| 1925 college football season | ||
|---|---|---|
 Dartmouth's victory over Harvard; a pass from Oberlander to Tully | ||
| Number of bowls | 1 | |
| Bowl games | January 1, 1926 | |
| Champion(s) | Alabama Dartmouth | |
| ||
The 1925 college football season ended with no clear national champion. At the close of the season, noted sports writer Billy Evans described the championship contest as "a dead heat" among Dartmouth, Tulane, Michigan, Washington, and Alabama.[1]
Dartmouth, led by halfback Andy Oberlander, compiled an 8–0 record and outscored its opponents by a total of 340 to 29. Having defeated Harvard, Cornell, and Chicago, Dartmouth was retroactively declared the national champion by the Dickinson System and Parke H. Davis.
Alabama compiled a 10–0 record and has been recognized as national champion by the Billingsley Report, Boand System, College Football Researchers Association, Helms Athletic Foundation, and others. In an intersectional game between undefeated teams, Alabama defeated Pacific Coast Conference champion Washington by a 20–19 score in the 1926 Rose Bowl; that game has been called "the game that changed the South."[2]
Michigan shut out seven of eight opponents, outscored all opponents by a total of 227 to 3, and was retroactively named a co-national champion by Jeff Sagarin. The team featured two consensus All-Americans in quarterback Benny Friedman and end Bennie Oosterbaan, a passing combination that became known as the "Benny to Bennie Show". Michigan coach Fielding H. Yost called his 1925 squad "the greatest football team I ever saw in action."[3]
Tulane also went undefeated at 9–0–1. Tulane halfback Peggy Flournoy led the nation in scoring with 128 points.[4]
Colgate, Louisville, Michigan State Normal, Hawaii, Nebraska Wesleyan, and Oberlin also had undefeated teams in 1925.
- ^ Billy Evans (December 27, 1925). "College Champ". Arizona Daily Star. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Football Game That Changed the South". The University of Alabama. Archived from the original on May 4, 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2008.
- ^ "Yost Calls 1925 Eleven Greatest: Does Not Even Except Wonderful Teams of 1901 and 1902; Rolled Up Grand 227 Point Total; Wolverine Mentor Says He's Proud to Have Coached Boys". The Hartford Courant. November 29, 1925. p. B2.
- ^ "Deserves the Place". Harrisburg Telegraph. December 12, 1925. p. 13. Retrieved November 2, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
