The American Football Coaches Association is retroactively awarding football national championships to account for the time the organization didn't have the Coaches Poll.
Oklahoma State, then called Oklahoma A&M, is the first program to be retroactively awarded a national championship. It is for the 1945 season.
The 1945 Oklahoma A&M Aggies went 9-0, ending the regular season with a 47-0 victory over rival Oklahoma in Norman. The Aggies went on to defeat Saint Mary's 33-13 in the Sugar Bowl.
Army was the AP national champion that year, finishing 9-0, anchored by Heisman winner Doc Blanchard and future Heisman winner Glenn Davis.
When an AFCA spokesman was asked about picking Oklahoma State over Army, he said the coaches association could still pick Army as well, as a split national champion.
The AFCA said it established the retroactive awards at the request of multiple schools. It established a commission of coaches to retroactively select Coaches Trophy winners from 1922, when the AFCA was founded, up to 1949, the year before the Coaches Poll was first implemented.
"After gathering all the pertinent information and doing our due diligence, it is the pleasure of our Blue Ribbon Commission of coaches to officially recognize Oklahoma State's 1945 championship season with the AFCA Coaches' Trophy," AFCA executive director Todd Berry said in a statement.
Oklahoma State was also national champion in men's basketball in 1945-46. Henry Iba's Aggies won the second of back-to-back national basketball titles the following spring
Oklahoma State, then called Oklahoma A&M, is the first program to be retroactively awarded a national championship. It is for the 1945 season.
The 1945 Oklahoma A&M Aggies went 9-0, ending the regular season with a 47-0 victory over rival Oklahoma in Norman. The Aggies went on to defeat Saint Mary's 33-13 in the Sugar Bowl.
Army was the AP national champion that year, finishing 9-0, anchored by Heisman winner Doc Blanchard and future Heisman winner Glenn Davis.
When an AFCA spokesman was asked about picking Oklahoma State over Army, he said the coaches association could still pick Army as well, as a split national champion.
The AFCA said it established the retroactive awards at the request of multiple schools. It established a commission of coaches to retroactively select Coaches Trophy winners from 1922, when the AFCA was founded, up to 1949, the year before the Coaches Poll was first implemented.
"After gathering all the pertinent information and doing our due diligence, it is the pleasure of our Blue Ribbon Commission of coaches to officially recognize Oklahoma State's 1945 championship season with the AFCA Coaches' Trophy," AFCA executive director Todd Berry said in a statement.
Oklahoma State was also national champion in men's basketball in 1945-46. Henry Iba's Aggies won the second of back-to-back national basketball titles the following spring
