8-0-1 (0-0 tie with Army); AP's champion in the final poll.
Notre Dame’s 1946 schedule1946 National Champion: And Who Else Claims It
MULTIPLEDISPUTEDNotre Dame won the AP's final poll after both it and Army finished unbeaten and tied 0-0 in their head-to-head meeting; Army's and Delaware's rival claims come from other selectors and a small-college schedule, respectively.
The case for each side
Claimed by the program: no recognized selector picked them
9-0-1 (same tie with Notre Dame); named national champion by the AFCA, Billingsley Report, College Football Researchers Association, and Houlgate System, and co-champion with Notre Dame by the Boand System, Helms Athletic Foundation, and Poling System. Not the AP's pick.
Army’s 1946 schedule
Claimed by the program: no recognized selector picked them
10-0, but against a schedule well below the major-college level of Notre Dame and Army; this is a small-college claim, not a major-selector national title.
Delaware’s 1946 scheduleNo national title game was played after the 1946 season: before 1998 there was no mechanism to play one, which is why so many of these seasons were settled by vote instead.