Before the now-defunct BCS days, NCAAF national championships were voted on. If a team that had been voted #1 at the end of the season won their bowl game, they would be voted National Champions. If not, someone else would back in.
With that, were there any National Champions that didn’t really deserve it. For example, a team that finishes 11-0, but faced four teams with winning records vs. a team that was 10-1 with six opponents with winning records. The 10-1 team had a less successful record, but a stronger schedule, so (just IMO), they should be ranked higher.
The only one I can think of is possibly Brigham Young in the 1984 season. They finished 13-0 beating 6-6 Michigan in the Holiday Bowl, having previously faced four teams with winning records.
The coaches’ poll in 1973 awarded Alabama the national title, who then lost the Sugar Bowl to Notre Dame.
In 1990 Colorado had a controversial win over Missouri (the “5th down game”). They would finish the season 11-1-1 and share the title with Georgia Tech who went 11-0-1. Without that win they’re 10-2-1 and likely not in the conversation.
I still remain shocked that not very many voters didn’t downrate Colorado after all of that, where unless I am missing something voters have total freedom to vote based on whatever grounds they can.
AFAIK, the only two restrictions have been, (1) there was a time, and this may still be the case, where a coach couldn’t vote for their own team, or at least rank then #1, and (2) in the BCS era, the coaches were required to vote the BCS championship game winner #1; I think that was because the NCAA only “treated” poll national champions as “national champions,” and even at that, it just meant that the school and conference could give the players “national championship” rings (and Auburn and Central Florida have both managed to get around that). I think three coaches voted USC #1 the year it was left out anyway, and as a result, all three were replaced in the poll the following season.
One thing I remember about the “fifth down” game; on the “fourth down,” the Colorado QB spiked the ball. Obviously, that wouldn’t have happened had they known that it really was fourth down, so you can’t say for certain that the fifth down decided the game.
This is what most people forget about that controversial call. Had Colorado known it was 3rd down on the previous play, it’s likely that they would not have run the ball, knowing that they may not have had enough time to get off another play.
It was definitely a clip. The defender probably would not have tackled Rocket Ismail on the punt return, but it was a clip.
BYU in 1984 was probably the weakest team to ever be named national champions. They opened with a signature win at #3 ranked Pitt, who ended the year 3-7-1. They did not play another ranked team that season. They won the Holiday Bowl to end the season against a Michigan team that came into the game with a 6-5 record.