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Who Won the Most College Football National Titles? Complete List
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- Who Won the Most College Football National Titles? Complete List
What schools have won the most college football national championships from the major outlets? How many, like Indiana, have just won one?
Colleges tend to claim every national title from every outlet possible, and the NCAA does acknowledge several championships as official, but ... nah.
Did you win the national championship from the main outlet of the era? Here's the real list of title winners based on the top selection organizations.
All-Time College Football National Champions Ranked by Titles Won
Nov 4, 2023; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban runs onto the field before their game against the LSU Tigers at Bryant-Denny Stadium. © John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
There were some split national championships over the years, and that's fine. But again, Only the main methods for each era are counted.
Sorry, 2017 UCF, and sorry to a few of the Alabama "national champions" that the school continues to brag about. These are based on the top selection organizations in each era.
1869 to 1882:National Championship Foundation (NCF)
1883 to 1935:NCF & Helms Athletic Foundation
1936 to 1949:Associated Press (AP)
1950 to 1981:AP & United Press International (UPI)
1982 to 1997:AP (and 2003) & USA Today (Coaches Poll)
1998 to 2013:Bowl Championship System
2014 to 2025:College Football Playoff
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Yale
17:1874 NCF; 1876 NCF; 1877 NCF; 1880 NCF; 1881 NCF, HAF; 1882 NCF, HAF; 1883 NCF, HAF; 1884 NCF, HAF; 1886 NCF, HAF; 1887 NCF, HAF; 1888 NCF, HAF; 1891 NCF, HAF; 1892 NCF, HAF; 1894 NCF, HAF; 1900 NCF, HAF; 1907 NCF, HAF; 1909 NCF
Alabama
15:1925 NCF, HAF; 1926 NCF, HAF; 1961 AP, Coaches; 1964 AP, Coaches; 1965 AP;1978 AP;1973 Coaches; 1979 AP, Coaches;1992 AP, Coaches; 2009 BCS, AP, Coaches; 2011 BCS, AP, Coaches; 2012 BCS, AP, Coaches; 2015 CFP, AP, Coaches; 2017 CFP, AP, Coaches; 2020 CFP, AP, Coaches;
Princeton
15:1869 NCF; 1870 NCF; 1872 NCF; 1873 NCF; 1878 NCF; 1879 NCF; 1880 NCF; 1885 NCF, HAF; 1889 NCF, HAF; 1893 NCF, HAF; 1896 NCF, HAF; 1903 NCF, HAF; 1906 NCF, HAF; 1911 NCF, HAF; 1922 NCF, HAF
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Notre Dame
11:1924 NCF, HAF; 1929 NCF, HAF; 1930 NCF, HAF; 1943 AP; 1946 AP; 1947 AP; 1949 AP; 1966 AP, Coaches; 1973 AP; 1977 AP, Coaches; 1988 AP, Coaches;
Michigan
10:1901 NCF, HAF; 1902 NCF, HAF; 1903 NCF, HAF; 1904 NCF; 1918 NCF; 1923 NCF; 1933 NCF, HAF; 1948 AP; 1997 AP; 2023 CFP, AP, Coaches
USC
9:1931 NCF, HAF; 1932 NCF, HAF; 1962 AP, Coaches; 1967 AP, Coaches; 1972 AP, Coaches; 1974 Coaches; 1978 Coaches:2003 BCS, AP; 2004 BCS, AP, Coaches
Harvard
8:1875 NCF; 1890 NCF, HAF; 1898 NCF, HAF; 1899 NCF, HAF; 1910 NCF, HAF; 1912 NCF, HAF; 1913 NCF, HAF; 1919 NCF, HAF
Ohio State
7:1942 AP; 1954 AP; 1957 Coaches; 1968 AP, Coaches; 2002 BCS, AP, Coaches; 2014 CFP, AP, Coaches; 2024 CFP, AP, Coaches
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Oklahoma
7:1950 AP, Coaches; 1955 AP, Coaches; 1956 AP, Coaches; 1974 AP; 1975 AP, Coaches; 1985 AP, Coaches; 2000 BCS, AP, Coaches
Minnesota
6:1934 NCF, HAF; 1935 NCF, HAF; 1936 AP; 1940 AP; 1941 AP; 1960 AP, Coaches
LSU
5:1908 NCF; 1958 AP, Coaches; 2003 BCS, Coaches; 2007 BCS, AP, Coaches; 2019 CFP, AP, Coaches
Miami
5:1983 AP, Coaches; 1987 AP, Coaches; 1989 AP, Coaches; 1991 AP, Coaches; 2001 BCS, AP, Coaches;
Nebraska
5:1970 AP; 1971 AP, Coaches; 1994 AP, Coaches; 1995 AP, Coaches; 1997 Coaches;
Pitt
5:1910 NCF; 1916 NCF, HAF; 1918 NCF, HAF; 1937 AP; 1976 AP, Coaches
Texas
4:1963 AP, Coaches; 1969 AP, Coaches; 2005 BCS, AP, Coaches; 1970 Coaches
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Penn
4:1895 NCF, HAF; 1897 NCF, HAF; 1904 NCF, HAF; 1908 NCF, HAF
Penn State
4:1911 NCF; 1912 NCF, HAF; 1982 AP, Coaches; 1986 AP, Coaches
Army
3:1914 NCF, HAF; 1944 AP; 1945 AP
Clemson
3:1981 AP, Coaches; 2016 CFP, AP, Coaches; 2018 CFP, AP, Coaches
Cornell
3:1915 NCF, HAF; 1921 NCF, HAF; 1922 NCF, HAF
Florida
3:1996 AP, Coaches; 2006 BCS, AP, Coaches; 2008 BCS, AP, Coaches
Florida State
3:1993 AP, Coaches; 1999 BCS, AP, Coaches; 2013 BCS, AP, Coaches
Georgia
3:1980 AP, Coaches; 2021 CFP, AP, Coaches; 2022 CFP, AP, Coaches
Georgia Tech
3:1917 NCF, HAF; 1928 NCF, HAF; 1990 Coaches
Auburn
2:2010 BCS, AP, Coaches; 1957 AP
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Cal
2:1920 NCF, HAF; 1922 NCF
Illinois
2:1923 NCF, HAF; 1927 NCF, HAF
Michigan State
2:1952 AP, Coaches; 1965 Coaches
Tennessee
2:1951 AP, Coaches; 1998 BCS, AP, Coaches
Texas A&M
2:1919 NCF; 1939 AP
BYU
1:1984 AP, Coaches
Chicago
1:1905 NCF, HAF
Colorado
1:1990 AP
Indiana
1:2025 CFP, AP, Coaches
Lafayette
1:1896 NCF
Maryland
1:1953 AP, Coaches
Stanford
1:1926 NCF
Syracuse
1:1959 AP, Coaches
TCU
1:1938 AP
UCLA
1:1954 Coaches
Washington
1:1991 AP, Coaches
NONE
1:1871
Related: Greatest College Football National Champions: Where Does Indiana's Season Rank?
This story was originally published by College Football News on Jan 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add College Football News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
