We’re No. 1!: In AP poll, only 44 schools have made claim
Published 8:28 am Friday, August 5, 2016
In the history of college football, only 44 schools have been able to make the claim “We’re No. 1” and have The Associated Press poll back up the boast.
That means just 15 percent of the 296 schools listed as having played major college football at some point by sports-reference.com have ever held the No. 1 ranking for at least one poll. Of those 44 schools, only 21 have been No. 1 in 10 or more polls.
The first No. 1 was Minnesota in 1936. The most recent school to make the list was Mississippi State in 2014.
For the first time, AP has ranked the No. 1s by the number of times a program has held the top spot. Ohio State leads the way with 105 times. There have been a handful of ties at No. 1 over 80 seasons and each team in that situation received one-half point.