List of Football National Champions by Year

The college football landscape has changed a lot since the AP started naming a national champion in 1936. The sport went through different systems to determine a winner, and many years saw multiple teams named co-champions. The installation of the Bowl Championship Series in 1998 did not put an end to that, with USC and Miami both claiming national championships that year. This list of football national champions by year includes those teams that have been declared the national champion by the AP, Coaches’ Poll and other selectors through the years.

The 2022 Georgia Bulldogs made history by becoming the first team to successfully defend their College Football Playoff championship in the CFP era, defeating TCU in a rout. The Bulldogs were one of the best overall teams in the sport’s history, with a stout defense that held opponents to under 10 points per game. The team also had a prolific offense that put up 63 points in the title game, and a host of talented players who are now playing at the NFL level.

While the 2023 Michigan Wolverines did not go undefeated, they were one of the most complete teams in college football history. The Wolverines’ dominant defense led the nation in allowing points, and they had a top-notch offense anchored by quarterback Shea Patterson, running back Derrick Henry and wide receivers Mike Sainristil and Will Johnson. This was one of the most well-rounded teams to reach a national championship game in the modern era, and Michigan’s victory over Washington clinched their program’s first national title since 1997.

Michigan’s win in the ’97 Rose Bowl ended a nearly seven-year drought, and broke a deadlock between AP voters and the Coaches’ Poll that season. The AP voters had a number of reasons to choose the Wolverines, including the fact that they played more ranked teams and won those games by larger margins than any other top-ranked team.

The ’99 Nebraska Cornhuskers are widely considered the greatest team of the decade, with three national titles in four seasons and a record that stood for over two decades. Those championships came during the era of big-name coaches, and the ’99 team was the first to be unanimously selected by all major selectors, winning the AP, Coaches’ Poll, Helms and Congrove Computer Rankings.

The ’20 Alabama Crimson Tide ran the table during the pandemic and dominated opponents, outscoring SEC foes by a huge margin and all other opponents by a substantial amount. The team is coached by the hottest coach in college football, Nick Saban, and ascended to the top spot with a game-winning touchdown against Ohio State in the semifinals of the final CFP era playoffs.