1961: 2 Champions, Zero Agreement

SPLITMULTIPLE

Alabama sweeps AP, UPI, and NFF as national champion while the Football Writers Association of America names once-tied Ohio State instead.

The case for each side

Alabama

11-0

Recognized byAPConsensusNFFRecognizedUPIConsensus· claimed by the program

11-0, SEC champion, beat Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl; AP/UPI/NFF national champion.

Alabama’s 1961 schedule

Ohio State

8-0-1

Recognized byFWAARecognized· claimed by the program

8-0-1, Big Ten champion; the Ohio State faculty council famously declined the Rose Bowl bid, so the team played no bowl game. FWAA (Grantland Rice Award) national champion.

Ohio State’s 1961 schedule

No national title game was played after the 1961 season: before 1998 there was no mechanism to play one, which is why so many of these seasons were settled by vote instead.