Data-driven longreads
Stories
The reference tables tell you what happened. These 21 pieces dig into the more interesting corners of belt history in depth — every number in them is computed from the same lineage the rest of the site runs on, so they rewrite themselves as the belt moves.
Reigns
6 storiesThe Longest Reigns in Belt History
The ten longest-held reigns in belt history, ranked and narrated.
Read the story →How Yale Defended the Belt 36 Times
The single most-defended reign the belt has ever seen, chapter by chapter.
Read the story →One-Week Wonders
The reigns that were over the Saturday after they began, and the programs that keep doing it.
Read the story →Giant Killers
Who ended the longest reigns, with what score, and what they did with the belt afterward.
Read the story →Not a Single Point
The reigns that won the belt and every defense by shutout, and the last time anyone took it without allowing a score.
Read the story →The 100-Day Club
How rare a long reign really is, who has the most of them, the ones done inside one season, and where the current reign stands.
Read the story →Seasons
7 storiesWire to Wire
The seasons one program carried the belt in, defended it every week, and carried it out.
Read the story →The Wildest Seasons
The years the belt could not sit still: the most title changes in a season, and the chains it followed.
Read the story →The Opening-Day Curse
Reigns that survived an entire offseason and died in the first game back, and whether the curse is real.
Read the story →Bowl Season
Every postseason game the belt has been on the line for, and the reigns that started in January.
Read the story →New Year's Holders
Who has the belt when the calendar turns, and how often they still have it a year later.
Read the story →When the Belt Changes Hands
Title changes by month, by week of the season and by day of the week, and the one calendar date the belt has moved most.
Read the story →Overtime
Every belt game that went past regulation, the title changes decided in extra periods, and the holder's record when the game won't end.
Read the story →Programs
3 storiesThe Long Way Back
The longest waits between one reign and a program's next, and the quickest returns.
Read the story →The Vanished
The programs that held the belt and then dropped out of its story entirely, some of them the dynasties that built it.
Read the story →Beginner's Luck
The programs that won the belt in their very first belt game, the ones that needed the most tries, and the longest waits.
Read the story →Eras, places and the rule
5 storiesCoast to Coast
How the belt left the Northeast, when it first reached each region, and where it has never been.
Read the story →The Four Ages of the Belt
Belt history cut into four eras: who owned each one, how long reigns lasted, and how often it moved.
Read the story →Where the Belt Changes Hands
Home or road, one point or a mile, regular season or bowl: how title changes actually happen.
Read the story →When Nobody Won
Every tie with the belt on the line, the reigns a tie saved, and why the holder keeps it on a draw.
Read the story →The Belt vs. the Polls
How often the belt holder was the AP No. 1, the unranked teams that took it from ranked holders, and the reigns the poll never noticed.
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