Let's be very clear: Winning two national championships in a row borders on the impossible.

Only seven programs have been named back-to-back national champs by a major selector during college football's poll era, which began in 1936.

But winning three in a row? OK, that might actually be impossible – every single one of those seven programs has tried and failed to do so, with three programs failing on multiple occasions.

The next team to try its hand at history is 2023 Georgia. After winning the rematch against Alabama in 2021, last year's team stormed to a 15-0 mark capped by a destruction of TCU in the championship game.

The No. 1 team in the preseason USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll, the Bulldogs are favorites in every game on their regular-season schedule and favored to once again take home the SEC title.

But can they do what no program has done before? Here's how others before Georgia have fared in the elusive quest for a three-peat.

1942 Minnesota (5-4)

The most successful program of the 1930s carried that trend into the early stages of the following decade, winning back-to-back crowns under famed coach Bernie Bierman in 1940-41 before turning the program over to longtime assistant George Hauser. Minnesota's slide began almost immediately with five wins and a sixth-place finish in the Big Ten. The Golden Gophers have won more than nine games in a season just twice since.

1946 Army (9-0-1)

Perhaps no team in the modern era has come as close to locking down a third straight title. The Cadets put together two of the most dominant seasons in modern history in 1944 and 1945, compiling an 18-0 mark with no win coming by fewer than 16 points. Led by Heisman Trophy winners Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis, 1946 Army outscored opponents 263-80 but was undone by a 0-0 tie on Nov. 9 against No. 2 Notre Dame, the eventual national champions.

1948 Notre Dame (9-0-1)

Smack in the middle of a historic run under coach Frank Leahy, the 1948 Fighting Irish spent two weeks at No. 1 in the Associated Press poll but passed most of the season ranked No. 2 behind eventual national champion Michigan. After winning nine in a row to open the year, including close calls against Purdue (28-27) and No. 8 Northwestern (12-7), Notre Dame tied Southern California 14-14 in the season finale. Maybe the most underrated and under-recognized coach in FBS history, Leahy led the Irish to the title in 1943, entered the Navy to serve in World War II and then won additional titles in 1946, 1947 and 1949.

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1957 Oklahoma (10-1)

The Sooners seemed well on their way to a third straight title under Bud Wilkinson before taking a shocking 7-0 loss at home to unranked Notre Dame on Nov. 16, snapping a record 47-game winning streak that has barely been sniffed in the decades since. Narrow wins in the previous weeks against Colorado (14-13) and Kansas State (13-0) suggested a loss was coming, but Oklahoma rebounded with blowouts of Nebraska (32-7), Oklahoma State (53-6) and No. 16 Duke in the Orange Bowl (48-21) to finish No. 4 in the poll.

1966 Alabama (11-0)

While it doesn't claim 1966 among the program's many titles, Alabama might argue for the three-peat as that season's only unbeaten and untied team in the FBS. But while named the champs by two minor selectors, the Crimson Tide finished No. 3 in both polls behind Notre Dame and Michigan, which played to an infamous 10-10 tie on Nov. 19. The 1966 squad closed with a bang, shutting out its final four opponents of the regular season before pushing around No. 6 Nebraska in a 34-7 Sugar Bowl win.

1972 Nebraska (9-2-1)

Preseason No. 1 Nebraska entered 1972 on a 32-game unbeaten streak under Hall of Fame coach Bob Devaney, coaching in his final season. That streak was snapped with a 20-17 loss to UCLA in the opener, though the Cornhuskers did zoom back to No. 2 in the Coaches Poll before tying No. 23 Iowa State 23-23 on Nov. 11. Devaney would be replaced after the season by Tom Osborne, who two decades later would lead the program through perhaps the most impressive five-year run in modern FBS history – more on that dynasty below.

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1976 Oklahoma (9-2-1)

Amid three years of NCAA probation for rules violations, the 1974 Sooners are a footnote in college football history as the last FBS team to win the national championship without playing in a bowl game. Ranked No. 1 for most of the following season, the 1975 team lost to Kansas in early November but was able to backdoor into another title after beating No. 5 Michigan in the Orange Bowl while No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Texas A&M lost their bowl games. A year later, OU was doomed by a 1-2-1 mark in October, including back-to-back losses to Oklahoma State and No. 19 Colorado.

1980 Alabama (10-2)

The Tide gave up 35 points to Mississippi on Sept. 20 but just 63 points in their remaining 11 games. The issue was on offense: Alabama lost 6-3 to Mississippi State on Nov. 1 and 7-0 to No. 6 Notre Dame two weeks later. Thanks to that loss to the Bulldogs, the Tide failed to win the SEC for the first time since 1976. Coach Bear Bryant would retire after the 1982 season, ushering in a roughly decade-long downturn; not until Nick Saban arrived in 2008 would the program reclaim its place as the nation's best.

1996 Nebraska (11-2)

After more than 20 years of close calls and heartbreak, Osborne won his first national championship in 1994. The 1995 team decimated all comers and has rightfully earned a place on college football's Mount Rushmore of national champions. Two years later, Osborne split the title with Michigan in his final season. Sandwiched in the middle is the 1996 squad, which lost to Arizona State in the season opener but remained in the hunt until a surprising loss to Texas in the inaugural Big 12 championship game. Overall, the Cornhuskers went an eye-opening 60-3 during the five-season span from 1993-97.

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2005 Southern California (12-1)

The Trojans have an extremely good argument for being seen as the best team in college football history to not win the title. But one thing stood in the way of an expected coronation for the two-time defending national champions: Vince Young and Texas. Young's brilliance in the Rose Bowl sparked a 41-38 win against a loaded roster featuring Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and many others, narrowly costing USC a place in immortality.

2013 Alabama (11-2)

The most recent attempted three-peat before 2023 Georgia, the Tide entered the 2013 season having won three of the past four national titles. They seemed well on the way to another SEC crown and championship-game appearance until kicker Adam Griffith's 57-yard field-goal try with one second left in the Iron Bowl was fielded in the end zone by No. 4 Auburn defensive back Chris Davis and returned 109 yards in the craziest ending in SEC history. Unsurprisingly, the deflation from the "Kick Six" carried into the Sugar Bowl, where the Tide lost 45-31 to No. 11 Oklahoma.

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