1978: 2 Champions, Zero Agreement

SPLITMULTIPLE

Alabama beat No. 1 Penn State in the Sugar Bowl to take the AP, FWAA, and NFF titles, while USC (whose only loss was to Alabama) won the Rose Bowl and was voted No. 1 by UPI's coaches.

The case for each side

Alabama

11-1

Recognized byAPConsensusFWAARecognizedNFFRecognized· claimed by the program

11-1, beat top-ranked Penn State 14-7 in the Sugar Bowl; its lone loss was to USC. Named champion by AP, FWAA, and NFF.

Alabama’s 1978 schedule

USC

12-1

Recognized byUPIConsensus· claimed by the program

12-1, beat Michigan 17-10 in the Rose Bowl and beat Alabama head-to-head during the regular season; named champion by the UPI coaches' poll.

USC’s 1978 schedule

No national title game was played after the 1978 season: before 1998 there was no mechanism to play one, which is why so many of these seasons were settled by vote instead.