Originally Posted by mjlane 
In 1958, Iowa finished #1 in the FW (Football Writer's) poll. LSU was #1 in the AP poll (and 14 other polls at the time), which was officially recognized as determining the national champion starting in 1936 up to present day.
Edit: also in 1956, Iowa #1 according to "Football Research", Oklahoma #1 according to AP (and 12 others).
There isn't an "officially recognized" national championship. The AP poll is very influential, of course, since the media is the one who is involved with it, and they were the only ones who wrote or talked about college sports, especially before the internet. If you think about life pre-internet, pre-cable, and pre-satellite, you got ALL your information from the press, save for the few nationally televised games, unless you were fortunate enough to go in person to games. Of course their poll would be the most influential one.
The ESPN/USA Today coach's poll also has had significant influence due to the fact that the people who create it are viewed as pretty legitimate sources of opinion.
So, yes, Iowa has a national championship according to "Football Research". It does not have one according to the AP.
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