Winning a national title in college football generally requires both greatness and a little bit of luck, and some of the greatest teams in the sport’s history haven’t gotten quite enough of the latter to emerge with a ring. As we slowly gear up for another season, let’s take a moment to admire some of those who fell just short. Here are the 50 best teams to not win a national title.
This being college football, of course, we need some specifications. Since approximately 14,038,342 teams have claimed national titles through the years, we’re going to define “national titles” as those specified by the Associated Press and coaches’ polls. That eliminates teams from before polls started in 1936, and it eliminates title claims that stemmed from retroactive computer ratings or other sources.
To create these rankings, I began as I usually do: with my SP+ ratings. I have derived those numbers from full play-by-play data going back to 2005, and I have created estimated versions for before 2005 using points scored and allowed. These ratings created a framework, and then I took aesthetic liberties from there, eliminating teams with more than one loss (my apologies to 1980 Nebraska and other great two-loss teams) moving teams up and down based on my own opinions.
But you’re not here to read about the method. You’re here to read the results. So let’s get to it.
50. 1983 Auburn
Record: 11-1
AP rank: third
One of college football’s more underrated what-ifs is, “What might have happened if the team that should have won the national title in 1983, actually did?” Pat Dye’s best Tiger team lost only to Texas (which finished fifth) and finished the season by beating No. 5 Florida, No. 7 Maryland, No. 4 Georgia, No. 19 Alabama and No. 8 Michigan in succession. Their résumé was far better than Miami’s — even with the Hurricanes’ Orange Bowl stunner over top-ranked Nebraska.
49. 1993 Auburn
Record: 11-0
AP rank: fourth
Dye left the program on NCAA probation, and in Terry Bowden’s first season in charge, the Tigers, banned from the postseason, took down a top-five Florida team and bounced from 5-5-1 to 11-0. Running backs James Bostic and Stephen Davis keyed an explosive offense (with the occasional Stan White-to-Frank Sanders bomb mixed in), and the defense seemingly scored on a pick six in every game. It was downhill from here for Bowden, but what a way to start out.
48. 1970 Dartmouth
Record: 9-0
AP rank: 14th
Hall of Famer Bob Blackman fielded a brilliant team in 1970. The defense, led by another Hall of Famer in rover back Murray Bowden, allowed just 4.6 points per game, and the Big Green — then named the Indians — won eight of nine games by at least 24 points. They won the Lambert Trophy, awarded to the best team in the east. When Joe Paterno, head coach of 7-3 Penn State, grumbled about the award and suggested the Indians and Nittany Lions play in a bowl, Blackman responded, “If we were allowed to play a postseason contest, I would prefer to play a team that had a better record.”
47. 1951 Michigan State
Record: 9-0
AP rank: second
Biggie Munn’s Spartans lost to Maryland on October 7, 1950 … and wouldn’t lose again until October 24, 1953. They would win the national title at 9-0 in 1952, but their 1951 team wasn’t quite as fortunate. Despite beating Michigan and Notre Dame by a combined 60-0 and unleashing a ferocious comeback, capped by the Transcontinental Pass to beat Ohio State, a narrow win over Indiana dropped them to second in the polls behind Tennessee. But this team was tremendous.
46. 2009 Florida
Record: 13-1
AP rank: third
After a national title run in 2008, Florida’s 2009 campaign felt a bit like a hangover and included some closer-than-expected results — 23-20 against Arkansas, 24-14 against South Carolina, etc. When the Gators lost to Nick Saban and Alabama in the SEC Championship, it felt like a changing of the guard. But that takes away from the fact that this team was still tremendous. The Gators beat two top-five-at-the-time teams by a combined 64-27, destroyed rivals Florida State and Georgia and finished 13-1.
45-44. 1979 Oklahoma and 1979 USC
Records: 11-1 and 11-0-1, respectively
AP rank: third and second
Behold, two more teams overshadowed by Bama. While Bear Bryant’s Tide was rolling to 12-0 and winning his last title, both John Robinson’s Trojans and Barry Switzer’s Sooners tried to keep pace in case Bama slipped up. USC beat three ranked teams on the road — a feat that included a 42-23 romp over No. 9 Notre Dame — and finished the season beating another unbeaten team, top-ranked Ohio State, in the Rose Bowl to hand the Tide the title. It might have been a split title if not for an unexpected 21-21 tie against Stanford. Charles White paved the way with 2,050 rushing yards, 19 touchdowns and a Heisman win.
Placing second in the Heisman voting: OU’s defending Heisman winner, Billy Sims. He rushed for 1,506 yards and 22 TDs as the Sooners overcame an early loss to No. 4 Texas, outscored their first five Big 8 opponents by an average of 40-9, then outlasted Missouri and No. 3 Nebraska to win the conference title. A stomping of No. 4 Florida State in the Orange Bowl was a solid consolation for a title bid lost.
43-42. 2004 Auburn and 2004 Utah
Records: 12-0 and 11-0, respectively
AP rank: second and fourth
You could easily make the case that Auburn caught a break by finishing third in the BCS standings and missing out on the pummeling that No. 2 Oklahoma instead received from a nearly untouchable USC team. (It will get you yelled at by AU fans online, but you could do it.) But while Tommy Tuberville’s best team on the Plains maybe wasn’t the best team in the country, it was still awesome. The Tigers had the best scoring offense in the country, and the oft-conservative offense had its moments with the RB tandem of Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown (combined: 2,543 scrimmage yards and 22 TDs).
If you’re really eager to frustrate Auburn fans, you could also make the case that another unbeaten team, Urban Meyer’s Utes, was even better. The schedule didn’t give them marquee opportunities to prove it — right down to a Fiesta Bowl pummeling of a barely ranked Pitt — but they beat every opponent, including Texas A&M and UNC, by at least 14 points, and after throwing for 32 touchdown passes and rushing for another 10, quarterback Alex Smith went No. 1 in the 2005 NFL draft.
41. 1971 Alabama
Record: 11-1
AP rank: fourth
In 1971, Bear Bryant pulled off one of the biggest ruses of all-time. Knowing his program needed a shot in the arm after going 6-5 in back-to-back seasons, he installed Texas’ new-fangled Wishbone in the offseason … but he waited until after spring ball to do it so no one would catch on. His Tide stunned an unsuspecting USC 17-10 to start the 1971 season and never looked back, scoring at least 31 points in nine of their next 10 games and rolling to 11-0. Unfortunately, the season ended with a game against probably one of the five greatest teams ever, 1971 Nebraska. The Huskers dominated, 38-6.
40-39. 1960 Ole Miss and 1962 Ole Miss
Records: 10-0-1 and 10-0, respectively
AP rank: second and third
John Vaught’s Rebels enjoyed a sustained run of brilliance, earning 10 top-11 AP finishes in 12 years from 1952-63 and finishing top five each season from 1959-62. Ole Miss claimed three titles in that span, but none were bestowed upon them by the AP, so they qualify for this list. (Two are listed here, and one more is further up the list.)
In an era of defense-and-field-position football, no one did it better than the Rebs. In 1960, they allowed more than 13 points in a game just once, suffered only a 6-6 draw with LSU and pummeled a ranked Tennessee team 24-3 in Knoxville before beating Rice in the Sugar Bowl. Two years later, they ran the table, outscoring opponents 247-53, recording three shutouts and allowing more than seven points just once in a 17-13 Sugar Bowl win over No. 6 Arkansas.
Granted, the 1962 Ole Miss team is remembered more for things that happened off the field — or on it, in a halftime speech by the governor — but it’s undeniable that both of these rugged squads were among the best the 1960s produced.
38. 1982 Nebraska
Record: 12-1
AP rank: third
In an era in which Tom Osborne’s Nebraska Cornhuskers always managed to lose a heartbreaker on the cusp of a national title shot — 35-31 to Missouri in 1978, 17-14 to Oklahoma in 1979, 21-17 to Oklahoma in 1980, etc. — a particularly dominant NU squad suffered a particularly gut-wrenching loss in 1982. Eventual national champion Penn State beat the second-ranked Huskers 27-24 thanks in part to an incredibly controversial catch call along the sideline.
NU outscored its other 12 opponents by a combined 490-140, but PSU got the ring.
37-36. 1987 Florida State and 1992 Florida State
Records: 11-1 and 11-1
AP rank: second and second
After back-to-back top-10 finishes, FSU averaged only 7.5 wins per season from 1981-86 before breaking out in 1987 and, well, remaining broken out. They finished in the AP top five for 14 consecutive years — really, the only sustained run of elite play that can theoretically top what Nick Saban is currently doing at Alabama — and eventually won their first two national titles in 1993 and 1999.
They had to deal with some heartbreak first, however. In 1987, running back Sammie Smith, cornerback Deion Sanders and company blew away No. 6 Auburn on the road, took down No. 5 Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl, won 11 games … and lost to rival Miami via Wide Right I.
In 1992, on the eve of their first title, a team led by quarterback Charlie Ward and linebacker Marvin Jones beat six ranked opponents, throttled No. 6 Florida by three touchdowns and beat Nebraska again, this time in the Orange Bowl. And they lost via Wide Right II.
35. 1940 Boston College
Record: 11-0
AP rank: fifth
In just their seventh season of top-division football, Frank Leahy’s BC Eagles blew away the field. They survived a visit from No. 9 Georgetown 19-18 and beat nine other regular season opponents, including the SEC’s Auburn and Tulane, by a combined 301-34. Given a chance to truly make a statement in the Sugar Bowl, they not only handed Bob Neyland’s Tennessee its first loss of the season, but they also scored 19 points, the most the Vols had allowed in over three years.
Unfortunately, their performance was impressive enough to catch the eye of Notre Dame, which hired Leahy away in 1941.
34. 1973 Penn State
Record: 12-0
AP rank: fifth
For the third time in six years, a Paterno team finished unbeaten but didn’t win the title. (We’ll get to the other two.) Running back John Cappelletti won the Heisman, rushing for 1,522 yards and 17 TDs, but despite the No. 5 scoring offense and No. 7 scoring defense and wins over two solid ACC teams (Maryland and NC State), rival Pitt and No. 13 LSU in the Orange Bowl, PSU finished only fifth in the polls. Paterno would have to wait another nine years for a title.
33. 1949 Army
Record: 9-0
AP rank: fourth
There was nowhere to go but down after going 27-0-1 from 1944-46, but after a two-year reset, Red Blaik fielded a team capable of stomping top-ranked Michigan 21-7 and winning nine games by an average of 39-8. They were first in scoring offense and third in scoring defense, and it took particularly brilliant and unbeaten Notre Dame and Oklahoma teams to prevent Army from scoring a third national title in six years.
32. 1980 Pitt
Record: 11-1
AP rank: second
For Penn State and Paterno, perhaps even more galling than coming up short in the national title race was watching Pitt swoop in and do what they hadn’t. The Panthers won the title under Johnny Majors in 1976, then came as close as possible to doing it again under Jackie Sherrill, going 11-1 in 1979, 1980 and 1981. The peak came in ’80, when Dan Marino took over as quarterback, Mark May and Hugh Green devoured souls in the trenches and they won 14-9 at PSU on the way to an 11-1 finish.
Unfortunately for them, Georgia went 12-0.
31-30. 1945 Alabama and 1946 Georgia
Records: 10-0 and 11-0, respectively
AP rank: second and third
It’s pretty easy to get overshadowed when you play in the same year as maybe the greatest college football team ever (1945 Army), but while Army and Notre Dame were both fielding otherworldly teams, the South was producing its own dominance.
With All-Americans Harry Gilmer (quarterback) and Vaughn Mancha (center) leading the way, Alabama beat six SEC foes by a combined 265-60 in 1945, then stomped USC to secure their fourth Rose Bowl win. They finished ahead of everyone not named Army,
Wallace Butts’ Dawgs were perhaps even more dominant the next year but finished behind both Army and ND after the rivals played to a famous scoreless tie. Still, they manhandled Bama, finished second in scoring offense and finished the year beating two top-10 teams (Georgia Tech and UNC) by a combined 55-17.
29. 1946 Army
Record: 9-0-1
AP rank: second
Like 2009 Florida, Army returned most of its biggest stars after a title run — namely, Heisman winners Doc Blanchard (1945) and Glenn Davis (1946) and end Hank Foldberg — but didn’t dominate quite as much. Granted, Army still beat two top-five teams (Michigan and Penn) by a combined 34 on the road, but it tied Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium and barely got past rival Navy. So Army merely was awesome and not, as with the year before, the greatest team ever.
28-27. 1972 Oklahoma and 1973 Oklahoma
Records: 11-1 and 10-0-1, respectively
AP rank: second and third
Oklahoma has pulled off two of the most seamless coaching transitions in history: Bob Stoops to offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley in 2017 and, even more impressive, Chuck Fairbanks to offensive coordinator Barry Switzer in 1973. Like Alabama, OU switched to Texas’ wishbone in 1971 to devastating effect. After fielding one of the greatest teams ever that year (we’ll get to them), the Sooners beat top-five Nebraska and Penn State teams in 1972, losing only at a top-10 Colorado squad.
Fairbanks left for the New England Patriots, and in just his second game in charge, Switzer marched OU into Los Angeles and tied top-ranked USC in the Coliseum. The Sooners went on to beat six other ranked teams by an average of 36-11. Then the Sooners won the 1974 title despite NCAA probation. Switzer wouldn’t suffer his first loss until late in 1975.
26-25. 1969 Penn State and 1968 Penn State
Record: 11-0 and 11-0
AP rank: second and second
After jumping from 5-5 to the top 10 in his second year in charge in Happy Valley, Paterno went even further in years three and four. His Nittany Lions went 11-0 both years, dominating all recent eastern powers in the process. Unfortunately, most of those “powers” weren’t powerful at the time. PSU beat only one ranked regular-season opponent in that span, and while the Nittany Lions twice beat the Big 8 champion in the Orange Bowl — No. 6 Kansas in 1968, No. 6 Missouri in 1969 — they came up short in the AP poll both years because blue-blood powers elsewhere went unbeaten. Ohio State did the deed in 1968, then No. 1 Texas beat No. 2 Arkansas in one of many Games of the Century late in 1969.
Paterno’s squad had a title case, especially in 1969, but it’s hard to get attention when Richard Nixon is in the stands at Texas-Arkansas and declares Texas the champ.
24. 1951 Maryland
Record: 10-0
AP rank: third
Despite greats like Bud Wilkinson and Bear Bryant, you could make the case that Jim Tatum was the best coach in the country in the early-1950s. He took a program with little to no history and went a combined 60-9-2, with four top-five finishes, from 1949-55. The Terps won the title in 1953, but this team might have been even better, outscoring regular-season opponents by an average of 39-7 and then walloping already-proclaimed national champion Tennessee 28-13 in the Sugar Bowl.
23. 1949 Oklahoma
Record: 11-0
AP rank: second
Bud Wilkinson didn’t waste time at OU. After a 7-2-1 debut in 1947, his Sooners ripped off 31 wins in 33 tries over the next three seasons and enjoyed their first of four unbeaten years in 1949. Led by All-Americans and future coaching greats Jim Owens and Darrell Royal, OU eased past Texas early in the season, survived a ranked Santa Clara team late and beat everyone else, including No. 9 LSU in the Sugar Bowl, by at least 20 points.
22. 1954 Oklahoma
Record: 10-0
AP rank: third
OU’s famed 47-game winning streak began in October 1953, but the Sooners didn’t earn an AP title until 1955. In 1954, Wilkinson’s squad found its cruising altitude. Led by All-Americans Kurt Burris and Max Boydston, OU survived three straight slugfests against ranked teams to start 1954 — 27-13 at No. 12 Cal, 21-16 vs. No. 20 TCU and 14-7 vs. No. 15 Texas — and fully confident, destroyed six Big 7 opponents and rival Oklahoma State by a combined 242-26.
21. 1964 Arkansas
Record: 11-0
AP rank: second
Frank Broyles left Missouri after just one year to take over an Arkansas program he felt was loaded with potential. He didn’t take long to prove himself correct. He engineered top-10 finishes in four of his first five seasons, and in year seven, his Hogs went 11-0. They won 14-13 at top-ranked Texas, shut out five consecutive opponents and finished the season with a 10-7 Cotton Bowl win over Nebraska. Unfortunately for the Hogs, this was the last year the AP champ was decided before bowls. Unbeaten Alabama took the title, then went out and lost the Orange Bowl … to Texas.
20. 1966 Michigan State
Record: 9-0-1
AP rank: second
The CliffsNotes version of the 1966 national title race basically comes down to two points: One, Notre Dame played for the tie late against Michigan State to preserve its national title hopes, and two, it worked, and a brilliant, unbeaten Alabama missed out on a title.
All of that is technically true, but it leads to us almost forgetting a third important point: that Michigan State team was ridiculously talented. Duffy Daugherty’s last great Spartan team featured all-timer Bubba Smith and George Webster on defense and beat Penn State by 34 points and a top-10 Purdue by 21. Truth be told, if I had been Notre Dame’s Ara Parseghian, tied at 10-10, facing Smith and company with a backup quarterback and running back in the game and needing to drive 40+ yards for a field goal in the final minute, I, too, would have probably played for the tie.
19-18. 1973 Michigan and 1973 Ohio State
Records: 10-0-1 and 10-0-1
AP rank: sixth and second, respectively
Arguably Ohio State’s three biggest wins over Michigan: 30-27 in 2016, 42-39 in 2006 … and 10-10 in 1973. The No. 4 Wolverines missed two field goals in the final 30 seconds against top-ranked Ohio State in Ann Arbor, and the next day Big Ten athletic directors voted to send the Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl instead of the Wolverines despite the fact that OSU had been there the year before.
Most ADs publicly cited an injury to Michigan QB Dennis Franklin as the major reason for the vote. UM head coach Bo Schembechler cried conspiracy until his dying day. Regardless, both of these programs were at their outright peak in 1973. In the 20 games that weren’t against each other, they outscored opponents 723-112. That includes OSU’s 42-21 destruction of USC in the Rose Bowl. Michigan probably would have done something similar.
17. 1952 Georgia Tech
Record: 12-0
AP rank: second
Tech claims shares of both the 1951 and 1952 titles — Bobby Dodd’s Ramblin’ Wreck went a combined 23-0-1 — but this was the better team of the two. Tech survived an unexpected 17-14 test from Florida early in the season and beat a ranked Alabama 7-3 late. The other 10 teams on the schedule, including No. 6 Duke on the road and No. 7 Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl, fell by a combined score of 301-42.
16. 2016 Alabama
Record: 14-1
AP rank: second
Alabama was a team in transition in 2016. Nick Saban’s Tide were two years into an offensive remodel, moving to a more modern, read-based spread offense, and the defense was still the driver of dominance.
The Tide held nine opponents to 10 or fewer points, but the offense, driven by freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts, came up big when it had to. Bama won games by 10-0 and 48-43 and beat nine ranked opponents on the way to the national title game. But a mid-game offensive lull kept them from putting away Deshaun Watson and Clemson, and the Tigers scored in nearly the last second to win the national title.
15-14. 2008 Texas and 2008 USC
Record: 12-1 and 12-1
AP rank: fourth and third, respectively
Florida beat Oklahoma in the 2008 national title game. Both teams were totally deserving of their places in the title game — yes, OU lost to Texas, but they also destroyed the Texas Tech team that ended up knocking off the Horns, so that’s always been a wash to me — but it didn’t change the fact that the 2008 season produced more than two deserving teams.
Aside from losing an all-time classic to Tech, the Horns were outstanding, beating three consecutive top-11 teams midseason (OU, Missouri, Oklahoma State), then taking down Ohio State by four in the Fiesta Bowl to finish 12-1. USC was perhaps even more impressive: the Trojans destroyed Ohio State, 35-3, early in the season, won eight Pac-10 games by an average of 38-7 and handled No. 6 Penn State by two touchdowns in the Rose Bowl. They had one of the best defenses of the decade, but another all-time upset — 27-21 to Oregon State in September on a Thursday night in Corvallis — kept them out of serious contention.
13. 2019 Ohio State
Record: 13-1
AP rank: third
We remember Ryan Day’s 2019 Buckeyes primarily for the game they lost: a controversial and utterly magnificent 29-23 defeat against Clemson that sent the Tigers to the CFP finals against LSU. But what OSU did in its first 13 games made it an all-time great. They won their first 10 games by an average of 52-10, then beat three straight top-10 teams — Penn State, Michigan, Wisconsin — by an average of 17 points to get to Clemson. Justin Fields threw for 3,273 yards, J.K. Dobbins rushed for 2,003 and DE Chase Young was the best defender in the country. An unreal team with an unfortunate ending.
12. 2005 USC
Record: 12-1
AP rank: second
We regard Vince Young and 2005 Texas as one of modern college football’s great teams, but here’s your reminder that USC was actually favored by a touchdown heading into the Rose Bowl to End All Rose Bowls.
Pete Carroll’s Trojans were ridiculous. They scored 49 points per game, topped 63 three times and beat five ranked opponents — including a top-10 Notre Dame on the infamous Bush Push in South Bend — to reach the title game. The offense had Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, LenDale White, Dwayne Jarrett and two All-American linemen. The defense, though not Carroll’s best, still had Darnell Bing, Lawrence Jackson and company. When Texas and USC played in Pasadena, one team was destined to be named one of college football’s best ever, and the other was destined for a high ranking on this list.
11. 1986 Miami
Record: 11-1
AP rank: second
The offense had Vinny Testaverde, Michael Irvin and Alonzo Highsmith. The defense had Jerome Brown, Bennie Blades, Bubba McDowell and Dan Sileo. The coaching staff had Dave Wannstedt, Tommy Tuberville and Butch Davis. Hell, Chuck Pagano was a GA.
All the team lacked was a happy ending. The Canes beat top-ranked OU at the Orange Bowl in late-September and won 10 other games by an average of 27 points before heading to the Fiesta Bowl for a nearly unprecedented No. 1 vs. No. 2 bowl battle against Penn State. Seven turnovers later, The U had lost, 14-10. They responded by winning three of the next five national titles.
10. 1994 Penn State
Record: 12-0
AP rank: second
Joe Paterno was pretty conservative by nature, content to lean on a physical run game and flawless linebacker play and lean on opponents until they fell. He enjoyed decades of success with that recipe, but in 1994 his offensive talent was too vast to control. Penn State led the nation in averaging 47 points per game behind the work of quarterback Kerry Collins, running back Ki-Jana Carter, receivers Bobby Engram and Freddie Scott and tight end Kyle Brady.
In just their second year in the Big Ten they romped unbeaten to the Rose Bowl, where they sprinted past Oregon, 38-20. The creation of the BCS came a few years too late, however: Nebraska also went unbeaten and sewed up a long-awaited national title with a win over Miami in the Orange Bowl. Nebraska-PSU would have been an absolute banger.
9. 1971 Oklahoma
Record: 11-1
AP rank: second
Like Alabama, OU was encountering a bit of a staleness problem as the 1970s began — the Sooners averaged 6.4 wins per year with just one top-10 finish from 1964-70. And as with Alabama, the wishbone cured all ailments. Led by quarterback Jack Mildren and running back Greg Pruitt, OU exploded for 45 points per game and beat four ranked opponents, including No. 3 Texas, by an average of 20 points.
Also like Alabama, this Sooner team finished with just one blemish: to the aforementioned all-time Nebraska squad in another Game of the Century.
8. 1938 Tennessee
Record: 11-0
AP rank: second
In 1938, Tennessee allowed three points to Sewanee, seven to an otherwise unbeaten Clemson and six to LSU. That’s it. The next year, they allowed zero points until the postseason.
Even in a defense-friendly era, General Neyland’s Tennessee Vols were absurdly stingy, and in the late-1930s they could score too. They posted 40+ four times in 1938 and finished an unbeaten campaign by snuffing out fourth-ranked Oklahoma, 17-0, in the Orange Bowl. Only one game was decided by seven or fewer points. Neyland preached the maxim that “the team that makes the fewest mistakes will win,” and this team made no mistakes.
7. 1983 Nebraska
Record: 12-1
AP rank: second
I’m already on the record saying that Auburn should have won the 1983 national title over Miami, but that shouldn’t overshadow how monumental an upset the Hurricanes pulled in taking down this absolute juggernaut.
Mike Rozier won the Heisman with 2,148 rushing yards and 29 TDs. Receiver Irving Fryar (40 catches for 780 yards) and guard Dean Steinkuhler became the top two picks in the 1984 NFL draft. Turner Gill ran the option with precision. NU obliterated No. 4 Penn State, 44-6, in the Kickoff Classic, put up 84 points on Minnesota, won seven Big 8 games by an average of 29 points. The defense wasn’t Tom Osborne’s best — something Miami was able to exploit a bit — and there were a couple of closer-than-expected calls (one-score wins over unranked OU and OSU teams). But this was Osborne’s best team to date.
6-5. 1987 Oklahoma and 1986 Oklahoma
Record: 11-1 and 11-1
AP rank: third and third
Approaching the late-1980s, the Big 8 was at a high point. Nebraska was still cruising along at a top-10-every-year level. Colorado was rounding into form under Bill McCartney. Oklahoma State had Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas and Hart Lee Dykes. But none of that stopped OU from going 14-0 in conference in 1986-87 and beating five top-12-or-better opponents by an average of 20 points. The Sooners had surged to win the 1985 national title, then maintained that surge for the next two years. They had Jamelle Holieway, Brian Bosworth, Keith Jackson, Rickey Dixon, All-American linemen galore … ridiculous talent.
They couldn’t solve Miami, though. They went 33-0 against everyone else from 1985-87 but 0-3 against The U. They fell 28-16 as the No. 1 team in 1986, then returned to the Orange Bowl to close 1987 as the top-ranked team and lost, 20-14. Miami contained the option attack like no one else could, and it kept Switzer’s late-career (and pre-sanctions) surge limited to just one title.
4. 1966 Alabama
Record: 11-0
AP rank: third
Because of the timing of polls — before bowls in 1964 and after in 1965 — Bama was coming off of two pretty fortunate AP national titles. They won in 1964 despite losing their bowl, and they won in 1965, despite a 9-1-1 record, when the top two teams each lost on Jan. 1.
Maybe the universe was just righting itself, then, when the 1966 Crimson Tide came up short in the voting. Still, it was far better than either previous Bama iteration. The Tide outscored opponents by a 301-44 margin, dealt with only one close call — Kenny Stabler had to engineer a late comeback, 11-10 over Tennessee — and blew out No. 6 Nebraska in the Sugar Bowl. Notre Dame and Michigan State were both tremendous teams, but this might have been the best Bama team of the 1960s, a decade that saw them win three titles.
3. 2018 Alabama
Record: 14-1
AP rank: second
Alabama has lost just 23 games since Nick Saban took over in 2007, and six of them came in his first season. In that entire span, he has only once lost by more than 14 points, so the fact that Clemson beat his Tide by 28 points in 2018’s national title game is impressive in itself.
It’s even more impressive that Clemson beat this Bama team by that much because through 14 games the Tide had quite easily been Saban’s best team to date. They had beaten five ranked opponents, including three ranked fourth at the time, and only one — Georgia in the SEC Championship — had left a mark. They had outscored their other 13 opponents by an average of 49-15. Tua Tagovailoa had thrown for nearly 4,000 yards. Tackle Quinnen Williams had exploded for 19.5 tackles for loss.
This was an almost perfect team. It took maybe the best title-game performance ever to keep the Tide from the title.
2. 1959 Ole Miss
Record: 10-1
AP rank: second
According to my estimated SP+ ratings, two of the four best teams of all time — along with 1974 Oklahoma and 2020 Alabama — played in the same season. Now, Syracuse (integrated) and Ole Miss (not) were never going to be allowed to play each other because of segregation and its effects on scheduling, but both teams were virtually perfect. Syracuse won the title, so Ole Miss ends up here.
John Vaught’s Rebels shut out eight of 11 opponents and gave up just three scores all year: two because of red-zone turnovers and one because of maybe the greatest punt return in college football history. Combined with a series of red-zone failures, Billy Cannon’s slaloming, 89-yard Halloween effort (on a punt that was intended to bounce out of bounds) handed Ole Miss a 7-3 loss. The Rebels outscored their other 10 opponents, including top-10 Arkansas and Tennessee teams and LSU in a Sugar Bowl rematch, by a ridiculous 347-14 margin. An all-time great team felled by an all-time great play.
1. 1947 Michigan
Record: 10-0
AP rank: second
As the story goes, according to Jack Connor’s book, Leahy’s Lads, Michigan coach Fritz Crisler told Notre Dame’s Frank Leahy after the Irish’s 35-12 destruction of the Wolverines in Ann Arbor, “This was the rottenest, dirtiest football game I have ever seen and if I have anything to say about it, Michigan will never play Notre Dame again.” Is it corroborated by other sources? Not really. We have no real idea if it’s true. But UM indeed didn’t play the Irish again until 1978, and it ended up depriving both college football of an all-time classic, and Michigan of a national title shot, in 1947.
Beano Cook called the 1947 Notre Dame team the most talented team ever, but on the field Michigan appeared to be its equal. They played three common opponents (Pitt, Northwestern and USC), and while Notre Dame won by a combined 71 points, Michigan won by 146. A midseason hiccup — wins by only 13-6 and 14-7 margins against Minnesota and No. 11 Illinois, respectively — dropped them to No. 2 in the polls behind the Irish, and voters couldn’t take an eventual 49-0 blowout of USC in the Rose Bowl into account. Michigan still claims the title thanks to support from plenty of computer ratings and a nod from the National Championship Foundation, but the Wolverines still qualify for a handsome spot on this list.