1989
1989 saw Notre Dame finish atop the RPR following a victory in the Orange Bowl over Big 8 champion Colorado. The Fighting Irish had the nation’s best Win % and SOS, along with a top-10 Score Ratio. 3 other teams finished in the CCT cutoff: consensus poll champion Miami, Colorado, and Florida State. Miami came the closest due to their head-to-head win over the Irish, but beyond that, the Irish maintained enough of an edge to prevent a co-champion being crowned.
Co-champion Consideration Threshold: 0.0412; CCT Rating Cutoff: 0.6833
| Rank | Team | Rating |
| 1 | Notre Dame | 0.7245 |
| 2 | Miami, FL (AP/C) | 0.7110 |
| 3 | Colorado | 0.6988 |
| 4 | Florida State | 0.6858 |
| 5 | Tennessee | 0.6813 |
| 6 | Clemson | 0.6807 |
| 7 | Auburn | 0.6776 |
| 8 | Southern California | 0.6774 |
| 9 | Alabama | 0.6596 |
| 10 | Michigan | 0.6586 |
| 11 | Houston | 0.6547 |
| 12 | Illinois | 0.6546 |
| 13 | Nebraska | 0.6507 |
| 14 | Virginia | 0.6367 |
| 15 | Arkansas | 0.6365 |
| 16 | Penn State | 0.6214 |
| 17 | Michigan State | 0.6158 |
| 18 | Washington | 0.6053 |
| 19 | Fresno State | 0.6044 |
| 20 | Texas A&M | 0.6015 |
| 21 | West Virginia | 0.5996 |
| 22 | Brigham Young | 0.5906 |
| 23 | Texas Tech | 0.5895 |
| 24 | Pittsburgh | 0.5871 |
| 25 | Arizona | 0.5860 |
| 26 | Northern Illinois | 0.5806 |
| 27 | Oregon | 0.5750 |
| 28 | Duke | 0.5733 |
| 29 | Hawaii | 0.5706 |
| 30 | Oklahoma | 0.5628 |
| 31 | Syracuse | 0.5615 |
| 32 | South Carolina | 0.5612 |
| 33 | Air Force | 0.5611 |
| 34 | Washington State | 0.5599 |
| 35 | Mississippi | 0.5599 |
| 36 | Ohio State | 0.5592 |
| 37 | Virginia Tech | 0.5585 |
| 38 | Georgia Tech | 0.5540 |
| 39 | Florida | 0.5464 |
| 40 | Louisiana Tech | 0.5461 |
| 41 | North Carolina State | 0.5447 |
| 42 | Louisiana-Lafayette | 0.5427 |
| 43 | Colorado State | 0.5394 |
| 44 | Georgia | 0.5389 |
| 45 | Akron | 0.5292 |
| 46 | Louisiana State | 0.5228 |
| 47 | Ball State | 0.5224 |
| 48 | Eastern Michigan | 0.5224 |
| 49 | Arizona State | 0.5188 |
| 50 | Baylor | 0.5187 |
| 51 | East Carolina | 0.5169 |
| 52 | Louisville | 0.5163 |
| 53 | Southern Mississippi | 0.5143 |
| 54 | Texas | 0.5137 |
| 55 | Minnesota | 0.5097 |
| 56 | California St-Fullerton | 0.5093 |
| 57 | Kentucky | 0.5075 |
| 58 | Army | 0.5064 |
| 59 | San Diego State | 0.5008 |
| 60 | San Jose State | 0.4987 |
| 61 | Indiana | 0.4931 |
| 62 | Iowa State | 0.4916 |
| 63 | UCLA | 0.4889 |
| 64 | Mississippi State | 0.4861 |
| 65 | Maryland | 0.4855 |
| 66 | Central Michigan | 0.4822 |
| 67 | Wyoming | 0.4800 |
| 68 | Iowa | 0.4792 |
| 69 | Tulsa | 0.4776 |
| 70 | Oregon State | 0.4747 |
| 71 | Toledo | 0.4675 |
| 72 | California | 0.4669 |
| 73 | Oklahoma State | 0.4572 |
| 74 | Stanford | 0.4487 |
| 75 | Texas Christian | 0.4462 |
| 76 | Utah | 0.4439 |
| 77 | Purdue | 0.4421 |
| 78 | Western Michigan | 0.4362 |
| 79 | Navy | 0.4351 |
| 80 | Tulane | 0.4334 |
| 81 | Bowling Green | 0.4324 |
| 82 | UNLV | 0.4312 |
| 83 | Utah State | 0.4295 |
| 84 | Kansas | 0.4203 |
| 85 | Boston College | 0.4130 |
| 86 | Rutgers | 0.4068 |
| 87 | Wake Forest | 0.4065 |
| 88 | Long Beach State | 0.4064 |
| 89 | Wisconsin | 0.4024 |
| 90 | Rice | 0.4014 |
| 91 | New Mexico | 0.3974 |
| 92 | Southern Methodist | 0.3959 |
| 93 | Missouri | 0.3894 |
| 94 | Pacific | 0.3750 |
| 95 | Texas-El Paso | 0.3726 |
| 96 | Memphis | 0.3710 |
| 97 | Vanderbilt | 0.3671 |
| 98 | North Carolina | 0.3631 |
| 99 | Kansas State | 0.3544 |
| 100 | Temple | 0.3522 |
| 101 | Cincinnati | 0.3386 |
| 102 | Miami, OH | 0.3382 |
| 103 | Northwestern | 0.3287 |
| 104 | Ohio | 0.3201 |
| 105 | Kent State | 0.2926 |
| 106 | New Mexico State | 0.2713 |
Best Win Percentage: Notre Dame
Best SOS: Notre Dame
Best Score Ratio: Houston