This data set contains the College Football National Champions and the organization that selected then since 1869.¹ 

About the National Championship

No sport in the United States has a larger or more rabid following than football (American Football to the rest of the world) and each year since 1869 there has been a National Champion selected.

College Football Playoff (CFP)

The College Football Playoff (CFP) is the current postseason championship tournament for the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The CFP was established in the 2014 football season.  Four teams play-off in a single elimination tournament, with the final game of the bracket being the College Football Playoff National Championship.  The four play-off teams are the top four teams in National rankings at the end of the regular football season.
_{Wikipedia / CFP logo fair use reference}

The two semi-final games are played on New Year's Day and the championship final game on the first Monday that is six or more days after the semi-finals.

Ohio State won the first CFP championship 42 to 20 over Oregon and was awarded the first College Football Playoff National Championship trophy.  The first CFP Championship game was held in Arlington, Texas in 2015.

Overcoming Title Controversy

The CFP was preceded by the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) from 1998 to 2013.  The previous BCS system used computer rankings to select the two teams playing for the National Championship.  

Prior to the BCS, polls were used to rank the top teams in the country. Over the years since 1869 there have been The preceding rankings systems were prone to controversy and each successive system for deciding the National Championship was primarily intended to find a way to eliminate controversy.  Over the years since 1869 there have been 32 years when two or more teams were considered National Champions.  The most recent controversy was in 2003 when Louisiana State got the BCS title but the AP poll declared USC the National Champion.

The College Football Playoff is not a NCAA officially sanctioned championship event, even though the NCAA is American college football's governing body.

Selecting Organizations

The organizations which executed polls or conducted analysis to determine national rankings and/or the National Championship title have changed over the years. This data set lists the organization selecting and defining the college football national champion for each year since 1869.  The selecting organizations are:

• AP - Associated Press poll
• BCS - Bowl Championship Series
• CFP - College Foot Playoff (starting with 2014 season)
• CFRA - College Football Researchers Association
• FWAA - Football Writers Association of America
• HAF - Helms Athletic Foundation
• NCF - National Championship Foundation
• NFF - National Football Foundation
• USA/ESPN - USA Today and Entertainment and Sports Programming Network
• USA/CNN - USA Today and Cable News Network
• UPI - United Press International

1. ^ Championship History (from the NCAA website)