The Grantland Rice Trophy or Grantland Rice Award was an annual award presented in the United States from 1954 to 2013 to the college football team recognized by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) as the national champions.
Named for the legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice, the trophy was presented annually after the college football bowl games. A committee of five writers from different areas was appointed each season to select a champion by secret ballot. Voting was conducted initially by a positional voting system but after 1994 by a single-team vote. Beginning in 2002, the FWAA also began issuing a national poll to go along with the Grantland Rice Trophy. The top team in the final poll was awarded the trophy. The trophy itself consisted of a bronze football atop a four-sided pedestal.
On August 26, 2010, the FWAA announced that the 2004 award presented to the USC Trojans had been rescinded, the first time in the award's history that a winner has vacated the honor. The FWAA declined to name a replacement for that year's award.
With the advent of the College Football Playoff (CFP) for the 2014 season, the FWAA quietly retired the Grantland Rice Trophy, joining with the National Football Foundation (NFF) to instead publish the FWAA-NFF Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll during the regular season, with the CFP champion automatically receiving the NFF's MacArthur Bowl Trophy.
Winners Season Team Conference Head coach Record 1954 UCLA Pacific Coast Henry Russell Sanders 9–0 1955 Oklahoma Big 7 Bud Wilkinson 11–0 1956 Oklahoma Big 7 Bud Wilkinson 10–0 1957 Ohio State Big Ten Woody Hayes 9–1 1958 Iowa Big Ten Forest Evashevski 8–1–1 1959 Syracuse Independent Ben Schwartzwalder 11–0 1960 Ole Miss SEC Johnny Vaught 10–0–1 1961 Ohio State Big Ten Woody Hayes 8–0–1 1962 USC AAWU John McKay 11–0 1963 Texas Southwest Darrell Royal 11–0 1964 Arkansas Southwest Frank Broyles 11–0 1965 Alabama Michigan State (joint) SEC Big Ten Bear Bryant Duffy Daugherty 9–1–1 10–1 1966 Notre Dame Independent Ara Parseghian 9–0–1 1967 USC AAWU John McKay 10–1 1968 Ohio State Big Ten Woody Hayes 10–0 1969 Texas Southwest Darrell Royal 11–0 1970 Nebraska Big 8 Bob Devaney 11–0–1 1971 Nebraska Big 8 Bob Devaney 13–0 1972 USC Pac-8 John McKay 12–0 1973 Notre Dame Independent Ara Parseghian 11–0 1974 USC Pac-8 John McKay 10–1–1 1975 Oklahoma Big 8 Barry Switzer 11–1 1976 Pittsburgh Independent Johnny Majors 12–0 1977 Notre Dame Independent Dan Devine 11–1 1978 Alabama SEC Bear Bryant 11–1 1979 Alabama SEC Bear Bryant 12–0 1980 Georgia SEC Vince Dooley 12–0 1981 Clemson ACC Danny Ford 12–0 1982 Penn State Independent Joe Paterno 11–1 1983 Miami (FL) Independent Howard Schnellenberger 11–1 1984 BYU WAC LaVell Edwards 13–0 1985 Oklahoma Big 8 Barry Switzer 11–1 1986 Penn State Independent Joe Paterno 12–0 1987 Miami (FL) Independent Jimmy Johnson 12–0 1988 Notre Dame Independent Lou Holtz 12–0 1989 Miami (FL) Independent Dennis Erickson 11–1 1990 Colorado Big 8 Bill McCartney 11–1–1 1991 Washington Pac-10 Don James 12–0 1992 Alabama SEC Gene Stallings 13–0 1993 Florida State ACC Bobby Bowden 12–1 1994 Nebraska Big 8 Tom Osborne 13–0 1995 Nebraska Big 8 Tom Osborne 12–0 1996 Florida SEC Steve Spurrier 12–1 1997 Michigan Big Ten Lloyd Carr 12–0 1998 Tennessee SEC Phillip Fulmer 13–0 1999 Florida State ACC Bobby Bowden 12–0 2000 Oklahoma Big 12 Bob Stoops 13–0 2001 Miami (FL) Big East Larry Coker 12–0 2002 Ohio State Big Ten Jim Tressel 14–0 2003 USC Pac-10 Pete Carroll 12–1 2004 None (The 13-0 USC Trojans were stripped of the title.) 2005 Texas Big 12 Mack Brown 13–0 2006 Florida SEC Urban Meyer 13–1 2007 LSU SEC Les Miles 12–2 2008 Florida SEC Urban Meyer 13–1 2009 Alabama SEC Nick Saban 14–0 2010 Auburn SEC Gene Chizik 14–0 2011 Alabama SEC Nick Saban 12–1 2012 Alabama SEC Nick Saban 13–1 2013 Florida State ACC Jimbo Fisher 14–0
By team Team Number Seasons Alabama 7 1965, 1978, 1979, 1992, 2009, 2011, 2012 Oklahoma 5 1955, 1956, 1975, 1985, 2000 USC 5 1962, 1967, 1972, 1974, 2003 Miami (FL) 4 1983, 1987, 1989, 2001 Nebraska 4 1970, 1971, 1994, 1995 Notre Dame 4 1966, 1973, 1977, 1988 Ohio State 4 1957, 1961, 1968, 2002 Florida 3 1996, 2006, 2008 Florida State 3 1993, 1999, 2013 Texas 3 1963, 1969, 2005 Penn State 2 1982, 1986 Auburn 1 2010 Arkansas 1 1964 BYU 1 1984 Clemson 1 1981 Colorado 1 1990 Georgia 1 1980 Iowa 1 1958 LSU 1 2007 Michigan 1 1997 Michigan State 1 1965 Ole Miss 1 1960 Pittsburgh 1 1976 Syracuse 1 1959 Tennessee 1 1998 UCLA 1 1954 Washington 1 1991
References
External links Official site