Key Highlights
- Some undefeated squads didn't get the opportunity to play for the title, while others steamrolled their way to college football glory, whether in the College Football Playoff, Bowl Championship Series or other previous playoff systems. Here's a full breakdown of the history of undefeated college football teams, including national champions. MORE: Which teams have the most wins in college football history?AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHow many undefeated teams in college football history?With college football having a complicated history within its structure, there a few ways to view the history of undefeated teams — regardless of whether they won a national championship or not.
- In total, there have likely been hundreds teams to finish a college football season unbeaten, but with varying circumstances, tiebreaker and playoff rules and number of games. Pre-1900, when college football was still free of ties and informal with plenty of differing rules, the NCAA has 26 teams on-record to finish their season unbeaten and untied, per the NCAA's 2009 Division I records report, which included any teams with a minimum of five games against opponents above the high school level.
- From 1900 to 1936, the year the AP Poll was introduced, there were an additional 133 teams to finish a season unbeaten and untied. From 1936 to 1991, the year before the Bowl Coalition was created — helping to better establish a national champion and provide better-quality bowl matchups — the NCAA has 134 teams on-record to finish a season unbeaten and untied. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFrom 1992-2013, which spans between the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance and Bowl Championship Series eras of the postseason, the NCAA has 40 teams on-record to go unbeaten and untied. However, in terms of comparing college football teams, it's easiest to assess the unbeaten teams in the College Football Playoff era, since 2014.
- Because this playoff format is still used by the NCAA, allows top teams to go head-to-head in the playoff, and limits the number of unbeaten squads, it's the easiest way to assess a "perfect" team in recent history. In the CFP era, there have been seven FBS teams to go unbeaten in a full season, six of which won the CFP championship.
- A 13-0 USF team in 2017, which was not selected to the playoff bracket, is the lone non-champion. Trimming the parameters from 1994-2025, which largely covers the most modern era of college football, there have been a total of 30 FBS teams to go undefeated in a season.