1926 college football season The 1926 college football season was the first to attempt recognition of a national champion . Stanford University , coached by Glenn " Pop " Warner , was the # 1 team in the nation under the Dickinson System , and awarded the Rissman Trophy . Unbeaten Stanford ( 10 - 0 - 0 ) faced unbeaten Alabama ( 9 - 0 - 0 ) in the Rose Bowl at Pasadena and the two teams played to a 7 - 7 tie . Meanwhile , Parke H . Davis , a renowned football historian and football rules committee member , declared Lafayette College ( 9 - 0 - 0 ) national champions in Spalding ' s Football Guide . Subsequently , the Leopards are recognized as a co - national champion in the 1926 season . Major conferences that existed in 1926 were the Western Conference ( today ' s Big Ten ) , the Pacific Coast Conference ( now the Pac - 10 ) , the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association ( MVIAA , forerunner of the Big 12 ) , the Southwest Conference , and the Southern Conference ( whose members later formed the SEC and the ACC ) . The Dickinson ratings considered strength of schedule , in that a win , loss or tie against a " strong " opponent was worth more than one against a lesser team , and the results were averaged . September . September 18 A few schools opened their seasons early , as Stanford beat Fresno State 44 - 0 . On September 25 Stanford beat visiting Caltech , 13 - 0 and USC defeated Whittier 74 - 0 ; Brown beat the University of Rhode Island , 14 - 0 and Pennsylvania ( which had all 9 of its games scheduled at home in Philadelphia ) shut out Franklin & Marshall , 41 - 0 . Lafayette beat Muhlenberg College 35 - 0 In the South , defending Rose Bowl champion Alabama beat Millsaps College ( Jackson , Miss ) 54 - 0 . Tennessee defeated Carson - Newman , 13 - 0 . October . October 2 Navy opened its season with a 17 - 13 win over Purdue , while Army started with a 21 - 0 win over Mercy College of Detroit . Brown beat Colby College ( of Maine ) , 35 - 0 and Pennsylvania beat Johns Hopkins , 40 - 7 . Lafayette won again , beating Schuylkill ( which later was merged with Albright College ) 47 - 0 ; Stanford defeated Occidental 19 - 0 and USC defeated Santa Clara 42 - 0 . Alabama played Vanderbilt at Nashville and won 19 - 7 ; Tennessee beat North Carolina , 34 - 0 . Ohio State opened its season with a 40 - 0 win over Wittenberg University , while Michigan started with a 42 - 3 win over visiting Oklahoma State . Northwestern opened its season with a 34 - 0 win over visiting South Dakota . Notre Dame tuned up with a game against Wisconsin ' s Beloit College , winning 77 - 0 . In the Missouri Valley , Kansas State beat Texas , 13 - 3 . October 9 At Annapolis , Navy ' s football team played a doubleheader , albeit with two different squads . The varsity beat a weak Drake University team , 24 - 7 , and the reserves beat Richmond , 26 - 0 . Army defeated West Virginia ' s Davis & Elkins College , 21 - 7 . Lafayette beat Pittsburgh , 17 - 7 and Pennsylvania beat Swarthmore , 44 - 0 . Ohio State played Ohio Wesleyan and won 47 - 0 and Northwestern beat Minnesota ' s Carleton College , 31 - 3 . Michigan crushed Michigan State , 55 - 3 , in a conference game . Notre Dame won at Minnesota , 19 - 7 Stanford had a 7 - 3 victory over an amateur team , the Olympic Club ( from San Francisco ) . USC defeated a strong Washington State team , 16 - 7 Alabama beat Mississippi State 26 - 7 at a game in Meridian , Mississippi , while Tennessee won at LSU , 14 - 7 . Kansas State won at Creighton 12 - 0 . October 16 In New York , Columbia University hosted Ohio State in an intersectional game , and lost , 32 - 7 . Brown defeated Bates College 27 - 14 in Providence , while in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania hosted Chicago and won 27 - 0 . Navy won at Princeton 27 - 13 , while Army played a strong Syracuse team and won 27 - 21 . Lafayette beat Dickinson 30 - 7 . Stanford defeated Nevada 33 - 0 , and USC beat Occidental , 28 - 6 At Atlanta , Alabama beat Georgia Tech 21 - 0 . Tennessee had beaten Maryville the day before , 6 - 0 . Notre Dame beat visiting Penn State , 28 - 0 . In Western Conference play , Michigan beat Minnesota , 20 - 0 , Northwestern defeated Indiana 20 - 0 , and Illinois beat Iowa 13 - 6 . Kansas State defeated Kansas , 27 - 0 . October 23 Brown played its first Ivy opponent , winning 7 - 0 at Yale . Pennsylvania beat Williams College , 36 - 0 . Navy beat Colgate , 13 - 7 , and Army beat Boston University 41 - 0 . Lafayette defeated Albany , 30 - 7 . Notre Dame won at Northwestern , handing the Wildcats their first defeat , 6 - 0 , with Rockne ' s reserves scoring on a touchdown pass . Alabama had a 2 - 0 win over Sewanee ; Tennessee beat Centre College , 30 - 7 . In Pacific Coast Conference games , Stanford won 29 - 12 at Oregon , and USC beat California at Berkeley , 27 - 0 . In Western Conference play , Ohio State beat Iowa 23 - 6 and Michigan beat Illinois 13 - 0 . Kansas State went to 5 - 0 - 0 , winning at Oklahoma , 15 - 12 . October 30 Navy ( 5 - 0 - 0 ) and Michigan ( 4 - 0 - 0 ) played in Baltimore in an intersectional match of unbeatens . Though the Wolverines were heavily favored , Navy blocked a field goal and held Michigan 2 yards from goal in the first half ; Hamilton of Navy kicked a field goal , made a key interception to set up a touchdown , and added the point after for a 10 - 0 win . In Los Angeles , another big game between unbeatens matched Stanford and Southern California ( USC ) , both 5 - 0 - 0 , faced off . USC scored first , but Dick Hyland blocked the extra point ; after a second Trojan touchdown , the kick failed , and USC had a 12 - 0 lead . Stanford scored , but the extra point kick hit the upright , and it was 12 - 6 at halftime . Biff Hoffman ' s pass to Dick Hyland tied the game for Stanford , and George Bogue ' s point after kick proved to be the winning margin in Stanford ' s 13 - 12 win . Lafayette and Washington & Jefferson were both 5 - 0 - 0 when they met in Philadelphia ; the Presidents lost to Lafayette , 16 - 10 At Champaign , Illinois ( 4 - 1 - 0 ) hosted unbeaten ( 5 - 0 - 0 ) Pennsylvania , and won 3 - 0 , while at Atlanta , Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech 12 - 0 . Alabama defeated LSU , 24 - 0 and Tennessee won at Mississippi State , 33 - 0 . Army won at Yale , 33 - 0 and Brown won at Dartmouth , 10 - 0 . Ohio State won at the University of Chicago , 18 - 0 . , and Northwestern won its rematch with the Hoosiers at Indiana , 21 - 0 . Kansas State went to 5 - 0 - 0 in beating Arkansas , 16 - 7 . November . November 6 Navy played an easy opponent in West Virginia Wesleyan College , winning 53 - 7 . Army won its sixth straight , a 55 - 0 whitewash of Franklin & Marshall . Lafayette won again , beating Rutgers 37 - 0 ; Brown beat Norwich College , 27 - 0 and Pennsylvania beat Penn State , 3 - 0 . Alabama beat Kentucky 14 - 0 and Tennessee beat Sewanee 12 - 0 . Stanford beat Santa Clara 33 - 14 , while USC was idle . Michigan beat Wisconsin , 37 - 0 , Northwestern beat Purdue 22 - 0 , and Illinois won at Chicago 7 - 0 . Ohio State defeated Wilmington , 13 - 7 . Notre Dame won at Indiana , 26 - 0 . In Milwaukee , Kansas State suffered its first defeat , losing to Marquette , 14 - 0 . On Armistice Day ( November 11 , USC ( 5 - 1 - 0 ) and Oregon State ( 4 - 0 - 0 ) played at Portland , OR . USC won 17 - 7 . November 13 In Yankee Stadium , Notre Dame and Army , both 6 - 0 - 0 , faced off in another battle of powerhouses . The Fighting Irish handed the Cadets their first defeat , 7 - 0 . In Columbus , Ohio State ( 6 - 0 - 0 ) hosted conference rival Michigan ( 5 - 1 - 0 ) . The visitors won by a point , 17 - 16 . Tennessee ( 7 - 0 ) and Vanderbilt ( 6 - 1 ) faced off in Nashville , and the Vols suffered their first defeat , 20 - 3 . Stanford ( 8 - 0 - 0 ) hosted Washington State ( 7 - 1 - 0 ) in another big PCC game , and won , 29 - 10 . Northwestern , meanwhile , beat Chicago 38 - 7 . Illinois defeated Wabash 27 - 13 Navy defeated Georgetown University , 10 - 7 , and Lafayette recorded a fourth shutout , over Susquehanna , 68 - 0 ; Alabama beat Florida , 49 - 0 ; Kansas State lost again , at Nebraska , 3 - 0 . Brown won at Harvard , 21 - 0 and Pennsylvania beat Columbia 3 - 0 . November 20 Navy played Loyola College of Baltimore , winning 35 - 13 , and Army beat Ursinus , 21 - 15 . Lafayette completed its season with a 35 - 0 win in its annual game against Lehigh Brown defeated New Hampshire , 40 - 12 , to extend its record to 9 - 0 - 0 . Ohio State closed its season with a 7 - 6 win at Illinois , while Michigan recorded the same score in a rematch against the Gophers at Minnesota . Northwestern defeated Iowa , 13 - 6 . All three schools finished 7 - 1 - 0 , with Michigan and Northwestern being 5 - 0 in Western Conference play . Notre Dame beat Drake , 21 - 0 . Kansas State , after winning its first five , lost its next three , including a 3 - 2 defeat by visiting Iowa State ; the Wildcats ' final record was 5 - 3 - 0 . USC defeated Idaho , 38 - 6 . Stanford closed the regular season with its traditional finale against California . Though the Golden Bears had the home field , they were also having their first losing season since 1916 , when their program began . California lost , 41 - 6 . On Thanksgiving Day , November 25 , Alabama hosted Georgia winning 33 - 6 , and USC crushed Montana , 61 - 0 . Pennsylvania closed its season with a 10 - 10 tie with Cornell . On November 27 , Notre Dame was shocked by Carnegie Tech , 19 - 0 . The 1926 Army - Navy game took place in Chicago . Navy , at 9 - 0 - 0 , was unbeaten , while Army ( 7 - 1 - 0 ) had a single loss , to Notre Dame . The two teams played to a 21 - 21 tie . In Providence , Brown and Colgate tied , 10 - 10 . December 4 In Los Angeles , Notre Dame closed its season with a 13 - 12 win over USC . At season ' s end , there were two " unbeaten and untied " teams , the Indians ( later , " the Cardinal " ) of Leland Stanford University , and the Crimson Tide of the University of Alabama . Alabama , which had won the Rose Bowl at the beginning of 1926 , was invited to return to Pasadena to face Stanford ' s PCC champion team . Conference standings . The following is an incomplete list of conference standings : Dickinson System . The AP sportswriters ' poll would not begin continuously until 1936 . ( although , the first time was a one instance publishing in 1934 ) Frank G . Dickinson , an economics professor at the University of Illinois , had invented the Dickinson System to rank colleges based upon their records and the strength of their opposition . The system was originally designed to rank teams in the Big Nine ( later the Big Ten ) conference . Chicago clothing manufacturer Jack Rissman then persuaded Dickinson to rank the nation ' s teams under the system , and awarded the Rissman Trophy to the winning university . Although Dickinson retroactively applied the system to the 1924 and 1925 seasons , the year 1926 was the first in which the trophy was awarded at season ' s end . In 1926 , the results were given on December 17 . The system awarded 30 points for a win over a " strong team " , and 20 for a win over a " weak team " . Losses were awarded points ( 15 for loss to a strong team , 10 for loss to a weak team ) . Ties were treated as half a win and half a loss ( 22 . 5 for a tie with a strong team , 15 for a tie with a weak team ) . An average was then derived by dividing the points by games played . Professor Dickinson ' s ratings were unfavorable to Alabama , which won all nine of its regular season games , but were given an average rating of 16 . 67 , less than the average for wins over weak ( 20 . 00 point ) contenders . Alabama was the only Southern team in the 1926 rankings . Rose Bowl . United Press called the 1927 Rose Bowl " the football championship of America " , and the game was considered the most exciting in the series up to that time . The crowd of 68 , 000 set an attendance record . Stanford ' s George Bogue missed an 18 yard field goal attempt in the first quarter , then threw a touchdown pass to Ed Walker and kicked the point after to put Stanford up , 7 - 0 . The Indians held that lead through most of the rest of the game , but in the final minutes , they were forced to punt on fourth down . Frankie Wilton ' s kick was blocked , and Alabama took over 14 yards from goal . Four plays later , and with a minute left , Jimmy Johnson carried the ball for a touchdown , making it 7 - 6 . The two point conversion , and overtime , were decades in the future . Stanford ' s only hope was to block the point after , but Alabama ran the play quickly and Herschel Caldwell ' s kick tied Stanford , and took away an Indian victory in the final minute .