Billingsley Report

{{Short description|College football rating system}} The '''Billingsley Report''' is a college football rating system developed in the late 1960s to determine a national champion. Billingsley has actively rated college football teams on a current basis since 1970.<ref name=NCAA/> Beginning in 1999, Billingsley's ratings were included as one of seven mathematical formulas included in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) rankings.<ref name=Int>{{cite web|title=An Interview with Richard Billingsley|publisher=SC Publications|work=Playoff Guru|date=October 15, 2009|url=http://bcsguru.blogspot.com/2009/10/interview-with-richard-billingsley.html}}</ref>

Unlike the other mathematical formulas included in the BCS rankings, the Billingsley Report was not prepared by a trained mathematician or statistician.<ref name="TopBillingsley">{{cite magazine |last=O'Keefe |first=John |date=September 17, 2001 |title=Top Billingsley |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/2001/09/17/top-billingsley-one-of-college-footballs-most-unlikely-kingmakers-employs-his-website-to-explain-his-system |magazine=Sports Illustrated |page=26 |access-date=May 14, 2023}}</ref> Instead, the Billingsley Report is prepared by Richard Billingsley (born c. 1951), a lifelong college football fan in Hugo, Oklahoma.<ref name="TopBillingsley"/> Billingsley attended Texas Bible College, became a minister and later a consultant in the country music business. He began preparing his own weekly college football ratings as a hobby.<ref>{{cite news |last=Klein |first=John |title=Billingsley's report a labor of love |newspaper=Tulsa World |date=August 24, 2003 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/tulsa-world-billingsleys-report-a-labor/124348428/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The Okie inside the BCS machine |last=Carlson |first=Jenni |newspaper=The Oklahoman |date=November 27, 2013 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-oklahoman-richard-billingsley/124348354/}}</ref>

Billingsley has also applied his ratings methodology retroactively to select national champions for each year from 1869 to 1870 and from 1872 to 1969. Since 1996,<ref name=Int/> the "Billingsley Report" has been one of the selectors of historic national champions recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in its Football Bowl Subdivision record book.<ref name=NCAA>{{cite web |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2015/FBS.pdf |title=National Poll Rankings |author=National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) |year=2015 |work=NCAA Division I Football Records |publisher=NCAA |pages=105–106 |access-date=January 3, 2016 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160521052546/http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2015/fbs.pdf |archive-date=2016-05-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The NCAA describes Billingsley's methodology as follows: " The main feature of his system is the inclusion of a unique rule for head-to-head competition, with the overall system consisting of a balanced approach to wins, losses, strength of schedule, and home-field advantage. A slight weight is given to most recent performance. The Billingsley formula does not use margin of victory, however, the Billingsley MOV formula does include margin of victory in the calculations.".<ref name=NCAA/><ref name="FormulaChanges"/> Analysis shows that Billingsley's ranking system typically strongly disagrees with other computer ranking systems and more closely resembles human ranking schemes,<ref>{{cite web |title=Playing the numbers game: the BCS computers | date=9 November 2007 | publisher=SBNation |url=https://www.burntorangenation.com/2007/11/9/113217/570}}</ref> likely due to the ''ad hoc'' and often self-conflicting nature of Billingsley's many ratings adjustments, such as weighting later season games as more important than early season games, adjusting win values by stadium attendance, forcing head to head victors to be ranked above their defeated opponents (but only until their next game), and discounting the value of wins by teams with more losses.<ref>{{cite web |title=In search of a national champion | publisher=College Football Research Center |url=https://www.cfrc.com/in-search-of-a-national-champion}}</ref>

Richard Billingsley is also the owner of the College Football Research Center.<ref>{{cite web |title=Billingsley Wins Two National Awards |publisher=College Football Research Center |date=August 16, 2015 |access-date=January 3, 2016 |url=http://cfrc.com/billingsley-wins-two-national-awards/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908234009/https://cfrc.com/billingsley-wins-two-national-awards/ |archive-date=September 8, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==National champions==

Billingsley Report selections first appeared in the 1995<ref name="NCAA1995"/> edition of the NCAA records book, listing champions since 1960. In the 1996<ref name="NCAA1996"/> book these champions were joined with retrospective selections all the way back to 1869. This original set of champions was last printed in the 1999<ref name="NCAA1999"/> NCAA records book.

In 1998 Billingsley adjusted his formula in order to participate as a computer poll in the Bowl Championship Series rankings. He re-ranked all past seasons with this new formula; these new champions were printed in the 2000<ref name="NCAA2000"/>–2003<ref name="NCAA2003"/> NCAA records books.

Prior to the 2001 season, Billingsley again changed the formula in order to remove "Margin of Victory" from the system's BCS calculations. This third set of champions appeared in the 2004<ref name="NCAA2004"/>–2012<ref name="NCAA2012"/> NCAA books.

Finally, beginning in 2013,<ref name="NCAA2013"/> the NCAA records books profess to list both Billingsley's "No Margin of Victory" and "Margin of Victory" champions in cases where they differ. However, this list is ''not'' a simple superset of the previous two sets of champions.

The table below lists the 4 distinct sets of Billingsley Report national champions printed in NCAA records books since 1995. The selections are additionally sourced to the College Football Research Center website, where Billingsley made the same updates to his national champions after each change to the Billingsley Report formula.

{| class="wikitable" |- ! || Original formula || BCS (Margin of Victory) || BCS (No Margin of Victory) || Billingsley & Billingsley MOV |- ! BCS | — || 1999–2000 || 2001–2013 || — |- ! CFRC | 1997<ref name="CFRC1997">{{cite web |url=http://www.cfrc.com/ychamps.htm |title=National Champions of The Billingsley System |last=Billingsley |first=Richard |date=1998 |website=CFRC.com |publisher=College Football Research Center |access-date=July 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980507162542/http://www.cfrc.com/ychamps.htm |archive-date=May 7, 1998 |url-status=dead}}</ref> || 1998<ref name="CFRC1998">{{cite web |url=http://www.cfrc.com/html/ncyear.htm |title=Billingsley's National Champions |last=Billingsley |first=Richard |date=1999 |website=CFRC.com |publisher=College Football Research Center |access-date=July 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991128102142/http://www.cfrc.com/html/ncyear.htm |archive-date=November 28, 1999 |url-status=dead}}</ref>–2001<ref name="CFRC2001">{{cite web |url=http://www.cfrc.com/html/ncyear.htm |title=Billingsley's National Champions |last=Billingsley |first=Richard |date=2002 |website=CFRC.com |publisher=College Football Research Center |access-date=July 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020612091153/http://www.cfrc.com/html/ncyear.htm |archive-date=June 12, 2002 |url-status=dead}}</ref> || 2001<ref name="CFRC2001NMOV">{{cite web |url=http://www.cfrc.com/html/ncyear.htm |title=Billingsley's National Champions By Year |last=Billingsley |first=Richard |date=2002 |website=CFRC.com |publisher=College Football Research Center |access-date=July 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021011112956/http://www.cfrc.com/Archives/NC_Year.htm |archive-date=October 11, 2002 |url-status=dead |quote=These Champions were Derived Using The Current “No Margin” Formula.}}</ref>–2010<ref name="CFRC2010">{{cite web |url=http://www.cfrc.com/Archives/NC_Year_2010.htm |title=Billingsley's National Champions |last=Billingsley |first=Richard |date=2011 |website=CFRC.com |publisher=College Football Research Center |access-date=July 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912042133/http://www.cfrc.com/Archives/NC_Year_2010.htm |archive-date=September 12, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> || 2011<ref name="CFRC2011">{{cite web |url=http://www.cfrc.com/Archives/NC_Year_2011.htm |title=Billingsley's National Champions |last=Billingsley |first=Richard |date=2012 |website=CFRC.com |publisher=College Football Research Center |access-date=July 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113034405/http://www.cfrc.com/Archives/NC_Year_2011.htm |archive-date=November 13, 2012 |url-status=dead |quote=Billingsley MOV column}}</ref>–2020<ref name="CFRC2020">{{cite web |url=http://enc.cfrc.com/archives/NC_Year_2020.htm |title=Billingsley National Champions |last=Billingsley |first=Richard |date=2021 |website=CFRC.com |publisher=College Football Research Center |access-date=July 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920022902/https://enc.cfrc.com/archives/NC_Year_2020.htm |archive-date=September 20, 2021 |url-status=dead |quote=Billingsley MOV column}}</ref> |- ! NCAA | 1995,<ref name="NCAA1995"/> 1996<ref name="NCAA1996"/>–1999<ref name="NCAA1999"/> || 2000<ref name="NCAA2000"/>–2003<ref name="NCAA2003"/> || 2004<ref name="NCAA2004"/>–2012<ref name="NCAA2012"/> || 2013<ref name="NCAA2013"/>–2022<ref name="NCAA2022"/> |- ! Season || colspan= 4 | Billingsley Report National Champions |- || 1869 || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton |- || 1870 || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton |- || 1871 || — || — || — || — |- || 1872 || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton |- || 1873 || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton |- || 1874 || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton |- || 1875 || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton |- || 1876 || Yale || Yale || Yale || Yale |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1877 || Yale || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Yale || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Princeton || Princeton |- || 1878 || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton |- || 1879 || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton |- || 1880 || Yale || Yale || Yale || Yale |- || 1881 || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton |- || 1882 || Yale || Yale || Yale || Yale |- || 1883 || Yale || Yale || Yale || Yale |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1884 || Yale || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Yale || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Princeton || Princeton |- || 1885 || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1886 || Yale || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Yale || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Princeton || Princeton |- || 1887 || Yale || Yale || Yale || Yale |- || 1888 || Yale || Yale || Yale || Yale |- || 1889 || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton |- || 1890 || Harvard || Harvard || Harvard || Harvard |- || 1891 || Yale || Yale || Yale || Yale |- || 1892 || Yale || Yale || Yale || Yale |- || 1893 || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton |- || 1894 || Yale || Yale || Yale || Yale |- || 1895 || Penn || Penn || Penn || Penn |- || 1896 || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton || Princeton |- || 1897 || Penn || Penn || Penn || Penn |- || 1898 || Harvard || Harvard || Harvard || Harvard |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1899 || Harvard || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Harvard || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Princeton || Princeton |- || 1900 || Yale || Yale || Yale || Yale |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1901 || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Michigan || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Harvard || Harvard || Harvard |- || 1902 || Michigan || Michigan || Michigan || Michigan |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1903 || Michigan || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Michigan || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Princeton || Princeton |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1904 || Michigan || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Michigan || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Minnesota† || Minnesota† |- || 1905 || Chicago || Chicago || Chicago || Chicago |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1906 || Vanderbilt† || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Vanderbilt† || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Yale || Yale |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1907 || Penn† || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Penn† || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Yale || Yale |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1908 || Penn || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Penn || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Harvard† || Harvard† |- || 1909 || Yale || Yale || Yale || Yale |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1910 || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Auburn† || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Michigan† || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Harvard || Harvard |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1911 || Vanderbilt† || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Vanderbilt† || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Princeton || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Minnesota†<br>Princeton (Billingsley MOV) |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1912 || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Wisconsin† || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Harvard || Harvard || Harvard |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1913 || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Chicago || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Auburn† || Auburn† || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Chicago<br>Auburn (Billingsley MOV)† |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1914 || Illinois || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Illinois || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Texas† || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Illinois<br>Texas (Billingsley MOV)† |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1915 || Nebraska† || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Nebraska† || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Oklahoma† || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Minnesota†<br>Oklahoma (Billingsley MOV)† |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1916 || Pittsburgh || Pittsburgh || Pittsburgh || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Georgia Tech†<br>Pittsburgh (Billingsley MOV) |- || 1917 || Georgia Tech || Georgia Tech || Georgia Tech || Georgia Tech |- || 1918 || Michigan || Michigan || Michigan || Michigan |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1919 || Illinois || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Illinois || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Texas A&M || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Illinois<br>Texas A&M (Billingsley MOV) |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1920 || California || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | California || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Notre Dame || Notre Dame |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1921 || Iowa || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Iowa || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | California || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Iowa<br>California (Billingsley MOV) |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1922 || Iowa† || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Iowa† || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | California || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Iowa†<br>California (Billingsley MOV) |- || 1923 || Michigan || Michigan || Michigan || Michigan |- || 1924 || Notre Dame || Notre Dame || Notre Dame || Notre Dame |- || 1925 || Alabama || Alabama || Alabama || Alabama |- || 1926 || Alabama || Alabama || Alabama || Alabama |- || 1927 || Illinois || Illinois || Illinois || Illinois |- || 1928 || Georgia Tech || Georgia Tech || Georgia Tech || Georgia Tech |- || 1929 || Notre Dame || Notre Dame || Notre Dame || Notre Dame |- || 1930 || Notre Dame || Notre Dame || Notre Dame || Notre Dame |- || 1931 || USC || USC || USC || USC |- || 1932 || USC || USC || USC || USC |- || 1933 || Michigan || Michigan || Michigan || Michigan |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1934 || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Alabama || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Minnesota || Minnesota || Minnesota |- || 1935 || Minnesota || Minnesota || Minnesota || Minnesota |- || 1936 || Minnesota || Minnesota || Minnesota || Minnesota |- || 1937 || Pittsburgh || Pittsburgh || Pittsburgh || Pittsburgh |- || 1938 || Tennessee || Tennessee || Tennessee || Tennessee |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1939 || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Texas A&M || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Cornell || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Texas A&M || Texas A&M |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1940 || Minnesota || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Minnesota || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Stanford || Stanford |- || 1941 || Minnesota || Minnesota || Minnesota || Minnesota |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1942 || Ohio State || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Ohio State || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Georgia || Georgia |- || 1943 || Notre Dame || Notre Dame || Notre Dame || Notre Dame |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1944 || Army || Army || Army || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Ohio State<br>Army (Billingsley MOV) |- || 1945 || Army || Army || Army || Army |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1946 || Notre Dame || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Notre Dame || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Army || Army |- || 1947 || Michigan || Michigan || Michigan || Michigan |- || 1948 || Michigan || Michigan || Michigan || Michigan |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1949 || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Oklahoma || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Notre Dame || Notre Dame || Notre Dame |- || 1950 || Tennessee || Tennessee || Tennessee || Tennessee |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1951 || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Maryland || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Michigan State || Michigan State || Michigan State |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1952 || Michigan State || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Michigan State || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Georgia Tech || Georgia Tech |- || 1953 || Notre Dame || Notre Dame || Notre Dame || Notre Dame |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1954 || UCLA || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | UCLA || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Ohio State || Ohio State |- || 1955 || Oklahoma || Oklahoma || Oklahoma || Oklahoma |- || 1956 || Oklahoma || Oklahoma || Oklahoma || Oklahoma |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1957 || Michigan State || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Michigan State || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Auburn || Auburn |- || 1958 || LSU || LSU || LSU || LSU |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1959 || Ole Miss || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Ole Miss || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Syracuse || Syracuse |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1960 || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Iowa || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Ole Miss || Ole Miss || Ole Miss |- || 1961 || Alabama || Alabama || Alabama || Alabama |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1962 || Alabama† || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Alabama† || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Ole Miss || Ole Miss |- || 1963 || Texas || Texas || Texas || Texas |- || 1964 || Arkansas || Arkansas || Arkansas || Arkansas |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1965 || Alabama || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Alabama || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Michigan State || Michigan State |- || 1966 || Notre Dame || Notre Dame || Notre Dame || Notre Dame |- || 1967 || USC || USC || USC || USC |- || 1968 || Ohio State || Ohio State || Ohio State || Ohio State |- || 1969 || Texas || Texas || Texas || Texas |- || 1970 || Nebraska || Nebraska || Nebraska || Nebraska |- || 1971 || Nebraska || Nebraska || Nebraska || Nebraska |- || 1972 || USC || USC || USC || USC |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1973 || Oklahoma || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Oklahoma || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Notre Dame || Notre Dame |- || 1974 || Oklahoma || Oklahoma || Oklahoma || Oklahoma |- || 1975 || Oklahoma || Oklahoma || Oklahoma || Oklahoma |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1976 || USC || USC || USC{{Dubious|reason=USC is listed in NCAA books, but Pittsburgh [https://web.archive.org/web/20041208204548/http://www.cfrc.com/Archives/NC_Year_2003.htm on his website.]|date=July 2023}} || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Pittsburgh<br>USC (Billingsley MOV) |- || 1977 || Notre Dame || Notre Dame || Notre Dame || Notre Dame |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1978 || Oklahoma || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Oklahoma || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | USC || USC |- || 1979 || Alabama || Alabama || Alabama || Alabama |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1980 || Oklahoma || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Oklahoma || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Georgia || Georgia |- || 1981 || Clemson || Clemson || Clemson || Clemson |- || 1982 || Penn State || Penn State || Penn State || Penn State |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1983 || Miami || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Miami || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Auburn || Auburn |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1984 || Florida || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Florida || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | BYU || BYU |- || 1985 || Oklahoma || Oklahoma || Oklahoma || Oklahoma |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1986 || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Oklahoma || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Penn State || Penn State || Penn State |- || 1987 || Miami || Miami || Miami || Miami |- || 1988 || Notre Dame || Notre Dame || Notre Dame || Notre Dame |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1989 || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Florida State† || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Miami || Miami || Miami |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1990 || Miami || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Miami || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Colorado || Colorado |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1991 || Washington || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Washington || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Miami || Miami |- || 1992 || Alabama || Alabama || Alabama || Alabama |- || 1993 || Florida State || Florida State || Florida State || Florida State |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1994 || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Penn State || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Nebraska || Nebraska || Nebraska |- || 1995 || Nebraska || Nebraska || Nebraska || Nebraska |- || 1996 || Florida || Florida || Florida || Florida |- | bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | 1997 || Nebraska || Nebraska || Nebraska || bgcolor="#D5D5D5" | Michigan<br>Nebraska (Billingsley MOV) |- || 1998 || Tennessee || Tennessee || Tennessee || Tennessee |- || 1999 || — || Florida State || Florida State || Florida State |- || 2000 || — || Oklahoma || Oklahoma || Oklahoma |- || 2001 || — || Miami || Miami || Miami |- || 2002 || — || Ohio State || Ohio State || Ohio State |- || 2003 || — || — || LSU || LSU |- || 2004 || — || — || USC || USC |- || 2005 || — || — || Texas || Texas |- || 2006 || — || — || Florida || Florida |- || 2007 || — || — || LSU || LSU |- || 2008 || — || — || Florida || Florida |- || 2009 || — || — || Alabama || Alabama |- || 2010 || — || — || Auburn || Auburn |- || 2011 || — || — || Alabama || Alabama |- || 2012 || — || — || — || Alabama |- || 2013 || — || — || — || Florida State |- || 2014 || — || — || — || Ohio State |- || 2015 || — || — || — || Alabama |- || 2016 || — || — || — || |Clemson |- || 2017 || — || — || — || Alabama |- || 2018 || — || — || — || Clemson |- || 2019 || — || — || — || LSU |- || 2020 || — || — || — || Alabama |- || 2021 || — || — || — || Georgia |- |}

† Teams chosen solely by Billingsley amongst NCAA-designated "major selectors".

==See also== *NCAA Division I FBS national football championship

==References== <references> <ref name="FormulaChanges">{{cite news |last=Billingsley |first=Richard |date=October 21, 2001 |url=http://www.espn.com/ncf/s/formula.html |title=As the game changes, so do the formulas |work=ESPN.com |access-date=July 22, 2023 |quote=Over the years the formula has been modified four times. At the inception of the poll in 1970, the formula was heavily weighted in margin of victory. In 1975, I recognized that fact and took steps to minimize the impact scoring margins had on the results. In 1980, I modified the formula to handle tie games more effectively, which is a moot issue now with our overtime rules, and in 1998, I once again diminished the margin of victory and extended the decimal range to three digits. The most recent — and most prominent change — came in this offseason when I decided to take the scoring margin out completely.}}</ref> <ref name="NCAA1995">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/1995-ncaa-football-records-book-national-champions |title=1995 NCAA Football Records Book |publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association |date=1995 |pages=54–58 |access-date=July 15, 2023}}</ref> <ref name="NCAA1996">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/1996-ncaa-football-records-book-national-champions |title=1996 NCAA Football Records Book |publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association |date=1996 |pages=54–59 |access-date=July 15, 2023 |quote=Billingsley Report (1960–present), a mathematically based power rating system developed by Richard Billingsley of Nashville, Tennessee. His work is published annually as the Billingsley Report through his own company, the College Football Research Center. In 1996, he finished his three-year research project ranking the national champions from 1869–95. Predated national champions from 1869–1959.}}</ref> <ref name="NCAA1999">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/1999-ncaa-football-records-book-national-champions |title=1999 NCAA Football Records Book |publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association |date=1999 |pages=58–65 |access-date=July 15, 2023}}</ref> <ref name="NCAA2000">{{cite book |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/DI/2000/FBS.pdf |title=2000 NCAA Football Division I-A Records |publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association |date=2000 |access-date=May 10, 2023}}</ref> <ref name="NCAA2003">{{cite book |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/DI/2003/2003RB.pdf |title=Official 2003 NCAA Football Records |pages=73–80 |publisher=The National Collegiate Athletic Association |date=August 2003 |location=Indianapolis |access-date=May 10, 2023 |quote=Billingsley Report (1970-present), a mathematically based power rating system developed by Richard Billingsley of Nashville, Tennessee. His work is published annually as the Billingsley Report through his own company, the College Football Research Center. In 1996, he finished his three-year research project ranking the national champions from 1869-95. The research is located on the World Wide Web at www.CFRC.com. Predated national champions from 1869-1970. Member of 2002 BCS.}}</ref> <ref name="NCAA2004">{{cite book |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/DI/2004/2004RB.pdf |title=Official 2004 NCAA Football Records |pages=81–88 |publisher=The National Collegiate Athletic Association |date=August 2004 |location=Indianapolis |access-date=May 10, 2023 |quote=Billingsley Report (1970-present), a mathematically based power rating system developed by Richard Billingsley of Hugo, Oklahoma. The main feature of his system is the inclusion of a unique rule for head-to-head competition, with the overall system consisting of a balanced approach to wins, losses, strength of schedule, and home-field advantage. A slight weight is given to most recent performance. The 2004 publication represents an updated list of champions based on his ‘no margin of victory formula,’ and supersedes any previous reports. Member of 2003 BCS.}}</ref> <ref name="NCAA2012">{{cite book |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2012/fbs.pdf |title=2012 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records |publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association |date=2012 |access-date=May 12, 2023}}</ref> <ref name="NCAA2013">{{cite book |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2013/FBS.pdf |title=2013 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records |publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association |date=2013 |access-date=May 12, 2023 |quote=Billingsley Report (1970-present), a mathematically based power rating system developed by Richard Billingsley of Hugo, Oklahoma. The main feature of his system is the inclusion of a unique rule for head-to-head competition, with the overall system consisting of a balanced approach to wins, losses, strength of schedule, and home-field advantage. A slight weight is given to most recent performance. The Billingsley formula does not use margin of victory, however, the Billingsley MOV formula does include margin of victory in the calculations.}}</ref> <ref name="NCAA2022">{{cite book |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2022/FBS.pdf |title=2022 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records |publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association |date=2022 |access-date=May 12, 2023}}</ref> </references>

Category:College football championships Category:College football awards organizations