Of the Power 5 conferences, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) has twice as many national champions since 1990 than the second place Big 8/Big 12 Conference—12-6. During this same period, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) has four national champions, the Big 10 Conference has three and the Pacific 10/Pacific 12 Conference has two, although the 2004 champion USC Trojans had their title vacated by the NCAA for rules violations. Only schools voted number one by the Associated Press and/or the coaches’ poll at the time are included in this compilation. Dual champions were crowned in 1990, 1991 and 1997. With the advent of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) in 1998, the national title went to the winner of the BCS game. Two years ago marked the beginning of the College Football Playoff system. Listed below are the national champions since 1990 and their affiliated conference at the time.
1990 Georgia Tech (ACC), Colorado (Big 8)
1991 Miami (Big East), Washington (Pacific 10)
1992 Alabama (SEC)
1993 Florida State (ACC)
1994 Nebraska (Big 8)
1995 Nebraska (Big 8)
1996 Florida (SEC)
1997 Michigan (Big 10), Nebraska (Big 12)
1998 Tennessee (SEC)
1999 Florida State (ACC)
2000 Oklahoma (Big 12)
2001 Miami (Big East)
2002 Ohio State (Big 10)
2003 LSU (SEC)
2004 USC (Pacific 10)
2005 Texas (Big 12)
2006 Florida (SEC)
2007 LSU (SEC)
2008 Florida (SEC)
2009 Alabama (SEC)
2010 Auburn (SEC)
2011 Alabama (SEC)
2012 Alabama (SEC)
2013 Florida State (ACC)
2014 Ohio State (Big 10)
2015 Alabama (SEC)
One can argue about the best conference in college football on a year-to-year basis, but one cannot argue with the recent success of the SEC in the national title games. Since 2006, the national champion has come from the SEC, and the two times the SEC did not win the national title, the conference lost in the title game—Auburn in 2013 and Alabama in 2014. When it comes to big games the SEC has no peer. The 2016 season kicks off in about three weeks. Can’t wait!
