Which one-loss NON-national champion college football team was the best team ever?

'71 Oklahoma?
'69 Ohio State?
'02 Miami?
'86 Miami?
'05 USC?
'87 Oklahoma?
'93 Notre Dame?
'83 Nebraska?
'23 Georgia?
'11 LSU?
'16 Alabama?
'Others?

To me, losing in the last game of the season, like a bowl game, tarnishes the accolades a little bit. You lose when you had the chance to have it all. So playoff teams in the modern era, and teams like 87 Oklahoma, 83 Nebraska, 86 Miami, and others like that, are just a little less impressive than a team with an early loss, figured things out, and then won for the rest of the year, but happened to not be named national champion.

69 Ohio State is an exception. They lost their last game, which was the rivalry with Michigan, but did not go to a bowl game because the Big Ten only allowed one bowl team in a season, and it was the Rose Bowl, and you couldn't play in the Rose Bowl in consecutive years. They got ripped off at the end to see how they would do in one more game.

I don't have an answer, but if there's a team with some loss in September and October and then won out after that, with wins against impressive teams, that would be my answer.

On 5/15/2025 at 1:36 AM, xzmattzx said:

To me, losing in the last game of the season, like a bowl game, tarnishes the accolades a little bit. You lose when you had the chance to have it all. So playoff teams in the modern era, and teams like 87 Oklahoma, 83 Nebraska, 86 Miami, and others like that, are just a little less impressive than a team with an early loss, figured things out, and then won for the rest of the year, but happened to not be named national champion.

69 Ohio State is an exception. They lost their last game, which was the rivalry with Michigan, but did not go to a bowl game because the Big Ten only allowed one bowl team in a season, and it was the Rose Bowl, and you couldn't play in the Rose Bowl in consecutive years. They got ripped off at the end to see how they would do in one more game.

I don't have an answer, but if there's a team with some loss in September and October and then won out after that, with wins against impressive teams, that would be my answer.

Solid reasoning.

So what is your best team?

Either Miami

'05 USC

Recency bias in full effect, but that ‘16 Bama team would have run away with it in ‘26

83 nebraska