Six degrees of the belt
Every program that has held the belt took it from someone and lost it to someone. That makes a web: 106 holders, 258 pairs that have traded it, 334 changes of hands. Pick any two programs and follow the shortest chain of real games between them. No two holders are more than 9 handoffs apart.
Farthest apart (9 degrees):
Most connected
Programs that have traded the belt with the most different opponents
1Alabama15 programs11 reigns2Notre Dame13 programs9 reigns3Ohio State13 programs9 reigns4Auburn12 programs9 reigns5Baylor12 programs8 reigns6Clemson12 programs6 reigns7Tennessee12 programs7 reigns8USC12 programs13 reigns9Washington12 programs11 reigns10LSU11 programs8 reignsCenter of the web
Closest, on average, to every other holder
1Notre Dame2.51 degreesaverage distance to every other holder2Alabama2.61 degreesaverage distance to every other holder3Ohio State2.61 degreesaverage distance to every other holder4USC2.66 degreesaverage distance to every other holder5Penn State2.69 degreesaverage distance to every other holder6Clemson2.75 degreesaverage distance to every other holder7Miami2.75 degreesaverage distance to every other holder8Stanford2.81 degreesaverage distance to every other holder9Michigan2.83 degreesaverage distance to every other holder10Tennessee2.89 degreesaverage distance to every other holderBusiest corridors
The pairs the belt has passed between most often
7×Princeton ↔ Yalelast 1903the belt has passed between them 7 times6×Harvard ↔ Yalelast 1909the belt has passed between them 6 times5×UCLA ↔ USClast 1992the belt has passed between them 5 times4×Harvard ↔ Princetonlast 1912the belt has passed between them 4 times4×Michigan ↔ Ohio Statelast 1981the belt has passed between them 4 times4×Michigan ↔ Washingtonlast 2024the belt has passed between them 4 times4×Stanford ↔ USClast 1970the belt has passed between them 4 times4×USC ↔ Washingtonlast 1992the belt has passed between them 4 timesHow it works: two programs are one degree apart if the belt has ever passed directly between them, in either direction, in any era. The page finds the shortest such chain (a breadth-first search over 258 pairs) and shows the most recent game for each link. On average two holders are 3.7 degrees apart (4% of pairs within 1 · 21% of pairs within 2 · 49% of pairs within 3 · 72% of pairs within 4 · 86% of pairs within 5 · 93% of pairs within 6 · 97% of pairs within 7 · 99% of pairs within 8). Every holder can be reached from every other. The same handoffs drawn as one picture: the web of the belt.