This is a quick guide to some of college football’s most notable firsts and historic moments. In 2019, the sport celebrated its 150th anniversary. First, the TL/DR version:

• The first college football game was played in 1869 between Rutgers University and the College of New Jersey (now known as Princeton University).
• The first college football rules were written Nov. 23, 1876, in Springfield, Mass., by representatives from Columbia, Harvard, Princeton and Yale.
• The first college football game on the radio was the contest between West Virginia University and Pittsburgh University on Oct. 8, 1921, broadcast on Pittsburgh radio station KDKA-AM.
• The first college football game on TV was between Fordham University and Waynesburg University on Sept. 30, 1939. The game was broadcast by NBC and aired on W2XBS.
• The first use of instant replay during a college football game was in 1963 during a Dec. 7 Army vs. Navy game.
• College football rankings began in 1939 with the release of the first Associated Press poll. Other notable ranking systems include the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) rankings, which started in 1998, and the CFP (College Football Playoff) rankings, which began in 2014.
• The first Heisman Trophy was awarded to Jay Berwanger of Chicago University in 1935. The award was created by the New York Downtown Athletic Club.
• The college football team with the most wins in history is the University of Michigan. The Wolverines have accumulated 1,011 wins since their first season in 1879.
• Yale has won the most championships in college football history with 18. Alabama is second with 16 titles. 

Getty The 1883 Navy College Football team

When was the first college football game? 

The birth of American football came in 1869 on College Avenue in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The game was between Rutgers University and the College of New Jersey (now known as Princeton University). 

There were 25 players on the field for both teams and the rules were based on the London Football Association, which did not allow players to either pick up or throw the ball. The game resembled a form of soccer or rugby — something that if viewed in the context of football today, would look like one extended fumble with players trying to kick or hit the ball across the opposing team’s goal line.

 The game resulted in a 6-4 victory for Rutgers and attracted around 100 spectators.

When were the first rules established? 

Getty “The Father of American Football,” Walter Camp

Just seven years after the first game was played, representatives from Columbia, Harvard, Princeton and Yale came together to propose the first rules of what is recognized today as American football.

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The representatives met at Massasoit House in Springfield, Mass., on Nov. 23, 1876. This is where Walter Camp emerged as the legendary father of American football. Camp created guidelines fans are familiar with today such as the line of scrimmage, the center-to-quarterback snap, a system of downs and proposed that each team should have no more than 11 players on the field.

When was the first college football game on radio?

On Oct. 8, 1921, one of the early installments of the “Backyard Brawl,” the rivalry between West Virginia University and Pittsburgh University made history, as the game was the first to be broadcast across the airwaves. The game was on the first commercial radio station in the country, KDKA-AM in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh won the game 21-13. 

When was the first college football game on TV?

The first game to shoot across television screens came on Sept. 30, 1939, when Fordham hosted Waynesburg for a season-opener. The game was broadcast by NBC on W2XBS. Fordham, a powerhouse football program at the time, won, 34-7. The number of viewers was estimated to be between 500-5,000.

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Instant replay made its debut on television screens Dec. 7, 1963, during an Army vs. Navy game. The production used a 1,300-pound machine to wind back the reel and show a touchdown over again as commentator Lindsey Nelson warned viewers, “Ladies and gentlemen, Army did not score again!”

When did college football rankings begin?

Harry How | Getty Images

Levonte Whitfield celebrates after scoring during the final BCS National Championship in January 2014.

The first Associated Press rankings were released in 1936. The rankings included 20 teams and helped determine a college football champion. Minnesota was the first team to sit atop the AP rankings at the end of the season, becoming the 1936 college football champs.  

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was created in 1998. The BCS integrated a system that matched top-10 teams together in marquee bowl games at the end of the season, including putting together the No. 1 and 2 teams in a the BCS national championship game. The first BCS national championship game featured Tennessee beating Florida State 23-16.

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The College Football Playoff era began with the 2014 season. For the first decade, four teams were selected to the Playoff field, with two semifinal games and a national championship game. Starting in the 2024-25 season, the following new, expanded format was implemented:

• 12 teams will be selected to the Playoff field, with the five highest-ranked conference champions earning automatic bids
• The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded 1-4 and each will receive a first-round bye
• Teams seeded 5-12 will play each other in the first round on the home field of the higher-ranked team

The quarterfinals and semifinals rotate among six bowls: Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose and Sugar. Both semifinals will be played around the New Year’s holiday with the national title game on a Monday night at least a week later. Ohio State was the first team to win the College Football Playoff in 2014 when four teams made the bracket. 

Jaime Squire/Getty Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer lifts the CFP championship trophy after his team won the first ever College Football Playoff National Championship in January 2015.

When was the first Heisman Trophy awarded?

The Heisman Trophy award was created in 1935 and members of New York’s Downtown Athletic Club (DAC) presented the first to Jay Berwanger of Chicago University. The trophy was named after John W. Heisman in 1936. On Dec. 2, 1975, Ohio State running back Archie Griffin became the first and only player to win the Heisman Trophy in consecutive seasons.

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Heisman Trophy winners: History

YEAR WINNER SCHOOL POSITION 2024 Travis Hunter Colorado  CB/WR 2023 Jayden Daniels LSU QB 2022 Caleb Williams Southern Cal QB 2021 Bryce Young Alabama QB 2020 Devonta Smith Alabama  WR 2019 Joe Burrow LSU QB 2018 Kyler Murray Oklahoma QB 2017 Baker Mayfield Oklahoma QB 2016 Lamar Jackson Louisville QB 2015 Derrick Henry Alabama RB 2014 Marcus Mariota Oregon QB 2013 Jameis Winston Florida State QB 2012 Johnny Manziel Texas A&M QB 2011 Robert Griffin III Baylor QB 2010 Cam Newton Auburn QB 2009 Mark Ingram Jr. Alabama RB 2008 Sam Bradford Oklahoma QB 2007 Tim Tebow Florida QB 2006 Troy Smith Ohio State QB 2005 Reggie Bush* Southern California RB 2004 Matt Leinart Southern California QB 2003 Jason White Oklahoma QB 2002 Carson Palmer Southern California QB 2001 Eric Crouch Nebraska QB 2000 Chris Weinke Florida State QB 1999 Ron Dayne Wisconsin RB 1998 Ricky Williams Texas RB 1997 Charles Woodson Michigan CB/returner 1996 Danny Wuerffel Florida QB 1995 Eddie George Ohio State RB 1994 Rashaan Salaam Colorado RB 1993 Charlie Ward Florida State QB 1992 Gino Torretta Miami QB 1991 Desmond Howard Michigan WR/returner 1990 Ty Detmer BYU QB 1989 Andre Ware Houston QB 1988 Barry Sanders Oklahoma State RB 1987 Tim Brown Notre Dame WR 1986 Vinny Testaverde Miami QB 1985 Bo Jackson Auburn RB 1984 Doug Flutie Boston College QB 1983 Mike Rozier Nebraska RB 1982 Herschel Walker Georgia RB 1981 Marcus Allen Southern California RB 1980 George Rogers South Carolina RB 1979 Charles White Southern California RB 1978 Billy Sims Oklahoma RB 1977 Earl Campbell Texas RB 1976 Tony Dorsett Pitt RB 1975 Archie Griffin Ohio State RB 1974 Archie Griffin Ohio State RB 1973 John Cappelletti Penn State RB 1972 Johnny Rodgers Nebraska WR/RB 1971 Patt Sullivan Auburn QB 1970 Jim Plunkett Stanford QB 1969 Steve Owens Oklahoma FB 1968 O.J. Simpson Southern California HB 1967 Gary Beban UCLA QB 1966 Steve Spurrier Florida QB 1965 Mike Garrett Southern California HB 1964 John Huarte Notre Dame QB 1963 Roger Staubach Navy QB 1962 Terry Baker Oregon State QB 1961 Ernie Davis Syracuse HB/LB/FB 1960 Joe Bellino Navy HB 1959 Billy Cannon LSU HB 1958 Pete Dawkins Army HB 1957 John David Crow Texas A&M HB 1956 Paul Hornung Notre Dame QB 1955 Howard Cassady Ohio State HB 1954 Alan Ameche Wisconsin FB 1953 Johnny Lattner Notre Dame HB 1952 Billy Vessels Oklahoma HB 1951 Dick Kazmaier Princeton HB 1950 Vic Janowicz Ohio State HB/P 1949 Leon Hart Notre Dame End 1948 Doak Walker SMU HB 1947 Johnny Lujack Notre Dame QB 1946 Glenn Davis Army HB 1945 Doc Blanchard Army FB 1944 Les Horvath Ohio State QB/HB 1943 Angelo Bertelli Notre Dame QB 1942 Frank Sinkwich Georgia HB 1941 Bruce Smith Minnesota HB 1940 Tom Harmon Michigan HB 1939 Nile Kinnick Iowa HB/QB 1938 Davey O’Brien TCU QB 1937 Clint Frank Yale HB 1936 Larry Kelley Yale End 1935 Jay Berwanger Chicago HB *Vacated

Who has won the most games in college football history?

Although college football started with Rutgers and Princeton, a team from the Midwest has won the most games. Michigan leads all college football with 1,011 wins.  

As for the number of National Championships, Yale tops the list, followed by Alabama and Princeton. 

Programs with the most college football national titles School Number of titles Yale 18 Alabama 16 Princeton 15 Notre Dame 13 Michigan 9 Southern Cal 9 Ohio State 9 Harvard 8 Oklahoma 7 Minnesota 6 Other Notable milestones in college football

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• In 1916, Fritz Pollard became the first African American football player to participate in a Rose Bowl. Pollard went on to live a life full of football, as he would become the first African American to become an NFL head coach in 1921 (back when player-coaches were a thing), and would go on to be the first African American to play quarterback in the NFL in 1923. 
• On October 7, 1916, Georgia Tech launched itself into the college football history books as they knocked off Cumberland College by a whopping score of 222-0. No other game has come close to this blowout, as Georgia Tech scored 32 touchdowns and Cumberland committed 15 turnovers. 
• In 1958, the NCAA implemented a rule allowing two-point conversions. The rule was put into place to try and increase scoring and maintain a balance between offensive play and defensive play. The post-touchdown maneuver was tried 51.4 percent of the time during that first season. 
• In 1966, No.1 Notre Dame and No. 2 Michigan State famously tied 10-10 during a game at the end of the season, which ultimately determined the champion of the 1966 season. Regarded as one of the most controversial games in college football history, Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian decided to let the clock run from 1:10 down to zero even though Notre Dame had the ball with the game tied 10-10. After the game, Notre Dame went on to defeat Southern California to finish the season 9-0-1 and were voted champion of the NCAA by a majority of polls. 
• In the late 1990s and early 2000s, two place-kickers made history for being the first two women to score points during a college football game. Liz Heaston, for Williamette successfully kicked two extra-points for her team in 1997. Williamette was then an NAIA school but is now apart of Division III. In 2001, Ashley Martin kicked three extra points for Jacksonville State to be the first woman to score during a Division I college football game.