Who has won the most college football championships?

Which college football programs have won the most national championships? The answer is somewhat complicated, as there’s some dispute over how many titles certain teams have won in the 154 years since the first national championship.

For many years, a selecting organization (such as the National Championship Foundation) would crown the champion. Some seasons, there wasn’t a clear-cut champion, so multiple teams were deemed national champs by the selectors. For example, in 1919, there were four champions: Harvard, Illinois, Notre Dame and Texas A&M. The Billingsley Report retroactively crowned champions, which further complicated matters.

Fortunately, a better way to determine the national champion came along. The poll era began in 1936, with the major wire services selecting the nation’s top team. In 1998, the BCS National Championship Game was created to crown a champion. In 2014, the BCS was replaced by the College Football Playoff, which has been a hit among fans.

For the sake of this list, we’ll only count national championships that are recognized by the NCAA. Additionally, we’ll focus on the highest division of college football, so teams that have won FCS championships won’t be listed below. These are the 10 college football programs with the most NCAA-recognized national championships:

10. MINNESOTA, 6

Championships: 1934, 1935, 1936, 1940, 1941, 1960

The Golden Gophers won their first national championship in 1934 and then proceeded to go back-to-back-to-back. Head coach Bernie Bierman, who previously played halfback at Minnesota, led the team to five national championships thanks to incredible rushing attack. In 1934, 90.7% of the Golden Gophers’ yards came on the ground, and they averaged 295 rushing yards per game.

9. OKLAHOMA, 7

Championships: 1950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985, 2000

Oklahoma is the only college football program with four 100-win head coaches in the school’s history: Bob Stoops (191 wins), Barry Switzer (157), Bud Wilkinson (145) and Bennie Owen (113). Switzer and Wilkinson each led the Sooners to three national championships. All of Oklahoma’s national championships have been during the poll era (since 1936).

8. OHIO STATE, 8

Championships: 1942, 1954, 1957, 1961, 1968, 1970, 2002, 2014

In 1942, Ohio State won its first national championship despite the fact that 22 veteran players left the team to serve in World War II and the roster was mostly made up of sophomores. Like Oklahoma, all of Ohio State’s…