Aw heck, I enjoy the discussion so I will chime in. It seems even some of our own fans are willing to give a little when it comes to the pre-AP poll championships of 1925, 1926, 1930, and 1934. I do not, however, and I will try to explain why. Each one of those seasons were undefeated campaigns that ended with Rose Bowl victories, and in the case of 1926, a Rose Bowl tie with also undefeated Stanford. Before the mid 1930s, the Rose Bowl as the only bowl game, and while it wasn't a true National Title/Super Bowl type game, it was a game that tried to pit the very best from the West vs. the very best from the East. And in those days, Southern football was regarded about like the Sun Belt is regarded today. When Alabama went west to play Washington after the 1925 season, despite the fact that we'd given up 7 points all year, the media was giving Alabama absolutely no chance to win. They considered it laughable that we were even invited. Yet we upset them 20-19, after trailing at halftime 12-0. We literally put Southern football on the map that day. It was the same story the next year when we traveled to face Stanford. We played them to a tie, seems like it was 7-7. By 1930, folks began to give Wallace Wade and Alabama a little more respect, yet we were still underdogs to Washington State in that game. We destroyed them. By 1934, the dye was cast and no one was surprised that Dixie Howell, Don Hutson, and Paul W. Bryant led Alabama to a Rose Bowl win over Stanford.
Those 4 games literally established the South as a true football hotbed to be respected. So I choose not to give any ground when discussing these seasons. They are legit championships, and there are reasons beyond any polls or ratings systems to celebrate them as such. I don't care about 1941. I don't care that we claim it, and I wouldn't care if we stopped claiming it today. 1961 and beyond are utterly without debate, and I laugh at any rival fan who would engage in such a discussion.
Roll Tide
