SMQ: Which undefeated college football teams could end long championship drought?

The legacy of 1978

Since 1978, there have been 21 national champions crowned in college football. In a few years, teams were forced to split the national title. This division between the polls spawned the original Bowl Coalition in 1992 as an effort to crown a definitive national champion for a given season. Without the Big Ten and Pac-10 on board, though, the early attempts faltered.

By 1998, though, the six major conferences had finally banded together. Throughout the 1990s, teams had forfeited their independence in favor of conference affiliation. Television dollars fueled much of this consolidation, and the strongest leagues exerted their influence on a national level.

Thus, as we enter the 40th season of Division I-A (FBS) football, what we really have on our hands are a pair of two-decade periods of the sport’s evolution. The first spans from 1978 to 1997, from the formation of the two Division I subdivisions to the last year prior to the BCS. The second period spans from 1998 to the present, with the BCS and College Football Playoff realizing the goal of enhanced emphasis on attempting to legitimize the concept of a single national champion.

Powerhouses left behind?

Of the 21 teams that won national championships since 1978, those divide into three categories. Six teams — Alabama, Miami, Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida State, Florida, and Clemson — won national championships in both the pre-BCS and post-BCS eras. Another six programs — Tennessee, Ohio State, LSU, USC, Texas, and Auburn — captured long-sought national titles during the BCS era.

Then there are the nine teams that won either outright or shared national titles between 1978 and 1997 that are still seeking to return to those glories since the modern era really began in earnest in 1998.

In 2017, four of those teams have already suffered a first loss to blunt their chances at a national title. The 1984 national champion BYU Cougars are now 1-3 after falling at home to Wisconsin in Week 3. Georgia Tech, which won a share of the crown in 1990, is 1-1. Then there is Nebraska, which stumbled to 1-2 on the year with an upset defeat at home to Northern Illinois.

Notre Dame is still technically in the hunt at 2-1, their only loss coming by a single point against Georgia. But this week, let’s focus on the five undefeated teams that won national titles between 1978 and 1997 that are still searching for the next taste of glory. This week’s Sunday Morning Quarterback examines each member of this quintet to see which of the five has the best shot at winning it all in 2017.