We don’t expect this contention to go far without argument. All we’re doing here is reporting the facts as we receive them.
An online group calling itself the College Football Data Warehouse (CFBDW) has named Princeton University as the greatest overall champion in college football history for their 26 total national championships attained since 1869. Here’s how they explain it in Wikipedia:
“College Football Data Warehouse (CFBDW) is an online resource and database that has collected and researched information on college football and national championship selections. It provides a comprehensive list of national championship selectors[92][93] and has itself recognized selectors that it has deemed to be the most acceptable throughout history. These include the National Championship Foundation (1869–1882), the Helms Athletic Foundation (1883–1935), the College Football Researchers Association (1919–1935), the Associated Press Poll (1936–present), and the Coaches Poll (1950–present).[7] From its research, it has compiled a list of Recognized National Championships for each season.[94] Some years include recognition of multiple teams for a particular season. Please note that the CFBDW list of Recognized Champions does not confer any additional legitimacy to the titles. In this regard, some universities claim championships not recognized by CFBDW or do not claim championships that are recognized by CFBDW. Please consult the above table of National championship claims by school or individual team articles and websites for possible additional or alternative national championship claims.”
Below is a list of all of the CFBDW recognized national championships from 1869 to present, showing each school from top to bottom on claimed titles, their number of wins, and the years they each won:
| Princeton | 26 | 1869, 1870, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1889, 1893, 1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1906, 1911, 1920, 1922, 1933, 1935 |
| Yale | 18 | 1874, 1876, 1877, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1891, 1892, 1894, 1900, 1907, 1909, 1927 |
| Notre Dame | 13 | 1919, 1924, 1929, 1930, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1964, 1966, 1973, 1977, 1988 |
| Alabama | 12 | 1925, 1926, 1930, 1934, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1992, 2009 |
| Michigan | 11 | 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1918, 1923, 1932, 1933, 1947, 1948, 1997 |
| USC | 10 | 1928, 1931, 1932, 1962, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978, 2003, 2004 |
| Pittsburgh | 9 | 1910, 1915, 1916, 1918, 1929, 1931, 1936, 1937, 1976 |
| Harvard | 8 | 1875, 1890, 1898, 1899, 1910, 1912, 1913, 1919 |
| Ohio State | 7 | 1942, 1954, 1957, 1961, 1968, 1970, 2002 |
| Oklahoma | 7 | 1950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985, 2000 |
| Minnesota | 6 | 1934, 1935, 1936, 1940, 1941, 1960 |
| Penn | 6 | 1894, 1895, 1897, 1904, 1907, 1908 |
| Army | 5 | 1914, 1916, 1944, 1945, 1946 |
| Miami | 5 | 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, 2001 |
| Nebraska | 5 | 1970, 1971, 1994, 1995, 1997 |
| California | 4 | 1920, 1921, 1922, 1937 |
| Georgia Tech | 4 | 1917, 1928, 1952, 1990 |
| Illinois | 4 | 1914, 1919, 1923, 1927 |
| LSU | 4 | 1908, 1958, 2003, 2007 |
| Michigan St | 4 | 1951, 1952, 1965, 1966 |
| Penn State | 4 | 1911, 1912, 1982, 1986 |
| Tennessee | 4 | 1938, 1950, 1951, 1998 |
| Texas | 4 | 1963, 1969, 1970, 2005 |
| Auburn | 3 | 1913, 1957, 2010 |
| Cornell | 3 | 1915, 1921, 1922 |
| Florida | 3 | 1996, 2006, 2008 |
| Lafayette | 3 | 1896, 1921, 1926 |
| FSU | 2 | 1993, 1999 |
| Georgia | 2 | 1942, 1980 |
| Mississippi | 2 | 1960, 1962 |
| Texas A&M | 2 | 1919, 1939 |
| Arkansas | 1 | 1964 |
| Boston College | 1 | 1940 |
| BYU | 1 | 1984 |
| Chicago | 1 | 1905 |
| Clemson | 1 | 1981 |
| Colorado | 1 | 1990 |
| Dartmouth | 1 | 1925 |
| Iowa | 1 | 1958 |
| Maryland | 1 | 1953 |
| SMU | 1 | 1935 |
| Stanford | 1 | 1926 |
| Syracuse | 1 | 1959 |
| TCU | 1 | 1938 |
| UCLA | 1 | 1954 |
| Washington | 1 | 1991 |
The Pecan Park Eagle 
October 30, 2011 at 2:57 pm |
I guess it is how you read it and back out the Tulane BIAS.
LOL I’ll accept the stats, but they are so old they need BC
behind the years. Like you said yesterday, Bill, there are
Cougar HATERS and LSU HATERS….GEAUX TIGERS(LSU).
And before I forget, HOW ABOUT THOSE REd BIRDS…..I know my DAD is SMILLING……
October 30, 2011 at 3:17 pm |
David:
Putting “BC” after the years up through 1935, Princeton’s last “title” year would have worked for me. As for LSU, I’ll be pulling for them against Alabama this coming Saturday, and, if my Cougars can’t get to the title game game dance, which we all know they can’t, even if Case Keenum throws 9 TD passes against all the remaining UH foes, then I’ll be pulling for LSU to go all the way. WHO DAT SAYING GEAUX TIGERS TOO? DAT BE ME!
As for the Cardinals, you and I both know how happy that Game Six would have (and did so on another level) made your dad so happy. I don’t have to tell you this: How great it would have been to have watched Game Six with your dad, the great and affably strong George “Red” Munger! – Red would have been dancing up the sides of all four walls when Freese and then Berkman brought the Cards back from one strike away from total defeat.
October 30, 2011 at 3:28 pm |
It looks like they count only football titles, since the four U. Texas years correspond to years they finished ranked #1 in polls in football. But Texas has won a bunch of baseball, swimming, track, and I believe several womens basketball titles, off the top of my head.
October 30, 2011 at 3:37 pm |
Mark –
You got it right. They are only counting football titles here. Add baseball and basketball – and UT and UCLA jump way up there. Add golf and UH joins the crowd in a high spot too.
October 30, 2011 at 4:27 pm |
I consider 1960 the dawn of modern college football. If you adjust to only those years, you get:
Alabama 8 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1992, 2009
USC 7 1962, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978, 2003, 2004
Miami 5 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, 2001
Nebraska 5 1970, 1971, 1994, 1995, 1997
Notre Dm 5 1964, 1966, 1973, 1977, 1988
Ohio St 4 1961, 1968, 1970, 2002
Oklahoma 4 1974, 1975, 1985, 2000
Texas 4 1963, 1969, 1970, 2005
Looks quite different, doesn’t it? It should also be noted that major wire services crowned their champions before the bowl games then AP switched until after the bowls while UP still crowned them before which is why you see several multiple champions during the 60s and early 70s. One year, Oklahoma was champion in the AP poll but wasn’t even found on the UPI poll because they were on probation.
For all the griping we do (including myself) about the BCS, you do get one champion at the end of the year so titleists in the 90s and 00s have achieved, in some ways, a greater accomplishment.
October 30, 2011 at 7:53 pm |
A&M’s mention for the 1919 season did give me a chuckle.
Even though then ten game results totalled 275-0, the only
opponent from outside Texas was Oklahome A&M.
Sounds “national” to me, but I’ve not ever heard that team
mentioned as “National Cahmpions” before.
October 30, 2011 at 8:49 pm |
Tom –
How about those 1919 Aggies? They opened the season on Oct. 3rd with a home field doubleheader win over Sam Houston State, 77-0, and Texas State, 28-0. Then they run through the rest of their schedule undefeated and unscored upon. – Talk about questions pertaining to “strength of schedule.” What kind of team was Texas State? They were a club that couldn’t even score against a team that had already played a full game that same day.
October 30, 2011 at 10:35 pm |
Yeah, I’ve never heard of a 1919 aggie championship. They did miss a second one TCU claims earlier in the 1930s. And of course, many of those Bama ones are years when others also claim the title. Like the one where Texas kicked their butt in the Cotton Bowl but they still claim to be the best that year.
October 31, 2011 at 8:33 am |
I’m sure this knowledge is what sold Einstein on going to Princeton! 🙂
October 31, 2011 at 11:22 am |
Tom –
No doubt. From what I’ve read, Albert was always best known as an “E = MC(2) and a Cloud of Dust Particles Up the Middle” kind of guy from the time he first landed here in the States.
October 31, 2011 at 1:59 pm |
Please take a look at the athletic career of Hobey Baker, who was an All America football player at Princeton before WW I, as well as the best hockey plater–amateur or pro–in that era. I believe the NCAA award for best hockey player is named after him, and he is in the College Football Hall of Fame. He joined the Army Air Corps as a pilot, and died in France when his small plane crashed a day or so after the war ended.
Baker’s comportment and grace under pressure were legendary.
Dick Kazmier won the Heisman trophy while playing for Princeton in the early 1950’s.