In an ideal college football world, the National Championship Game should be an intense, back-and-forth affair that comes down to the wire. After all, this game should be a showcase of the top two teams in the sport battling it out for the ultimate prize. Games like the 2006 Rose Bowl between Texas and USC, which the Longhorns won on a Vince Young rushing touchdown in the final minute, represent what the National Championship Game should be.

Well, Georgia and TCU clearly didn't get the memo on Monday night. The Bulldogs dismantled the Horned Frogs like they were playing NCAA Football 14 on rookie difficulty in a 65-7 beatdown. The 58-point margin of victory is not just the largest in national championship history, but any bowl game, period.

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time the National Championship Game has ended in a blowout. No other game has been quite as lopsided, but there have been a few with a margin of 30 or more points. We're going to go over the biggest blowouts in National Championship Game history.

Before we get to the top five, though, there are a few “honorable” mentions. These games just barely missed out on the 30-point threshold, but still deserve some mention as classic beatdowns.

  • 1978 Cotton Bowl: Notre Dame 38, Texas 10
  • 2007 BCS National Championship Game: Florida 41, Ohio State 14
  • 2013 BCS National Championship Game: Alabama 42. Notre Dame 14
  • 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship: Clemson 44, Alabama 16
  • 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship: Alabama 52, Ohio State 24

With those out of the way, now we can get to the games that actually ended in a 30+ point difference. Here are the five biggest blowouts in National Championship Game history.

5. 1997 Sugar Bowl: Florida 52, Florida State 20

A rivalry game in the National Championship? Yes, the times before the BCS were truly the Wild West in terms of bowl matchups. Just over a month before this game, Florida State defeated Florida 24-21 in Tallahassee, but the Gators didn't forgive and certainly didn't forget.

As a bit of a background, before the BCS, a system known as the Bowl Alliance decided who would play in the National Championship. This system attempted to match up the first- and second-ranked teams in a bowl game, but because the Big Ten and Pac-10 were not members of the Alliance, as both conferences sent their championship to the Rose Bowl, the third-ranked team sometimes snuck in instead. With No. 2 Arizona State going to Pasadena, the No. 3 Gators earned the right to rematch their rivals for all the marbles in New Orleans.

Interestingly, this game wasn't a blowout for much of the contest. The Seminoles cut the Gators' lead to just four points early in the third quarter and looked to be back in the game. However, Florida then reeled off 28 unanswered points to turn this game into a rout.

The Gators had just lost the National Championship in a blowout the year before (more on that later), so this win provided some much-needed redemption. Arizona State also lost to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, making Florida the undisputed national champion.

4. 1972 Orange Bowl: Nebraska 38, Alabama 6

Now we go back even further in history, when conference tie-ins made it nearly impossible to match up the top two teams in a bowl game. However, there were several occasions where things worked out just right and the top two teams met each other, and this was one such occasion. Although both teams entered the game undefeated, defending champion Nebraska left no doubt over who was better.

Unlike the previous game on the list, this one was never in question. The Cornhuskers built a 28-0 lead midway through the second quarter and then turned on cruise control. This win gave the Huskers their second straight title and 32nd straight victory overall.

3. 2005 Orange Bowl: USC 55, Oklahoma 19

Oklahoma scored the first touchdown of the game to go up 7-0, and that's where the positives ended for the Sooners. USC proceeded to score at will in the most-lopsided National Championship Game in the BCS era. The Trojans took a 28-point lead into halftime, and even led by 45 early in the fourth quarter.

USC quarterback and Heisman winner Matt Leinart had a performance for the ages, throwing for 332 yards and five touchdowns. Running back LenDale White ran for 118 yards and two scores, while Reggie Bush added 75 yards. The Trojans have since vacated this win following a 2010 investigation that revealed several NCAA violations.

2. 1996 Fiesta Bowl: Nebraska 62, Florida 24

This game was a matchup of two very different styles of offense. Tommie Frazier spearheaded Nebraska's option-style offense, while Florida ran a pass-heavy offense with future Heisman winner Danny Wuerffel. In the end, though, the Gators were no match for the defending champion Cornhuskers.

Florida ended the first quarter with a 10-6 lead, but Nebraska then exploded for 36 unanswered points. Even when the Gators responded, the Huskers continued to pile on the points. Nebraska's 62 points scored were a National Championship Game record for over 25 years, until Georgia broke it on Monday. The most memorable moment from this game came early in the fourth quarter, when Frazier shook off seven tackles for a 75-yard touchdown run.

1. 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship: Georgia 65, TCU 7

Many saw this game as a David vs. Goliath matchup, and for good reason. The defending champion and heavy favorite Bulldogs against the plucky underdog Horned Frogs, the headlines wrote themselves. Unlike in the story, though, Goliath crushed David without moving a finger.

Georgia played a perfect game; not almost perfect, just straight up perfect. The Bulldogs scored on all but two of their offensive possessions, and one of those was the end of the game. Stetson Bennett put a huge exclamation point on his Georgia career, accounting for six total touchdowns.

On defense, the Bulldogs held the high-flying TCU offense to under 200 total yards. Heisman finalist Max Duggan threw two costly interceptions, while star wideout Quentin Johnston had just one catch for three yards. TCU had just nine first downs and 188 total yards, compared to Georgia's 32 first downs and 589 total yards.

For the sake of college football fans everywhere, hopefully this remains the biggest National Championship blowout by a wide margin.