Polls Apart

1936: The Associated Press poll debuts with sports editors of AP-affiliated newspapers voting for the top 20 teams in the nation, ultimately settling nothing. Northwestern and Minnesota both finish 7-1, Northwestern beats Minnesota during the regular season--and Minnesota is named No. 1 in the final AP poll.

1946: Two-time defending AP champion Army, with Glenn Davis and Doc Blanchard in the backfield, finishes the season 9-0-1--highlighted by a 0-0 tie at Yankee Stadium against Johnny Lujack’s Notre Dame (8-0-1) in “the game of the decade.” When Army struggles to beat Navy in its season finale, AP votes Notre Dame No. 1.

1947: Notre Dame (9-0) and Michigan (9-0) are 1-2 in the AP’s final poll, released, as usual, before the bowl games. Then in the Rose Bowl, Michigan trounces USC, 49-0--prompting a national outcry for another vote. AP agrees to conduct an unprecedented post-bowls “Who’s No. 1?” poll, which Michigan wins in another rout, 226-119. AP, however, declares its final regular-season poll the poll of record and Notre Dame is named champion.

1950: AP’s rival news-wire service, the United Press, begins its college top-20 poll, with coaches doing the voting. With UP (later UPI) also conducting its final rankings before the bowl games, Oklahoma sweeps No. 1 in both polls--then loses to Kentucky in the Sugar Bowl.

1954: The national championship is split for the first time, with AP voting Ohio State (9-0) No. 1 and UP choosing UCLA (9-0). The teams should have met in the Rose Bowl, but UCLA had to stay home because of the Pacific Coast Conference’s “no-repeater” rule, the Bruins having played in the previous year’s Rose Bowl. Thus, Ohio State defeated PCC runner-up USC in the Rose Bowl.

1957: Split championship No. 2: AP gives it to on-probation Auburn (10-0); UP declares Auburn ineligible for its title and votes Ohio State (9-1) No. 1.

1960: Minnesota (8-1 before the bowls) is No. 1 in both polls, then is upset in the Rose Bowl by Washington, 17-7. No. 2 Mississippi, meanwhile, improves it record to 10-0-1 with a Sugar Bowl victory over No. 3 LSU, prompting the Football Writers Assn. of America to conduct its own poll after the bowls. Mississippi tops the FWAA post-bowl poll.

1965: AP conducts its first post-bowl poll and the result is split championship No. 3. UPI, still conducting its final poll before the bowls, selects Michigan State--before its 14-12 loss to UCLA in the Rose Bowl. AP gives its title to Alabama, 9-1-1 after beating Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.

1966: Notre Dame and Michigan State are both undefeated heading into “the Poll Bowl” at East Lansing on Nov. 19. Notre Dame rallies from a 10-0 deficit to 10-10, gets the ball on its 30 with 1:30 to go--and runs the clock out. Both teams finish the season 9-0-1, but Notre Dame, on the strength of its 51-0 rout of USC a week later, is declared No. 1 in both final polls.

1970: Six teams are undefeated heading into the bowl games, a convoluted mess that produces split championship No. 4. UPI, still voting before the bowls, gives its No. 1 to Texas, soon to have its 30-game winning streak snapped by Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl. AP waits and awards its title to 10-0-1 Nebraska, a 17-12 winner over LSU in the Orange Bowl. Arizona State, unbeaten and untied at 11-0, is sixth in the AP poll and eighth in UPI.

1973: Split championship No. 5: Alabama, UPI’s No. 1, loses to 11-0 Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl, 24-23, prompting AP to vote the Irish No. 1. Penn State is 12-0, undefeated for the third time in six seasons, has the Heisman Trophy winner in John Cappelletti--and is fifth in the final AP poll.

1974: UPI moves its final poll after the bowls for the first time, producing split championship No. 6 by declaring on-probation Oklahoma (11-0) ineligible for its title. AP votes Oklahoma No. 1, UPI tabs 10-1-1 USC.

1975: Arizona State (12-0) is the only undefeated and untied team after the bowl games, but is denied the national title largely on the perceived weakness of its conference, the Western Athletic Conference. Oklahoma (11-1) sweeps both polls. ASU is headed to the Pacific 10 in 1978. Had the move happened before the 1975 season, would ASU have been voted No. 1? “Sure,” says Oklahoma Coach Barry Switzer.

1977: Five teams have 11-1 records after the bowls. Notre Dame, which upset pre-bowl No. 1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl, is declared champion in both polls.

1978: Split championship No. 7: Penn State is No. 1 heading into the bowls but is upset by Alabama, 14-7. Alabama (11-1) is named AP’s champion, despite having lost to USC (12-1) by 10 points during the regular season. On the merit of that 24-14 victory, UPI awards its title to USC.

1981: Six teams trade the No. 1 ranking in the AP poll during the regular season, but none of them can hold it. Unheralded Clemson (12-0) emerges as the eventual champion after its 22-15 Orange Bowl victory over Nebraska.

1982: Finally, a national championship game is set for the Sugar Bowl, in which No. 2 Penn State upsets No. 1 Georgia, 27-26, to win its first national title.

1984: Brigham Young wins the national title in both polls virtually by default. The Cougars finish 12-0, but play no teams ranked in the AP top 20 and beat a 6-5 Michigan team in the Holiday Bowl. The New York Times computer has BYU at No. 20. But when No. 1 Nebraska and No. 2 South Carolina lose on Nov. 17, BYU leapfrogs both teams in the AP and UPI polls and stays there.

1986: Because the two top-ranked teams, Miami and Penn State, are independents and unbound to any bowl game, a national championship game is arranged when the Fiesta Bowl and NBC win a bidding war by doubling the team payouts to $2.4 million. No. 2 Penn State wins its second championship with a 14-10 victory.

1990: Split championship No. 8: Colorado (10-1-1) is AP’s choice; UPI goes for undefeated Georgia Tech (10-0-1).

1991: Citing UPI’s tenuous financial situation, the coaches’ poll switches affiliation to USA Today/CNN, ending a 41-year relationship. The season produces two 12-0 teams, Miami and Washington--as well as split championship No. 9. Miami gets the writers’ vote, Washington the coaches’. One coach votes Miami No. 3--”A disgrace,” TV analyst Beano Cook calls it--prompting an investigation by USA Today. Upon further review, the vote stands.

1992: Hoping to minimize such controversy in the future, the Bowl Coalition is formed, enabling Alabama to upset Miami in the Sugar Bowl and win the top spot in both polls at 13-0.

1993: In a duel of undefeated teams at South Bend in November, Notre Dame defeats Florida State to become No. 1 in both polls. But then Notre Dame loses to Boston College and when both the Seminoles and the Irish win their bowl games, the final balloting comes down to this: Who do you like better--grinning Bobby Bowden or Lou “Granny” Holtz? Bowden wins both popularity polls and Florida State is national champion.

1994: Penn State is undefeated and uncrowned for the fourth time under Joe Paterno. The Nittany Lions are 12-0 but No. 2 because their bowl opponent, Oregon, is deemed less impressive than No. 1 Nebraska’s, Miami.

1995: The coalition produces the right matchup in the Fiesta Bowl--No. 1 Nebraska and No. 2 Florida, both undefeated at the time. After Nebraska strafes Florida, 62-24, two coaches--obviously no close friends of Gator Coach Steve Spurrier--vote Florida 11th and 13th on their ballots. Florida drops to third in the final coaches’ poll.

1996: The Bowl Coalition becomes the Bowl Alliance, but the nation’s two undefeated teams, Florida State and Arizona State, cannot play because ASU is bound to a Rose Bowl matchup against Ohio State. When Florida State loses to Florida and ASU is beaten by Ohio State, Florida becomes No. 1 in both polls.

1997: ESPN, replacing CNN, joins USA Today in coordinating the coaches’ poll. Michigan and Nebraska are both undefeated heading into the bowls, but the Wolverines are No. 1 in both final regular-season polls. Needing to win its bowl to remain No. 1, Michigan does just that--and slips to No. 2 in the coaches’ poll after Nebraska pounds Tennessee in the Orange Bowl and 21 coaches change their vote to send Cornhusker Coach Tom Osborne into retirement with at least a share of the national title. What, a gold watch is too expensive?