1939 National Champion: And Who Else Claims It

MULTIPLEDISPUTED

Texas A&M's AP title stood on a final poll released before the bowls; USC's rival claim comes from a single contemporary math selector and wasn't adopted by the school itself until 2004.

The case for each side

Texas A&M

11-0

Recognized byAPConsensus· claimed by the program

11-0, beat Tulane 14-13 in the Sugar Bowl; AP's final poll, released before bowl season, named the Aggies champion.

Texas A&M’s 1939 schedule

USC

8-0-2

Claimed by the program: no recognized selector picked them

8-0-2; the Dickinson System, one of the year's recognized math selectors, picked USC over Texas A&M on strength of schedule. USC then beat unbeaten Tennessee 14-0 in the Rose Bowl. USC's athletic department formally adopted this claim in 2004.

USC’s 1939 schedule

No national title game was played after the 1939 season: before 1998 there was no mechanism to play one, which is why so many of these seasons were settled by vote instead.