Welcome to College Football Blog's first edition of the Retrospective National Championship Project. Each week we will be releasing our national championship picks, five years at a time, with the exception of the first two weeks, during which time we will release ten years each. Today, here are our national championship picks for the years 1869-1879. Note that there was no college football played in 1871.

1869: Princeton (1-1) -- Only two college football games were played in this inaugural season. While Rutgers defeated Princeton 6-4 in the first meeting on November 6, Princeton won the rematch late in the season when it counted, 8-0 on November 13.

1870: Princeton (1-0) -- Princeton became the first college football team to finish a season undefeated, beating perennial foe Rutgers in the season opener/finale, 6-2 on November 12. Rutgers had beaten Columbia earlier in the season, but it simply wasn't enough.

1872: Princeton (1-0) -- After the 1871 hiatus, Princeton returned to the playing field ready to defend their back-to-back national championships and did just that with a 4-1 victory over Rutgers on November 16. While Yale also had a 1-0 record this season, their win came against lowly Columbia.

1873: Princeton (1-0) -- Yale, still upset at being snubbed for the 1872 national title, hosted Princeton on November 15, 1873 to exact some revenge. Princeton, however, was too great an opponent for Yale, winning the match 3-0 to secure their fourth consecutive national title and claims to a dynasty.

1874: Yale (3-0) -- After finishing 2-1 the previous season, Yale defeated Stevens once and Columbia twice to finish with the most impressive mark in college football history, 3 wins and no losses. Defending national champion Princeton finished 2-0, defeating Columbia and Rutgers. But Yale gets the nod for national champion in this season due to their tougher schedule.

1875: Harvard (4-0) -- In only their second season of playing college football, Harvard wins the national championship by not allowing a single point all season, shutting out their opponents by a combined score of 7-0, including a 4-0 win at Yale, the defending national champ from the year before.

1876: Yale (3-0) -- Yale defeats defending national champion Harvard in the season opener, 1-0. They then go on to defeat Princeton and Columbia, each by the score of 2-0, to finish the season with a nation-best 3 wins and no losses.

1877: Princeton (2-0-1) -- While Yale finished with a better mark of 3-0-1, Princeton wins the national championship with their tougher schedule. Princeton's shutout victories over Harvard and Columbia are more impressive than Yale's shutout wins over Tufts, Trinity, and Stevens. Yale and Princeton met in the season finale, but the game finished in a scoreless tie; thus, neither team was scored upon all season.

1878: Princeton (6-0) -- Princeton is scored upon only once all season (by Pennsylvania in a 2-1 win on November 9). They defeat defending champion Yale in the season finale, 1-0, to finish the season as the nation's only undefeated team.

1879: Princeton (4-0-1) -- Yale (finished 3-0-2) was Princeton's toughest match yet again. The two teams played to a scoreless tie in the season finale for the second time in three seasons. As for common opponents, Yale and Princeton each defeated Columbia 2-0; but Princeton put up a better win over Pennsylvania (6-0 vs. 3-0); and Yale tied Harvard 0-0, but Princeton beat Harvard 1-0. The slight edge goes to Princeton yet again, and they close out the 1870s as the undisputed team of the decade.