MacArthur Bowl

The MacArthur Bowl is a trophy awarded annually by the National Football Foundation (NFF) (owners and operators of the College Football Hall of Fame) to the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football team(s) that are recognized by the NFF as the National Champions for that season.

MacArthur Bowl

Location	College Football Hall of Fame, Atlanta, Georgia^[1]
Country	United States
Presented by	Football Writers Association of America and National Football Foundation
History
First award	1959
Most recent	Georgia
Website	National Football Foundation

Much like the NHL's Stanley Cup, the trophy is kept by the winning institution for one year, then passed on to the next year's winner. The trophy, manufactured by Tiffany & Co., is made of 400 ounces (11,000 g) of silver and is fashioned in the shape of a football stadium measuring 25 by 18 inches (64 cm × 46 cm) on its base, and 10 inches (25 cm) in height.

History

The trophy was the gift of an anonymous donor in honor of General Douglas MacArthur, a founder of National Football Foundation. The trophy features his famous quote: "There is no substitute for victory."^[2] MacArthur was known to have a keen interest in college football, Army Cadet football in particular.^[3] MacArthur had served as student manager of the Army team during his cadet days. During World War II, he sent a telegram congratulating Army on an undefeated 1944 College football season and defeat of Navy in the Army–Navy Game. The telegram read, "The greatest of all Army teams. We have stopped the war to celebrate your magnificent success."^[3][4][5]

The trophy was first presented in 1959,^[1][2] and has been presented annually since then. Since its inception, there have been occasions where the MacArthur trophy winner differed from the AP Poll winner, Coaches' Poll winner or both. From 1998 to 2013 during the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) era, the trophy was awarded to the winner of the BCS National Championship Game.

With the advent of the College Football Playoff (CFP), the winner of the CFP National Championship automatically wins the MacArthur Bowl; the trophy is presented to the winning head coach in a ceremony held at the College Football Hall of Fame in the spring following the championship game.^[6][2]

Winners

Season	Team	Conference	Head Coach	Record
1959	Syracuse	Independent	Ben Schwartzwalder	11–0
1960	Minnesota	Big Ten	Murray Warmath	8–2
1961	Alabama	SEC	Bear Bryant	11–0
1962	USC	AAWU	John McKay	11–0
1963	Texas	Southwest	Darrell Royal	11–0
1964	Notre Dame	Independent	Ara Parseghian	9–1
1965	Michigan State	Big Ten	Duffy Daugherty	9–1
1966	Michigan State Notre Dame (joint)	Big Ten Independent	Duffy Daugherty Ara Parseghian	9–0–1 9–0–1
1967	USC	AAWU	John McKay	10–1
1968	Ohio State	Big Ten	Woody Hayes	10–0
1969	Texas	Southwest	Darrell Royal	11–0
1970^[7]	Ohio State Texas (joint)	Big Ten Southwest	Woody Hayes Darrell Royal	9–1 10–1
1971	Nebraska	Big 8	Bob Devaney	13–0
1972	USC	Pac-8	John McKay	12–0
1973	Notre Dame	Independent	Ara Parseghian	11–0
1974	USC	Pac-8	John McKay	10–1–1
1975	Oklahoma	Big 8	Barry Switzer	11–1
1976	Pittsburgh	Independent	Johnny Majors	12–0
1977	Notre Dame	Independent	Dan Devine	11–1
1978	Alabama	SEC	Bear Bryant	11–1
1979	Alabama	SEC	Bear Bryant	12–0
1980	Georgia	SEC	Vince Dooley	12–0
1981	Clemson	ACC	Danny Ford	12–0
1982	Penn State	Independent	Joe Paterno	11–1
1983	Miami (FL)	Independent	Howard Schnellenberger	11–1
1984	BYU	WAC	LaVell Edwards	12–0
1985	Oklahoma	Big 8	Barry Switzer	11–1
1986	Penn State	Independent	Joe Paterno	12–0
1987	Miami (FL)	Independent	Jimmy Johnson	12–0
1988	Notre Dame	Independent	Lou Holtz	12–0
1989	Miami (FL)	Independent	Dennis Erickson	11–1
1990	Colorado	Big 8	Bill McCartney	11–1–1
1991	Washington	Pac-10	Don James	12–0
1992	Alabama	SEC	Gene Stallings	13–0
1993	Florida State	ACC	Bobby Bowden	12–1
1994	Nebraska	Big 8	Tom Osborne	13–0
1995	Nebraska	Big 8	Tom Osborne	12–0
1996	Florida	SEC	Steve Spurrier	12–1
1997	Michigan	Big Ten	Lloyd Carr	12–0
1998	Tennessee	SEC	Phillip Fulmer	13–0
1999	Florida State	ACC	Bobby Bowden	12–0
2000	Oklahoma	Big 12	Bob Stoops	13–0
2001	Miami (FL)	Big East	Larry Coker	12–0
2002	Ohio State	Big Ten	Jim Tressel	14–0
2003	LSU	SEC	Nick Saban	13–1
2004	USC	Pac-10	Pete Carroll	13–0
2005	Texas	Big 12	Mack Brown	13–0
2006	Florida	SEC	Urban Meyer	13–1
2007	LSU	SEC	Les Miles	12–2
2008	Florida	SEC	Urban Meyer	13–1
2009	Alabama	SEC	Nick Saban	14–0
2010	Auburn	SEC	Gene Chizik	14–0
2011	Alabama	SEC	Nick Saban	12–1
2012	Alabama	SEC	Nick Saban	13–1
2013	Florida State	ACC	Jimbo Fisher	14–0
2014^[6]	Ohio State	Big Ten	Urban Meyer	14–1
2015	Alabama	SEC	Nick Saban	14–1
2016	Clemson	ACC	Dabo Swinney	14–1
2017^[8]	Alabama	SEC	Nick Saban	13–1
2018	Clemson	ACC	Dabo Swinney	15–0
2019^[9]	LSU	SEC	Ed Orgeron	15–0
2020	Alabama	SEC	Nick Saban	13–0
2021	Georgia	SEC	Kirby Smart	14-1

By school

School	Number	Seasons
Alabama	10	1961, 1978, 1979, 1992, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2020
USC	5	1962, 1967, 1972, 1974, 2004
Notre Dame	5	1964, 1966, 1973, 1977, 1988
Ohio State	4	1968, 1970, 2002, 2014
Miami (FL)	4	1983, 1987, 1989, 2001
Texas	4	1963, 1969, 1970, 2005
Clemson	3	1981, 2016, 2018
Florida	3	1996, 2006, 2008
Florida State	3	1993, 1999, 2013
LSU	3	2003, 2007, 2019
Nebraska	3	1971, 1994, 1995
Oklahoma	3	1975, 1985, 2000
Georgia	2	1980, 2021
Michigan State	2	1965, 1966
Penn State	2	1982, 1986
Auburn	1	2010
BYU	1	1984
Colorado	1	1990
Michigan	1	1997
Minnesota	1	1960
Pittsburgh	1	1976
Syracuse	1	1959
Tennessee	1	1998
Washington	1	1991

See also

• AFCA National Championship Trophy
• AP National Championship Trophy
• Grantland Rice Trophy
• BCS National Championship Game
• College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy
• NCAA Division I-A national football championship

References

1. Tucker, Tim (April 25, 2015). "Hall of Fame provides new home for treasured old trophy". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
2. "The MacArthur Bowl". footballfoundation.org. National Football Foundation.
3. *Manchester, William (1983), American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880–1964, Laurel, ISBN 0-440-30424-5
4. *Whittingham, Richard. (December 1985). Saturday Afternoon: College Football and the Men Who Made the Day: Workman Pub Co. ISBN 0-89480-933-4
5. Michael Mandelbaum. (2005). The Meaning Of Sports: Why Americans Watch Baseball, Football, and Basketball and What They See When They Do. PublicAffairs publishing ISBN 1-58648-330-7
6. "Ohio State Recognized as 2014 NFF MacArthur Bowl Recipient". footballfoundation.org (Press release). National Football Foundation. January 13, 2015.
7. "MacArthur Winners". The News–Messenger. Fremont, Ohio. December 9, 1970. Retrieved November 1, 2022. Ohio State football Coach Woody Hayes and Texas coach Darrell Royal accept the MacArthur Bowl which was awarded jointly to their teams as the best of 1970 at the award dinner of the National Football Foundation
8. . www.footballfoundation.org (Press release). National Football Foundation. January 9, 2018. Archived from the original on January 10, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
9. Journal-Constitution, The Atlanta. "LSU will be presented MacArthur Bowl in Atlanta". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved January 26, 2020.

External links

• National Football Foundation official website