I’m sure you’ve all heard it. It’s rolls off the tongues of the Church of the Bear Cult just like “Rammer Jammer” and “Roll Tide”. “We’ve won 13 National Titles, Florida has 3.” Don’t believe a word of it Gators. It’s all smoke and mirrors. Go to this link.

Look here..

Interesting reading. Notice a few things. For instance, it is widely recognized in the world of college football that the AP poll and the coached poll are the “real” deciders of the National Championship. The coaches poll is now known as the BCS. It started out as the UP poll. Later became UPI, then it was ESPN. Notice that if you start at 2009 and scroll up, there are teams in bold print every year. These are the teams that won the AP and the teams that won the coaches poll. There are no bold print teams before 1950. Why is that? Could it be the before 1950 nobody took these rankings seriously?

The AP poll didn’t even exist until 1936. Notice how many of ‘Bama’s 13 occurred prior to 1936. 1925, 1926, 1930, and 1934. All shared with other undefeated teams. All given retroactively or by selectors who are less than credible. Scratch those four.

1941. This one is hilarious. A two loss ‘Bama is selected by ONE GUY! There is an undefeated team claiming the AP plus ten others and some guy named Houlgate gives it to ‘Bama and they claim it. The AP had them ranked #20 in its final poll that year.

The next time the Tide appears is 1961. They win the AP. Ohio State wins the UP. Ok that’s one. A split one but we’ll give it to you. The AP is one the two “real ones”.

‘Bama appears again in 1964 and 1965. In this time frame, the AP poll and the UP poll were not conducted at the same time every year. The AP would sometimes vote after the Bowl games while the UP would be after the regular season and before the bowls. If you read the top of the page it explains that. The coaches voted before the bowls until 1974. This puts ’65 in question. But we’ll let you have those two.

1973. Notre Dame beats Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. UP votes BEFORE the game, gives it to ‘Bama. Bama of course counts it. What if the coaches still voted after the regular season? Who was ranked #1 after the regular season this year? Sorry Bammers. Counting this one is a disservice to the ’92 team and the ’09 team. You know, teams that actually WON the bowl games.

So we’re still at three right? 1978 was a split between ‘Bama and USC. Bama got the AP, USC the UPI. Those two played each other that year. In Alabama. Guess who won? That’s right. USC. But it is in bold so we’ll let you count it. Questionable as it is. At least you did win your bowl game.

1979. Alabama was #1. No argument. Same with 1992 and 2009. So by my count that’s three undisputed, and four that we’ll give you but that are iffy. 1961, 1964, 1965,and 1978 were all split. 1973 is just a crock. So being generous you can give Alabama 7 National Titles. & is nothing to sneeze at. It’s more than double what we have. It’s more than triple FSU. It’s two more than Miami. But it ain’t 13.

But in reality, Alabama now has won THREE National Titles that are not disputed by at least one other school that has just as much if not more right to claim it. THREE? Who else can also claim that?

By: James Folsom