What School Has the MOST College Football...

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We invite listeners to join us on a captivating exploration of college football's rich history and its most celebrated teams in the latest episode of Pigskin Daily History Dispatch.

With the first-ever college football playoff nearing its conclusion, the episode centers on the showdown between Ohio State and Notre Dame, both of which have a storied history of national championships.

Hayes expertly navigates through the past, shedding light on the remarkable accomplishments of teams like Yale, who boasts 18 national titles, and Harvard, with 8, providing a historical framework that enriches the current playoff narrative. The conversation also touches upon the evolution of the sport, highlighting how teams like Alabama and Michigan have carved their names into football lore.

As Hayes articulates the significance of the upcoming championship game, he draws parallels between past and present, illustrating how history shapes the present and influences the future of college football. This episode not only serves as a celebration of the sport's legacy but also as a reminder of the ever-evolving nature of competition and the enduring passion that drives teams and fans alike.

Top Ten Schools With Championships in Football

In this very first college football playoff, we're coming right down to the end. Two teams are left, Ohio State and Notre Dame. But who has the most national championships in college football history?

And you have a surprise to many people in 2025.
You have Notre Dame and Ohio State. But maybe that's a logical course of action. We talked about that earlier last week on how they were ranked.

But these are definitely proven to be the best two teams in the college football playoffs as they have both had some convincing wins over some good teams to get there. But we're going to talk about the national champions and who or what school has done it the most. Well, I will tell you that Notre Dame and Ohio State are both in the top 10 for winning the most national championships, but we'll get to them in a second.

Let's talk about a couple teams that are not in the playoffs this year. As a matter of fact, all of them are not, except for the two that we've mentioned earlier. But one that's really won a lot of championships that people don't give a lot of credit to was the University of Minnesota.

The Golden Gophers have won six national championships here since 1869, and they've won them mostly in the 30s and 40s, 1934, 35, 36, quite a dominant stretch they had there, then 1940 and 41, and then again in 1960. So they have had a great career of winning national championships. Modern times, maybe we don't think of them as being the national powerhouse that they were back almost 90 years ago, but who knows? Time is cyclical and they can come back, but six championships for them.

Something that has had some national championships in the recent modern era has been the University of Oklahoma. They have seven and rank ninth on the list of the most championship games. 1950, 55, 56, 74, 75, 85, and the year 2000 was the last national championship that the Sooners have won to put them ninth on the list.
Now we're going to go to some teams from the old style of football that have a lot of championships. Harvard University, who is no longer an FCS, or an FBS, but an FCS school, but once upon a time they were a major college. They have eight national championships, and four of them happening in the 19th century, 1875, 1890, 1898, and 1899, and then a run in the teens, 1910, 1912, 1913, and 1919, Harvard was the best team in the country.

Going along with them is the Princeton Tigers, who also, they had 15 national titles, 1869, 1770, 1772, 1773, 1878, 1779, and 1880, three years in a row, 1885, 1889, 1893, 1903, 1906, 1911, and 1912, for their 15 for the Princeton Tigers, and that's really quite a bit. But that only puts them third in history for winning championships. Number one on that list is another Ivy League school, the Yale University, with 18 national championships, and they had quite a bit in the 1870s, 1874, 76, 77, 1880, 81, 82, 83, 84, 1886, and 87, and 88, 1891, 92, and 1894, and then in the 20th century, 1900, 1907, 1909, and 1927, 18 national titles for the Yalies, and the Eli winning that many of it.

And they're number one on our list, but right behind them is the Alabama Crimson Tide, with 16 national championships so far, the last being in the year 2020, but they also had them in 1925, and 1926, and 1930, and in the 60s, when Bear Bryant came on the scene, 1961, 64, 65, and in the 70s, still with Bear Bryant, 1978 and 79, 1992, and 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2015, and 2017, along with that 2020 championship, the latest coming with Mr. Nick Saban at the helm. So those are some good ones there. Last year's champion, the Michigan Wolverines, come in fifth.

They have 10 national championships to their credit. Of course, you have the point-of-minute teams of way back when fielding H. Yost was their coach, 1901, 1902, 1903, and 1904, four years in a row. 1918 and 1923, I believe, under Fritz Kreisler.
1933, 1948, and 1997, and the year 2023 with Mr. Harbaugh at coach. USC is right behind them with nine national championships in sixth place. They won in 1931, 32, 1962, 1967, 1972, and 74, and 78, 2003, 2004, with Pete Carroll as the head coaches of those last two.
So they won back-to-back titles on two separate occasions for the USC Trojans. Southern Cal is definitely on our list. So that leaves two teams that we haven't mentioned.

We mentioned eight, and that is our title dwellers that are coming up this year, Ohio State and Notre Dame. Ohio State sits in eighth place on our list with eight national championships right now. So if they win this year, it'll be number nine.

But 1942, 1954, 1957, 1961, 1968, 1970, 2002, and 2014. 1942 was won with Paul Brown, who won, as we talked about in other episodes, he won a high school national championship while at Massillon. He won the college national championship with Ohio State, and won professional championships both in the AAFC with the Cleveland Browns and the NFL at the Cleveland Browns in 2014.

So it's been a few, it's been 11 years since they won a national championship for Ohio State. But even longer is Notre Dame, who has 13 national championships thus far. This would be 14 if they win this year.

They won their championships in 1919, 1924, 1929, 1930. Newt Rockne years there. 1943, 46, and 47.
1949, 1964, 66, 1973, 1977, and 1988, under Lou Hulse, was the last time that the Fighting Irish have won a college football national championship. So this indeed is a very historic day. Now Notre Dame winning their 14th will keep them still in fourth place.

But if Ohio State wins, they move from being tied with Harvard at eight apiece to being tied with USC at nine and be tied for sixth place all time on the college football national championships. So you see, history may be changing and going to a 12 team format. But the more it changes, the more it stays the same, as we have two teams in the top 10 of college football national championships playing this year.

And what a history it's going to be, and what a game it's going to be on the 20th of January 2025 when these two teams meet. So that's going to be some more history all into itself. But I hope you enjoyed this little bit of history on college football championships and who has the most.
Until next time, everybody, have a great gridiron day.

Takeaways

-The first 12-team college football playoff format is nearing its conclusion with Ohio State and Notre Dame remaining.

-Historically, Notre Dame and Ohio State rank in the top 10 for national championships won in college football.

-The University of Minnesota, although not currently a powerhouse, has won six national championships throughout its history.

-Yale University leads college football history with 18 national championships, followed closely by Alabama with 16.

-Ohio State has a chance to win their ninth national championship, if they succeed this year.

-Notre Dame's last national championship was in 1988, and they have a chance to add to their 13 titles.