College football teams with most national championships in AP Top 25 poll era

The college football teams that have gone all the way in the modern era

James Parks | Jan 26, 2024

College football teams with most national championships in AP Top 25 poll era /

Counting national championships in college football has always been a difficult and even controversial affair.

For most of the sport's history, there has been no official championship game, leaving the designation to votes, consensuses, polls, and when looking into the distant past, often times just making a good guess.

The 1936 season is often used as a good jumping off point to count meaningful national championships — the first year of the AP Top 25 poll.

That's where we're starting. Which college football programs have won the most titles in the AP Top 25 poll era?

Let's look at the numbers, according to the NCAA record books.

T-8. Texas

Texas Longhorns running back Earl Campbell on a rushing attempt during a college football game. — USA Today Images

Top 25 era national titles: 4

Championships: 1963, 1969, 1970, 2005

One of the teams of the 60s under head coach Darrell K Royal, the Longhorns picked up two titles in the decade, and a Coaches Poll championship in the 1970 season. Mack Brown brought the Horns back to national prominence in the early 21st century with a statement 2005 season, running the table and beating No. 1 USC in arguably the greatest game in college football history.

T-8. Minnesota

Bernie Bierman and the Minnesota Gophers college football championship dynasty — Minnesota Football

Top 25 era national titles: 4

Championships: 1936, 1940, 1941, 1960

The first mini-dynasty of the poll era, Minnesota made Midwestern football famous in the pre-war period, winning three of the first six national championships after the advent of the Top 25 poll system.

T-8. LSU

LSU won its first college football national championship in 1958 and won three more in the 21st century.

Top 25 era national titles: 4

Championships: 1958, 2003, 2007, 2019

One of the top performing teams of the 21st century, LSU has ascended to the top of the college football mountain three times since 2000. It shares the '03 title with USC, but won the other two outright, including its 2019 record-breaking team which many analysts have called the greatest in the sport's history.

T-6. Nebraska

Nebraska won two college football national championships in the early 1970s. — USA Today Images

Top 25 era national titles: 5

Championships: 1970, 1971, 1994, 1995, 1997

Nebraska produced two dynasties in the last century, first in the 70s under coach Bob Devaney and again under his offensive coordinator Tom Osborne. Every one of Osborne's teams finished in the Top 25 poll and they all won at least nine games each season, and 16 of his teams placed inside the top 10.

T-6. Miami

Top 25 era national titles: 5

Championships: 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, 2001

The team of the 80s, Miami built one title contender after another and stockpiled the NFL with elite talent for a generation. In Larry Coker's first season, the Hurricanes came roaring back and put together what arguably is the greatest and most overall talented team in college football history.

5. Ohio State

Ohio State Buckeyes head coach and College Football Hall of Famer Woody Hayes kneels on the field at Ohio Stadium. — USA Today Images

Top 25 era national titles: 6

Championships: 1942, 1954, 1957, 1968, 2002, 2014

OSU emerged as a national power in the 1910s, but it was Paul Brown who brought the scarlet and gray its first natty at the start of World War II. Woody Hayes established a run of dominance over a generation while Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer each won a title, including the first-ever College Football Playoff in 2014-15.

T-3. USC

USC Trojans quarterback Matt Leinart won the Heisman Trophy by leading college football's first dynasty in the 21st century. — USA Today Images

Top 25 era national titles: 7

Championships: 1962, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978, 2003, 2004

One of the most consistent winners in college football from the 1920s onward, USC won four national titles under John McKay in the 60s and 70s. Pete Carroll returned the Trojans to the national stage, winning the AP title in '03, running the table in '04, and was one legendary Vince Young play in the Rose Bowl away from making it three straight.

T-3. Oklahoma

Oklahoma Sooners head coach Barry Switzer with his players before a college football game. — USA Today Images

Top 25 era national titles: 7

Championships: 1950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985, 2000

Oklahoma is the only school with four 100-win coaches, owns a college football record 47-game win streak during the 1950s, and since 1945 leads the sport with 606 wins and a .762 win percentage. Oklahoma has made the College Football Playoff four times, but is yet to win a semifinal game.

2. Notre Dame

Notre Dame returned to the heights of college football by winning the national championship in 1988. — USA Today Images

Top 25 era national titles: 8

Championships: 1943, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1966, 1973, 1977, 1988

One of the cornerstones of the sport, Notre Dame boasts two 100-win coaches — Knute Rockne brought the Irish their first national championship (1924), and Lou Holtz won the school's most recent (1988). Frank Leahy made Notre Dame the team of the '40s, building a dynasty only World War II could interrupt.

1. Alabama

Bear Bryant helped cement Alabama as one of the blue bloods in the sport of college football.

Top 25 era national titles: 14

Championships: 1941, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1992, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2020

No college football program before or since the AP poll has won more national championships than Alabama. Emerging in the 1920s as a power, the Crimson Tide have been in the mix ever since, first under six-time national title winner Bear Bryant in the 60s and 70s and again in the 21st century as Nick Saban has built arguably the single greatest run of dominance the sport has ever seen.

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Published Jan 26, 2024

JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.