1926 college football season (original) (raw)

The 1926 college football season was the first in which an attempt was made to recognize a national champion after the season. Stanford, coached by Pop Warner, was the top team in the U.S. under the new Dickinson System and was awarded the Rissman Trophy. Unbeaten Stanford (10–0) faced unbeaten Alabama (9–0) in the Rose Bowl, and the two teams played to a 7–7 tie. Seven years later, Parke H. Davis, a renowned football historian and football rules committee member, declared Lafayette (9–0), where he had previously coached, an "Outstanding Nationwide Team" in Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide. Davis' work has been criticized for having a heavy Eastern bias, with little regard for the South and the West Coast.