As Ohio State fans celebrated their national championship win with confetti falling and cheers echoing through the stadium, another college football team found themselves unexpectedly in the spotlight— the Oregon Ducks. Despite the Buckeyes' 34-23 victory over Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff final, a different system crowned the Ducks as the top team in the nation.
Confused? You're not alone. The NCAA officially recognizes a variety of ranking systems known as "major selectors," and one of those, the Wolfe Ratings, crunched the numbers and declared Oregon the No. 1 team in the country.
While Ohio State took home the hardware and the bragging rights, Oregon gets a little something to hold onto—at least on paper, not that Oregon fans will really want any part of that.
Final Wolfe ratings for the 2024-25 college football season are out. Oregon are the top-ranked team.
— CFB Home (@CFBHome) January 21, 2025
Even though they lost in the tournament quarterfinals, the Oregon Ducks are one major selector's national champions.https://t.co/6IOCMh5hxZ pic.twitter.com/36GndiOE4w
The concept of multiple national champions might sound strange, but it's not unheard of in college football history. Before the current playoff format, championships were often determined by a mix of polls and mathematical formulas, leading to split titles and heated debates. Even with today's system, organizations like the Wolfe Ratings still factor into the official record books.
For Oregon fans, this likely just pours more salt in the wound than anything. We highly doubt that Oregon will recognize this national championship rating with any banner, but stranger things have happened. There have been several instances of teams claiming national championships, especially prior to the BCS era.
Even once the College Football Playoff era began, things haven't been so cut and dry. UCF claims a national championship in 2017, despite not even making the CFP. The Knights finished the year with a perfect 13-0 record, but did not earn one of the four spots in the CFP.
While Oregon might be recognized in the history books with the Wolfe Ratings, Ohio State will be the team with the golden scepter to back up their national championship.