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 champion

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