy 13
1946: Notre Dame 0, Army 0
1947: Notre Dame 38, USC 7
1948: Notre Dame 14, USC 14
1949: Army 21, Michigan 7
1950-1973 (AP & Coaches Poll Era)
Three interesting things happened in 1950. 1) It was the beginning of the Coaches Poll being added to the national championship equation – started up by UPI – to go along with the AP poll and rankings, 2) it created a monster of a mess because it handed out its championship before the bowls, and then …
1950: Oklahoma 14, Texas 13
3) The national champion in both the AP and UPI polls got whacked in the Sugar Bowl. Oklahoma finished the regular season 10-0 on a 31-game winning streak. Along the way, it got by Texas, who ended the regular season 9-1. That win gave the Sooners the national credibility to go on to win the AP and Coaches titles, which were handed out before the bowls. 10-1 Kentucky beat OU in the Sugar Bowl, and 10-1 Tennessee beat Texas in the Cotton.
1951: Maryland 28, Tennessee 13 (Sugar Bowl)
1952: Michigan State 21, Notre Dame 3
1953: Oklahoma 7, Maryland 0 (Orange Bowl)
1954: UCLA 12, Maryland 7
1955: Oklahoma 20, Maryland 6 (Orange Bowl)
1956: Oklahoma 27, Colorado 19
1957: Notre Dame 7, Oklahoma 0
1958: LSU 14, Mississippi 0
1959: Tennessee 14, LSU 13
1960: Minnesota 27, Iowa 10
1961: Ohio State 7, TCU 7
1962: USC 14, Washington 0
1963: Texas 28, Oklahoma 7
1964: Arkansas 14, Texas 13
1965: Michigan State 14, UCLA 12 (Rose Bowl)
1966: Notre Dame 10, Michigan State 10
1967: USC 21, UCLA 20
1968: Ohio State 13, Purdue 0
1969: Texas 15, Arkansas 14
1970: USC 38, Notre Dame 28
1971: Nebraska 35, Oklahoma 31
After beating Texas in the Cotton Bowl the season before, Notre Dame was the preseason No. 1 -- right up until it lost to USC in late October. That opened the door for Nebraska, who met with an unbeaten Oklahoma team in the "Game of the Century" -- at least for a few weeks. The Huskers won in Norman, but they still had to face an unbeaten and dominant Alabama team in the Orange Bowl. There weren't any problems in a 38-6 Nebraska win to close out the year 13-0 and on a 23-game winning streak.
1972: USC 42, Ohio State 17 (Rose Bowl)
1973: Notre Dame 24, Alabama 23 (Sugar Bowl)
1974-1979 (Bowl and Poll Era)
Here’s when the national championship puzzle finally made the shift needed – both major poll/ranking outlets ranked their respective title winners after the bowl games. The AP was already there, but the UPI/Coaches took a while to get on board.
1974: Notre Dame 13, Alabama 11
1975: Oklahoma 35, Nebraska 10
Sometimes the scoreboard matters. Nebraska started the season 10-0 before dealing with a 9-1 Oklahoma team that lost to Kansas 23-3 a few weeks earlier. The Sooner loss ended a 27-game winning streak and a 36-game unbeaten streak, but it took care of the Huskers in an easy blowout. Meanwhile, Arizona State was rolling through an unbeaten season without too much of a problem. The Sun Devils didn't beat anyone who was all that great, but they got their big test against the Huskers in the Fiesta Bowl. They won, but it was a 17-14 battle, while Oklahoma beat Michigan in the Orange Bowl 14-6. Despite the one loss, Oklahoma won the national championship in both polls, and an unbeaten ASU team finished No. 2.
1976: Pittsburgh 27, Georgia 3 (Sugar Bowl)
1977: Notre Dame 38, Texas 10
1978: USC 24, Alabama 14
1979: USC 21, Stanford 21
1980-1989 (Bowl and Poll Era)
The 1980s were the only true Bowl & Poll decade – when the national championships by both major ranking systems were named after the bowls were finished. The problem? A true national championship matchup in the bowl games was never a certainty. Even when there was one, the biggest game of the regular season usually had an outcome on at least one of the titles.
The AP stayed the same, but the Coaches Poll went from UPI to USA Today in 1982.
1980: Georgia 26, Florida 21
1981: Clemson 13, Georgia 3
1982: Penn State 27, Nebraska 24
A rising force of a Nebraska team came into Happy Valley and pushed the Nittany Lions to the brink in a thrilling game with several wild twists and turns. Penn State survived 27-24, and took that momentum to Birmingham and clunked to an okay Alabama team in a 42-21 blowout loss. Georgia got through the regular season 12-0 with a shot oat a second national title in three seasons if it could beat Penn State in the Sugar Bowl. The Nittany Lions were able to stop Herschel Walker and the Bulldogs in a 27-24 win. Meanwhile, Nebraska was busy finishing up a 12-1 season with an Orange Bowl win over LSU. Had the Huskers pulled out the win at Penn State, as things turned out, the would've given Tom Osborne his first national title and history might have been a whole lot different the following season.
1983: Miami 31, Nebraska 30 (Orange Bowl)
Good luck finding a better day in the history of college football than January 2, 1984. Nebraska was being talked about as the greatest team of all-time, ripping through everything in its path on the way to a 12-0 regular season. The No. 1 team in both polls faced Miami -- fifth in the AP and fourth in the USA Today/Coaches -- in the Orange Bowl. Miami was 11-1 after starting out the season with a blowout loss to Florida. Auburn beat the Gators and went 11-1, with the only loss coming early in the season to Texas.
No. 2 Texas, 11-0, was in the hunt for the national title, but it needed to beat Georgia in the Cotton Bowl and hope for a miraculous Miami win over Nebraska. On January 2nd, all the puzzle pieces came together. Texas was shocked by Georgia 10-9. As things turned out, the Longhorns would've won the national title had they won. Illinois was hovering in the top five, but it was destroyed by UCLA 45-9 in the Rose Bowl. And then came the Sugar and the Orange at the same time. Auburn beat Michigan 9-7, but....Miami pulled off the stunner in one of the greatest games ever, as Nebraska and Tom Osborne chose to go for two and the win in the final moments of the game -- and missed -- when an extra point and a tie would've meant the national championship in both polls.
1984: USC 16, Washington 7
1985: Oklahoma 25, Penn State 10 (Orange Bowl)
1986: Penn State 14, Miami 10 (Fiesta Bowl)
1987: Miami 20, Oklahoma 14 (Orange Bowl)
1988: Notre Dame 31, Miami 30
1989: Miami 27, Notre Dame 10
1990-1994 (Bowl and Poll Era)
Here we go with the final years before college football switched up to a true national championship format … sort of. That all starts in 1995, but first …
1990: Colorado 10, Notre Dame 9 (Orange Bowl)
1991: Miami 17, Florida State 16
1992: Alabama 34, Miami 13 (Orange Bowl)
1993: Boston College 41, Notre Dame 39
1994: Nebraska 24, Colorado 7
Penn State finished 12-0 with a Big Ten title and an easy Rose Bowl win over Oregon. So why did the dominant team with the incredible offense fail to get even a piece of the 1994 national title? It played 12 games and Nebraska played 13, and it didn't play anyone who was all that amazing. The Huskers got by a strong Miami team 24-17 in the Orange Bowl to complete the perfect season,a nd they also had to get by a Colorado team that was No. 2 at the time in the AP Poll and No. 3 in the Coaches Poll. Nebraska handed the Buffs their only loss of the season -- they went on to go 11-1 with a win over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, 24-7.
1995-1997 (Bowl Alliance)
Here’s where things change. Up until this point in the history of college football, matching up the top two teams from the regular season in a bowl game relied on a lucky break – politics, and the built-in bowl tie-ins for the various conferences, had a lot to do with that.
After several split national titles, and with Nebraska and Penn State both going unbeaten in 1994, 1995 saw the first massive pivot to a true national championship game with the first ever Bowl Alliance game. It wasn’t perfect – there was one gigantic fatal flaw, which will show up in 1996 – but it led the way to the tweak to the BCS in 1998, which eventually led to the College Football Playoff in 2014.
So from here on, the idea of the most important game changes. Obviously, the one big game at the end of each season mattered more than anything else, but which ones were the key catalysts to getting the 1 vs. 2 matchup?
1995: Florida 62, Tennessee 37
National Championship: Nebraska 62, Florida 24 (Fiesta Bowl)
Tennessee couldn’t beat Florida in Gainesville – having not done it since 1971 – and this was the next step in a big, big problem for Peyton Manning against the Gators. Manning threw for 326 yards and two touchdowns on the way to a 24-7 lead, and then the roof caved in. Danny Wuerffel went off, throwing six touchdown passes as the Gators scored 41 second half points on the way to a stunning 62-37 win. The Vols rolled through the rest of their schedule to finish 11-1, closing out with a win over a fantastic Ohio State team in the Citrus Bowl. Had they beaten the Gators, they would’ve had the honor of dealing with a dominant Nebraska team that came up with great win after great win on the way to an 11-0 regular season. Florida ripped through the rest of its schedule with blowout after blowout – including a win over preseason No. 1 Florida State and in the SEC Championship over Arkansas – but the Huskers won their second straight national title with a 62-24 annihilation over the Gators in the Fiesta Bowl.
1996: Ohio State 20, Arizona State 17 (Rose Bowl)
National Championship: Florida 52, Florida State 20 (Sugar Bowl)
1997: Florida 32, Florida State 29
National Championship: Michigan 21, Washington State 16 (Rose Bowl)
National Championship: Nebraska 42, Tennessee 17 (Orange Bowl)
Florida screwed up everything.
In 1997, the Bowl Alliance was supposed to create a true national championship matchup in the bowls, but the Big Ten and Pac-10 weren’t a part of it – they wanted to keep their Rose Bowl matchup as is. That meant 11-0 Michigan played Washington State in Pasadena, and Charles Woodson’s Wolverines held off Ryan Leaf’s Cougars 21-16. With Michigan not able to be a part of the Bowl Alliance game, that meant Peyton Manning’s No. 3 Tennessee team was the next one up in the rankings, so it got a shot to face Scott Frost’s unbeaten Nebraska squad in the Orange Bowl. If Michigan lost to Wazzu, and Tennessee could beat the Huskers, the Vols would be national champions. Instead, they got walloped 42-17. Tennessee’s only loss before that was to defending national champion Florida, closing out Manning’s 0-4 career against the Gators. However, Florida lost to LSU and Georgia to get knocked out of the title chase. Florida State was 10-0 and ranked No. 1 in the Coaches and No. 2 in the AP, but in arguably the most intense of all the battles between the two – including the two the season before – Florida pulled off the 32-29 upset on a late touchdown, followed up by a game-sealing interception. Had FSU won, it would’ve stayed No. 1 in the Coaches Poll in late November, and would’ve been in the top two in the AP before ending the season against Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Considering it would’ve been a battle of unbeatens, the winner likely would’ve been national champion, and Michigan might have been shut out.
1998-2001 (BCS Era)
The Bowl Alliance thing didn’t work, mainly because the Big Ten and Pac-10 weren’t a part of it and the Rose Bowl was it’s own world. College football needed a true national championship system, but instead of creating a playoff format – the bowls wanted to keep their power, influence, and money train rolling – the world was introduced to the Bowl Championship Series.
It was a combination of computer formulas and the human polls which ended up with a twisted system that no one ever could quite figure out on the fly. But it was an improvement when it came to finally creating a way to ensure that two top teams would play each other for the national title.
Sort of.
1998 (tie): Texas A&M 36, Kansas State 33 (OT) (Big 12 Championship Game)
1998 (tie): Miami 49, UCLA 45
BCS Championship: Tennessee 23, Florida State 16 (Fiesta Bowl)
1999: Texas 24, Nebraska 20
BCS Championship: Florida State 46, Virginia Tech 29 (Orange Bowl)
After the way the previous few seasons played out, the 1999 run for the BCS Championship was a relative breeze. Florida State had a few dogfights to get by, but it managed to go 11-0 as the wire-to-wire BCS No. 1 team. Thanks to the sensational Michael Vick to go along with an amazing defense, Virginia Tech blew out everyone but West Virginia – winning 22-20 in a thriller – to get up to the BCS No. 2 spot. It was a matchup of the only two unbeaten major conference teams, with the Noles winning the national title 46-29. This wouldn’t have been so easy if Nebraska could’ve held on to the ball against Texas. The 6-0 Huskers had several chances to beat the Longhorns, but they fumbled the ball away in two key moments deep in in Texas territory – highlighted by one in a big spot up 20-17 – and couldn’t come up with a late stop. Major Applewhite rolled down the field on a touchdown march for a 24-20 Texas lead, Nebraska stalled, and that was it. A few weeks later, Nebraska destroyed unbeaten Kansas State 41-15 – giving the Wildcats their only loss of the season – on the way to a 12-1 season. Had the Huskers been able to hold on against Texas and finish the season like they did, they’d have played Florida State for the national title.
2000: Washington 34, Miami 29
BCS Championship: Oklahoma 13, Florida State 2 (Orange Bowl)
2001: LSU 31, Tennessee 20 (SEC Championship Game)
BCS Championship: Miami 37, Nebraska 14 (Rose Bowl)
Everything was RIGHT THERE for the taking for Tennessee.
Nebraska was rolling to the BCS Championship after being cemented in the No. 1 spot, but it was steamrolled over by Colorado 62-36 in the regular season finale. Texas managed to move up to the No. 3 spot behind Miami and Florida, but that didn’t last long, losing to Colorado 39-37 in the Big 12 Championship. As it turned out, the Longhorns would’ve been in the national championship had they won. Tennessee was sitting at BCS No. 7 late in November – thanks to a loss to Georgia 26-24 early in the season – coming on a touchdown pass with six seconds to play, The Vols kept on winning from there, and despite being a massive underdog to BCS No. 2 Florida, pulled off a 34-32 stunner on the road to take over the second spot in the standings. All they had to do was beat Nick Saban’s LSU team in the SEC Championship to play for the national championship, but …
The Tigers outscored the Vols 15-3 in the fourth quarter, putting it away for good on a Domanick Davis touchdown run in the final few minutes to ruin the UT dream with a 31-20 win. That allowed Nebraska to slide back on up to the No. 2 spot in the final BCS Standings, even though it didn’t win its own division, didn’t win its conference title, and got its doors blown off by 10-2 Colorado, who finished third in the BCS before the bowl season. And then 2001 Miami went 2001 Miami and destroyed the Huskers 37-14 in the Rose Bowl for the national title, finishing 12-0. Tennessee finished 11-2, closing out with a 45-17 win over Michigan in the Citrus Bowl.
2002-2013 (BCS Era)
2002: Ohio State 10, Purdue 6
BCS Championship: Ohio State 31, Miami 24 (2OT) (Fiesta Bowl)
2003: California 34, USC 31 (3OT)
BCS Championship: LSU 21, Oklahoma 14 (Sugar Bowl)
2004: USC 23, California 17
BCS Championship: USC 55, Oklahoma 19 (Orange Bowl)
2005: USC 34, Notre Dame 31
BCS Championship: Texas 41, USC 38 (Rose Bowl)
2006: UCLA 13, USC 9
BCS Championsihp: Florida 41, Ohio State 14 (Fiesta Bowl)
2007: Pittsburgh 13, West Virginia 9
BCS Championsihp: LSU 38, Oklahoma 24
2008: Florida 31, Alabama 20 (SEC Championship Game)
BCS Championship: Florida 24, Oklahoma 14
2009: Alabama 32, Florida 13
BCS Championship: Alabama 37, Texas 21
2010: Oregon 52, Stanford 31
BCS Championship: Auburn 22, Oregon 19
2011: Iowa State 37, Oklahoma State 31 (2OT)
BCS Championship: Alabama 21, LSU 0
2012: Alabama 32, Georgia 28 (SEC Championship Game)
BCS Championship: Alabama 42, Notre Dame 14
2013: Auburn 34, Alabama 28
BCS Championship: Florida State 34, Auburn 31
2014-2018 (College Football Playoff Era)
It took over 140 years for college football to finally come up with a playoff system. It’s ten miles better than the days when the title was reliant upon the poll system, and it’s better than the BCS, but there are still several major flaws.
Even so, there’s no such thing as a cheap College Football Playoff national champion. The most important games for this section looks at the key games to get into the tournament.
2014: Baylor 61, TCU 58
Semis: Ohio State 42, Alabama 35 (Sugar Bowl)
Semis: Oregon 59, Florida State 20 (Rose Bowl)
Title Game: Ohio State 42, Oregon 20
2015: Michigan State 17, Ohio State 14
Semis: Clemson 37, Oklahoma 17 (Orange Bowl)
Semis: Alabama 38, Michigan State 0 (Cotton Bowl)
Title Game: Alabama 45, Clemson 40
2016: Ohio State 30, Michigan 27 (2OT)
Semis: Alabama 24, Washington 7 (Peach Bowl)
Semis: Clemson 31, Ohio State 0 (Fiesta Bowl)
Title Game: Clemson 35, Alabama 31
2017: Ohio State 27, Wisconsin 21 (Big Ten Championship Game)
Semis: Alabama 24, Clemson 6 (Sugar Bowl)
Semis: Georgia 54, Oklahoma 48 (OT) (Rose Bowl)
Title Game: Alabama 26, Georgia 23 (OT)
2018: Alabama 35, Georgia 28 (SEC Championship Game)
Semis: Alabama 45, Oklahoma 34 (Orange Bowl)
Semis: Clemson 30, Notre Dame 3 (Cotton Bowl)
Title Game: Clemson 44, Alabama 16
College Football's 150 Most Important Games of All-Time
by Pete Fiutak, CollegeFootballNews.com
Which games turned out to be the ones that shaped each season's national championship chase?
Once the BCS Championship and College Football Playoff came around, that became easy to figure out, but in the 150th anniversary of the first college football game, which ones in each of the 149 seasons -- there wasn't a season in 1871 -- turned out to change the history of the game? (We double up in one year to get to the top 150 games).
Here are the ground rules:
1. These aren't necessarily the "greatest" games ever or the best played. They're the ones that ended up being the most important in each season when it came to determining the national champion.
2. For most of the seasons, we cut to the chase. The games back in the 1800s up until the dawn of the more sophisticated polling eras usually acme down to one key matchup to determine the historically-awarded national championships -- the races for the titles usually weren't all that compelling. We fly through those.
3. Remember, the bowls weren't a part of the national championship puzzle up until 1968 for the AP rankings and 1974 for the Coaches Poll. We try to take that into account when it came to determining the key games, and then from the early 1970s up until 1997, the bowl games became almost everything. We go into a bit more detail with these.
4. The BCS era was the most fascinating in college football history when it came to arguments and debates, and then came the College Football Playoff. We dive deep into those. For those years, we only highlight the top regular season or conference championship games that made a difference in the respective races, since the most important games were obviously the national championships themselves.
5. Only the main national championship ranking methods and selection organizations for each era are counted ....
1869 to 1879: National Championship Foundation (NCF)
1880 to 1935: NCF & Helms Athletic Foundation
1936 to 1949: Associated Press (AP)
1950 to 1981: AP & United Press International (UPI)
1982 to 1997: AP (and 2003) & USA Today (Coaches Poll)
1998 to 2013: Bowl Championship Series (BCS)
2014 to 2018: College Football Playoff
The 1800s1880 to 1935: NCF & Helms Athletic Foundation
1936 to 1949: Associated Press (AP)
1950 to 1981: AP & United Press International (UPI)
1982 to 1997: AP (and 2003) & USA Today (Coaches Poll)
1998 to 2013: Bowl Championship Series (BCS)
2014 to 2018: College Football Playoff
1869: Princeton 8, Rutgers 0
1870: Princeton 6, Rutgers 2
1871: (Other than a few light scrimmages, there was no season in 1871)
1872: Princeton 4, Rutgers 1
1873: Princeton 3, Yale 0
1874: Yale 6, Stephens 0
1875: Harvard 4, Yale 0
1876: Yale 1, Harvard 0
1877: Yale 0, Princeton 0
1878: Princeton 1, Yale 0
1879: Princeton 0, Yale 0
1880: Princeton 0, Yale 0
1881: Princeton 0, Yale 0
1882: Yale 1, Harvard 0
1883: Yale 6, Princeton 0
1884: Princeton 0, Yale 0
1885: Princeton 6, Yale 5
1886: Princeton 0, Yale 0
1887: Yale 17, Harvard 8
1888: Yale 10, Princeton 0
1889: Princeton 10, Yale 0
1890: Harvard 12, Yale 6
1891: Yale 19, Princeton 0
1892: Yale 28, Penn 0
1893: Princeton 6, Yale 0
1894: Yale 24, Princeton 0
1895: Penn 17, Harvard 14
1896: Princeton 24, Yale 6
1897: Penn 15, Harvard 6
1898: Harvard 10, Penn 0
1899: Cornell 5, Princeton 0
1900-1920
1900: Yale 28, Harvard 0
1901: Harvard 22, Yale 0
1902: Michigan 21, Chicago 0
1903: Princeton 11, Yale 6
1904: Michigan 22, Chicago 12
1905: Chicago 2, Michigan 0
1906: Princeton 0, Yale 0
1907: Carlisle 26, Penn 6
1908: LSU 10, Auburn 0
1909: Yale 8, Harvard 0
1910: Michigan 0, Penn 0
1911: Penn State 0, Navy 0
1912: Harvard 10, Yale 0
1913: Harvard 3, Princeton 0
1914: Illinois 21, Minnesota 6
1915: Cornell 10, Harvard 0
1916: Pittsburgh 31, Penn State 0
1917: Georgia Tech 41, Penn 0
1918: Cleveland Naval Reserves 10, Pittsburgh 9
1919: Harvard 10, Princeton 10
1920: Princeton 0, Harvard 0
1921-1935
1921: Cal 0, Washington & Jefferson 0 (Rose Bowl)
1922: Cal 12, USC 0
1923: Illinois 7, Chicago 0
1924: Illinois 39, Michigan 14
1925: Alabama 20, Washington 19 (Rose Bowl)
1926: Alabama 7, Stanford 7 (Rose Bowl)
1927: Georgia Tech 12, Georgia 0
1928: Georgia Tech 8, California 7 (Rose Bowl)
1929: Notre Dame 13, USC 12
1930: Notre Dame 7, Army 6
1931: USC 31, Tulane 12 (Rose Bowl)
1932: USC 35, Pittsburgh 0 (Rose Bowl)
1933: Michigan 0, Minnesota 0
1934: Minnesota 13, Pittsburgh 7
1935: Stanford 7, Southern Methodist 0 (Rose Bowl)
1936-1949 (AP Era)
Now things get interesting. 1936 was the first year of the AP rankings, so from here on, the national championships from some formula or a college professor – while still validated by the NCAA – aren’t nearly as prestigious until college football gets to 1) when the Coaches Poll gets involved and 2) the start of the BCS era. The AP rankings were hardly perfect, but they established a baseline and a steady goal to shoot for.
Each of the games on the list had something to do with deciding the AP national title because until 1950, that’s what really mattered.
1936: Notre Dame 26, Northwestern 6
1937: Pittsburgh 0, Fordham 0
1938: TCU 39, Baylor 7
1939: USC 0, UCLA 0
1940: Minnesota 7, Michigan 6
1941: Minnesota 7, Michigan 0
1942: Auburn 27, Georgia 13
1943: Notre Dame 33, Navy 6
1944: Army 59, Notre Dame 0
1945: Army 32, Navy 13
1946: Notre Dame 0, Army 0
1947: Notre Dame 38, USC 7
1948: Notre Dame 14, USC 14
1949: Army 21, Michigan 7
1950-1973 (AP & Coaches Poll Era)
Three interesting things happened in 1950. 1) It was the beginning of the Coaches Poll being added to the national championship equation – started up by UPI – to go along with the AP poll and rankings, 2) it created a monster of a mess because it handed out its championship before the bowls, and then …
1950: Oklahoma 14, Texas 13
3) The national champion in both the AP and UPI polls got whacked in the Sugar Bowl. Oklahoma finished the regular season 10-0 on a 31-game winning streak. Along the way, it got by Texas, who ended the regular season 9-1. That win gave the Sooners the national credibility to go on to win the AP and Coaches titles, which were handed out before the bowls. 10-1 Kentucky beat OU in the Sugar Bowl, and 10-1 Tennessee beat Texas in the Cotton.
1951: Maryland 28, Tennessee 13 (Sugar Bowl)
1952: Michigan State 21, Notre Dame 3
1953: Oklahoma 7, Maryland 0 (Orange Bowl)
1954: UCLA 12, Maryland 7
1955: Oklahoma 20, Maryland 6 (Orange Bowl)
1956: Oklahoma 27, Colorado 19
1957: Notre Dame 7, Oklahoma 0
1958: LSU 14, Mississippi 0
1959: Tennessee 14, LSU 13
1960: Minnesota 27, Iowa 10
1961: Ohio State 7, TCU 7
1962: USC 14, Washington 0
1963: Texas 28, Oklahoma 7
1964: Arkansas 14, Texas 13
1965: Michigan State 14, UCLA 12 (Rose Bowl)
1966: Notre Dame 10, Michigan State 10
1967: USC 21, UCLA 20
1968: Ohio State 13, Purdue 0
1969: Texas 15, Arkansas 14
1970: USC 38, Notre Dame 28
1971: Nebraska 35, Oklahoma 31
After beating Texas in the Cotton Bowl the season before, Notre Dame was the preseason No. 1 -- right up until it lost to USC in late October. That opened the door for Nebraska, who met with an unbeaten Oklahoma team in the "Game of the Century" -- at least for a few weeks. The Huskers won in Norman, but they still had to face an unbeaten and dominant Alabama team in the Orange Bowl. There weren't any problems in a 38-6 Nebraska win to close out the year 13-0 and on a 23-game winning streak.
1972: USC 42, Ohio State 17 (Rose Bowl)
1973: Notre Dame 24, Alabama 23 (Sugar Bowl)
1974-1979 (Bowl and Poll Era)
Here’s when the national championship puzzle finally made the shift needed – both major poll/ranking outlets ranked their respective title winners after the bowl games. The AP was already there, but the UPI/Coaches took a while to get on board.
1974: Notre Dame 13, Alabama 11
1975: Oklahoma 35, Nebraska 10
Sometimes the scoreboard matters. Nebraska started the season 10-0 before dealing with a 9-1 Oklahoma team that lost to Kansas 23-3 a few weeks earlier. The Sooner loss ended a 27-game winning streak and a 36-game unbeaten streak, but it took care of the Huskers in an easy blowout. Meanwhile, Arizona State was rolling through an unbeaten season without too much of a problem. The Sun Devils didn't beat anyone who was all that great, but they got their big test against the Huskers in the Fiesta Bowl. They won, but it was a 17-14 battle, while Oklahoma beat Michigan in the Orange Bowl 14-6. Despite the one loss, Oklahoma won the national championship in both polls, and an unbeaten ASU team finished No. 2.
1976: Pittsburgh 27, Georgia 3 (Sugar Bowl)
1977: Notre Dame 38, Texas 10
1978: USC 24, Alabama 14
1979: USC 21, Stanford 21
1980-1989 (Bowl and Poll Era)
The 1980s were the only true Bowl & Poll decade – when the national championships by both major ranking systems were named after the bowls were finished. The problem? A true national championship matchup in the bowl games was never a certainty. Even when there was one, the biggest game of the regular season usually had an outcome on at least one of the titles.
The AP stayed the same, but the Coaches Poll went from UPI to USA Today in 1982.
1980: Georgia 26, Florida 21
1981: Clemson 13, Georgia 3
1982: Penn State 27, Nebraska 24
A rising force of a Nebraska team came into Happy Valley and pushed the Nittany Lions to the brink in a thrilling game with several wild twists and turns. Penn State survived 27-24, and took that momentum to Birmingham and clunked to an okay Alabama team in a 42-21 blowout loss. Georgia got through the regular season 12-0 with a shot oat a second national title in three seasons if it could beat Penn State in the Sugar Bowl. The Nittany Lions were able to stop Herschel Walker and the Bulldogs in a 27-24 win. Meanwhile, Nebraska was busy finishing up a 12-1 season with an Orange Bowl win over LSU. Had the Huskers pulled out the win at Penn State, as things turned out, the would've given Tom Osborne his first national title and history might have been a whole lot different the following season.
1983: Miami 31, Nebraska 30 (Orange Bowl)
Good luck finding a better day in the history of college football than January 2, 1984. Nebraska was being talked about as the greatest team of all-time, ripping through everything in its path on the way to a 12-0 regular season. The No. 1 team in both polls faced Miami -- fifth in the AP and fourth in the USA Today/Coaches -- in the Orange Bowl. Miami was 11-1 after starting out the season with a blowout loss to Florida. Auburn beat the Gators and went 11-1, with the only loss coming early in the season to Texas.
No. 2 Texas, 11-0, was in the hunt for the national title, but it needed to beat Georgia in the Cotton Bowl and hope for a miraculous Miami win over Nebraska. On January 2nd, all the puzzle pieces came together. Texas was shocked by Georgia 10-9. As things turned out, the Longhorns would've won the national title had they won. Illinois was hovering in the top five, but it was destroyed by UCLA 45-9 in the Rose Bowl. And then came the Sugar and the Orange at the same time. Auburn beat Michigan 9-7, but....Miami pulled off the stunner in one of the greatest games ever, as Nebraska and Tom Osborne chose to go for two and the win in the final moments of the game -- and missed -- when an extra point and a tie would've meant the national championship in both polls.
1984: USC 16, Washington 7
1985: Oklahoma 25, Penn State 10 (Orange Bowl)
1986: Penn State 14, Miami 10 (Fiesta Bowl)
1987: Miami 20, Oklahoma 14 (Orange Bowl)
1988: Notre Dame 31, Miami 30
1989: Miami 27, Notre Dame 10
1990-1994 (Bowl and Poll Era)
Here we go with the final years before college football switched up to a true national championship format … sort of. That all starts in 1995, but first …
1990: Colorado 10, Notre Dame 9 (Orange Bowl)
1991: Miami 17, Florida State 16
1992: Alabama 34, Miami 13 (Orange Bowl)
1993: Boston College 41, Notre Dame 39
1994: Nebraska 24, Colorado 7
Penn State finished 12-0 with a Big Ten title and an easy Rose Bowl win over Oregon. So why did the dominant team with the incredible offense fail to get even a piece of the 1994 national title? It played 12 games and Nebraska played 13, and it didn't play anyone who was all that amazing. The Huskers got by a strong Miami team 24-17 in the Orange Bowl to complete the perfect season,a nd they also had to get by a Colorado team that was No. 2 at the time in the AP Poll and No. 3 in the Coaches Poll. Nebraska handed the Buffs their only loss of the season -- they went on to go 11-1 with a win over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, 24-7.
1995-1997 (Bowl Alliance)
Here’s where things change. Up until this point in the history of college football, matching up the top two teams from the regular season in a bowl game relied on a lucky break – politics, and the built-in bowl tie-ins for the various conferences, had a lot to do with that.
After several split national titles, and with Nebraska and Penn State both going unbeaten in 1994, 1995 saw the first massive pivot to a true national championship game with the first ever Bowl Alliance game. It wasn’t perfect – there was one gigantic fatal flaw, which will show up in 1996 – but it led the way to the tweak to the BCS in 1998, which eventually led to the College Football Playoff in 2014.
So from here on, the idea of the most important game changes. Obviously, the one big game at the end of each season mattered more than anything else, but which ones were the key catalysts to getting the 1 vs. 2 matchup?
1995: Florida 62, Tennessee 37
National Championship: Nebraska 62, Florida 24 (Fiesta Bowl)
Tennessee couldn’t beat Florida in Gainesville – having not done it since 1971 – and this was the next step in a big, big problem for Peyton Manning against the Gators. Manning threw for 326 yards and two touchdowns on the way to a 24-7 lead, and then the roof caved in. Danny Wuerffel went off, throwing six touchdown passes as the Gators scored 41 second half points on the way to a stunning 62-37 win. The Vols rolled through the rest of their schedule to finish 11-1, closing out with a win over a fantastic Ohio State team in the Citrus Bowl. Had they beaten the Gators, they would’ve had the honor of dealing with a dominant Nebraska team that came up with great win after great win on the way to an 11-0 regular season. Florida ripped through the rest of its schedule with blowout after blowout – including a win over preseason No. 1 Florida State and in the SEC Championship over Arkansas – but the Huskers won their second straight national title with a 62-24 annihilation over the Gators in the Fiesta Bowl.
1996: Ohio State 20, Arizona State 17 (Rose Bowl)
National Championship: Florida 52, Florida State 20 (Sugar Bowl)
1997: Florida 32, Florida State 29
National Championship: Michigan 21, Washington State 16 (Rose Bowl)
National Championship: Nebraska 42, Tennessee 17 (Orange Bowl)
Florida screwed up everything.
In 1997, the Bowl Alliance was supposed to create a true national championship matchup in the bowls, but the Big Ten and Pac-10 weren’t a part of it – they wanted to keep their Rose Bowl matchup as is. That meant 11-0 Michigan played Washington State in Pasadena, and Charles Woodson’s Wolverines held off Ryan Leaf’s Cougars 21-16. With Michigan not able to be a part of the Bowl Alliance game, that meant Peyton Manning’s No. 3 Tennessee team was the next one up in the rankings, so it got a shot to face Scott Frost’s unbeaten Nebraska squad in the Orange Bowl. If Michigan lost to Wazzu, and Tennessee could beat the Huskers, the Vols would be national champions. Instead, they got walloped 42-17. Tennessee’s only loss before that was to defending national champion Florida, closing out Manning’s 0-4 career against the Gators. However, Florida lost to LSU and Georgia to get knocked out of the title chase. Florida State was 10-0 and ranked No. 1 in the Coaches and No. 2 in the AP, but in arguably the most intense of all the battles between the two – including the two the season before – Florida pulled off the 32-29 upset on a late touchdown, followed up by a game-sealing interception. Had FSU won, it would’ve stayed No. 1 in the Coaches Poll in late November, and would’ve been in the top two in the AP before ending the season against Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Considering it would’ve been a battle of unbeatens, the winner likely would’ve been national champion, and Michigan might have been shut out.
1998-2001 (BCS Era)
The Bowl Alliance thing didn’t work, mainly because the Big Ten and Pac-10 weren’t a part of it and the Rose Bowl was it’s own world. College football needed a true national championship system, but instead of creating a playoff format – the bowls wanted to keep their power, influence, and money train rolling – the world was introduced to the Bowl Championship Series.
It was a combination of computer formulas and the human polls which ended up with a twisted system that no one ever could quite figure out on the fly. But it was an improvement when it came to finally creating a way to ensure that two top teams would play each other for the national title.
Sort of.
1998 (tie): Texas A&M 36, Kansas State 33 (OT) (Big 12 Championship Game)
1998 (tie): Miami 49, UCLA 45
BCS Championship: Tennessee 23, Florida State 16 (Fiesta Bowl)
1999: Texas 24, Nebraska 20
BCS Championship: Florida State 46, Virginia Tech 29 (Orange Bowl)
After the way the previous few seasons played out, the 1999 run for the BCS Championship was a relative breeze. Florida State had a few dogfights to get by, but it managed to go 11-0 as the wire-to-wire BCS No. 1 team. Thanks to the sensational Michael Vick to go along with an amazing defense, Virginia Tech blew out everyone but West Virginia – winning 22-20 in a thriller – to get up to the BCS No. 2 spot. It was a matchup of the only two unbeaten major conference teams, with the Noles winning the national title 46-29. This wouldn’t have been so easy if Nebraska could’ve held on to the ball against Texas. The 6-0 Huskers had several chances to beat the Longhorns, but they fumbled the ball away in two key moments deep in in Texas territory – highlighted by one in a big spot up 20-17 – and couldn’t come up with a late stop. Major Applewhite rolled down the field on a touchdown march for a 24-20 Texas lead, Nebraska stalled, and that was it. A few weeks later, Nebraska destroyed unbeaten Kansas State 41-15 – giving the Wildcats their only loss of the season – on the way to a 12-1 season. Had the Huskers been able to hold on against Texas and finish the season like they did, they’d have played Florida State for the national title.
2000: Washington 34, Miami 29
BCS Championship: Oklahoma 13, Florida State 2 (Orange Bowl)
2001: LSU 31, Tennessee 20 (SEC Championship Game)
BCS Championship: Miami 37, Nebraska 14 (Rose Bowl)
Everything was RIGHT THERE for the taking for Tennessee.
Nebraska was rolling to the BCS Championship after being cemented in the No. 1 spot, but it was steamrolled over by Colorado 62-36 in the regular season finale. Texas managed to move up to the No. 3 spot behind Miami and Florida, but that didn’t last long, losing to Colorado 39-37 in the Big 12 Championship. As it turned out, the Longhorns would’ve been in the national championship had they won. Tennessee was sitting at BCS No. 7 late in November – thanks to a loss to Georgia 26-24 early in the season – coming on a touchdown pass with six seconds to play, The Vols kept on winning from there, and despite being a massive underdog to BCS No. 2 Florida, pulled off a 34-32 stunner on the road to take over the second spot in the standings. All they had to do was beat Nick Saban’s LSU team in the SEC Championship to play for the national championship, but …
The Tigers outscored the Vols 15-3 in the fourth quarter, putting it away for good on a Domanick Davis touchdown run in the final few minutes to ruin the UT dream with a 31-20 win. That allowed Nebraska to slide back on up to the No. 2 spot in the final BCS Standings, even though it didn’t win its own division, didn’t win its conference title, and got its doors blown off by 10-2 Colorado, who finished third in the BCS before the bowl season. And then 2001 Miami went 2001 Miami and destroyed the Huskers 37-14 in the Rose Bowl for the national title, finishing 12-0. Tennessee finished 11-2, closing out with a 45-17 win over Michigan in the Citrus Bowl.
2002-2013 (BCS Era)
2002: Ohio State 10, Purdue 6
BCS Championship: Ohio State 31, Miami 24 (2OT) (Fiesta Bowl)
2003: California 34, USC 31 (3OT)
BCS Championship: LSU 21, Oklahoma 14 (Sugar Bowl)
2004: USC 23, California 17
BCS Championship: USC 55, Oklahoma 19 (Orange Bowl)
2005: USC 34, Notre Dame 31
BCS Championship: Texas 41, USC 38 (Rose Bowl)
2006: UCLA 13, USC 9
BCS Championsihp: Florida 41, Ohio State 14 (Fiesta Bowl)
2007: Pittsburgh 13, West Virginia 9
BCS Championsihp: LSU 38, Oklahoma 24
2008: Florida 31, Alabama 20 (SEC Championship Game)
BCS Championship: Florida 24, Oklahoma 14
2009: Alabama 32, Florida 13
BCS Championship: Alabama 37, Texas 21
2010: Oregon 52, Stanford 31
BCS Championship: Auburn 22, Oregon 19
2011: Iowa State 37, Oklahoma State 31 (2OT)
BCS Championship: Alabama 21, LSU 0
2012: Alabama 32, Georgia 28 (SEC Championship Game)
BCS Championship: Alabama 42, Notre Dame 14
2013: Auburn 34, Alabama 28
BCS Championship: Florida State 34, Auburn 31
2014-2018 (College Football Playoff Era)
It took over 140 years for college football to finally come up with a playoff system. It’s ten miles better than the days when the title was reliant upon the poll system, and it’s better than the BCS, but there are still several major flaws.
Even so, there’s no such thing as a cheap College Football Playoff national champion. The most important games for this section looks at the key games to get into the tournament.
2014: Baylor 61, TCU 58
Semis: Ohio State 42, Alabama 35 (Sugar Bowl)
Semis: Oregon 59, Florida State 20 (Rose Bowl)
Title Game: Ohio State 42, Oregon 20
2015: Michigan State 17, Ohio State 14
Semis: Clemson 37, Oklahoma 17 (Orange Bowl)
Semis: Alabama 38, Michigan State 0 (Cotton Bowl)
Title Game: Alabama 45, Clemson 40
2016: Ohio State 30, Michigan 27 (2OT)
Semis: Alabama 24, Washington 7 (Peach Bowl)
Semis: Clemson 31, Ohio State 0 (Fiesta Bowl)
Title Game: Clemson 35, Alabama 31
2017: Ohio State 27, Wisconsin 21 (Big Ten Championship Game)
Semis: Alabama 24, Clemson 6 (Sugar Bowl)
Semis: Georgia 54, Oklahoma 48 (OT) (Rose Bowl)
Title Game: Alabama 26, Georgia 23 (OT)
2018: Alabama 35, Georgia 28 (SEC Championship Game)
Semis: Alabama 45, Oklahoma 34 (Orange Bowl)
Semis: Clemson 30, Notre Dame 3 (Cotton Bowl)
Title Game: Clemson 44, Alabama 16
