Records

Superlatives computed straight from the lineage — no editorial judgment, same as everything else on this site. Ties aren’t broken; a program just short of the cutoff simply isn’t shown.

Total Days Held

All-time, summed across every reign a program has had

1Princeton6,883across 9 reigns 2Yale4,704across 7 reigns 3USC3,147across 13 reigns 4Harvard3,015across 10 reigns 5Alabama2,331across 11 reigns

Longest Reigns

By days holding the belt

1Princeton7 yrs, 17 daysNovember 13, 1869 – November 30, 1876 2Princeton3 yrs, 355 daysNovember 28, 1878 – November 18, 1882 3Yale3 yrs, 3 daysNovember 27, 1890 – November 30, 1893 4Yale2 yrs, 361 daysNovember 25, 1882 – November 21, 1885 5Harvard2 yrs, 355 daysNovember 2, 1912 – October 23, 1915

Most Reigns

By program, across all 158 years

1USC13×reigns held 2Alabama11×reigns held 3Washington11×reigns held 4Harvard10×reigns held 5Princeton9×reigns held

Most Defended

Consecutive defenses in a single reign

1Yale36November 27, 1890 2Miami31October 7, 2000 3Yale29November 24, 1887 4Princeton25November 28, 1878 5Yale25November 25, 1882

Biggest Blowouts

Largest margin of victory in any belt game

1Princeton over Virginia+115115–0 · November 1, 1890 2Yale over Dartmouth+113113–0 · October 25, 1884 3Yale over Wesleyan (CT)+105105–0 · November 17, 1888 4Yale over Stevens+9696–0 · October 11, 1884 5Princeton over Pennsylvania+9595–0 · November 5, 1887

Narrowest Defenses

Closest the holder has come to losing it and didn't

1Yale tied YaleTie0–0 · December 8, 1877 2Princeton tied PrincetonTie0–0 · November 27, 1879 3Princeton tied PrincetonTie0–0 · November 25, 1880 4Princeton tied PrincetonTie0–0 · November 19, 1881 5Princeton tied PrincetonTie0–0 · November 24, 1881

Narrowest Upsets

The belt changed hands by the barest possible margin

1Princeton took it from Yale+11–0 · November 28, 1878 2Harvard took it from Princeton+12–1 · November 18, 1882 3Yale took it from Harvard+11–0 · November 25, 1882 4Princeton took it from Yale+16–5 · November 21, 1885 5Navy took it from Princeton+110–9 · October 15, 1904

Biggest Upsets

The belt changed hands in an outright rout

1Alabama routed Syracuse+5561–6 · January 1, 1953 2Pennsylvania routed Lafayette+4646–0 · October 23, 1897 3Penn State routed Pittsburgh+4551–6 · September 8, 2018 4Oklahoma routed Texas Tech+4465–21 · November 22, 2008 5Washington routed California+3946–7 · October 27, 1990