If you read the piece from last week when Stanford captured the belt, I made the fairly obvious observation the Dubsism College Football Heavyweight belt seemed destined to be leaving Palo Alto in the belly of Notre Dame’s charter flight back to South Bend.

Well, that’s exactly what happened last night.

13^th Championship

• 1626 : 2025 29-Nov : Notre Dame 49 , Stanford 20

As I also mentioned, it now seems a certainty our belt will find itself headed into the 12-team playoff for the first time. While Notre Dame is no stranger to the title; this being the 13^th time it’s been around the waist of “Touchdown Jesus.” However, this is the first time they’ve held it since the Lou Holtz era of nearly four decades ago.

Even then, those were two “one-and-done” reigns. That matters because what happened last night marks the 6^th time the belt has changed hands in 2025. Just like we all knew Stanford threw their lucky punch, I can’t help but think the odds of the Irish getting all the way through a play-off retaining the belt are a bit slim.

Everybody loves Notre Dame the brand, but nobody notices Notre Dame the team hasn’t beat a play-off quality team yet. Sorry, Irish faithful, but I just can’t buy a team that got fat hanging 50-ish on the likes of Arkansas, Purdue, and a service academy. Their “signature” win is over a USC team that proved time and again they can’t play defense and don’t travel well to “traditional” B1G Ten territory.

This isn’t about crapping all over Notre Dame; the fact is this really feels like 2025 has a shot to break the record for the number of times the belt changed hands in a single-season. That happened in 2020; the record now stands at 8. The reality is the Irish will have to go on the road, and if you think they can win two games at places like Oklahoma or Ole Miss, then again at Ohio State or Indiana…well, don’t bet more than you can afford to lose. Not to mention, just take a look at how many “one and dones” Notre Dame has in their history with the belt.

Then again, there is such a thing as the “Luck of the Irish.”

12^th Championship

• 1181 : 1990 24-Nov : Notre Dame 10 , Southern California 6 (lost #1182 : 1991 1-Jan : Colorado 10 , Notre Dame 9)

11^th Championship

• 1144 : 1987 14-Nov : Notre Dame 37 , Alabama 6 (lost #1145 : 1987 21-Nov : Penn State 21 , Notre Dame 20 )

10^th Championship

• 978 : 1974 21-Sep : Notre Dame 49 , Northwestern 3 (lost #979 : 1974 28-Sep : Purdue 31 , Notre Dame 20)
• 977 : 1974 9-Sep : Notre Dame 31 , Georgia Tech 7
• 976 : 1973 31-Dec : Notre Dame 24 , Alabama 23
• 975 : 1973 1-Dec : Notre Dame 44 , Miami (FL) 0
• 974 : 1973 22-Nov : Notre Dame 48 , Air Force 15
• 973 : 1973 10-Nov : Notre Dame 31 , Pittsburgh 10
• 972 : 1973 3-Nov : Notre Dame 44 , Navy 7
• 971 : 1973 27-Oct : Notre Dame 23 , Southern California 14

9^th Championship

• 907 : 1968 21-Sep : Notre Dame 45 , Oklahoma 21 (lost #908 : 1968 28-Sep : Purdue 37 , Notre Dame 22 )

8^th Championship

• 842 : 1961 18-Nov : Notre Dame 17 , Syracuse 15 (lost #843 : 1961 25-Nov : Iowa 42 , Notre Dame 21)

7^th Championship

• 803 : 1957 16-Nov : Notre Dame 7 , Oklahoma 0 (lost #804 : 1957 23-Nov : Iowa 21 , Notre Dame 13 )

6^th Championship

• 610 : 1937 9-Oct : Notre Dame 0 , Illinois 0 (Tie) (lost #611 : 1937 16-Oct : Carnegie Mellon 9 , Notre Dame 7 )
• 609 : 1937 2-Oct : Notre Dame 21 , Drake 0
• 608 : 1936 5-Dec : Notre Dame 13 , Southern California 13 (Tie)
• 607 : 1936 21-Nov : Notre Dame 26 , Northwestern 6

5^th Championship

• 596 : 1935 2-Nov : Notre Dame 13 , Ohio State 13 (lost #597 : 1935 9-Nov : Northwestern 14 , Notre Dame 7)
• 595 : 1935 26-Oct : Notre Dame 14 , Navy 0
• 594 : 1935 19-Oct : Notre Dame 9 , Pittsburgh 6

4^th Championship

• 558 : 1931 14-Nov : Notre Dame 20 , Navy 0 (lost #559: 1931 21-Nov : Southern California 16 , Notre Dame 14)
• 557 : 1931 7-Nov : Notre Dame 49 , Pennsylvania 0
• 556 : 1931 31-Oct : Notre Dame 19 , Carnegie Mellon 0
• 555 : 1931 24-Oct : Notre Dame 25 , Pittsburgh 12
• 554 : 1931 17-Oct : Notre Dame 63 , Drake 0
• 553 : 1931 10-Oct : Notre Dame 0 , Northwestern 0
• 552 : 1931 3-Oct : Notre Dame 25 , Indiana 0
• 551 : 1930 6-Dec : Notre Dame 27 , Southern California 0

3^rd Championship

• 526 : 1928 10-Nov : Notre Dame 12 , Army 6 (lost #527: 1928 17-Nov : Carnegie Mellon 27 , Notre Dame 7)

2^nd Championship

• 516 : 1927 5-Nov : Notre Dame 7 , Minnesota 7 (lost #517: 1927 12-Nov : Army 18 , Notre Dame 0 )
• 515 : 1927 29-Oct : Notre Dame 26 , Georgia Tech 7

1^st Championship

• 472 : 1923 3-Nov : Notre Dame 34 , Purdue 7 (lost #473: 1923 10-Nov : Nebraska 14 , Notre Dame 7 )
• 471 : 1923 27-Oct : Notre Dame 35 , Georgia Tech 7
• 470 : 1923 20-Oct : Notre Dame 25 , Princeton 2

In Case You Didn’t Know

Here at Dubsism, we have our own way of determining who is the #1 team in college football. Eschewing polls, debates, and the general silliness of a subjective means, we decided to go with “you’re the best until somebody beats you.” To do that, we went back to the very first college football game in 1869. Since there were only two teams, it was easy to decide the winner of that game was the best. We just took it from there.

In other words, we determine a champion just like boxing does. We know who was the original #1; tracing the path of the championship was a simple as following the winner. Even today, it remains an exercise in watching #1’s game, and crowning a new champ if they lose.

As is the tradition, here’s the full scroll of all 1,626 college football championship matches going all the way back to that very first game in 1869. Scroll down, click Page 2, and get ready for the biggest mega-scroll of your life…