Rubber Match--Tied at 8 AP National Titles each

Go Bama

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Jon Saunders will be on The Sports Reporters arguing it down again...
I heard Jon Saunders give us credit for 8 after the game in Pasadena so unless he's changed his mind he should now have us at nine.

I guess some people think Bear Bryant never played on a national championship team because the AP had not been born. What a crock and how disrespectful to the men who played football with leather helmets and no face mask. In my book, which is the only one I'm interested in anyway, Bama has 14 titles and is clearly the premier program historically in college football.
 

selmaborntidefan

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John Saunders is a corporate shill who needs to be flogged. I have about 250 Alabama games on DVD. In the pre game of the 2002 OU game, Saunders declared it a match between OU's 7 national titles and our six.

Why? Silly rabbit, because in 2002 the SEC contract was with CBS and the Big 12 with ABC - therefore, the Big 12 HAD to have more. But this same John Saunders informed us all on "The Sports Reporters" telecast of January 10, 2010 that our 13th title was "only" our eighth. Apparently, we fired Shula after he won a national title between 2002-2008.

So make no mistake - the hype masters will be worse than Vince McMahon at declaring this a war to settle the tie that doesn't exist. He is a slimy individual.
 

Bama1985

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I heard Jon Saunders give us credit for 8 after the game in Pasadena so unless he's changed his mind he should now have us at nine.

I guess some people think Bear Bryant never played on a national championship team because the AP had not been born. What a crock and how disrespectful to the men who played football with leather helmets and no face mask. In my book, which is the only one I'm interested in anyway, Bama has 14 titles and is clearly the premier program historically in college football.
Last year ESPN was adding the 1973 UPI to our AP National Titles--that is how 9 Titles got put out in the news. If you only count AP we are tied with Notre Dame. Love the 1973 team but Notre Dame won 24-23 and got the AP Title that year--the same year we got the UPI. We are tied at 8 AP National Titles each--that will change on 7 January 2013. No way they give the AP Title to Ohio State. This BCS Title game is about best college program in the history of the sport.
 

TiderJack

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You may be thinking of wire service (AP/UPI) championships. In 1973, Alabama won the UPI (coaches) championship but not the AP.
Thanks. That must be it. I remembered Musburger saying after the conclusion of our game we were now the undisputed leader in N.C. with 9 and apparently he was counting the UPI title which he should.
 

crimsoncamaro

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Nov 9, 2010
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i always thought they used the ap and upi when considering titles..go to wikipedia, modern era 1936 to present. bama has 9, nd 8. been hearing this week bama going for 3 out of 4 years since nebraska "94, "95 and "97. espn has been saying this and "97, michigan got the ap and nebraska the upi(coaches poll).
 

Bama1985

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Not true.
Yes True

AP Titles By school

SchoolNumberSeasons
Alabama81961, 1964, 1965, 1978, 1979, 1992, 2009, 2011
Notre Dame81943, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1966, 1973, 1977, 1988
Oklahoma71950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985, 2000
Miami (FL)51983, 1987, 1989, 1991, 2001
USC51962, 1967, 1972, 2003, 2004
Minnesota41936, 1940, 1941, 1960
Nebraska41970, 1971, 1994, 1995
 

crimsoncamaro

BamaNation Citizen
Nov 9, 2010
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Yes True

AP Titles By school

SchoolNumberSeasons
Alabama81961, 1964, 1965, 1978, 1979, 1992, 2009, 2011
Notre Dame81943, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1966, 1973, 1977, 1988
Oklahoma71950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985, 2000
Miami (FL)51983, 1987, 1989, 1991, 2001
USC51962, 1967, 1972, 2003, 2004
Minnesota41936, 1940, 1941, 1960
Nebraska41970, 1971, 1994, 1995
so your sayin nebraska in "97 and usc in "94 dont go down as national champions...they do. most people go by the modern era..1938 to present using the ap and the upi(coaches poll). bama has 9.
 

JeffAtlanta

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so your sayin nebraska in "97 and usc in "94 dont go down as national champions...they do. most people go by the modern era..1938 to present using the ap and the upi(coaches poll). bama has 9.
Once the BCS system went into place, the conferences agreed that the BCS ranking system would determine the 2 top ranked teams and they would be matched up in a championship game. That is why the final AP poll is no longer relevant in the BCS era.

It's fine for programs to accept all the awards they get and claim all the championships they can dig up, but the truth of the matter is that the BCS champion is the champion, not the AP.

The AP had it's run, but it's over.
 
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JeffAtlanta

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Just because there weren't any consolidated methods in the early years doesn't mean I'm willing to take away from what those young men earned on the field. I'd like to see the tweeters out there make #15Rings a trending hash tag by January.
Once you do that, you open the door to Michigan claiming 22, Notre Dame 21, Ohio State 14, Pittsburgh, 11, LSU 8 and Auburn 5.

It just leads to championship inflation because once you start going outside of the wire services almost every year have several national champions. This championship inflation actually diminishes how dominant that Alabama has been since 1936. While Alabama has been awarded 8 or 9 titles, very few other schools can even claim 2.

Those pre-1936 games shouldn't be forgotten, but they shouldn't be lumped into the current era either. For example, when discussing the NFL, champions from the super bowl era aren't grouped together with the NFL champions of the 1920s.
 
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Bama1985

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Once you do that, you open the door to Michigan claiming 22, Notre Dame 21, Ohio State 14, Pittsburgh, 11, LSU 8 and Auburn 5.

It just leads to championship inflation because once you start going outside of the wire services almost every year have several national champions. This championship inflation actually diminishes how dominant that Alabama has been since 1936. While Alabama has been awarded 8 or 9 titles, very few other schools can even claim 2.

Those pre-1936 games shouldn't be forgotten, but they shouldn't be lumped into the current era either. For example, when discussing the NFL, champions from the super bowl era aren't grouped together with the NFL champions of the 1920s.
Good points. The NCAA recognized only the AP for a certain period in order to eliminate all of this Title inflation. Using the AP as a standard gives us a reference point that all teams across the country recognize. 15 titles is fine for us as Bama nation to celebrate within our community; it does not fly with the rest of the nation---Oklahoma fans laugh at our claim of 14 titles, however they do respect our 8 AP and 2 BCS National Titles. All college football fans have to respect the AP and BCS titles.
 

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