Long before the Bowl Championship Series or the College Football Playoffs, national championships came about as the result of votes. The best that you could hope for was a “consensus” championship; that is, the various voters – coaches, sportswriters, etc. – would agree with their respective polls. Because of the conference bowl tie-ins, an end of season game between No. 1 and No. 2 was pretty rare.
It did happen, though, on Jan. 1, 1969 in the Rose Bowl following the 1968 season. After running the table and sitting at 9-0 (7-0 in big Ten play), the Ohio State Buckeyes were ranked No.