Alabama Football: National Championship Club Top 10 CFB Programs
By Ronald Evans
Alabama Football: Top Ten National Championship Club
No. 3 – Southern Cal
Nine USC National Championships
Alabama football and the USC Trojans were the dominant 1970s, National Championship teams. It is almost fitting the two programs shared a title in 1978.
- 1931 – Howard Jones wins his first USC National Championship from a 10-1 season with a Rose Bowl win over Tulane.
- 1932 – Jones got the repeat in 1932, with an undefeated 10-0 team that beat Pitt in the Rose Bowl.
- 1962 – John McKay brought the Trojans back to glory with the 1962 Championship. His team was 11-0 with a win over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.
- 1967 – It was McKay and the Trojans in 1967. USC was 10-1 with a win over Indiana in the Rose Bowl.
- 1972 – McKay’s 12-0, 1972 team took down Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.
- 1974 – Another McKay era National Championship came from a 10-1-1 season and another win over Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.
- 1978 – John Robinson was the Trojans’ head coach. Paul Bryant would have preferred losing to his old friend, McKay but the Trojans beat the Crimson Tide 24-13 in September, in Birmingham. The two teams shared the National Championship, with USC beating Michigan in the Rose Bowl.
- 2003 – Pete Carroll and the Trojans were 12-1, winning over Michigan in the Rose Bowl.
- 2004 – In a Championship season, later vacated by the NCAA, USC was 12-1, with a Rose Bowl win over Michigan.