National Championship Foundation

{{Short description|American college football history organization}}

The National Championship Foundation (NCF) was established by Mike Riter of Hudson, New York. The NCF retroactively selected{{Citation needed|reason=When were these selections published?|date=April 2022}} college football national champions for each year from 1869 to 1979, and its selections are among the historic national champions recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in its Football Bowl Subdivision record book.{{cite book|title=Who's #1?: 100-Plus Years of Controversial National Champions in College Football |last=Walsh |first=Christopher J. |publisher=Taylor Trade Publishing |year=2007 |isbn=978-1461734765 |url=https://archive.org/details/whos1100plusyear0000wals/page/20/ |page=20 |quote=National Championship Foundation (1980-2001): Established by Mike Riter of Hudson, New York, the foundation has more than 120 chapters in 47 states, with a membership base of more than 12,000. It issued an annual report, and predated Division I-A national champions from 1869-1979.}}

Champions

The following list identifies the college football national champions as selected by the National Championship Foundation.{{cite book |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2020/FBS.pdf |title=Football Bowl Subdivision Records |pages=112–119 |publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association |date=2020 |access-date=March 1, 2021 |quote=National Championship Foundation (1980-2000), established by Mike Riter of Hudson, New York. Issued annual report. Predated national champions from 1869 to 1979, with the exception of 1871.}}

class="wikitable"
Season || Champion(s) || Record || Coach
1869Princeton1–1
1870Princeton1–0
1871Nonecolspan="1" style="text-align:center" | No games played
1872Princeton1–0
1873Princeton2–0
1874Yale3–0
1875Harvard4–0
1876Yale3–0
1877Yale3–0–1
1878Princeton6–0
1879Princeton4–0–1
1880Princeton
Yale
4–0–1
4–0–1
1881Yale5–0–1
1882Yale8–0
1883Yale9–0
1884Yale8–0–1
1885Princeton9–0
1886Yale9–0–1
1887Yale9–0
1888Yale13–0Walter Camp
1889Princeton10–0
1890Harvard11–0George C. Adams, George A. Stewart
1891Yale13–0Walter Camp
1892Yale13–0Walter Camp
1893Princeton11–0
1894Yale16–0William Rhodes
1895Penn14–0George Washington Woodruff
1896Lafayette
Princeton
11–0–1
10–0–1
Parke H. Davis
1897Penn
15–0George Washington Woodruff
1898Harvard11–0William Cameron Forbes
1899Harvard10–0–1Benjamin Dibblee
1900Yale12–0Malcolm McBride
1901Michigan11–0Fielding H. Yost
1902Michigan11–0Fielding H. Yost
1903Michigan
Princeton
11–0–1
11–0
Fielding H. Yost
Art Hillebrand
1904Michigan
Penn
10–0
12–0
Fielding H. Yost
Carl S. Williams
1905Chicago10–0Amos Alonzo Stagg
1906Princeton9–0–1William Roper
1907Yale9–0–1William F. Knox
1908LSU
Penn
10–0
11–0–1
Edgar Wingard
Sol Metzger
1909Yale10–0Howard Jones
1910Harvard
Pittsburgh
8–0–1
9–0
Percy Haughton
Joseph H. Thompson
1911Penn State
Princeton
8–0–1
8–0–2
Bill Hollenback
William Roper
1912Harvard
Penn State
9–0
8–0
Percy Haughton
Bill Hollenback
1913Harvard9–0Percy Haughton
1914Army9–0Charles Daly
1915Cornell9–0Albert Sharpe
1916Pittsburgh8–0Glenn "Pop" Warner
1917Georgia Tech9–0John Heisman
1918Michigan
Pittsburgh
5–0
4–1
Fielding H. Yost
Glenn "Pop" Warner
1919Harvard
Notre Dame
Texas A&M
9–0–1
9–0
10–0
Bob Fisher
Knute Rockne
Dana X. Bible
1920California9–0Andy Smith
1921Cornell8–0Gil Dobie
1922California
Princeton
9–0
8–0
Andy Smith
William Roper
1923Illinois
Michigan
8–0
8–0
Robert Zuppke
Fielding H. Yost
1924Notre Dame10–0Knute Rockne
1925Alabama10–0Wallace Wade
1926Alabama
Stanford
9–0–1
10–0–1
Wallace Wade
Glenn "Pop" Warner
1927Illinois7–0–1Robert Zuppke
1928Georgia Tech10–0William Alexander
1929Notre Dame9–0Knute Rockne
1930Notre Dame10–0Knute Rockne
1931USC10–1Howard Jones
1932USC10–0Howard Jones
1933Michigan7–0–1Harry Kipke
1934Minnesota8–0Bernie Bierman
1935Minnesota8–0Bernie Bierman
1936Minnesota7–1Bernie Bierman
1937Pittsburgh9–0–1Jock Sutherland
1938TCU11–0Dutch Meyer
1939Texas A&M11–0Homer Norton
1940Minnesota8–0Bernie Bierman
1941Minnesota8–0Bernie Bierman
1942Ohio State9–1Paul Brown
1943Notre Dame9–1Frank Leahy
1944Army
Ohio State
9–0
9–0
Earl Blaik
Carroll Widdoes
1945Alabama
Army
10–0
9–0
Frank Thomas
Earl Blaik
1946Notre Dame8–0–1Frank Leahy
1947Michigan10–0Fritz Crisler
1948Michigan9–0Bennie Oosterbaan
1949Notre Dame10–0Frank Leahy
1950Tennessee11–1Robert Neyland
1951Maryland10–0Jim Tatum
1952Michigan State9–0Biggie Munn
1953Notre Dame9–0–1Frank Leahy
1954Ohio State
UCLA
10–0
9–0
Woody Hayes
Henry Sanders
1955Oklahoma11–0Bud Wilkinson
1956Oklahoma10–0Bud Wilkinson
1957Auburn10–0Ralph Jordan
1958LSU11–0Paul Dietzel
1959Syracuse11–0Ben Schwartzwalder
1960Ole Miss10–0–1Johnny Vaught
1961Alabama11–0Paul "Bear" Bryant
1962USC11–0John McKay
1963Texas11–0Darrell Royal
1964Arkansas11–0Frank Broyles
1965Alabama9–1–1Paul "Bear" Bryant
1966Notre Dame9–0–1Ara Parseghian
1967USC10–1John McKay
1968Ohio State10–0Woody Hayes
1969Texas11–0Darrell Royal
1970Nebraska11–0–1Bob Devaney
1971Nebraska13–0Bob Devaney
1972USC12–0John McKay
1973Michigan
Notre Dame
Ohio State
10–0–1
11–0
10–0–1
Bo Schembechler
Ara Parseghian
Woody Hayes
1974Oklahoma
USC
11–0
10–1–1
Barry Switzer
John McKay
1975Arizona State
Oklahoma
12–0
11–1
Frank Kush
Barry Switzer
1976Pittsburgh12–0Johnny Majors
1977Notre Dame11–1Dan Devine
1978Alabama
USC
11–1
12–1
Paul "Bear" Bryant
John Robinson
1979Alabama12–0Paul "Bear" Bryant
1980Georgia12–0Vince Dooley
1981Clemson
Nebraska
Pittsburgh
SMU
Texas
12–0
9–3
11–1
10–1
10–1–1
Danny Ford
Tom Osborne
Jackie Sherrill
Ron Meyer
Fred Akers
1982Penn State11–1Joe Paterno
1983Miami (FL)11–1Howard Schnellenberger
1984BYU
Washington
13–0
11–1
LaVell Edwards
Don James
1985Oklahoma11–1Barry Switzer
1986Penn State12–0Joe Paterno
1987Miami (FL)12–0Jimmy Johnson
1988Notre Dame12–0Lou Holtz
1989Miami (FL)11–1Dennis Erickson
1990Colorado
Georgia Tech
11–1–1
11–0–1
Bill McCartney
Bobby Ross
1991Miami (FL)
Washington
12–0
12–0
Dennis Erickson
Don James
1992Alabama13–0Gene Stallings
1993Auburn
Florida State
Nebraska
Notre Dame
11–0
12–1
11–1
11–1
Terry Bowden
Bobby Bowden
Tom Osborne
Lou Holtz
1994Nebraska
Penn State
13–0
12–0
Tom Osborne
Joe Paterno
1995Nebraska12–0Tom Osborne
1996Florida12–1Steve Spurrier
1997Michigan
Nebraska
12–0
13–0
Lloyd Carr
Tom Osborne
1998Tennessee13–0Phillip Fulmer
1999Florida State12–0Bobby Bowden
2000Oklahoma13–0Bob Stoops

See also

References

{{reflist |refs=

{{cite news |last=Korb |first=Dan |date=May 9, 1988 |title=Bicknell man publishes grid book |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evansville-courier-and-press-gary-alan-t/170704208/ |work=The Evansville Courier |quote=He's a charter member of the College Football Researchers Association and the National Championship Foundation. The latter, he said, annually comes up with a consensus national champion from all the polls — that's every poll the organization can find on the subject — and every individual who publishes what school he or she believes to be the national champion.}}

{{cite web |first=James |last=Vautravers |url=https://tiptop25.com/ncfoundation.html |title=National Championship Foundation |access-date=June 2, 2022 |quote=They retroactively selected national championships by member vote for every season through 1980, then named national champions every year thereafter through the year 2000. [...] More bothersome is the fact that for the 1901-1910 seasons, the NCF is easily the worst selector listed in the NCAA Records Book. They frequently select teams that have no business sharing the title, while dismissing truly powerful teams (such as Harvard 1901) completely. Their research for this time appears to be very shoddy, and probably in fact nonexistent. Conclusion: Not considered an authoritative selector.}}{{Self-published inline|date=April 2025}}

}}

Category:College football championships