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College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS was nominated as aSports and recreation good article, but it did not meet thegood article criteria at the time (August 25, 2023,reviewed version). There are suggestions onthe review page for improving the article. If you can improve it,please do; it may then berenominated.

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History of Major College Football National Championship was nominated fordeletion.The discussion was closed on15 September 2015 with a consensus tomerge. Its contents weremerged intoCollege football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS. The original page is now a redirect to this page. For the contribution history and old versions of the redirected article, please seeits history; for its talk page, seehere.

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College footballTop‑importance This article is within the scope ofWikiProject College football, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage ofcollege football on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can jointhe discussion and see a list of open tasks.College footballWikipedia:WikiProject College footballTemplate:WikiProject College footballcollege football Top This article has been rated asTop-importance on theproject's importance scale.

This article has beenmentioned by a media organization: Jason Kirk (January 10, 2018)."One reason UCF's national title claim is actually valid (and it's not the reason you think)".SB Nation. RetrievedJuly 30, 2023.Here's how 2017 went down, as visualized by Wikipedia's nicely done table listing every season, with bold signifying consensus:

To-do list forCollege football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS:edit · history · watch · refresh · Updated 2025-12-28 Here are some tasks awaiting attention: Citing sources : Expand : Expand "Major Polls" section to include theFWAAGrantland Rice Award andNFFMacArthur Bowl (per frequent inclusion of those four together in reliable sources). AddWashington Touchdown Club "Timmie" award to trophy list; verify trophy years from contemporary sources. Add "co" note to all selections of co-champions, as is currently done in the "Other selectors" table. Verify : TheHoulgate System selections in the NCAA book came from theThe Football Thesaurus (published in 1954). Verify sources; mark asretroactive any updated post-bowl selections first published in 1954. Consider adding contemporary pre-bowlHoulgate System selections not present in NCAA book, such as1934 Stanford. Sagarin Ratings selections changed in various editions of the NCAA book. Find the differences and add to article.

This article has previously been nominated to be moved. Please review the prior discussions if you are considering re-nomination. Discussions: Not moved, 16 August 2022, toCollege football national championships, seediscussion. Not moved, 9 October 2025, toNational championships in NCAA Division I FBS, seediscussion.

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The following reference(s) may be useful when improving this article in the future: "In 1936... one picked Alabama... Grantland Rice chose Yale..." - We currently don't have either the1936 Alabama or1936 Yale picks included on this page, if they actually exist. Grantland Rice picking Yale would be extremely notable. 1910 Navy "claims the leading eleven"; team should be researched for any selectors. Chicago Sailors claim honors;1918 Chicago Naval Reserve football team should be researched.

TheAnderson & Hester math system is notable forpicking Oregon this year rather than the CFP champion. But are they still actually a "major selector"?

In the2023 NCAA records book table, page 115, A&H is listed asActive Seasons — First: 1997 Last: 2022.

In the 2023 book, other active selectors such as the AP Poll, Coaches Poll, etc. are listed asLast: 2022 as well.

But in the2024 NCAA records book table, page 114, A&H remains atLast: 2022 while the others are incremented toLast: 2023.

A&H is the only major selector to be left at 2022. But note that Richard Billingsley and Dunkel were left atLast: 2019 in a previous book. This is apparently the reason they have been left off our table for 2020–present. I thought I remembered reading a discussion about this, but can't find it now.

In the "Poll System History" section, the dedicated description says "Anderson and Hester (1997-present)". Dunkel continues to say "Dunkel System (1929-present)" despite the table cutting them off at 2019.

I'm unaware of any external limiting factor that would make the 2022 selection their final "major selection". Or of any issues for Billingsley/Dunkel for 2019+.

What should be done about the A&H selections for 2023 and 2024?PK-WIKI (talk)18:07, 29 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The NCAA has determined that Anderson/Hester IS still a major selector.

The2025 NCAA records book reads:

• Anderson and Hester (1997-present) andFirst: 1997 Last: 2024)

Billingsley and Dunkel remain unchanged:

• Billingsley Report (1970-present) andFirst: 1970 Last: 2019
• Dunkel System (1929-present) andFirst: 1929 Last: 2019

The new 2024 "Final National Poll Leaders" listing reads:

2024:
Ohio St.: College Football Playoff, AP, †FW-NFF, USA Today
+Oregon: Anderson/Hester, Wolfe

PK-WIKI (talk)19:04, 23 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

On theCollege football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS WP article, there are two distinct tables of data outlining the total number of national championships per Division I FBS School: 1) "Poll era national championships by school (1936–present)" and 2) "Claims by school". My proposal would be to simply have two lists of championships in the infobox for every respective FBS team page.

For example,Alabama would read:

• "Poll era" (13) — 1961, 1964, 1965 (AP), 1973 (Coaches), 1978 (AP), 1979, 1992, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2020
• "Claims" (18) — 1925, 1926, 1930, 1934, 1941, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1992, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2020

NCAA Basketball does something slightly similar with "NCAA tournament champions" and "Pre-tournament Helms champions" in each infobox (if applicable).Oluwasegu (talk)23:34, 2 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose Feel like it adds very little to the page while simultaneously being confusing to a casual reader and will lead to users incorrectly adding Poll titles to years they did not win one. Additionally, adding a list to dozens of pages that simply says "none" feels rather redundant and unnecessary.KeyzCar (talk)01:33, 3 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Please consolidate discussion here:Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_College_football#Infobox_proposal_regarding_national_championships_for_FBS_team_pages_2PK-WIKI (talk)07:15, 3 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

A foundational source for this article is a 1967 article inSports Illustrated byDan Jenkins that states:

...it was fairly easy to recognize a No. 1 team every season. Somebody likeCasper Whitney inHarper's Weeklyor J. Parmly Paret inOuting looked at the records of Yale, Harvard, Princeton and Penn, quickly deciphered which one had out-groped Columbia Law School by the biggest margin, and boldly proclaimed them the mythical national champion.

The entire article is written in a somewhat humorous tone, and it's unclear if Paret actually did make college football national championship selections or if Jenkins was simply grabbing an old-timey sportswriter out of the hat.

We have found selections by Casper Whiney inOuting.

Any help appreciated on finding any original J. Parmly Paret sources if they exist. Also posted here:Talk:J._Parmly_Paret#College football national championship selections in Outing (magazine)?

PK-WIKI (talk)07:18, 3 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

There have been many edits recently regarding "consensus" national championships, the two wire service polls, clashing NFF and FWAA selections during those same years, etc. @Jeff in CA, @SportsGamer257, @Jweiss11, etc.

The "Major polls" section of this article currently contains only theAP Poll andCoaches Poll.

I propose expanding this section to also include:

• NFFMacArthur Bowl
• FWAAGrantland Rice Award
• USA Today / CNN Top 25

Those five together constitute the "Consensus National Championship" table in the NCAA book. They are also the five listed at the less inclusiveCollege football championship history NCAA.com website, which is widely cited off-wiki and more accessible than the records book PDF.

Opinions welcome on this proposal and how the new section would be structured and named.PK-WIKI (talk)18:24, 8 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Well, for as long as I’ve followed college football, most fans and sports media folks consider only winning the AP & Coaches as enough to be considered consensus champions as they tend to be held in high regard as the “gold standard” for deciding national champions.

As a Michigan fan, for MANY years I used to hear from Ohio State, MSU and Notre Dame fans joke about how 1997 was a “half natty” because of how Michigan won the AP and Nebraska won the Coaches, even though Michigan did win the FWAA and NFF polls for 1997. Yeah, those were the days.

But anyways, from what I had seen in my experience, the AP and Coaches were considered the “gold standard” for determining champions, while the FWAA and NFF were considered other mid-major selectors.

Though I think the FWAA stopped awarding the Grantland Rice Trophy at the end of the BCS era, so we can only count them for the years they were determining champions as I don’t think they’re doing that anymore.

As for early poll era champions from 1936-1949, I think you can determine consensus champions rather easily from those years based on who won the AP title and/or a majority of other selectors. Some are rather obvious (like 1948 Michigan or 1949 Notre Dame, who basically swept every poll).

And for determining national champions from 1901-35, I was thinking a simple majority of selectors would be enough to determine a consensus champion.SportsGamer257 (talk)20:37, 8 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with you that the AP / Coaches are widely considered to be in their own tier above the other three. We need to preserve that hierarchy in the new section if the other three are added.PK-WIKI (talk)20:44, 8 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Support – I wholeheartedly endorse the proposal byPK-WIKI, and I thank them for making it. For there to be a consensus champion, the determination has been predicated on each of the extant selectors on this short list agreeing on their top selection for a given season. This is not merely a preference among the public or fans or historians. This has been the definition used by sportswriters and others for decades, at least since the 1970s and likely since the 1950s. Of course there can be no consensus unless there are at least two selectors on this short list who agree, meaning that consensus selections are only since 1950. A common element among them is that the selections are made in real time, not retroactively. Attempting to ascribe consensus status to selections before 1950 isWP:OR.Jeff in CA (talk)07:41, 9 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Well, the AP did start in 1936, and it did make it easier to determine consensus champions from there.

1939 Texas A&M, 1948 Michigan and 1949 Notre Dame are all obvious examples as they swept the AP and pretty much every other selector from those years, and have been widely considered by sportswriters to be consensus titles.

For the 1901-35 selections, I basically considered consensus to be who won a simple majority of selectors for those years.SportsGamer257 (talk)15:03, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose — I support keeping the "Major polls" the way it is –AP Poll andCoaches' Poll ONLY –but, I like the proposed "split championship" table below and would support incorporating it in that sub-section as a footnote (NOT intermingling these in the same table). That way, it falls in-line with PK-WIKI's comment that "AP / Coaches are widely considered to be in their own tier above the other three. We need to preserve that hierarchy in the new section if the other three are added".Oluwasegu (talk)16:48, 10 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose -- Hello! Yes, I know I'm a random IP user, but I just wanted to share that I personally don't see the benefit of expansion. My suggestion is to leave it as AP / Coaches champions. From watching ESPN the last few weeks, the network has repeatedly displayed charts of the total number of AP and Coaches championships or the last time a wire service title was awarded to either of CFP teams (2025). I disagree with User Oluwasegu of incorporating the added "split championship" chart below this comment. That's just my two cents.~2025-33203-52 (talk)14:16, 11 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I agree that the AP/Coaches are top-tier and most important, and are often highlighted as their own count without the NFF/FWAA. The article should reflect than and have a table/column dedicated to just those, as it currently does.

However news coverage during this CFP has also repeatedly highlighted how the1960 Ole Miss FWAA selection stands above its other claims in 1959 and 1962. The phrase "NCAA recognizes" is often used, most likely pointing tothe NCAA website I mentioned that lists the 5 "consensus" selectors. Articles also use "split" / "share" language when when referring to teams from that list, even if one is NFF/FWAA-only.

• The Athletic:National championship history: Ole Miss claims three (1959, 1960, 1962), though only the 1960 one has NCAA recognition. It split that title with Minnesota.
• Clarion Ledger:The Rebels claim three national championships, all from over 60 years ago in 1959, 1960 and 1962 under coach Johnny Vaught. [...] The NCAA only recognizes Ole Miss' 1960 national championship, splitting it with Minnesota.
• Yahoo / The Sporting News:Because of the strange, convoluted way college football crowned national champions in the past, the answer is not totally settled. Ole Miss claims three national championships: 1959, 1960 and 1962. However, the NCAA has only acknowledged the Rebels as a national champion once, in 1960. Ole Miss shares that title with Minnesota.

Food for thought. There may be a way to incorporate FWAA/NFF into the section while preserving the higher tier of the AP/Coaches.PK-WIKI (talk)17:48, 11 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

A few things I would like to share ~

• The lead ofthis article reads: "Historically, the two most widely recognized national championship selectors are the Associated Press (AP), which conducts a poll of sportswriters, and the Coaches Poll, a survey of active members of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA)."
  • This is backed byWP:RS like for example -College Football Awards: All National and Conference Winners Through 2010 (2010, p. 73) ~ "the two most widely recognized and authoritative [national championship] selectors are the Associated Press (which conducts a poll of football sportswriters) and the USA Today Coaches' Poll of the American Football Coaches Association".
• A "Major polls" section ofthis article reflecting AP / Coaches champions has been on this page since 2007.
• This Wiki articleList of NCAA college football rankings reads: "The AP Poll and Coaches Poll are the two major polls used annually within the highest level of college football to determine the national championship." The article also has a timeline list of national champions awarded by either the AP / Coaches.
• Every single-season team Wiki article (i.e.,1955 Oklahoma Sooners football team,1984 BYU Cougars football team,2009 Alabama Crimson Tide football team,2023 Michigan Wolverines football team) has the final rankings of the AP and Coaches Polls in their respective infobox.
• Every bowl-matchup (i.e.,1984 Orange Bowl), important regular season match-up (i.e.,1966 Notre Dame vs. Michigan State football game), or NCG (i.e.,2020 College Football Playoff National Championship) only features the AP Poll, Coaches' Poll, or BCS/CFP ranking at the time of the contest in those Wiki pages' infoboxes.
• TwoWP:RS to point out ~
  • Thisarticle on the OfficialSugar Bowl website reads --->"since 1951, Tennessee, Auburn, LSU, and Alabama had all won consensus national championships. Ole Miss had only been presented the Grantland Rice Award by the Football Writers of America (FWAA) as the country’s No. 1 team after its 1961 Sugar Bowl victory, though that didnotcarry the weight of the wire service voting."
  • The Missing Ring: How Bear Bryant and the 1966 Alabama Crimson Tide Were Denied College Football's Most Elusive Prize by Keith Dunnavant (2007, p. 268) reads:"Even though the FWAA vote carried muchless weight than the wire service rankings..."

With all that being said, apologies for the long read, here ismy suggestions:

• OPTION 1: Keep the "Major polls" section the way it stands already (AP Poll, Coaches' Poll)
• OPTION 2: Keep the "Major polls" section the way it stands already (AP Poll, Coaches' Poll)...BUTincorporate something like thisNCAA Guide (c. 1961) which essentially mentions / puts greater emphasis at the top that "Minnesota was the AP and Coaches' national champion following the 1960 season. The AP poll of sports writers was originated in 1936 and the UPI poll of coaches was begun in 1950. Representing the combined opinions of observers across the country, they are the most popularly accepted electors to mythical national title honors..." and is followed by a year-to-year table where only Minnesota is listed next to 1960.However, if look at the bottom it mentionsMississippi as the recipient of the 1960 FWAAGrantland Rice Awardas a footnote. This is where I was sort of going in my initial post on this discussion of essentially keeping everything the same, BUT including the "split championship" table that PK-WIKI created (below) to serve as a footnote, just like that NCAA Guide. I hope this helps!

Oluwasegu (talk)18:42, 11 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

"Consensus national champion" is a defined term, which is as described in this proposal byPK-WIKI, as well as in the use of the term by the NCAA. We can’t just make up our own definition, neither for years before 1950, when a consensus champion per its definition was impossible, nor for after 1950. What we or other opinion-writers regard as being more important polls or the most "top-tier" or those with "less weight", isn’t worth a hill of beans.Jeff in CA (talk)05:17, 1 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Table below could be insertedbelow the existing table that displays the AP/UPI splits. (I do NOT support intermingling these in the same table, perWP:DUE.)

These are the 7 teams with selections from "consensus" national championships selectorswithout one of the AP/Coaches wire service selections.

Hello! Under "National championship claims" can you put the"(FL)" after "Miami" for consistency with other mentions in this article? This is a minor edit request. Thanks~2026-54047-6 (talk)02:35, 2 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

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