The 1871 college football season is the only one since the first season in 1869 up until present day that there were no games played for the entire season. This is likely due to the difficulty in scheduling games with the novelty of the "new" sport. Only two games had been played in each of the previous seasons (1869, 1870), and this encompassed only 3 teams. (Rutgers, Princeton, and Columbia) Due to no games being played, 1871 is the only year since play began in which no college football national champion has ever been named. (retroactively or otherwise)