re: Why does Alabama claim som many national titles

UPI awarded their national championship prior to the bowl games in 1973 & Bama was awarded it. Notre Dame claims national championships for years they didn't even bother to play in a bowl while other schools did

I shall endeavor to address this post with the utmost seriousness and civility:

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They claim a title in 1973 yet lost to ND. Most schools don't do this, for example LSU could claim titles they were awarded but they really were not the national champion. Norte Dame was the 1973 champ not Alabama.

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There is a distinction to be made - the difference between a school claiming a national championship, and a school recognizing being awarded a national championship by some third party.

It is my understanding that Alabama claims national championships after years in which they won the Rose Bowl. There were few entities awarding championships at that time, this was not uncommon for schools to do.

However, Alabama recognizes at least one relatively specious award from a less than reputable organization when it comes to college football awards. It is a shame that they feel the need to inflate their numbers with specious claims, as they would still be near the top without them, but the recognition of the 1941 title awarded to Alabama by Houlgate sullies their claims.

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Most schools don't do this

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While I personally think ND is the true '73 Champ, your statement is not accurate. In the years before '74, at least one of the 2 major polls (AP, UPI), and many times both of 'em, selected champs before bowl games and awarded trophies as well. Many schools then went on to lose their bowl games but still claimed these titles (as they had already been awarded), including the ones below:

1950 Oklahoma
1951 Tennessee
1953 Maryland
1960 Minnesota
1964 Alabama
1965 Michigan State
1970 Texas
1973 Alabama

These are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head, but there may be others. While you can debate the decision to award championships before bowl games, these schools didn't just arbitrarily claim a championship, they were awarded it by the polls of the day...

Ah this old game again. Well like I always say... I don't mind using the same method Espn uses to recognize championships. It usually means they discount 3 of ours but that's a small percent. The funny thing is as soon as you change the methodology low and behold many other programs lose out on championships as well such as ND, Texas, and TCU. The result is Alabama still has 3x as many national championships than 99% of college football. Either way Bama wins, because we are champions. Suck it haters.

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Notre Dame claims national championships for years they didn't even bother to play in a bowl while other schools did

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The old "ND does it so we will also" argument. Nice. You don't see that one pulled out of the back pocket very often.

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However, Alabama recognizes at least one relatively specious award from a less than reputable organization when it comes to college football awards. It is a shame that they feel the need to inflate their numbers with specious claims, as they would still be near the top without them, but the recognition of the 1941 title awarded to Alabama by Houlgate sullies their claims.

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Agreed. Claiming '41 is an embarrassment and I don't know why we claimed it in the first place...nor why we haven't renounced it since...

73 ain't even that bad. It's a major poll title, as legit as they come. Now, 41...

My moma told me that The UofA claimed all those titles because they had smallish pee pees and that gave them a tingle down there.

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1950 Oklahoma
1951 Tennessee
1953 Maryland
1960 Minnesota
1964 Alabama
1965 Michigan State
1970 Texas
1973 Alabama

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I would add 1957 Auburn, won the AP, but did not go to the bowl.. 1973 was the last year of awarding a champion prior to the bowls...

However, until Alabama has a way to go to catch Princeton.


Sorted by Number
Team

No

Princeton (NJ)26
Yale (CT)18
Alabama 14 (1941 NOT included as it is a total joke)
Notre Dame (IN)13
Michigan11
Southern California10
Pittsburgh (PA)9
Harvard (MA)8
Ohio St.7
Oklahoma7
Minnesota6
Pennsylvania6
Army (NY)5
Miami (FL)5
Nebraska 5
California 4
Georgia Tech 4
Illinois 4
Louisiana St.4
Michigan St.4
Penn St.4
Tennessee4
Texas4
Auburn (AL)3
Florida 3
Recognized - Non-Biased Source

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