The NCAA does not hold a national championship tournament for Division I-A football. Since 1869, there have been nearly 30 selectors of national champions using polls, historical research and mathmatical rating systems. Beginning in 1936, The Associated Press began the best-known and most widely circulated poll of sportswriters and broadcasters. Before 1936 there were several systems for establishing a mythical national college football champion.

In 1926, Frank Dickinson, an economics professor at the University of Illinois, developed a system based on quality of opponents and scoring differentials, similar to many of today's "power rating" methods (except that he had to do it by hand instead of using a computer).

Dickinson chose national champions for 1924 and 1925, as well as 1926, and he continued selecting champions through 1940. Similar systems were devised by Dick Dunkel Sr. in 1929, by Paul Williams in 1932, and by Edward E. and Frank Litkenhous in 1934.

In 1936, the Associated Press began its annual poll of sportswriters and sportscasters. United Press initiated a poll of college coaches in 1950 and the International News Service began polling its own sportswriters in 1952. When they merged into United Press International, the coaches' poll became the UPI poll.

Other organizations got onto the poll bandwagon in the 1950s, most notably the Football Writers Association of America in 1954 and the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame in 1959.

One problem these polls faced for many years was that they came out with their final results a few days after the regular season ended, and bowl games sometimes made those results look questionable.

The FWAA in 1955 began conducting its final poll after the bowls. AP did the same in 1965, then went back to a pre-bowl poll for the next two seasons. Since 1968, however, the final AP poll has been taken after the bowl results. The NFFHF began doing so in 1971, UP in 1974.

In the meantime, the UP/UP poll of coaches became the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) poll, which moved to USA Today/CNN in 1991 and to USA Today/ESPN in 1997.

Two organizations, the College Football Researchers Association (CFRA) and the National Championship Foundation (NCF), conducted polls of their members to determine national champions beginning with the 1869 season, when the first college "football" game was played--even though it was actually soccer.

The Helms Athletic Foundation (HAF) conducted a similar poll of members beginning in 1883, the first year that American football used a point scoring system.

Among all these polls, there are three trophies actually awarded. The Associated Press originally gave the championship team the AP Trophy, which became the Bear Bryant Trophy in 1983. The NFFHF award is the MacArthur Bowl, named for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, and the FWAA trophy is the Grantland Rice Award.

The BCS matches the number one and two teams based on polls, computer rankings, schedule strength and number of losses in a national championship game.

BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
YEAR	SCHOOL	RECORD	COACH	SELECTING ORGANIZATION
2008	Florida	13-1	Urban Meyer	BCS, USAToday, ESPN, AP, HP
2007	LSU	12-2	Les Miles	BCS, USAToday, ESPN, AP, HP
2006	Florida	13-1	Urban Meyer	BCS, USAToday, ESPN, AP, HP
2005	Texas	13-0	Mack Brown	BCS, USAToday, ESPN, AP, HP
2004	Southern Calf.	13-0	Pete Carroll	BCS, USAToday/ESPN, AP
2003	LSU Southern Calf.	13-1 12-1	Nick Saban Pete Carroll	BCS, USAToday/ESPN AP
2002	Ohio State	14-0	Jim Tressel	BCS, USAToday/ESPN, AP
2001	Miami, Fla	12-0	Larry Coker	BCS, USAToday/ESPN, AP
2000	Oklahoma	13-0	Bob Stoops	BCS, USAToday/ESPN, AP
1999	Florida State	12-0	Bobby Bowden	BCS, USAToday/ESPN, AP
1998	Tennessee	13-0	Phillip Fulmer	BCS, USAToday/ESPN, AP

CONSENSUS POLL NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
YEAR	SCHOOL	RECORD	COACH	SELECTING ORGANIZATION
1997	Michigan Nebraska	12-0 13-0	Lloyd Carr Tom Osborne	AP, FWAA, NFF AF, USA/ESPN
1996	Florida	12-1	Steve Spurrier	AP, FWAA, NFF,USA/CNN
1995	Nebraska	12-0	Tom Osborne	AP, FWAA, NFF, USA/CNN, UPI
1994	Nebraska	13-0	Tom Osborne	AP, FWAA, NFF, USA/CNN, UPI
1993	Florida St.	12-1	Bobby Bowden	AP, FWAA, NFF, USA/CNN, UPI
1992	Alabama	13-0	Gene Stallings	AP, FWAA, NFF, USA/CNN, UPI
1991	Washington Miami (Fla.)	12-0 12-0	Don James Dennis Erickson	AF, FWAA, NFF, USA/CNN, UPI AP
1990	Colorado Georgia Tech	11-1-1 11-0-1	Bill McCartney Bobby Ross	FWAA, NFF, USA/CNN, AP UPI
1989	Miami (Fla.)	11-1-0	Dennis Erickson	AP, FWAA, NFF, USA/CNN, UPI
1988	Notre Dame	12-0-0	Lou Holtz	AP, FWAA, NFF, USA/CNN, UPI
1987	Miami (Fla.)	12-0-0	Jimmy Johnson	AP, FWAA, NFF, USA/CNN, UPI
1986	Penn St.	12-0-0	Joe Paterno	AP, FWAA, NFF, USA/CNN, UPI
1985	Oklahoma	11-1-0	Barry Switzer	AP, FWAA, NFF, USA/CNN, UPI
1984	Brigham Young	13-0-0	LaVell Edwards	AP, FWAA, NFF, USA/CNN, UPI
1983	Miami (Fla.)	11-1-0	Jimmy Johnson	AP, FWAA, NFF, USA/CNN, UPI
1982	Penn St.	11-1-0	Joe Paterno	AP, FWAA, NFF, USA/CNN, UPI
1981	Clemson	12-0-0	Danny Ford	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI
1980	Georgia	12-0-0	Vince Dooley	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI
1979	Alabama	12-0-0	Bear Bryant	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI
1978	Alabama Southern Cal.	11-1-0	Bear Bryant	AP, FWAA, NFF UPI
1977	Notre Dame	11-1-0	Dan Devine	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI
1976	Pittsburg	12-0-0	Johnny Majors	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI
1975	Oklahoma	11-1-0	Barry Switzer	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI
1974	Southern Cal. Oklahoma	10-1-1 11-0-0	John McKay Barry Switzer	FWAA, NFF, UPI AP
1973	Notre Dame Alabama	11-0-0 11-1-0	Ara Parseghian Bear Bryant	AP, FWAA, NFF UPI
1972	Southern Cal.	12-0-0	John McKay	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI
1971	Nebraska	13-0-0	Bob Devaney	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI
1970	Nebraska Texas Ohio St.	11-0-1 10-1-0 09-1-0	Bob Devaney Darrell Royal Woody Hayes	AP, FWAA NFF, UPI NFF
1969	Texas	11-0-0	Darrell Royal	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI
1968	Ohio St.	10-0-0	Woody Hayes	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI
1967	Southern Cal. Tennessee	10-1-0 09-2-0	John McKay Doug Dickey	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI Li
1966	Notre Dame Michigan St.	09-0-1 09-0-1	Ara Parseghian Duffy Daugherty	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI NFF
1965	Michigan St. Alabama	10-1-0 09-1-1	Duffy Daugherty Bear Bryant	FWAA, NFF, UPI AP, FWAA
1964	Alabama Arkansas Notre Dame	10-1-0 11-0-0 09-1-0	Bear Bryant Frank Broyles Ara Parseghian	AP, UPI FWAA NFF
1963	Texas	11-0-0	Darrell Royal	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI
1962	Southern Cal.	11-0-0	John McKay	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI
1961	Alabama Ohio St.	11-0-0 08-0-1	Bear Bryant Woody Hayes	AP, NFF, UPI FWAA
1960	Minnesota Mississippi	08-2-0 10-0-1	Murray Warmath Johnny Vaught	AP, NFF, UPI FWAA
1959	Syracuse	11-0-0	Ben Schwartzwalder	AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI
1958	LSU Iowa	11-0-0 08-1-1	Paul Dietzel Forest Evashevski	AP, UPI FWAA
1957	Ohio St. Auburn	09-1-0 10-0-0	Woody Hayes Shug Jordan	FWAA, UPI, INS AP
1956	Oklahoma	10-0-0	Bud Wilkinson	AP, FWAA, UPI
1955	Oklahoma	11-0-0	Bud Wilkinson	AP, FWAA, UPI
1954	UCLA Ohio St.	09-0-0 10-0-0	Red Sanders Woody Hayes	FWAA, UPI AP, INS
1953	Maryland	10-1-0	Jim Tatum	AP, UPI
1952	Michigan St. Georgia Tech	09-0-0 12-0-0	Biggie Munn Bobby Dodd	AP, UPI INS
1951	Tennessee Maryland	10-1-0 10-0-0	Bob Neyland Jim Tatum	AP, UPI Du
1950	Oklahoma Tennessee	10-1-0 11-1-0	Bud Wilkinson Bob Neyland	AP, UPI Du, Li,

ASSOCIATED PRESS POLL CHAMPIONS
YEAR	SCHOOL	RECORD	COACH	SELECTING ORGANIZATION
1949	Notre Dame	10-0-0	Frank Leahy	AP
1948	Michigan Notre Dame	09-0-0 09-0-1	Bennie Oosterbaan Frank Leahy	AP Wi
1947	Notre Dame Michigan	09-0-0 10-0-0	Frank Leahy Fritz Crisler	AP Du, Li, Wi
1946	Army Notre Dame Georgia	09-0-1 08-0-1 11-0-0	Earl "Red" Blaik Frank Leahy Wally Butts	HAF AP Wi
1945	Army	09-0-0	Red Blaik	AP
1944	Army	09-0-0	Red Blaik	AP
1943	Notre Dame	09-1-0	Frank Leahy	AP
1942	Ohio St. Georgia	09-1-0 11-1-0	Paul Brown Wally Butts	AP Li, Wi
1941	Minnesota Texas	08-0-0 08-1-1	Bernie Bierman Dana Bible	AP Wi
1940	Minnesota Tennessee	08-0-0 10-0-0	Bernie Bierman Bob Neyland	AP Du, Di, Wi
1939	Texas A&M Cornell	11-0-0 08-0-0	Homer Norton Carl Snavely	AP Li
1938	Texas Christian Tennessee Notre Dame	11-0-0 11-0-0 08-1-0	Dutch Meyer Bob Neyland Elmer Layden	AP Li, Du Di
1937	Pittsburg California	09-0-1 10-0-1	Jock Sutherland Stub Allison	AP Du
1936	Minnesota Louisiana State	07-1-0 09-1-1	Bernie Bierman Bernie Moore	AP Wi

RETROACTIVE POLL CHAMPIONS
YEAR	SCHOOL	RECORD	COACH	SELECTING ORGANIZATION
1935	Minnesota SMU Princeton Louisiana State	08-0-0 12-1-0 09-0-0 09-2-0	Bernie Bierman Matty Bell Fritz Crisler Bernie Moore	CFRA, HAF, NCF, Li Di Du Wi
1934	Minnesota Alabama	08-0-0 09-0-0	Bernie Bierman Frank Thomas	CFRA, HAF, NCF Du, Wi
1933	Michigan Ohio State Southern Cal.	08-0-0 07-1-0 10-1-1	Harry Kipke Sam Willaman Howard Jones	CFRA, HAF, NCF, Di Du Wi
1932	Southern Cal. Michigan	10-0-0 08-0-0	Howard Jones Harry Kipke	CFRA, HAF, NCF, Du, Wi Di
1931	Southern Cal.	10-1-0	Howard Jones	CFRA, HAF, NCF
1930	Alabama Notre Dame	10-0-0 10-0-0	Wallace Wade Knute Rockne	CFRA HAF, NCF, Di, Du
1929	Notre Dame	09-0-0	Knute Rockne	CFRA, HAF, NCF
1928	Georgia Tech. Southern Cal.	10-0-0 09-0-1	Bill Alexander Howard Jones	CFRA, HAF, NCF Di
1927	Illinois Yale	07-0-1 07-1-0	Bob Zuppke Tad Jones	HAF, NCF, Di CFRA
1926	Alabama Stanford	09-0-1 10-0-1	Wallace Wade Pop Warner	CFRA, HAF, NCF HAF, Di
1925	Alabama Dartmouth	10-0-0 08-0-0	Wallace Wade Jesse Hawley	CFRA, HAF, NCF Di
1924	Notre Dame	10-0-0	Knute Rockne	CFRA, HAF, NCF
1923	Illinois Michigan	08-0-0 08-0-0	Bob Zuppke Hurry Up Yost	CFRA, HAF, NCF NCF
1922	California Cornell Princeton	09-0-0 08-0-0 08-0-0	Andy Smith Gil Dobie Bill Roper	NCF HAF CFRA, NCF
1921	California Cornell	09-0-0 08-0-0	Andy Smith Gil Dobie	CFRA NCF, HAF
1920	California	09-0-0	Andy Smith	CFRA, HAF, NCF
1919	Harvard Illinois Notre Dame Texas A&M	09-0-1 06-1-0 09-0-0	Bob Fisher Bob Zuppke Knute Rockne	CFRA, HAF, NCF CFRA NCF NCF
1918	Michigan Pittsburg	05-0-0 04-1-0	Hurry Up Yost Pop Warner	NCF HAF, CFRA
1917	Georgia Tech.	09-0-0	John Heisman	HAF, NCF
1916	Pittsburgh	08-0-0	Pop Warner	HAF, NCF
1915	Cornell	09-0-0	Al Sharpe	HAF, NCF
1914	Army	09-0-0	Charley Daly	HAF, NCF
1913	Harvard	09-0-0	Percy Haughton	HAF, NCF
1912	Harvard Penn St.	09-0-0 08-0-0	Percy Haughton Bill Hollenback	HAF, CFRA NCF
1911	Penn St. Princeton	08-0-1 08-0-2	Bill Hollenback Bill Roper	NCF HAF, CFRA
1910	Harvard Pittsburgh	08-0-1 09-0-0	Percy Haughton Joe Thompson	HAF, CFRA NCF
1909	Yale	12-1-0	Howard Jones	HAF, NCF
1908	LSU Pennsylvania	10-0-0 11-0-1	Edgar Wingard Sol Metzger	NCF HAF, CFRA
1907	Yale	09-0-1	Bill Knox	HAF, NCF
1906	Princeton	09-0-1	Bill Roper	HAF, NCF
1905	Chicago	10-0-0	Amos Alonzo Stagg	HAF, NCF
1904	Michigan Pennsylvania	10-0-0 12-0-0	Hurry Up Yost Carl Williams	NCF HAF, CFRA
1903	Princeton Michigan	11-0-0	Art Hillebrand	HAF, NCF NCF
1902	Michigan	11-0-0	Hurry Up Yost	HAF, NCF
1901	Michigan Harvard	11-0-0 12-0-0	Hurry Up Yost Bill Reid	HAF, NCF CFRA
1900	Yale	12-0-0	Malcolm McBride	HAF, NCF
1899	Harvard Princeton	10-0-1 12-1-0	Benjamin H. Dibblee ----	HAF, NCF CFRA
1898	Harvard	11-0-0	W. Cameron Forbes	HAF, NCF
1897	Pennsylvania	15-0-0	George W. Woodruff	HAF, NCF
1896	Lafayette Princeton	11-0-1 10-0-1	---- ----	NCF HAF, CFRA
1895	Pennsylvania	14-0-0	George W. Woodruff	HAF, NCF
1894	Yale	16-0-0	William C. Rhodes	HAF, NCF
1893	Princeton	11-0-0	----	HAF, NCF
1892	Yale	13-0-0	Walter Camp	HAF, NCF
1891	Yale	13-0-0	Walter Camp	HAF, NCF
1890	Harvard	11-0-0	G. Stewart/G. Adams	HAF, NCF
1889	Princeton	10-0-0	----	HAF, NCF
1888	Yale	13-0-0	Walter Camp	HAF, NCF
1887	Yale	09-0-0	----	HAF, NCF
1886	Yale	09-0-1	----	HAF, NCF
1885	Princeton	09-0-0	----	HAF, NCF
1884	Yale	08-0-1	----	HAF, NCF
1883	Yale	08-0-0	----	HAF, NCF
1882	Yale	08-0-0	----	NCF
1881	Yale	05-0-1	----	NCF
1880	Princeton Yale	04-0-1 04-0-1	---- ----	NCF CFRA
1879	Princeton	04-0-1	----	NCF
1878	Princeton	06-0-0	----	NCF
1877	Yale	03-0-1	----	NCF
1876	Yale	03-0-0	----	NCF
1875	Harvard Princeton	04-0-0 02-0-0	---- ----	NCF CFRA
1874	Yale	03-0-0	----	NCF
1873	Princeton	01-0-0	----	NCF
1872	Princeton	01-0-0	----	NCF
1871	None Selected
1870	Princeton	01-0-0	----	NCF
1869	Princeton	01-1-0	----	NCF