Games that decided the national championship of college football (Part 1)

Some of these have gone down as among the greatest games in college football history:

1963 Rose Bowl - #1 USC vs. #2 Wisconsin
While the national championship had already been decided due to the vote happening BEFORE the postseason, this game is significant as being the first #1 vs. #2 match-up in a bowl game.

1964 Cotton Bowl - #1 Texas vs. #2 Navy
Heisman Trophy winner Roger Staubach leads his Navy teammates against the national champion Texas Longhorns.

1966 Orange Bowl - #3 Nebraska vs. #4 Alabama
The first de facto national championship game as this was the first year a major poll (the Associated Press) decided to wait until AFTER the postseason to vote on a national champion. As #1 Michigan State and #2 Arkansas had lost their bowl games, this nationally televised match-up in the Orange Bowl turned into the first "national championship game" the college football postseason had seen during the Poll Era.

1966 #1 Notre Dame vs. #2 Michigan State
In a "Game of the Century" match-up which occurred in the final weekend of the 1966 college football season, Notre Dame and Michigan State played each other to a 10-10 tie.

1969 Rose Bowl - #1 Ohio State vs. #2 USC
The final college football game of USC RB O.J. Simpson's career. This was only the second time a postseason football game decided the national championship for college football.

1969 #1 Texas vs. #2 Arkansas
A game that President Richard Nixon attended in person saw the national championship decided in the second "Game of the Century" of the 1960s.

1971 #1 Nebraska vs. #2 Oklahoma
In another "Game of the Century" match-up that many consider the greatest college football game ever played, this game all but decided the Associated Press national champion for 1971.

1972 Orange Bowl - #1 Nebraska vs. #2 Alabama
After clinching the Coaches Poll national title after their win over Oklahoma in the regular season, top-ranked Nebraska was now battling it out against second-ranked Alabama for the AP national championship.

1973 Sugar Bowl - #1 Alabama vs. #3 Notre Dame
In what might have been the most watched game in college football history, two of the most storied programs in college football history battled it out on New Years Eve for the AP national championship of 1973.

1978 Cotton Bowl - #1 Texas vs. #5 Notre Dame
A Fighting Irish team led by Joe Montana was able to upset top-ranked Texas 38-10 to jump all other teams to finish #1 in 1977.

1979 Sugar Bowl - #1 Penn State vs. #2 Alabama
In a defensive struggle for the ages, two very physical traditional powers battled it out for supremacy and the AP national championship.

1983 Sugar Bowl - #1 Georgia vs. #2 Penn State
Joe Paterno wins his first national championship as his Penn State football team, quarterbacked by Todd Blackledge, emerged victorious by the final score of 27-23.

1984 Orange Bowl - #1 Nebraska vs. #5 Miami
In one of the great games in college football history, Miami managed to upset the vaunted Nebraska Cornhuskers to claim the national championship for 1983.

1986 Orange Bowl - #1 Penn State vs. #3 Oklahoma
Barry Switzer wins his third and final championship with the Oklahoma Sooners as they upset Penn State in the Orange Bowl by a score of 25-10.

1987 Fiesta Bowl - #1 Miami vs. #2 Penn State
Penn State returns to the national championship game, only this time they are facing a buzzsaw in the 1986 version of the Miami Hurricanes.

1988 Orange Bowl - #1 Oklahoma vs. #2 Miami
Miami returns to the national championship game to avenge their loss against the Penn State Nittany Lions from a year before.