ND has the record for Most National Championships. No matter how you look at it.
Uncle Lou does a clean and clear breakdown in his latest article. Solid.
Net-Net, ND leads in each way it’s been examined. ESPN recently chose the one method that short-changes ND and helps ‘Bama, but it’s only one of 3, and the other 2 put ND well ahead of Bama.
I flipped the order on these compared to Lou, putting what I consider the best/most standard accounting first, followed by the next best, followed by the ‘all-in’, which (even though it helps ND) seems a little bogus.
Method 1) Big Four (AP, UPI/Coaches, Football Writers Assoc., National Football Foundation).
This is the ‘standard’. The one people tend to use as “Consensus”.
1. Notre Dame – 12
2. Alabama – 8
This is the right answer. ND has the most, followed by Alabama.
Method 2) The Originals (AP and UPI/Coaches)
1. Notre Dame – 8*
2. Alabama – 8*
3(T) Oklahoma- 7
3(T) USC – 7
5(T) Miami – 5
5(T) Nebraska- 5
5(T) Ohio St – 5
Followed by Texas, Minnesota, Florida, LSU, FSU, Michigan (sucks), PSU, Pitt, Army and Tennessee (who only has 2 btw).
*Why is ND #1? Well, as Lou points out, ND beat Bama in 1973 when Bama won the ‘regular season’ national championship. The UPI gave them the title before the bowl games, where ND beat Bama (to win the AP that year). So, really, ND should have 9 and Bama 7 in this accounting. Dont forget that Bama lost to Texas in the ’64 Orange Bowl but still claims the UPI that year. So really, Texas should jump up a spot, and Bama should be down to 6. So don’t let this ‘tie’ fool you. ND is the clear leader.
Method 3) “All-In” (All the services that ever named a National Champ pulled together)
Lou gets into the detail here, but needless to say this is kind of a tough metric. This means there were often multiple winners in a year, and the same team could potentially win 3-4 different National Championships at some points, or even more teams could all claim the win in a single year. But, Lou did the work, so it’s only fair to comment.
Comment: ND wins. Again.
1. Notre Dame – 21
2(T) Alabama – 16
2(T) Michigan – 16
2(T) Oklahoma – 16
2(T) USC – 16
6. Ohio State – 12
Then Nebraska and Pitt, Princeton Yale (who both have….EIGHT!)
Anyway, it’s plain to see who owns the most MNC’s in college football. ND, in every method.
Now can we PLEASE add another sometime soon?
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