Alabama Football: Crimson Tide doing what none have ever done

Six Alabama Football National Championships in 12 seasons is a feat never before accomplished. The CFB 100-plus year debate over the best program is over.

Alabama football fans know much about celebrating National Championships. We have a lot of practice. This time we have an extra Championship memory, momentous enough to last a lifetime. Seasoned Crimson Tide fans can remember the celebrations going back to Bryant’s first in 1961. Perhaps a few more were around in the 1941 season, the Tide chose later to claim as a National Championship.

The NCAA list of National Champions does not include 1941 or the 1934 National Championship that is also counted the Crimson Tide’s 18.  Debating those two championships rises up again every time the Tide wins another national title. Thanks to the 2020 Alabama Crimson Tide, those debates can be ignored. The plateau reached in the 2021 National Championship game rises above any and all debate. Until Jan. 11, 2021, no program since the beginning of the 20th century, had ever won six National Championships in 12 seasons.

Using the NCAA list (which is the only one that matters), we have calculated how far other programs are from matching the Tide’s achievement.  Starting at the Georgia Bulldogs with their one National Championship in 1980, we worked through 18 CFB programs who crow most about their National Championship history. The compiled list includes the span of years for each school’s championship total.

• Georgia Bulldogs have one National Championship in 1980. It has been 41 seasons since the Bulldogs won a National Championship.

CFB Programs with Two National Championships (partial list)

• University of Pennsylvania: 1904,1908
• Michigan State: 1952 and 1966
• Tennessee Volunteers: 1940 and 1998. That is 59 years for the Vols to win two.
• Auburn Tigers: 1957 and 2010. A span of 54 seasons.

CFB Programs with Three National Championships (partial list)

• Georgia Tech: 1917, 1928 and 1990; 73 year span
• Florida State: 1983, 1999 and 2013; 30 year span
• Florida Gators: 1996, 2006 and 2008; 13 season span

 CFB Programs with Four National Championships (partial list)

• Penn State Nittany Lions: 1911, 1912, 1982 and 1986. To win four took PSU 86 years
• Princeton Tigers: 1903, 1906, 1911 and 1922; 20 season span
• Yale Bulldogs: 1900, 1907, 1909 and 1927; 28 year span
• Harvard Crimson: 1910, 1912, 1913 and 1919; a 10 year span

 CFB Programs with Five National Championships (partial list)

• LSU Bengal Tigers: 1908, 1958, 2003, 2007 and 2019. Winning five took LSU 112 years.
• Pittsburgh Panthers: 1910, 1916, 1918, 1937 and 1976; a 67 year span
• Nebraska Cornhuskers: 1970, 1971, 1994, 1995 and 1997; a 28 season span

To win six National Championships took the Michigan Wolverines 23 years (1901-1923). They won two more in 1933 and 1948.

To win six National Championships took Southern Cal 48 years (1932-1978). The Trojans won two more in 2003 and 2004, though the second one was vacated.

To win six National Championships took the Ohio State Buckeyes 29 years (1942-1970). Ohio State has won two since in 2002 and 2014.

To win six National Championships took the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 28 years (1919-1946). The Irish won again in 1947, 1949, 1964, 1966, 1973 and 1988. The second group of six was over a span of 42 years.

Alabama Crimson Tide National Championship Record far ahead of rest of CFB

The history clearly shows, no CFB program, going back to 1900, has accomplished what the Alabama Crimson Tide has done. Six National Championships in 12 years will probably never be surpassed. The closest program to Alabama Football are the Michigan Wolverines, with a span of 23 years, having occurred early in the 20th century.

In case the rest of the college football world is wondering. For the Alabama Crimson Tide, this is not the end.