It's been 20 years now since 2003 and the last ever split national championship

With the advent of the College Football Playoff in 2014, we will likely never see another split national championship again. Prior to the introduction of the CFP they were actually quite common, however. Since the Coaches Poll was created in 1950, there have been a number of splits between the two major selectors:

1954
AP: Ohio State
Coaches: UCLA

1957
AP: Auburn
Coaches: Ohio State

1965
AP: Alabama
Coaches: Michigan State

1970
AP: Nebraska
Coaches: Texas

1973
AP: Notre Dame
Coaches: Alabama

1974
AP: Oklahoma
Coaches: USC

1978
AP: Alabama
Coaches: USC

1990
AP: Colorado
Coaches: Georgia Tech

1991
AP: Miami
Coaches: Washington

1997
AP: Michigan
Coaches: Nebraska

2003
AP: USC
Coaches: LSU

When Week 15 of the 2003 college football season came to an end, USC was ranked #1 in both the AP and the Coaches Poll while LSU was #2 and Oklahoma was #3. However, when the final BCS standings were released during the Bowl Selection Show, USC was #3 in the computer rankings while Oklahoma and LSU finished #1 and #2 respectively. Using the rankings from the two major wire service polls, #2 LSU and #3 Oklahoma would face each other in the Sugar Bowl while #1 USC would face off against #4 Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

USC defeated Michigan 28-14 in the Rose Bowl and remained #1 in the AP while #2 LSU knocked off #3 Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl by the score of 21-14. Since the Sugar Bowl was the BCS National Championship Game, and since the AFCA Coaches Trophy (aka the "crystal football") was awarded to the winner of said game, the voters in the Coaches Poll were contractually obligated to vote the winner of Oklahoma-LSU #1 in the final Coaches Poll. Hence the split. Despite being contractually obligated to give their #1 vote to LSU, some coaches instead opted to give their first place vote to USC in protest to the controversial way Oklahoma was allowed into the BCS title game.

Nevertheless, both USC and LSU were declared national champions of the 2003 college football season. Both teams were invited to the White House where they were honored by then-President George W. Bush in a ceremony. During the festivities, Bush jokingly suggested that both teams settle the national championship discussion once and for all by playing an impromptu game on the South Lawn of the White House.

In the years to come, the youth will look back on the era prior to the College Football Playoff and think it silly that there ever were split national champions in major college football. Yet there were and the last one happened 20 years ago this season.