When is the Last Time Notre Dame Won a National Championship?
Let's take a look back at the illustrious history of championships in Notre Dame Football.
On January 9, 2025, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl, securing their place in the College Football Playoff National Championship on January 20, 2025. The Irish are now just one win away from history, adding to a century-long legacy of excellence in Notre Dame football.
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But as Notre Dame heads to a National Championship Game, you might be wondering: How many National Championships does the school actually have? When's the last time they won a title, and when's the last time they played for one?
Let's take a closer look at Notre Dame's history with the national title.
How many national championships has Notre Dame won?
The short answer to this question is 11. Across 100 years of football history, the Fighting Irish claim 11 national championships in school history, and we say "claim" because the system for determining national champions has evolved over the years of college football.
Under legendary head coach Knute Rockne, the Irish won national titles in 1924, 1929, and 1930, all determined with the Dickinson System of college football ranking, a mathematical formula that awarded teams points based on performance during the season. At the time, this was the top determining system for national titles, and is still recognized as awarding the honor prior to the establishment of the Associated Press and Coaches polls in later years.
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Once the poll era did kick in in the late 1930s, the Irish kept winning. Under coach Frank Leahy they claimed national titles in 1943, 1946, 1947, and 1949, all of which are recognized because Notre Dame finished first in Associated Press polling in those years. Coach Ara Parseghian added two more poll-based national championships in 1966 and 1973, and Dan Devine added another in 1977.
The last time Notre Dame won a National Championship was 1988, under coach Lou Holtz, who led the team to a 12-0 season and a win in the Fiesta Bowl. That means it's been 37 years since the Fighting Irish's last national title.
Now, if you look back at college football history, things are a little more complicated than those 11 titles. During the poll era, other polls and organizations would sometimes award national championships based on their own polling, and sometimes -- in 1938, for example, Notre Dame won under the Dickinson System, while TCU won the Associated Press poll -- Notre Dame came out as "national champion" through these other selection systems. In the poll-based championship era, though, the Associated Press (and later Coaches) poll became the national standard, and it's that system that Notre Dame has chosen to recognize from that era. It's easy to see why so many fans wanted to move to a playoff system when you look at the history of polls in college football.
When is the last time Notre Dame played for a national championship?
Notre Dame's last national title came in 1988, but they have come very close in the years since that last victory. Most notably, the Irish were runners-up in the 2012 season after losing the 2013 National Championship game to Alabama, though all wins in that season were technically later vacated due to ineligible players.
But the Irish have certainly come close since that 2012 season. The Irish were selected for the four-team College Football Playoff in both 2018 and 2020, though they lost in the semifinals both times. Now, they've broken that streak in the first 12-team Playoff, and they'll get a shot at reclaiming the national title for the first time in decades.
Notre Dame plays for the national championship on January 20.
NBC and Peacock are the exclusive home for Notre Dame home football games, so be sure to tune in next season to see how the Irish look in the 2025-2026 season.
