Deciding a college football national champion was a complicated endeavor for decades. The sport implemented the College Football Playoff in 2014 to simplify the process.
Only one FBS team (Georgia) has won back-to-back national titles in the College Football Playoff era. Alabama and USC are the only teams that claimed back-to-back national championships during the Bowl Championship Series era that preceded it, beginning in 1998.
USC has a rightful claim to the 2003 title despite not playing in the Sugar Bowl (that season's designated national championship game). The Trojans were one of three one-loss teams vying for a spot in the title game but were held out despite finishing No. 1 in the Associated Press and coaches' polls. LSU and Oklahoma played for the national championship that year, with LSU winning the game. But USC remained in the top spot in the final AP poll after beating Michigan in the Rose Bowl. The NCAA recognizes LSU and USC as 2003 co-national champions.
USC won a second straight title in 2004, but that championship was vacated due to NCAA violations.
Fourteen teams can claim back-to-back national championships since the AP began naming a champion in 1936. Prior to 1936, five teams can claim at least a share of three straight national titles.
Here's a look at the major college football teams that have won consecutive national championships.
Georgia - 2021, 2022
Alabama - 2011, 2012
Nebraska - 1994, 1995
Alabama - 1978 (co-champion), 1979
Oklahoma - 1974 (co-champion), 1975
Nebraska - 1970 (co-champion), 1971
Texas - 1969, 1970 (co-champion)
Michigan State - 1965, 1966 (co-champion both seasons)
Alabama - 1964, 1965 (co-champion both seasons)
Oklahoma - 1955, 1956
Notre Dame - 1946, 1947
Army - 1944, 1945
Minnesota - 1940, 1941
Minnesota - 1934, 1935, 1936
USC - 1931, 1932
Notre Dame - 1929, 1930 (co-champion)
Alabama - 1925, 1926 (co-champion)
California - 1920, 1921 (co-champion), 1922 (co-champion)
Cornell - 1921 (co-champion), 1922 (co-champion)
Harvard - 1912 (co-champion), 1913
Michigan - 1901, 1902, 1903 (co-champion), 1904 (co-champion)
Harvard - 1898, 1899
Yale - 1891, 1892
Yale - 1886, 1887, 1888
Yale - 1880 (co-champion), 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884
Princeton - 1878, 1879, 1880 (co-champion)
Yale - 1876, 1877
Princeton - 1872, 1873
Princeton - 1869, 1870
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