Factoid 29 - The First Full Decade of College Football: 1870 to 1879

1870 to 1869 is the first full decade of college football.

In 1870, the second season of college football, three teams - Princeton, Rutgers, and Columbia - competed in two games with Princeton winning both games. Since Princeton was undefeated, they were awarded the national championship. The next season, 1871, didn’t even happen; no games were played.

By 1879 there were seven teams in the East: Princeton; Yale; Harvard; Pennsylvania; Rutgers; Stevens; and Columbia; and they played a total of 38 games that season. Throughout the decade multiple teams would claim the national championship through one poll or another. The year 1879 was no different, as the Princeton Tigers and the Yale Bulldogs claimed national championships.

You have to wonder a bit: couldn’t the nation’s best and brightest come up with a championship tournament, and it would have been much easier to do back then? 1879 also saw the start of college football in the Midwest as the University of Michigan and Racine College had their inaugural season. The Navy played their first official game as well.