Alabama Somehow Doesn’t Top List Of The 10 College Football Teams With The Most National Championships

The first college football national championship was officially handed out all the way back in 1869, but the way they’re distributed nowadays is decidedly different than the manner in which they were initially doled out. The sport has also come a very long way since then, which means there are some surprising names on the list of the schools with the most titles.

The College Football Playoff is currently used to determine which team is crowned the national championship at the end of the season, but you don’t need to be a diehard fan to know that wasn’t always the case.

Prior to the start of the BCS Era in 1998, it was possible for multiple college football teams to earn the title of “national champion” when the season came to an end thanks to the various polls and newspaper rankings that were previously used to determine who had the right to claim a title.

Some of the schools that have racked up the most championships didn’t even exist when the first one was handed out, which is a major reason some programs that are currently largely irrelevant appear on this list thanks to their status as juggernauts in a limited field back in the day.

Before we dive in, it’s also worth noting the NCAA has never been directly involved in naming a national champion, but these numbers are based on the titles it officially recognizes.

1. Yale—18

Princeton split the national title with Rutgers when the first one was doled out in 1869, but it took close to three decades for a non-Ivy League team to get another one.

Yale secured its first championship in 1874, and the Elis were largely the team to beat for the remainder of the 19th century.

14 of the 18 championships Yale won transpired in the 20-year span after its first, which included an impressive run in the 1880s that saw the school win five in a row and eight in the course of nine seasons.

Barring some wildly unforeseen twist, Yale won what will almost certainly be its final national championship in 1927 (which it split with Illinois).

2. Alabama—16

The team that most people would probably assume is at the top of this list is in a fairly close second, and it’s pretty safe to assume Alabama will end up passing Yale at some point.

The Crimson Tide reigned supreme for the first time in 1925 and had three championships to brag about by the time the season wrapped up in 1930.

Bear Bryant ushered in a new era when he arrived in Tuscaloosa in 1958 and retired with a then-record six titles under his belt. Gene Stallings notched another in 1992, and as you likely know, Bryant’s mark stood until Nick Saban took over in 2007 to win another six to add to the championship he’d previously helmed at LSU.

3. Princeton—15

Oh, you thought we were done with the Ivy League? Think again!

As I mentioned above, Princeton won the first-ever national title in 1869 and had racked up 11 by the time the 20th century rolled around.

It won a couple more in the 1900s, another in the decade that followed, and what is presumably its last in 1922.

4. Notre Dame—13

Notre Dame hasn’t won a national championship since getting its 13th in 1988, but there’s a reason the Fighting Irish are still one of the most storied programs in college football history.

The Golden Domers won their first in 1919 when players were still wearing leather helmets and had four in their possession once the 1930 season came to an end.

The legendary Frank Leahy was at the helm for four more titles that were won between 1943 and 1949, and Ara Parseghian technically brought one to South Bend three times during his tenure even though the school doesn’t claim the championship it was awarded by the National Football Foundation (the NCAA nonetheless recognizes it).

Dan Devine added another in 1977, and Lou Holtz currently remains the last Notre Dame coach to win one.

5. Michigan—10

Michigan kicked off the 20th century with a bang, as it won its first national championship in 1901 and went back-to-back-to-back-to-back before the run ended.

The Wolverines secured another title in 1918 and won one in each of the three decades that followed, but fans had to wait until 1997 the next. Thankfully, the next hiatus was a bit shorter, as Jim Harbaugh capped off his time in Ann Arbor with the trophy the team secured at the end of the 2023 campaign.

6. USC—9

USC was comparatively pretty late to the party based on the schools I’ve already listed, but the Trojans got in on the action with back-to-back titles starting in 1931.

The school won four more (1962, 1967, 1972, 1974) during the John McKay Era before John Robinson led them to another in 1978.

It took a while for USC to return to its former glory, but Pete Carroll was able to help the Trojans do exactly that with back-to-back wins of his own in 2003 and 2004 (the BCS technically took away the last one due to NCAA sanctions imposed over the Reggie Bush scandal, but it’s still listed on the governing body’s website).

7. Harvard—8

What’s that? More Ivy League? You betcha!

You just know Yale loves being able to brag about having more national championships than Harvard, but the Crimson still managed to hold their own back in the day.

The boys in Cambridge won their first title in 1875, rattled off three more in the 1890s, and got another four in the 1910s before the good times came to an end with the final one in 1919.

8. Ohio State

Ohio State didn’t win its first national championship until 1942, and it had to wait more than a decade for its next before Woody Hayes got the first of the five he brought to Columbus in 1954 (the other four came in 1957, 1961, 1968, and 1970).

The last one marked the end of a fairly lengthy drought that ended when the Buckeyes got their seventh during Jim Tressel’s second season, and Urban Meyer led them to an eight with a victory over Oregon in the inaugural College Football Playoff Championship in 2015.

9. Oklahoma—7

Bud Wilkinson transformed Oklahoma into a force to be reckoned with in the 1950s, as the Sooners kicked off the decade with a win and added two more with back-to-back titles in 1955 and 1956.

Barry Switzer won his first as the team’s head coach in 1975 before Oklahoma successfully defended the throne the following season and added one more for good measure in 1985.

However, it’s been close to 25 years since the Sooners reigned supreme, as the one they won during Bob Stoops’ second season remains their last.

10. Minnesota

You might be surprised to see Minnesota on this list, as I doubt most people reading this were even alive when the Gophers won their most recent title close to 65 years ago.

However, the school had a solid run in the middle of the 20th century thanks in no small part to the threepeat Minnesota pulled off after winning its first title in 1934.

The Gophers went back-to-back in 1940 and 1941, but it’s been largely downhill since they won their sixth title in 1960.