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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/Majestic-Web-367 on 2026-03-09 19:23:53+00:00.
In modern college football most people consider 8 teams to be college football blue bloods those being Notre Dame, Ohio State, Alabama, USC, Texas, Nebraska, Michigan and Oklahoma but many of these programs at points in their history had yet to achieve the success that made them blue bloods in the sport today. In this post I’m going to try to analyze the season each of these teams became a blue blood or had won enough to be considered one.
Feel free to debate these years in the comments below
Notre Dame: I was debating between 1930 which would be when Knute Rockne won his last of 3 titles for the Irish and 1943 when Frank Leahy won the Irish’s first title in the AP poll but ultimately chose 1943. By the end of the 1943 season Notre Dame would’ve won 4 national championships between two coaches, both coaches of which would be consider All-time greats in the sport of college football. By this point the Irish would’ve also gotten their first Heisman winner as well in Angelo Bertelli and were widely considered one of the premier programs in the sport. There is an argument to be made for the start of Ara Parseghian’s dynasty in the 1960s but I would argue by the point most already considered Notre Dame a blue blood.
Verdict: 1943
Alabama: For the crimson tide the debate was between 1965 and 1979. By 1965, Coach Bear Bryant would’ve won his 3rd national championshipas Alabama’s head coach but at that point the tide had only claimed Bryant’s 3 national championships. In 1979, Alabama would win their 6th national championship under Coach bear Bryant, but it wouldn’t be until 1983 that Alabama would retroactively claim 5 more championships most of which titles awarded to them from seasons prior to the poll era. Thus, I believe that 1979 would be the best year to suggest the tide as a blue blood as by that point in history Alabama would have 6 national championships from the AP poll era, coming off one of their more dominant titles seasons.
Verdict: 1979
Oklahoma: For the Sooners I tend to lean towards 1975 as the year Oklahoma became a blue blood. They’d have 5 national titles, winning their second title in a row and having two All-time coaches both of which won multiple titles. They’d already by this point compiled multiple consistently great seasons and the program would have 2 Heisman winners at this point. You could go with 1985 since by that point Oklahoma would have another title and Heisman winner, but Oklahoma would’ve already likely been considered a blue blood just because of how consistently dominant they had been.
Verdict: 1975
Ohio State: The easy answer for Ohio State would be 1968 since that year was arguable Woody Hayes best season as head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes winning the national championship for the buckeyes 5th title. However, I personally lean towards 1975 since that would be the year Archie Griffin would win his second Heisman trophy in a row giving the buckeyes their 5th Heisman winner to go along with the plethora of national championships and incredible seasons. Thus while 1968 would be an acceptable choice for the year the Buckeyes became a blue blood, I’m going to give the edge to 1975.
Verdict: 1975
Michigan: This is a pretty easy answer for me, it has to be 1923. By this point in their history, Michigan would’ve had a 4-peat of national championships from 1901 to 1904 and won multiple titles under multiple head coaches. There was a gap between their 1904 to 1918 titles but after 1923 the wolverines would have 6 national championships and would be considered by most people at the time as a premier institution for college football. You could argue that those titles had yet to be awarded due to pre-poll title being retroactive which is the reason why I chose Alabama’s year as 1979 and not 1965, but for Michigan I believe the general consensus at this time would’ve been Michigan being seen as a blue blood like a Princeton or Yale had been at one point while Alabama would really only get that recognition after the Bear Bryant era where he revived the program which had been struggling under Jennings Whitworth.
Verdict: 1923
USC: I would pick 1972. USC would’ve won their 3rd national championship under coach McKay along with the championships Howard Jones won in the pre-poll era. They would also have 2 Heisman winners at this point and had been consistently good since the 1962 season for me to give the Trojans the blue blood nod. I don’t think you can push the blue blood status date to the 1978 season as by that point they would have national championships under 3 head coaches which would be much more than enough to be considered a blue blood at the time and I also feel that by the 1974 season they were considered a blue blood by the majority.
Verdict: 1972
Nebraska: This is the easiest answer out of the entire list. The 1995 season where Nebraska completed one of the most historically dominant seasons of all time has to be the moment where the narrative shifted towards putting the cornhuskers in the blue blood conversation. They would have 4 titles under 2 head coaches and reach the peak of their 1970-2000 era of college football that by the time they won their 5th title in 1997 Nebraska would’ve already become a staple in college football history.
Verdict: 1995
Texas: I feel like the simple choice for Texas would be 1970 as that would be coach Royal’s third title. You could also go 1977 where Texas would have their 1st Heisman winner in Earl Campbell or 2005 where they would win their 1st national championship under a head coach that wasn’t Coach royal. All three of these years would fit with some of the criteria I used for the other programs. So ultimately, I’m just going to choose the point in the middle that being 1977. By that point the brand of Texas football would’ve clearly been one of the most recognizable brands in college football and the program would’ve had 3 championships and a Heisman during a time where not many programs had achieved this feat.
Verdict: 1977