Has Any College Football Team Won 3 National Championships in a Row?

min read
Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs could be the first team to win three national championships in a row in several decades.
(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Chase Kiddy @chaseakiddy Oct 04, 2023, 9:23 AM
  • Since 1900, only one team has won three national championships in a row.
  • Georgia became the fifth program to go back-to-back since 1950.

Georgia absolutely decimated TCU in last season’s national championship game, rolling to a 65-7 win over the Horned Frogs in what quickly became one of the biggest blowouts in College Football Playoff history.     

It was a huge victory for anyone who backed the Bulldogs to win the title in this year’s college football odds market – either with a straight bet before the title game or with a futures bet at any point in the season.   

Now, many NCAAF fans are stopping to take into account the historical implications for Georgia, which remains the betting favorite to win the 2023 national championship.

Has Any College Football Team Won 3 National Championships in a Row?

Dating back to 1900, Minnesota is the only team to win three national championships in a row, from 1934-36. 

The Minnesota Threepeat

Prior to the installation of the BCS system in 1998, national champions were voted on by a variety of media and sport organizations. Minnesota was awarded championship acclaim by both the Helms Athletic Foundation and the National Championship Foundation in all three years.

Other teams, like Yale, can claim three-peats from the period before 1900, but the competition was so narrow that such feats were more common. 

Back-to-Back National Champions: College Football 

Before Georgia repeated as champions in 2021-22, Alabama repeated as champions in 2011-12 during the early portion of Nick Saban’s crimson dynasty. 

Other back-to-back champs from the latter half of the 20th century include Nebraska (1994-95), Alabama again (1978-79), Texas (1969-70) and Oklahoma (1955-56).

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About the Author

Chase Kiddy

Read More @chaseakiddy

Chase Kiddy is a writer for BetMGM and co-host of The Lion's Edge, an NFL and college football podcast available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere else. He has also written for a number of print and online outlets, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Washington Post, Daily News-Record, and HERO Sports. His first novel, Cave Paintings, is in development.

Chase Kiddy is a writer for BetMGM and co-host of The Lion's Edge, an NFL and college football podcast available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere else. He has also written for a number of print and online outlets, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Washington Post, Daily News-Record, and HERO Sports. His first novel, Cave Paintings, is in development.