The 10 best teams that fell just short of repeating as national champions

Georgia will take the field Monday night against TCU with a chance at joining one of the select groups in Football Bowl Subdivision history.

By beating the Horned Frogs, the Bulldogs will become the third program since 1957 to claim back-to-back unshared national championships, joining Nebraska (1994-95) and Alabama (2011-12).

Dozens more have tried and failed to capture a second consensus title. That includes last year's Crimson Tide, who went unbeaten in winning it all in 2020 and advanced all the way to the championship game before losing to Georgia.

Will the Bulldogs seal the deal as heavy favorites against TCU? If the Frogs are able to pull off the upset, Georgia would be added to the list of teams since 1950 that made a strong run at back-to-back crowns but came up just short.

The list begins with Clemson and Alabama, the two programs that dominated the 2010s before ceding the early part of the 2020s to the Bulldogs.

2019 Clemson (14-1)

The first team in more than a century to go 15-0, the 2018 Tigers spanked Alabama in the championship game and opened the 2019 season ranked No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll. While Clemson dropped from the top spot after barely beating North Carolina 21-20 on Sept. 28, it would reach the title game against LSU unbeaten at 14-0, winners of 29 games in a row and 35 of 36. But quarterback Joe Burrow and the unstoppable Tigers humbled the Tigers 42-25 to claim the program's first championship since 2007.

2016 Alabama (14-1)

The Crimson Tide beat Clemson 45-40 in a classic shootout to claim the 2015 championship and then met the Tigers again one year later, in the second of this memorable four-game postseason series. The 2016 matchup went Clemson's way: Deshaun Watson found Hunter Renfrow for a two-yard score with a second left to beat the Tide 35-31. Alabama entered the game 14-0 with all but one win by double digits.

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2009 Florida (13-1)

The only thing that stopped Florida from playing for a second title in a row and a third in four seasons under Urban Meyer was the burgeoning Alabama dynasty, which beat the then-No. 1 Gators 32-13 in the SEC championship on the way to claiming the first of Nick Saban's six titles with the Crimson Tide. Florida rebounded to swamp Cincinnati in the Orange Bowl in the final game of Tim Tebow's college career to finish 13-1 and No. 3 in the Coaches Poll.

2005 Southern California (12-1; wins later vacated by NCAA sanctions)

After sharing the 2003 title with LSU and winning it all in 2004, the 2005 Trojans went into the Rose Bowl against Texas already listed among the greatest teams in Bowl Subdivision history. But the pundits forgot about quarterback Vince Young, who carried the Longhorns to a legendary bowl win and the national championship. Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and the rest of this star-studded cast places the 2005 Trojans high on the list of the best teams to not win it all, let alone one of the best to fail to repeat.

2002 Miami (Fla.) (12-1)

The 2001 Hurricanes are by acclimation the best team of the 21st century and deep in the conversation for the most talented team ever. The 2002 version was one defensive stop away from back-to-back titles but was called for pass interference on what would've been the final play of the title game against Ohio State. Miami would go on to lose in double overtime, a brutal and still controversial ending to what had been one of the most impressive two-year runs in college football history.

2000 Florida State (11-2)

Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke and the Seminoles topped Virginia Tech for the 1999 national championship and were double-digit favorites heading into the 2000 championship game against upstart Oklahoma, then led by second-year coach Bob Stoops. But the Seminoles' offense was clobbered by the Sooners, who held Weinke to 25 completions in 51 throws for 274 yards with a pair of interceptions to win 13-2. The Sooners were quarterbacked by Tennessee coach Josh Heupel, who finished second in the Heisman voting.

1986 Oklahoma (11-1)

The defending champs beat three teams ranked in the top nine – UCLA, Nebraska and Arkansas – and rolled past almost everyone, notching 10 wins by 28 or more points. But the Sooners were undone by a 28-16 loss in non-conference play to Miami (Fla.), which made the Hurricanes' Fiesta Bowl matchup with Penn State the de facto national championship game. The 1986 team pitched five shutouts, twice gave up only a field goal and held every opponent except for Miami to 17 or fewer points, building a case for being ranked among the top defenses of the past 40 years.

1964 Texas (10-1)

All that might've separated 1964 Texas from repeating was a two-point conversion. Down 14-7 late in the fourth quarter to Southwest Conference rival Arkansas on Oct. 18, the then-No. 1 Longhorns scored what was potentially the game-tying score with under two minutes left. But in the era before overtime play, coach Darrell Royal opted for the two-point try and the win; quarterback Marvin Kristynik's pass attempt was knocked away, sealing the Razorbacks' win. UT would go 10-1, beating Alabama in the Orange Bowl, and finish in the top five for the fourth year in a row under coach Darrell Royal.

1957 Oklahoma (10-1)

The Sooners nearly pulled off a threepeat under legendary coach Bud Wilkinson. OU went 11-0 in 1955, 10-0 in 1956 and was unbeaten through seven games heading into a home game against Notre Dame on Nov. 16, 1957. But the Fighting Irish pulled off a 7-0 upset, snapping the program's record 47-game winning streak. The Sooners would beat Duke 48-21 in the Orange Bowl and finish No. 4 in the country.

1953 Michigan State (9-1)

MSU would lose 34-7 to Maryland on Oct. 7, 1950, and then roll off 28 wins in a row. In 1952, the 9-0 Spartans beat three ranked opponents – Penn State, Purdue and Notre Dame – by a combined 52 points and were named the consensus national champs. The winning streak would end with a 6-0 loss to the Boilermakers on Oct. 24, 1953, the lone blemish for a team that would go on to beat UCLA in the Rose Bowl in coach Biggie Munn's final game and finish No. 3 in both polls.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College football repeat national champions: 10 great team that missed