Why is it always when there is a split, that it is only Bama's side of the split that doesn't count ?
If Bama only didn't count 1941, every other claim is legitimate, with '73 being the most specious.
The 4 Bama claims before the poll era, were all undefeated, untied seasons, each one ending in a Rose Bowl win, the first 3 of which was when it was the only bowl in the country. The only exception was in '26 when undefeated/united Bama played Pop Warner's undedfeated/untied Stanford team to a tie - they make a claim on the title. All 4 Bama opponents were undefeated with '25 Wash and '34 Stanford having a tie.
In the 21 years that Bama played in the Rose Bowl, 25-45, Bama was 4-1-1 against the home standing PCC, the rest of the country was 4-11. Of course, as you say, bowl participation was different then, but it still mattered to most. But anyway, Bama certainly had a legitimate claim to those 4 pre-poll titles. What can anyone say about a wire service poll ? The South certainly never got the benefit of the doubt.